June 2008 – Page 3 – HEALTH FREAK MOMMY

Our Sunday Mornings

Sunday mornings are always a rush for me. No matter how early I wake up, we still end up arriving at the church late…. shame on me! Something always crops up on Sunday mornings…. either Alycia or Sherilyn will puke during breakfast, either one of the gals will have a temper tantrum and refuse to cooperate with me or daddy will wake up late! Must be the work of the devil!!

However, on some Sunday mornings, daddy will wake up early and help me with the gals. After I had showered Alycia and Sherilyn, he will dress them up and blow dry their hair…. saloon style and the gals just love it…. as seen in the pix here.

If only daddy would help me with the gals more often, life would be more peaceful for me. It’s really no joke having to manage 2 hyperactive toddlers and a 2-month old baby all by yourself. It’s back-breaking, heart-breaking (when the 2 older gals refuse to listen to what I say), blood boiling and now I even have dizzy spells when Sherilyn (my super tough nut) rebels against me!

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A Not-So-Healthy Breakfast

Whenever my mil is back home from HK or NZ, Alycia and Sherilyn will stick to their mah mah like glue. That’s because mah mah is oh so patient with them, hardly scolds them and often spoils them with food.

In this pic, Alycia was eating roti canai and kuih for breakfast. The gals rarely get a chance to eat this kinda food for breakfast when their mah mah is not here as I will only feed them healthy and wholesome food (eggs, orange juice, fruits, Edamame beans, fresh milk, yoghurt and cereal). So when they get to eat kuih, roti canai and other food that I hardly buy for them, it’s a real treat for them.

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Missing Alycia and Sherilyn

During my recent stay in the hospital, I really missed Alycia and Sherilyn. Though I was granted home leave for a couple of hours almost everyday, I still missed them very much whenever I was back at the hospital. Maybe it’s because I was bored to the core in the hospital. There was no TV or radio in the room that I stayed in, (though the room is not cheap) which was a children’s ward. There was totally no entertainment for me (I missed my computer and blogging so much), save for the newspapers.

Remember I wrote in one of my earlier posts that Sherilyn’s disobedience and rebellion are driving me crazy and I even had some resentment towards her? Well, during my stay in the hospital, I missed her a lot. Guess I am so used to 2 boisterous and hyperactive toddlers that I just couldn’t get used to quietness and solitary. Each day when I was back home during my 1-2 hours of home leave from the hospital, I would hug and kiss Alycia and Sherilyn like I had not seen them for ages. Absence really does make the heart grow fonder.

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Baby C In An Oversized T-Shirt

When the IV line was still inserted into Baby C’s hand, there was a big bandage covering the line. I could not put on her regular clothing on her, except for singlets. Since she could not wear her jammies, I had to wear her with Sherilyn’s Mothercare t-shirts for ages 2-3 (as seen in this pic). I also had to wrap up the bandage with a hanky as she kept chewing on the bandage and rubbing her face with the bandage.

Luckily the IV line was removed 2 days ago and thank God there was no bruise or infection on the area that she was poked. A friend of mine who had an IV line on his hand got the area infected and was down with fever. Getting the IV line area infected is not uncommon in patients.

Having the IV line poked in your hand is really no laughing matter and is extremely uncomfortable and painful. I pray that Baby C and my 2 other gals will never have to experience this again. It is indeed a very traumatic and painful time for a young child to go through days with a needle stuck in the hand.

Click here to read Sherilyn’s first day of pre-school.

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Feeding Baby C Medicine

Feeding Baby C antibiotics requires TONS of patience, ideas and energy. I started off feeding her the antibiotics at 8:30am today after Alycia and Sherilyn had gone to pre-school and only finished the entire 3ml at 9:45am…. which I split into 3 sessions. It took me 20 – 30 minutes to squirt 1ml of antibiotics into her mouth. I had to cradle her with my left hand and hold the syringe with my right hand…. and then dance with her, sang to her, walked round the house whilst singing to her, whilstled to her, jogged round the house with her to amuse her and clowned around to distract her and to make her swallow the antibiotics.

Since yesterday, Baby C has been really cranky and I had to let her suckle my breast every single hour of the day. The moment I put her back in her cot or on the bouncinet, she would start whining again. When her cries were ignored and she wasn’t picked up immediately, her cries would accelerate into loud vibrating wails with long pauses in between….. and her body would stiffened and turn red and at times threw up…. which was really quite frightening. She also had to suckle my teat teats the whole night and she was practically sleeping under my armpits the entire night…. till I had pins and needles on both my hands. Oh God, I just hope things will get better in days to come, else I just can’t do anything but cradle her and let her latch onto my breast the whole day.

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Sherilyn Goes To Pre-School

After delaying sending Sherilyn to pre-school for half a year, I finally sent her off today together with Alycia. She was so excited and upbeat this morning as I prepared her to go to school. I also got the maid to fry some eggs for the gals and then I cut them into cute shapes with my new My Melody cookie cutter and packed them into their lunch boxes. Also brushed their teeth and washed them up with the help of my maid. All these I did with Baby C comfortably and happily snuggled up inside the baby sling which I wore. Baby C has been really cranky since yesterday.

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Updates on Baby C (Day 6)

Last night when we brought Baby C to the hospital for the antibiotics jab, the nurses told us that the dr. has given them the green light to remove the IV line from Baby C’s hand. I was really happy to hear that as Baby C does not have to be in pain anymore. I can also nurse her freely and bath times are not tough anymore. However, feeding Baby C the antibiotics is yet another tall order that I have to grapple with.

This morning, we brought her to the hospital as the paed wanted to see her before we are officially discharged from the hospital. The nurses and I also fed her the antibiotics in our room. We split the feeding into 3 and it took us more than an hour to complete feeding her 3ml of antibiotics. At one point, she was almost on the verge of puking and I prayed so hard that she wouldn’t puke coz if she pukes, we have to start all over again. Feeding her the antibiotics requires a LOT of patience and I have never been so patient with anyone than with Baby C. She was really cranky this morning and cried non-stop. I had to let her suckle my breast first, then the nurse squirted the antibiotics into her mouth drop by drop. When she tried to spit out, I pinched her nose gently (the nurses taught me this technique as pinching the nose would cause the baby to swallow in reflex). When she wailed out in defiance, I hugged her, kissed her forehead and put her mouth to my breast again and let her suckle for 5 minutes before the nurse squirted the antibiotics into her mouth again. The whole process was repeated many times until she finished swallowing the antibiotics. This is really tedious and time-consuming and whether I like it or not, I have to deal with this for several years. Hopefully, over time, Baby C would have acquired the liking for antibiotics and would not reject it anymore.

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Poor Baby

Despite all the pain that she had gone through, Baby C is still not cranky and does not cry all day. As long as she sees me and have my teat teats all night long, she is a very happy and content baby.

I’ve just gotten back from the hospital. It breaks my heart to see her wail her lungs out each time the nurses inject the antibiotics into the IV line. One might think that injecting the medicine through IV is painless but if you had gone through it before, there is still a sharp pain when the cold liquid passes through your veins.

Baby C looked so pitiful here as she waited for the nurse to administer the jab on her.

After crying all her energy away, Baby C slept oh so soundly here.

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Baby C With The IV Line On Her Hand

That’s BB C on the 3rd day of her stay in the hospital. The dr finally managed to find a vein in the morning and inserted the IV line to the back of her palm. It was really heart-wrenching to see her being ‘tortured’ like that. Her cries really broke my heart into pieces.

With such a big bandage on her hand, breastfeeding her is quite a challenge now. Yesterday, I accidentally squeezed the affected hand and she wailed out in pain. Last night, she put the bandage to her mouth and licked it. She also puked on the bandage this morning, which I have gotten it changed by the nurse.

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Updates On Baby C (Day 4)… Back Home Finally

We are finally back home but not discharged from the hospital just yet. I have to bring BB C back to the hospital 3 times a day for her antibiotics jabs (at 9am, 4pm and 11pm). The dr. has given us home leave, which means that we still have to pay for the room for the next 5-7 days for the jabs, after which she will be on oral antibiotics at home. The IV line is still inserted into the back of her palm for purpose of administering the jabs and to draw out blood.

The initial urine test results were out this morning and it showed that the WBC (white blood cells) are down from ‘uncountable’ to only 2…. which means that the infection is almost cleared. The urine culture results will be out later as it takes between 3-4 days for each culture to be complete. As soon as BB C’s UTI has cleared, we plan to bring her to a pediatric Nephrologist for further consultation / tests. This looks like a long and tedious battle and I just hope that BB C’s right kidney is free from scarring and damage. The paed said that looking at the ultrasond scan, the kidneys do not look that bad. The paed also mentioned that BB C will most likely have to be on a mild course of antibiotics for 7 years (coz the kidney stops growing after 7 years) to prevent the kidney from scarring.

More tests would have to be carried out to see if BB C has Kidney Reflux and to see if her kidney is free from damage or not. These tests will be carried out if the pediatric Nephrologist deems them necessary, which I hope he will say that they are not necessary.

That’s Baby C on the first day. When her body temperature touched 39.3 degrees Celsius at 4am, the nurses stripped her and sponged her. I was also not allowed to put long sleeved rompers / pjs on her. She wore the hospital gown.

That’s BB C on the 3rd day, when the fever came down.

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Updates On Baby C (Day 3)

I am back home to bathe and to pack some stuff again. Finally this morning, the paed managed to find a vein on the back of BB C’s left palm. As expected, BB C wailed her lungs out when the needle was poked into her hand. My heart bled too seeing her tiny hand being poked and the dr. had to insert a small pump/valve and squeeze her hand tightly to draw out the blood, drop by drop…. to collect 3 small bottles of blood. The blood results were just out and the white blood cells are still quite high, thus she is to continue the antibiotics, given via the UV line.

BB C needs the antibiotics for 7 days but the dr. has given me permission to take home leave to go home. However, I need to bring BB C back to the hospital for the nurses to inject the antibiotics thru the IV line 3 times a day.

One of my readers told me that I can avoid having BB C go thru the test (where a dye will be injected thru her urether) to rule out Kidney Reflux. However, there will be tedious procedures where I will need to bring BB C to the hospital very frequently for her urine to be cultured. I hope I can choose this option instead of having to risk BB C doing the test as she will be sedated. I never want to see BB C sedated as she is just so small and fragile. We will also be consulting a pediatric Nephrologist for a second opinion.

Please continue to pray that BB C does not have Kidney Reflux. Miracles do happen. It has happened many times to me in the past. When Alycia was diagnosed as having Hip Dysplasia when she was just 6 mths old, my world was suddenly crushed too. After 3 months of non-invasive and non-medical treatment, her hips condition finally resolved by itself. I am praying hard that another miracle will happen and that BB C does not need surgery / invasive medical treatments to get treated.

Will post my updates tomorrow. Time to return to the hospital now to nurse BB C and hopefully, she has peed into the urine bag.

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Announce It With Style

Having a new baby in the family is one of the happiest occasions for most parents. They were the happiest occasions for me when I gave birth to my 3 angels. Announcing the birth of my babies was also one of the proudest occasions for me. The Chinese normally ‘officially’ announce the birth of their child after 30 days from the birth date during which they will distribute a fullmoon celebration box containing hard boiled eggs dyed in red food coloring, pickled gingers, chicken or roast pork, turmeric rice and cakes.

Some parents would announce the birth of their little precious one through birth announcement cards. Birth announcement cards are one inexpensive and great way to announce the birth of your long awaited baby in style. Not only will your friends and relatives be notified of the birth of your baby, they also get to keep the picture of your baby that is imprinted on the card. Details of your baby like name, date of birth, place of birth, birth weight, etc. can also be printed on the card.

If you are looking for lovely personalized cards on birth announcements, birthday invitations, party invitations, thank you cards and cards for just about any occasions at a low price, one great place to find them is at izzyprints.com. Izzyprints can cut their editing costs by allowing you to self-proof your completed card prior to ordering and printing. Very soon, Izzyprints will be providing a service that allows you to upload your 4×6 picture to their website, have them printed by them and delivered to your doorstep. What makes Izzyprints stand out from their competitors is that their cards are printed by state-of-the-art digital press machines, thus the quality of their cards are superior. Check them out today to create your personalized cards or simply bookmark this website for future use.

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Updates On Baby C

I am back home for a short while to take a shower and to pack my breast pump and other stuff.

Baby C’s fever went up to 39.3 degrees Celsius at 4am today. The nurses stripped her down and sponged her…. and she wailed her lungs out. They asked me not to put on the long sleeved rompers on her as the heat is all trapped inside. Instead, they put on the hospital scrubs on her which was really thin and airy. Her fever just wouldnt go down and the dr also couldn’t find a vein on her hand, thus could not insert the IV into her hand. Feeding her medicine is quite tough as she would spit the med out and puke. Hopefully the dr can locate the vein later. Antibiotics and medication fed thru the tube is much easier and recovery is faster too.

BTW Bb C has UTI and could be having Kidney Reflux too. She has a dilated right kidney (since in-utero). She has to undergo another test in a couple of months to rule out KR. She has to be sedated too to do the test 🙁 My heart is totally crushed seeing how BB C is suffering. Seeing her refuse my teat teats and refuse to nurse breaks my heart further.

Her hand was poked twice yesterday (but Dr couldn’t find the vein) and leg poked once to draw out blood. It was really a big hurdle to collect urine from the urine bag attached outside the 2 labia for a culture on BB C’s urine. It was only successful on the 4th & 5th attempt (need 2 cultures). I have to face another hurdle tomorrow when her urine has to be collected to be cultured again. This is really like a long long nightmare that just wouldnt end. Please continue to pray that BB C will recover fast and does not have KR coz if she has KR, she has to be on antibiotics up to 7 yo.

Gotta return to the hospital now….

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Baby C Is Hospitalized

Just a short one. Baby C is hospitalized…. most likely for UTI. I am home for a short while to pack some stuff. Will update everyone when I am back. Please everyone, please pray for Baby C to recover with no long term complications.

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Our Very Own Charlie’s Angels

My hubby and his very own Charlie’s Angels…. and he really does adore his 3 precious angels, most times to the extent of spoiling them rotten. That’s because he is seldom at home to spend time with them and whenever he has a respite from work, he will spoil them rotten with food (including junkies), toys, stickers, books, etc. and bring them out to Mega Kidz or other outings.

Now that I am co-sleeping with Baby C at night for ease of breastfeeding, hubby who is paranoid of sleeping with us in the king-size bed for fear of squashing Baby C in his deep sleep has moved to the gals’ room, which is adjoining to the master bedroom. Sleeping in with the gals have even made them more attached to him. So whenever daddy is around, the gals will stick to him like glue, which gives me a short breather.

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Our Sunday

After church today, we went to Lemon Garden Coffee House @ Shangri-La Hotel for a buffet lunch. After abstaining from sashimi for 10.5 months, I finally got to indulge in sashimi today – fresh raw salmon and abalone. Boy I tell you, they tasted really really good but I dared not gorge too much on raw stuff as I am breastfeeding. You think it’s safe for a nursing mum to eat raw stuff? I kept sucking the juice from wedges of fresh lemon throughout lunch as lemon juice is known to kill bacteria.

I also indulged in some carbo-laden grub…. pizzas (I only ate the toppings minus the crust) and pastas. Ate lots of protein though…. raw salmon, grilled salmon, roast quail and ate salad like a cow. I also gorged on a few bites of mini pralines, cheese cake, tiramisu and 4 scoops of ice-creams (banana yoghurt, black sesame, green tea and strawberry flavor) which tasted heavenly. Dared not really have a big tuck-in. But I tell you, breastfeeding is fantastic. In less than an hour later, I felt hungry again! Breastfeeding can really burn calories… it’s like working out at the gym without going to the gym. But I still need to get rid of my bulging baby belly. I am planning another trip to The Baby Loft shop to buy the tummy tucker (akin to the Malay benkung) next week. Just can’t stand the sight of my belly protruding slightly in my spaghetti strap top today…. which made me look like an ah soh.

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