Monthly Archives: October 2008

October 8th, 2008
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Update On Baby C’s Urine Test Report

The report for the urine culture done on Friday was out on Monday.  The  WBC (white blood cells) have come  down from 10-15 to 2-4.  Also, the Klabsiella bacteria is no longer in the urine… praise the Lord!  But there is still a scanty growth of E Coli bacteria in the urine… which both our nephrologist and pediatric surgeon said is nothing to be worried about.  BUT of course I am still worried.   As long as bacteria is still lurking in the urine, I’ll be worried. 

Today, I collected Baby C’s urine to inspect myself.  It looked clear and no foul smell too.  Baby C was fussing, whining and screaming as I carried her and my maid was collecting the pee.  I put on a Baby Bright VCD for her to watch… which could only distract her for a mere 5 minutes, afterwhich she struggled and cried again.   I could no longer hold her when she kept struggling and arching her back.  Guess what I did then?  I let her latch on my left teat and lulled her to sleep with her diaper removed … coz she was actually very sleepy…. whilst my maid collected the urine holding a specimen bottle.  It was really funny!  She managed to pee a wee bit but that was enough for me to see the clarity and color of the pee.   *Wipes away sweat from forehead*  I guess I will have to do this for the next few years until she is diagnosed free from Kidney Reflux.  Tell me how to go on a vacation when my entire day is filled with back-breaking chores that I must do for my beloved baby? 

I shall list down what I do every hour of the day for Baby C in my next post.  Stay tuned…

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Cassandra, Kidney Reflux, Urinary Tract Infection
October 8th, 2008
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Crazy Over Sesame Seeds

Who? Me of course! I love anything that’s healthy and wholesome. I love anything that has sesame seeds or sesame seed oil in them. I especially love to sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds on my food –


on my bowl of sugar-free yoghurt for breakfast, together with walnuts (a brain nourishing food) and other seeds and nuts….


on my toast, together with black sesame bread spread and peanut butter…


and on my prawn and pork porridge too.

Sesame seeds are very low in Cholesterol and Sodium. They are also a good source of Calcium, Iron, Magnesium and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Copper and Manganese.

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Healthy Food, Me
October 7th, 2008
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Our New Panasonic Water Filter

We bought a new water filter 2 weeks ago after I caught our maid putting un-boiled filtered tap water into our kettle used to store drinking water.  One of the reasons that could have contributed to the E Coli bacteria entering Baby C’s body system, causing her frequent UTIs is through drinking water. E Coli bacteria is also found in water and is water-borne too.  We currently have a huge water filter outside our house and another small Panasonic water filter in the kitchen.  These water filters have no bacteria-reduction function.

With this Panasonic water filter, the filtered water can be drunk directly from the filter without the need to boil the water. However, we are still boiling the water to be doubly safe. This water filter can supposedly remove 99.9% bacteria from the water.

Here are some of the functions of the water filter :

Produces Alkaline Water
Produces Acidic Water (for face washing)
Hollow Fibres filter
Powdered Activated Carbon
Granular Activated Carbon
Bacteria reduction rate 99.99%
Purified water flow 2.0 liters/min
Shower / Stream selector lever
Cartridge Life Indicator
Made In Japan

With this expensive water filter, which cost over RM2k, I hope it can help prevent another bout of UTI attack on my poor baby. 

Some of our friends recommended Diamond and Elken water filter but these brands are even more expensive. 

Do you have a water filter at home? 

Do you find that after installing an expensive water filter that is supposedly health-enhancing, your health has indeed been enhanced? 

Do you and your kids fall sick lesser after the installation of an expensive water filter? 

I would love to hear your comments.

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Healthy Living Products
October 6th, 2008
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Organic Omega Soy Flax Meal

I bought this can of flax seed powder from the orgnanic shop for Aly and Sher last week.  It contains organic flax seed powder, organic soy protein, organic soy powder, cane sugar and Oligosaccharide. It is also rich in Omega 3, 6 and 9 – a heart and brain nourishing food.

I meant to give it to Sher who has been having probs poo pooing as this product is supposed to be high in fiber and is supposed to improve colon health, helps fight constipation and encourage friendly bacteria to grow.


The powder tastes a little like grated coconut and raw soya beans.  Sher who is always very open to new food and doesn’t mind taking supplements liked it…. but not Alycia who is super sensitive to health supplements or anything that doesn’t look good in her eyes, sigh….. Her eyes turned watery and she almost wanted to puke when she tasted a little of the powder. I think it’s all in the mind coz the powder doesn’t taste that bad after all but she keeps telling me that she doesn’t wanna put that stuff into her mouth.  She wouldn’t want to eat it despite getting bribes and threats from me!  Sigh….. only Sher and I are eating this good stuff now.

That’s how I put the powder into Sher’s food :


I sprinkle a little onto her wanton mee…


a little on her eggs….


and a little on her yoghurt.

I used to blend flax seeds into her rice and dishes when Sher was 1-2 years old.  Flax seeds contain essential fatty acids and these oils are essential for the function and structure of the brain, improve cognition, memory, moods and concentration.

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Healthy Food
October 5th, 2008
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My Little Brat’s Naughty-Looking Legs

Do you not agree with me that most naughty or rather mischievous kids have their legs and hands covered with scars and bruises? Sher’s legs are covered with mozzie bite marks (though our house is netted), fall marks and blue black marks. Her forehead has a scar from a fall. She fell and cracked her forehead on Valentine’s Day this year but thank God, no sutures were required. Her left thumb was once squashed by a steel door in the kitchen and the bone chipped. Isn’t she a quintessential of a ‘kwai kar’ or rascal?


She got the blue black mark after her trip to MegaKidz on Thursday. She climbed to the peak of the equipment and cried up there and careless daddy was not around! Someone’s kakak brought her down.   Alycia was my whistle blower.  She always reports to me what she and her sister did outside.  Next time, I will make sure daddy watches the 2 gals closely or ask our maid to follow them to MegaKidz.


But Sher can really melt your heart with her wittiness. She is also very sarcastic and can outwit everyone with her words all the time.

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Sherilyn
October 4th, 2008
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Nature’s Own Colostrum

Alycia and Sherilyn had finished their bottle of Pureen chewable fruit-flavored colostrum for kids. So I asked hubby to get them another bottle from the pharmacy. He went to a few pharmacies but none of the pharmacies sell the Pureen brand of colostrum. So he bought a bottle of Nature’s Own brand of colostrum. 

The minute Alycia (who is very sensitive to new food and new taste) saw the chewable white tab, which was really long, she cringed and gave me the ‘I want to puke’ look.  I managed to bribe her into putting the tab into her mouth.  For a couple of minutes, she didn’t want to close her mouth and saliva was dribbling out from her mouth. When she finally chewed the tab, she puked….. and all the food that she had eaten came pouring out!  Oh gawd… it didn’t taste that bad but I guess she hated the plain flavor and texture which I must admit felt like eating chalk lol!  Even I don’t like chewing it.   Sherilyn who is always quite adventurous when it comes to eating health supplements gave it a try but didn’t like it either.  Not wanting to force them eat the tab, I am now popping the colostrum every morning, together with my other vitamins… but I ain’t chewing them either and am swallowing them down my throat with my glass of milk.

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Nutrional Supplements For Kids
October 2nd, 2008
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My Daily Fix = Smelling Soiled Diapers

Ever since Baby C had her first serious attack of Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) when she was just a few days shy of turning 2 months old, I have a phobia of smelling foul smelling pee in her diaper.  Foul smelling pee means that there is most likely an infection in her urinary tract system. Each time I change her diaper, I would instinctively smell her soiled diaper, not just once but many times. I would sniff so hard that my nose would touch the soiled diaper. At times, my nose would be playing tricks on me when I imagined that the pee smelled foul, i.e. like the pee of someone who had eaten petai or stinky beans the day before. On a second sniff, it didn’t smell foul afterall.


I don’t throw the soiled diaper away immediately. I would put it aside first and after putting a fresh diaper on Baby C, I would then carefully inspect the diaper by checking the color of the urine in the diaper and then sniff the diaper, which btw makes me look like a crazy soiled diapers-addicted mum lol! But hey, this can be life-saving yer know. At the onset of an infection in the urine (which can first be detected from the smell of the pee) , she can be treated immediately. If I wait a little longer, the mild infection could accelerate into a full-blown UTI with fever and vomitting and requires hospitalizatin.

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Cassandra, Kidney Reflux, Urinary Tract Infection
October 2nd, 2008
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Incontinence After My 3rd Cesarean

My first Cesarean went quite smoothly and I was already feeling great several hours after I was pushed out from the OT, albeit I was itchy all over my body and face and was still shivering, as a result of the spinal cord anesthetics.  There wasn’t much pain either.  My second post Cesarean (after a gap of 14 months from the first Cesarean) was really painful and I felt really sleepy when I was wheeled out of the OT.  My 3rd post Cesarean was the worst.  Not only was it painful, my guts were also inflammed and I could not fart for 2 days!  The wind was playing tricks inside my guts big time for 2 tormenting days, every single minute of the day for 2 torturous days! 

Well, long story cut short, when I was back home, I was absolutely horrified when I woke up one night feeling wet on my pants.  That was around 5-6 days post Cesarean.  I was utterly upset and worried that I felt no sensation that my bladder was full when I was in a lying down position – supine or on my sides.  It was as if my bladder was numb when it was full!  I could not believe that I was incontinent and for Pete’s sake, I was only 35 years old…. how young can that be to be incontinent!  The same thing happened the following night.  OMG, I was absolutely devastated.  I immediately got an appointment to see my gynae who did an ultrasound scan on my womb and bladder but found nothing wrong with my bladder, save for a small patch of blood clot (or maybe fibroid) next to my womb.  My gynae advised me not to drink anything a couple of hours before going to bed and to empty my bladder frequently to prevent bed-wetting.   I did what was told and because I was so conscious about going to the loo, I could not sleep peacefully and woke up almost every hour to pee!  My hubby even had the cheek to rub salt to the wound by jokingly asking me to wear adult diapers!  I felt like giving him a big punch on his face!  

Over time, I regained sensation of my bladder and I have not had any bed-wetting anymore.  I wonder if anyone else experienced what I had experienced. 

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Post C-section
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