Month: September 2008

I Need To Treat My Blisters

I used to have calluses and blisters on my toes but they went away by itself when I stopped jogging for almost a year during my pregnancy and after the birth of Baby C. Now that I have resumed running intensively everyday, the darn blisters and calluses have resurfaced on my toes, bummer! I wonder why they grew on my toes as I wear a pair of good running shoes. Maybe I should really get myself some blister prevention patches from GoEngo. I heard these patches are really good Blister Treatment for people like me who run everyday. They provide immediate relief, are easy to use and are long lasting too.

No. of times viewed = 277

Sherilyn Gave Me Yet Another Shock…

…. when I saw red lines that looked like bloody scratch lines all over her eyebrows and forehead 2 days ago. This happened barely a week after Sher drew her mouth with a black color pencil.

I was bending down to wipe her mouth and forehead in the kitchen. When I swept her fringe away from her forehead, I was shell-shocked to see those ‘bloody lines’ all over her eyebrows and forehead. I thought she had cut herself with a penknife or some sharp pencils but on taking a closer inspection, I realized that there were the ink from a red magic color. Phew…. this brat had used a red magic color pencil to draw her eyebrows, as if it were an eyeliner!   She had seen me draw my eyebrows with an eyeliner many times and she thought that she could do the same to her eyebrows with magic color pencils! 

When I asked her what happened, Sher replied “I don’t know!” confidently  and shrugged her shoulders *kaik sei ngor* … can really drive me to early grave lol! 


Don’t you think that these red lines looked like bloody scratch / cut marks?


The brat with the cheeky, mischievous look. That’s how she holds her cup to drink water….. she even has her own ridiculous way of holding a cup…. and she spills water 9 out of 10 times when she drinks water… and these water-spill incidences can really drive me to a madhouse coz it happens everyday without fail! 

“No, I am not naughty…”  and that’s Sher’s favorite line whenever she causes a big boo boo!

No. of times viewed = 183

A Few More UTI Attacks And My Baby Would Need Surgery

We brought the MCUG film (MCUG done at HUKM 2 months ago) to our pediatric nephrologist at SJMC today.  Upon looking at the film, Dr Indon told us that Baby C’s ureter is positioned slightly lower than where it should be, thus the cause of the frequent urine reflux.   She then referred us to a pediatric surgeon at the same hospital.

The surgeon told us that if Baby C keeps having recurring (breakthrough) UTI, it’s best that a ureteral reimplantation be performed.  This will be a major surgery and the ureter would be reimplanted (repositioned).  Success rate is 99%.  The surgeon said that Baby C is still quite young and he wants to give her body a chance to outgrow this reflux.  It is hoped that the ureter will become longer as she grows, thus reduces the reflux.  However, if Baby C keeps getting UTI attacks, it’s best that the surgery be performed to prevent further UTI attacks, thus prevents her right kidney from being scarred.  

The bill came up to almost RM520 today which consists of consultation fees for 2 doctors (surgeon’s consultation fee is RM100!), immunization (6-in-1 jab and Rotavirus) and miscellaneous charges.  Cut-throat charges eh? 

No. of times viewed = 315

My Baptism Of Fire

I am sure everyone has their share of baptism of fire when they first started out to work. I will never forget mine. My first major and important assignment was to be a Recording Secretary at a Domestic Inquiry (DI) in a large bank. The accused had committed criminal breach of trust. It was a tough job for me trying to translate the proceedings of the Domestic Inquiry (which lasted 1 week) into verbatim minutes as I was still a fresh Secretary and being a Recording Secretary in a major DI is not an easy job. I had spent days sitting at the computer with an ear plug plugged to my ear as I listened to the proceedings of the DI on the walkman. On the 4th day of transcribing the minutes, I had accidentally pressed some keys on the computer and everything that I had transcribed was gone in a flash…. and could not be retrieved by anyone. That was 16 years ago and back then, there was no Business Continuity Recovery software to recover files. I was really devastated and had to spend the next 1 week or so transcribing the minutes all over again.

No. of times viewed = 142

Alycia and Baby C

Alycia and Sherilyn really dot on their baby sister and vice versa. At the sight of her 2 older sisters, Baby C will smile and squeal in excitement.

Alycia has been a very helpful assistant to me. Every night, she would help me entertain Baby C whilst I take my shower. Alycia can even help me hold the water faucet as I wash Baby C’s bum after she had done her poopie business…. and she knows how to hold the water faucet in such a way that the water will be directed towards baby’s bum and whichever part that I direct her to aim the water faucet at. Whenever I need to be away from Baby C for short periods, Alycia will help me keep an eye on Baby C and entertain her by singing to her, talking to her or just hold her hands.

Loving moments together. 

When Alycia was a 2-3 yo toddler, she was very mischievous, loved to throw tantrums, had frequent melt-downs and was so rebellious that I thought she would grow up  into a problematic child but once she turned 4 yo, she transformed into a very likeable child. 

No. of times viewed = 265

Baby C Loves To Do Push-Ups

and she’s really good at it.  She now hates to be left alone on the crib and would always scream to get herself out from it.  The moment she’s placed on the gym mat on the floor, this little creeper will do push-ups and creep everywhere…. really fast.  Once I left her on the floor and went to the kitchen for less than a minute.  When I came out, half her body was already under the playpen!

The Superman pose…

The kodomo dragon pose….and she really does look like an iguana or a kodomo dragon each time she creeps and turns her body 90 degrees to look at us.

The fit girl pose, doing her push-ups…

and the cheeky look with a smack on her lips.

Baby C also loves to gurgle a lot. When she’s happy or cranky, she tends to babble “ang gurrrrr gurrrrrrrr…….. ang gurrrrrr gurrrrr” as if she’s rolling her tongue and trying hard to tell us something, which is really hilarious. 

Baby C absolutely loves to watch the VCD on ‘Your Baby Can Read’ by Prof Robert Titzer. Every morning as I take my shower, she would watch the starter video in my room. The moment she sees the kids on the VCD, she would smile and chuckle to herself, which I find really cute. When the words are shown on TV, she would stare at them with great interest and seriousness, as if she’s trying to absorb them.

No. of times viewed = 157

Sherilyn Gave Me Another Heart-Stopping Moment

when I thought my ‘kwai kar’ (naughty brat) ate some poison!  On Sunday, I had cut up some fruits for Alycia and Sherilyn to eat for breakfast.  I then went into the kitchen to make them cute car-shaped and fish-shaped eggs using the bento egg moulds that I had bought. When I stepped back to the dining area, I was shocked to see Sher’s mouth…. all black!  Oh no, I didn’t bring out the black sesame paste and no, there wasn’t any black sauce lying on the dining table, I thought to myself.  I thought it was some toxic liquid that oozed out from a broken toy as there were some toys on the dining table, sei umm sei, she would have been poisoned to death I thought!

My mil quickly used tissue papers to wipe off the black dunno what from her cheeks and lips. My mil asked Sher to open her mouth and thank God, her teeth weren’t black. If they were black as well, my worry would have been confirmed, she ate poison!


As my mil was busy wiping Sher’s mouth, I was busy snapping her pix away lol…. see this blog-crazy mummy! 

In this pic, most of the black stains were already wiped off by my mil. There was a huge patch of black stain on her mouth area when we caught her in action.


I later found out that this brat used a black color pencil to draw on her lips, mouth, cheeks and what not, as if it were a lipstick and eye liner ….. and this ‘kwai kar’ brazenly, confidently and calmly denied everything when we interrogated her. All she said was “no, no, no, I didn’t” confidently, as if nothing had happened *rolls eyeballs*! Sher is such a sleek and confident liar!  The next time I apply make-up on my face, I better make sure that I don’t let Sher see me do it, else my cosmetics will be her next target!

No. of times viewed = 323

How To See Urine That’s Infected

I will be an expert in ‘analyzing’ pee very soon.  Today, I collected Baby C’s pee again for the routine FEME urine test.  One look and one sniff of the pee in the bottle, I knew it’s going to be fine…. and true, the WBC has dropped to 1-2 (from 10+ on Friday last week). 

For the benefit of other mothers with kids who previously had UTI, if you ever want to know if your baby’s pee is infected or not, just get your baby / toddler to pee into a transparent bottle. If the pee is clear (you can see by holding the bottle up with your hand against sunlight or just below the ceiling lights), then most likely, the pee is not infected.  If the pee is cloudy (with color like barley water or diluted milk) with lots of particles floating inside the pee, most likely your baby has a UTI. My pediatric nephrologist taught me this.  Sometimes, you will see some particles floating in the pee even if the pee is clear.  The floating particles could be some tissues from the lining of the bladder and does not mean that your baby has an infection.

To quell my phobia of another UTI attack, I will do this simple checking every other day.  It’s going to be very time-consuming as it’s extremely difficult to collect Baby C’s pee and troublesome but I will do anything to save my baby’s kidney from being scarred. 

No. of times viewed = 366

I Want Pink Hair Mummy!

I turned on the TV this morning as I sat in front of it and carried Baby C to collect her pee….. to be sent to the hospital for a urine FEME test.  I switched the Astro channel to Travel & Living and what came on was Anthony Bourdain and his travel adventures.  In that particular episode, Bourdain was interviewing a woman with punkish hair dyed bright pink.  Sher was also watching TV with me. She skipped school today as she’s still having a bad runny nose and I do not want to be an inconsiderate mummy and dump her in school and let her virus spread to other kids.  

When Sher saw the woman with pink hair, she kept bugging me, telling me that she also wanted to have pink hair *slap forehead*

Sher – Mummy, I want to have pink hair too… 2 colors… pink and brown….

Me – what? Only silly people dye their hair pink. Little girls can’t dye their hair pink.

Sher – I want….

Me – people will laugh at you. Won’t you get embarrassed?

Sher – No… I like…. I want pink hair… 2 colors (and showed me the peace sign with her fingers, showing 2!)

When Baby C saw Sher, Baby C smiled and cooed.  Baby C loves to see her 2 older sisters and will always smile and squeal in delight whenever she sees them.

Sher –  mummy see, baby also says she wants pink hair, just like me….

… and she went on to bug me for pink hair for almost an hour.

Later, I tested her….

Me…. later when daddy is back, I’ll ask him to bring you to the hair salon to dye your hair pink ok?

Sher then gave me a doubtful grin, stuck her tongue out and nodded her head!

No. of times viewed = 167

Happy Mooncake Festival…. I’ll Ditch The Mooncakes And Eat Water Caltropes Instead!

Just want to wish all my readers a very happy Mooncake or Mid-Autumn festival.

It’s another ordinary Sunday for us today. We skipped church today as Sher is still having a very bad cough and runny nose. Luckily Aly’s fever has subsided and I do not have to bring her to the paed’s clinic. I was worried sick when Baby C’s nose was slightly blocked this morning but thank God, she’s ok now. Almost everyone in the house is down with runny nose and a bad throat, except for my mil and me. I really hope Baby C won’t get bitten by the bugs. I’ve been stuffing myself with lots of fruits and veggies to up my immune system and hopefully, I won’t get bitten by the nasty cold bugs too.

Though it’s Mooncake Festival today, I’ve vowed to refrain myself from gorging on mooncakes as I’ve gained 1kg over the past 1 month from eating mooncakes 🙁   I just can’t resist the Shanghai mooncakes that hubs’ aunty made and the mooncakes that my sil bought from Peninsular Hotel, Hong Kong.

Perhaps, I’ll try leng kok or water caltrope tonight. My mil bought some leng koks from the market last week and we’ll be boiling them for Aly and Sher to try tonight.

Do these leng koks bring back some of your sweet childhood memories?


A close-up pic of water caltropes. Don’t you think that the water caltropes resemble black buffalo horns?

No. of times viewed = 436

Lunch At Xenri Japanese Restaurant

Apart from retail therapy, whenever I am under stress, I will ask hubby to bring me to a fancy restaurant and I will gorge myself full with grub to de-stress myself. Not too healthy a hobby eh?

Anyway, after Baby C’s third jab on Wednesday, I was feeling so stressed up that I went to one of my favorite Japanese restaurants for lunch. Xenri Japanese Restaurant is located at Wisma Elken at Old Klang Road. They serve very good and tasty Japanese food and the interior decoration of the restaurant is very soothing.


I ate this Bento set (minus the rice).

Alycia and Sherilyn were of course the happiest as they can go gai gai after school…. on a weekday, which is quite rare.  When we got home, all of us ate cakes (bought from our favorite bakery, RT Pastry House).  It was their ‘yee por por’ (mil’s god-sister)’s birthday and they got to blow the candles on the cake. 

There were 6 adults and 2 toddlers and hubby ordered 8 bento sets!  Check out the other mouth-watering bento sets that we ordered.

No. of times viewed = 438

Cheap Does Not Mean Cheesy

People always say that cheap things equal cheesy quality but I beg to differ, well, sometimes. Ever since I left the corporate world and lost my financial freedom, I have stopped buying branded stuff. I used to shop till I drop and would buy things for myself and for the girls without any second thoughts, but not after I became a SAHM. I am now much more prudent in my spending. I never took a second look at Tesco-made, Carrefour-made or Guardian-made toiletries and baby stuff but now, I am buying them by the loads!


Tesco-made panty liners and wet tissues are cheap and nice to use too! I even buy the Tesco brand of disposable baby diapers and the quality is just as good as Drypers or Pet Pet. Errmm, Baby C is allergic to the Tesco wet tissues and her bum will get all red after I used the Tesco wet tissues on her bum. I only use these wet tissues on my 2 older girls or to wipe the kids’ toys and other things.

Have you tried the Tesco-made and Guardian-made brand of toothbrush for kids? They are really cheap and no-frills and I buy them for Aly and Sher since I change their toothbrush very often, like once a month. I find them just as good as other branded toothbrush, minus the cute cartoons on the handle of the toothbrush.

So cheap things can also be good to use!  That’s how I stretch my ringgit to the max…. by buying cheap toiletries!

No. of times viewed = 307

Updates On Baby C’s Breakthrough UTI

Brought Baby C for her 4th dose of antibiotics jab via intra-muscular today.  As usual, she wailed her lungs out.  The dr. ordered another urine FEME test to see if the WBC (white blood cells) in her urine has dropped.  A urine bag was used this time.  I prefer this method of collecting her urine than other torturous methods like inserting a catheter into her urethra or carrying her with her legs apart (she hates this method though it’s not painful).   We waited for almost an hour in the hospital just to collect the urine…. and I had to nurse her several times so that there’s enough fluid in her body.

The urine test showed that the WBC had dropped from 80 to 10+, which is a good sign that the infection is subsiding.  But I’m still worried sick that she will get another UTI attack.  It really breaks my heart to see her poked many times when the dr. searches for a vein (in vain) and subsequently jabbed with very painful intra-muscular antibiotics jab each time she has a UTI attack.  I just have a feeling that she will get another UTI attack.  Oh boy, I am being very very paranoid and pessimistic here…… I must shake this thought away from my mind before I go bonkers! 

No. of times viewed = 235

Baby C Is Creeping

Despite having frequent UTI attacks, Baby C is one tough cookie who is as adventurous and active as her 2 boisterous cheh chehs.  Since last week, she’s been trying to creep on her crib.  So I dug out the old gym mats that I had previously bought for Aly and Sher to crawl and lay them on the floor for Baby C to practise her new found feat.  Boy did she love being on the gym mat.  She’s been eyeing to be on the floor with her cheh chehs for the longest time and finally her wish was granted.  When placed on the gym mat, Baby C started to creep backwards and side ways, which was exactly what Aly and Sher did when they were Baby C’s age too.  From backward creeping, they progressed to forward creeping and advanced to crawling.  Fyi, creeping and crawling are an important milestone and are very beneficial for the development of the baby’s brain.  I learnt that from a forum which preaches the teachings of Glenn Doman.

The 2 cheh chehs encouraging baby to creep.


Alycia was very protective of her baby sister and was worried that baby would fall and knock her face on the floor. So she lay nappies everywhere on the floor lol!

Alycia cheh cheh making sure that the gym mat was lay nicely for baby to creep.

No. of times viewed = 360

Shingles Or Herpes Zoster

Did you know that after you have had an attack of chickenpox, the virus falls asleep or dormant in certain nerves in the body? When the virus becomes active again in these nerves of a person after many years, the person will get Herpes Zoster Infection or Shingles. Often, only one attack occurs. If an adult or child is exposed to the herpes zoster virus and has not had chickenpox as a child or received the chickenpox vaccine, a severe case of chickenpox may develop, rather than shingles. When Sherilyn got bitten by the chickenpox virus about a month ago, she had a very mild case of attack. She appeared well, ate well and was just as active as before. I guess that’s because she has had a chickenpox vaccine when she was 1 year+ of age. Anti-viral medication such as Acyclovir is normally used to treat patients. This medication can stop the virus from replicating.

This announcement was paid for by Epocrates.

No. of times viewed = 204

Baby C Has Another UTI And Needs Admission

but I can take home leave so that we don’t have to stay in the hospital. Baby C is attacked by the E Coli bacteria (again) and Klebsiella bacteria (which is a strong bug) this time and she needs to have an IV line on her hand for antibiotics to be jabbed through the line. As expected, the dr. could not locate the vein on baby’s chubby hands and feet and she was poked 5 times!!! This time, I requested to be with Baby C in the Procedures Room and my request was acceded as I am considered a ‘regular’ at the hospital.

It was REALLY traumatic for Baby C this time as she was poked 5 times (thrice on her hands and once on each of her foot) as the dr. and nurses searched in vain for a vein. She was screaming with all her might in pain and even her favorite frozen water-filled teething ring or my embrace could not subdue her. The sight of the dr. poking the needle into Baby C’s hands and feet and injecting the antibiotics, in the hope that he had injected it into the vein, only to be rejected when blood oozed out through the needle was just too much for me to bear. Whenever this happened, it meant that the antibiotics wasn’t injected into the vein (well, I think that’s how it works. That’s why finding a vein is very important). The procedure looked as if Baby C’s skin was being skewered as the dr. pushed and pulled the needle back and forth through her skin, like a piece of chicken meat being skewered for bbq and it takes a strong heart to see the entire procedure.

After half an hour of torture and screaming for Baby C, the dr. gave up and said he could not find the vein and said that he will administer the jab via intra-muscular, which was very painful. That was the 6th time Baby C was poked within an hour.

It was another very stressful day for both Baby C and me and we have 4 more days to go as she needs 5 doses of antibiotics jab.


Back home, Baby C was all smiles again when she saw her 2 sisters.  Luckily babies have short-term memory and Baby C will not remember any of these when she grows up. See the bandage on both her feet?  There were 2 more bandages on her hands but I removed them coz Baby C was chewing on them.

Baby C’s UTI attacks are so frequent that I have my drawer stocked up with urine bags and sterile bottles!

No. of times viewed = 361

HEALTH FREAK MOMMY