Monthly Archives: November 2008

November 30th, 2008
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Steam Fish And Cereal For Baby C

That was Baby C’s dinner 2 nights ago – 1/3 of a fish and organic brown rice + organic banana porridge + 1 teaspoon of Isomil formula.  Whilst she liked the fish, Baby C didn’t quite like the cereal.  I guess that’s because she’s having a slight runny nose, slight cough and some phelgm.  Poor baby, everyone in the family took turns to have the cold and she wasn’t spared too.   I guess the cereal must have irritated her throat coz she kept coughing when I fed her the cereal. 

So last night, I ditched the cereal.  I gave her some winter melon + pork ribs + barley soup with some mashed up fish and voila, she loved the soup… and the fish too but too bad, she can’t even finish the fish (1/3 again).  Her appetite is really small and she still likes breast milk best.  Oh well, it may be a blessing in disguise as breast milk has all the nutrients and is still the best whilst processed baby food may cause her allergies.  Will try cooking some rice porridge with fish / chicken /pork / veggie for her soon.

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Cassandra, Feeding baby solids
November 29th, 2008
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Feeding Baby C Antibiotics

The recent antibiotics that the doctor prescribed to Baby C has been the worst by far. It didn’t smell that horrid but it was bitter and left a bad sensation in the mouth. I tasted a little and even I felt like puking. No wonder poor Baby C kept puking each time she was forced fed with the antibiotics. Poor baby, I really hope she doesn’t have to eat antibiotics anymore, ever. Even her appetite has decreased, must be the side effects of the darn antibiotics.

Baby C used to love grape juice and grapes bits. I used to cut up the grapes into small bits and then squash them to get the juice.


Black grapes and plum juice.

Recently, I used grape and plum juice as treats for her to go with her antibiotics.  I would put drop by drop of the antibiotics on a teaspoon of grape and plum juice but Baby C would still puke later.  The aftertaste  was so bad that it wrecked havoc inside her mouth and little tummy. 

For the past 1 week, she puked everyday, sometimes twice a day, whenever she was fed the horrid tasting antibiotics. I really dare not check her weight now.  Her weight had recently gone down by 200gms and with all these puking, it must have dropped further.

Before the hospitalization, Baby C loved her cereals. Eversince she was on the horrid tasting antibiotics, she hated her cereals. In fact, she hates everything that is being fed to her using a spoon. My poor baby has now developed a phobia of anything fed to her using a spoon.

Yesterday, our pediatric nephrologist changed her antibiotics. Thankfully she did not puke but she still struggled and cried when it was force fed to her. Sigh…. poor baby, poor baby. Praying hard that all these will end soon.

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Cassandra, Kidney Reflux
November 28th, 2008
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Antibiotics Changed… hopefully no more puking

Poor Baby C puked again last night when I fed her the antibiotics. I managed to force it all down her throat with some yoghurt and freshly squeezed grape juice. As a treat, I gave her some squashed black grape bits to chew on. Seconds later, she puked! I was absolutely frustrated coz my maid and I had spent more than half an hour to feed her the meds and we had to spend another half an hour feeding her the antibiotics all over again. I almost wanted to cry.

This morning I called up the pediatric nephrologist and asked her for another antibiotics that tastes sweeter. Hubby collected it in the morning. Just now, I went to the mini market and stocked up some Heinz pear juice, Heinz yoghurt and strawberry dessert, some rusks, some Calci-Yum and a tub of Haegan Daz ice-cream. Just in case Baby C pukes again tonight I have all sorts of treats to go with her meds. Our doctor also suggested giving her some jams to go with the meds. Keeping my fingers crossed that Baby C would not reject the new antibiotics tonight.


Baby C woke up from her nap the other day with one side of her cheek looking like a wafer! She had slept on her tummy on her blanket with lines.  

Notice the rash on her cheeks?  That’s caused by the cereal and milk.  I think she has an allergy to cow’s milk.  I have just bought her a tin of Isomil.  Hopefully the rash will subside with her Enfalac A+ being replaced by Isomil.  I mix her cereal with a teaspoon of infant formula twice a day.  Other than that, she’s still fully on breastmilk.  I really hope her weight will go up.  I know it’s hard coz her appetite is really poor after the recent hospitalization stay.  With the daily puking during meds feeding time, it’s a tad difficult for her weight to go up.  Sigh…. why does she have so many problems?

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Cassandra, Kidney Reflux
November 27th, 2008
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Baby C’s Ok Now

No more fever….
Urine collected today and tests done. Initial urine test showed no growth of bacteria. WBC is 1-2 which is normal…..

but I am still unhappy? Why?

Because I just have this phobia that the bacteria will wreck havoc and attack her again. I just can’t imagine what it would be like for us to go through the hospitalization again if she has another UTI attack. Hate the endless poking and pricking by the doctor on baby, hate the IV drips, hate feeding her oral antibiotics, hate to see her puke in pain, hate collecting baby’s pee endless times with her struggling and yelling away, hate waiting for the results, just hate the whole grueling process of baby being hospitalized for UTI.  And oh yes, hate having hubby digging deep into his pocket to pay the hospitalization bills coz they are all not covered by the insurance!   My poor baby will surely be terribly traumatized if she has to go through another hospitalization and be put on IV drips. Though her urine is ok today, it can turn bad tomorrow. I am so paranoid now…. depressed too….

Haiz….. have faith in God girl!

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Cassandra
November 26th, 2008
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Baby C Has Fever

…. after her third PCV jab (Prevenar jab for Pneumoccocal) last night. The fever developed at around midnight and her temp is still hovering at 37.7 – 38.4 degrees Celsius. But I am holding back on the PCM (paracetamol) as I just don’t like the idea of her little body taking too much meds. As it is now, her body is already overloaded with meds. Moreover, after the recent hospitalization for another UTI attack, she has developed a phobia of taking oral meds. For the past 1 week, she has been puking almost everyday when I feed her the antibiotics. Can you beat it that my maid and I had to spend over half an hour to an hour to feed her just 1.1ml of antibiotics? That’s around half a teaspoon. I have tried everything as treats for her but nothing seemed to work. This morning, she puked the antibiotics out again. I called the pediatric surgeon to ask for suggestion and he said to cut down the antibiotics from twice a day to once a day at 2ml.

I have been sponging and showering Baby C the whole day. As at 4pm today, I have already showered her 3 times. I find showering and sponging her body a very good way of reducing the body heat.

Baby C has been quite listless and sleepy today. Nevertheless, she still ate her cereal with fish and she ate till she dozed off in my arms! I hope that her fever will ease off by this evening.


Baby C with her Disney fever patch that koo mah bought from Hong Kong.

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Cassandra, Fever in babies
November 25th, 2008
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New Food For Baby C Everyday

You wouldn’t believe how underweight Baby C is.  At 7.5 months, she only weighs around 6.72kg, a drop of 200gms from last month.  Each time she has a UTI, her weight is bound to drop as she will also have purging.  Purging and UTI go hand in hand.  So whenever she has purging and her diaper area becomes red and sore, I will have panic attacks for I  know a UTI is  underway.  Anyway, I am trying to increase her weight by letting her try new food almost everyday. 

She has been eating organic brown rice for babies and organic banana rice for the past 2 weeks. 2 days ago, I bought her a tin of Nestle rice and soya cereal. I have also bought a tin of Enfalac A+ and each time I feed her cereal, I will add a teaspoon of Enfalac A+ to the cereal. She doesn’t eat a lot though.  Her appetite is just like Sherilyn’s when  Sherilyn was Baby C’s age. Both Baby C and Sher are really small eaters and not the type who are crazy over food. Unlike Baby C and Sherilyn, Alycia is a real foodie just like her daddy and she has a ravenous appetite since birth. In fact Alycia was slightly overweight when she was a baby. 

Coming back to Baby C, I have also been feeding her with soup, bread, Heinz teething rusks, baby carrots (she doesn’t eat them though, she just likes biting them with her gums), black grapes and freshly squeezed grape juice, Australian peaches and apples. 

Baby C loves the Heinz teething rusks and fruits but she ain’t really interested in cereals. I find that I am forcing her to eat her cereals coz more often than not, she would whine and stuggle when she has eaten about half the amount of cereal in the bowl…. unless she is really hungry.  She would then fuss and whine until she gets her milkie directly from mummy’s teat teats.

I am really concerned with Baby C’s weight.   If she has another UTI, I know her weight will drop further.  I have been praying really hard that her weight will increase and that she will not get another UTI attack.  Oh how I wish Baby C is all grown up now and free from Kidney Reflux. 

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Cassandra, Feeding baby solids, Kidney Reflux, Urinary Tract Infection
November 23rd, 2008
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I Cut My Own Baby’s Flesh!

Nothing makes you feel bad enough than living with the guilt that you had hurt your own child. On the day that Baby C was hospitalized for yet another UTI attack and had to be put on IV drips last Friday, I had accidentally cut her flesh whilst trimming her finger nails. They say that sometimes when it rains, it pours and I find this adage so true. I have never ever cut my 3 gals’ flesh before when I trim their nails and why of all days, I had to accidentally cut Baby C’s flesh…. of all days and of all my 3 kids? Why must it be Baby C who had already suffered so much pain? Sigh…..

The bleeding was profuse and it took me over an hour to stop the bleeding!! It wasn’t really a deep cut but I didn’t know why the bleeding was so profuse. I heard the sound ‘jhop‘ the second I pressed the nail clipper on her supposedly finger nail.  I tell you, I was scared to death that she would bleed to death! I had used the compression method by pressing on the wound but the bleeding wouldn’t stop. Jinx, jinx, jinx… that’s all I could think of on that day. It was a pathetic scene. Baby C already had a bandange and an IV line on her right hand and her left thumb was bleeding profusely with blood everywhere on my clothes and on the floor. Oh gawd, I prayed and prayed so hard that the bleeding would stop. Finally, I bandaged the left cut thumb with some gauze and surgical tapes and the bleeding subsided a tad. Though bandaged, I could still see blood seeping out through the gauze. I was really, really scared and worried! After more than an hour, the bleeding stopped. I felt as though my heart was cut into a zillion pieces. I just can’t imagine how those parents who had accidentally caused the death of their child must have felt. The feeling must have been suisidal!

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Cassandra, Me
November 22nd, 2008
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Phobia Of Anything Fed To Her Using Spoon And Syringe

When the IV line was prematurely taken off from her hand on Monday night, Baby C had to be given oral antibiotics (Zinnat) at the hospital. Zinnat must have tasted yucky coz Baby C bawled big time and struggled until she puked. Hubby and I spent over half an hour in the hospital coaxing her and forcing the meds into her mouth. I really feel so sorry for Baby C. I really hate forcing my kids to swallow their meds coz I had a real traumatic time eating antibiotics (the stinky and bitter pink colored ones) when I was 8 years old. When I kept throwing up the antibiotics, my parents forced me to drink it too… and in the end, I still puked.  That incident is still etched in my mind and because of this, I am really very patient when it comes to feeding my kids meds coz I know how terrible it feels swallowing those yucky stuff, only to have it forced out again painfully.   Anyway, back to Baby C.  When we finally forced fed her 6ml of antibiotics,  she puked everything out in the car…. all on my pants.

After the incident in the hospital, Baby C has developed a phobia whenever we feed her anything using a spoon or a syringe. The moment I put a bib on her, she would start crying and the minute she sees me holding a spoon, she would turn her head left and right to avoid the spoon or syringe, struggle, push my hand away forcefully, squeeze my hands and purse her lips. It’s a real struggle feeding her antibiotics now and she has to take antibiotics twice daily for 2 weeks. This evening, my maid and I spent over 30 minutes just feeding her 1.2ml of antibiotics. That’s only about 3/4 teaspoon but Baby C was struggling, crying and puked….. and I had to feed her all over again. I used a quarter slice of white bread, 1/2 a banana, a black grape and a small carrot stick to let her chew on to go with the meds but she still puked.    She is terribly terrified of meds after the hospital incident and I hope she will get over this phobia soon coz she has to be on antibiotics for a few more years until she outgrows her Kidney Reflux.  It is really exhausting feeding her the meds everyday.  I forsee the situation will only get worse as she grows coz she will gain more strength to struggle and push me away.  I can only pray that God will heal her from Kidney Reflux and get us both out from this nightmare soon.

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Baby Care
November 21st, 2008
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My Check-Up At The Gynae’s Office

I finally moved my butt after being kicked by hubby several times and made an appointment to see a gynae today.  I was supposed to see the gynae who delivered my 3 gals for a follow-up ultrasound scan of my uterus to see if the fibroid (which was detected during my yearly check-up before I was preggers with Baby C) is still there.  Since hubby is busy, I fixed an appointment to see a female gynae at the hospital near my place.

When I saw Dr Jason in April this year a few days after I had delivered Baby C, he had asked me to return to see him for a follow-up ultrasound scan in August.  With my endless trips to the hospital with Baby C due to her recurring UTIs, I have put my own health behind me and focused on Baby C.  What prompted me to see a gynae was that I was worried that I may be having vaginal yeast infection. I was worried that I would be passing my infection to Baby C as she’s still breastfed exclusively. 

Anyway, the ultrasound scan (abdomen and vaginal) showed NO fibroid in sight.  I was and am still in disbelief.  How can the fibroid disappear so quickly coz when Dr Jason did the ultrasound scan in April 08, it was still there.   Also, the gynae checked my down under and said there’s no yeast infection…. and I am in disbelief too coz I had it about 2 weeks ago.  I am such a wimp and hypochondriac, ain’t I?  Hubby told me that since I don’t trust any other gynaes except my fertility specialist (who is one of the best and most detailed gynaes I have seen), I should make an appointment to see him for another ultrasound scan.  Yup I will but I just hate the idea of having a male inspect my down under.  I will wait and procrastinate again.

Anyway, the female gynae who saw me today told me that vaginal yeast infection will not pass from me to my baby through breast milk.

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Me, Uterine Fibroids
November 20th, 2008
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Hole In Baby C’s Hand

That’s the hole caused by the IV line on my poor baby’s hand.  The IV line was to have been removed on Wednesday morning but when the nurse tried to put the antibiotics drip through the line on Monday night, she noticed that my poor baby’s hand was swollen and the hole has enlarged, thus making the antibiotics fluid drip out from the hole. 

Gotta put Baby C back to sleep now. To be continued…..

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Cassandra, Kidney Reflux, Urinary Tract Infection
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