May 13 part 2

Thursday May 11, was Ananya's 11th day ( so easy to count.. she was born on the 1st :-).Hope she stays first in whatever she does. I guess thats a lot to ask for from her..Ok let me rephrase it..Hope she gets to LIKE what ever she does..and hope what she likes are good for her.
Ok back to May 11th. Ananya had her first head bath. We all woke up at 4Am. Her grandmom did her massage and gave her a head bath. Ananya was initially reluctant when water fell on her.. but she eventually seemed to enjoy it. She was then dried.Her grandmom used sambrani fumes to dry her hair. I was initially concerned that the smoke might turn out to be a health hazard for the littleone. I did know that using sambrani was very common in India. But I am now a father. I refuse to believe some things :-) So i did the next best thing i could.. searched the internet. I found a website.. http://www.saigan.com/heritage/alindex.html which talks about sambrani as follows.
Sambraani also known as Yellow Resin, comes from the fragrant sap of the Sal Tree and has been used in spiritual ceremonies since ancient times. Its smoke creates a soothing atmosphere of calm serenity
The dried sambraani (small pieces or powder) is sprinkled on pieces of burning coal. The resulting fragrant smoke is allowed to pass through washed hair.
There are various useful effects apart from the fragrance it imparts to hair. It aids in drying hair faster. Also, it tends to draw the excess water in the head & face, being a good treatment for those with a heavy head from cold and sinusitis.
Sambraani smoke is also applied to new born babies, after each bath, to assure that the child does not catch a cold.
Special holders in various patterns are available for burning the coal. When sambraani powder is sprinkled on the burning coal, the smoke drifts out through the nozzles on the cover of the holder. Thus it is safe to hold it near head and face.


I am still not too sure if sambraani is good or bad for an infant..but we are continuing to use it after every baby bath. If you have heard of it or used it, please provide me some inputs.

later that morning, the midwife made her second visit and proclaimed that Ananya was doing good. lalitha's stiches were examined too. She found the healing satisfactory.