Monthly Archives: February 2009

February 6th, 2009
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Feeding Baby C Fruits

Baby C loves most fruits. So far, I’ve given her papayas, red dragon fruits, oranges, apples, plums, grapes, strawberries, pears, peaches and yesterday, gave her avocado.

Peach is one of Baby C’s favorite fruits, next to strawberry. I love peaches too, they are my favorite. Love the fragrance, the texture and the sweetness of the peach.

For those who start their babies on solid foods earlier than the recommended 6 months of age, peaches are an easy to digest first food for those between 4-6 months of age. Peaches may be poached, steamed or baked. Please be aware that peaches tend to loose their nutritive value with prolonged cooking. Baking peaches or steaming them may be the best choice of cooking for optimal nutrient retention.

Food For Thought:

Peaches are high in Vitamin C and Vitamin A and they contain a great amount of fiber. Peaches are known to have a diuretic affect and also are a natural laxative. Along with Prunes, the Peach is a great fruit to give to your baby if constipation has become a problem.

Nutriotional information on peaches (one medium size) :

VITAMINS:
Vitamin A – 524 IU
Vitamin C – 19 mg
Folate – 5.5 mcg
Niacin – .97 mg

MINERALS:
Potassium – 193 mg
Phosphorus – 12 mg
Magnesium – 6.9 mg
Calcium – 5 mg
Selenium – .4 mg
Also contains trace amounts of iron, zinc, manganese and copper.


Baby C can wallop this small bowl of peach within minutes.

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Baby Care, Cassandra, Feeding baby solids
February 4th, 2009
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Bringing Baby C To The Gym

This morning, Baby C woke up pretty early.  She woke up at the same time as me at 6:30am and despite me nursing her, she did not go back to sleep.  Normally she would doze off again but not today.  It’s really a problem for me if she wakes up this early coz the mere 1 hour that I have in the early morning is the only me time that I have to do whatever that I need to do.  I was all dressed up to go jogging but if she’s awake, my plan will be thwarted.  I wanted to strap her into her stroller and bring her jogging along with me but after the stroller mishap 3 months ago, I now have a phobia of going jogging with her on the stroller.  So I quickly changed her diaper, gave her a teething rusk, took a packet of wet wipes with me, strapped her into her stroller and off I went to the gym with her. 

I placed the stroller next to the treadmill and then began to work out. Baby C was good and didn’t fuss coz she had a teething rusk and was munching on it but that only managed to keep her still for 20 minutes, after which she started to get restless.  She played with her teething rusk and messed up her stroller.  I had to press pause on my treadmill to clean her up.  She also tried to wriggle her way out of the strap.  After just 22 minutes running on the treadmill, I gave up and left the gym.  Well, 22 minutes of running on the treadmill is better than nothing.  I hope she doesn’t wake up early again tomorrow.

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Cassandra
February 3rd, 2009
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Surgery Will Take Place Later This Month

Hubby and I have decided that the surgery takes place later this month.  My main concern of not wanting the surgery to take place so soon is because Baby C is having a mild runny nose now.  I think it’s always good to go for a surgery when your immune system is strong.  Moreover, I am also having a mild cold and am not feeling too good.  I will call our surgeon tomorrow to find out from him when he will be back from his leave.  Will also ask him if it’s going to be an open surgery or a laproscopic surgery.

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Cassandra, Kidney Reflux
February 2nd, 2009
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Baby C Needs Surgery

We met our pediatric surgeon today.  After looking at the MCUG and IVP films, our surgeon concludes that a surgery is definite.  The surgery is called a partial nephrectomy. 

Our surgeon explained to us that Baby C has 2 problems. The first problem – Baby C has a Duplex System on her right kidney. There is a single kidney on the right side but the kidney is separated into 2 portions as she has 2 ureters. The upper portion of the kidney is swollen caused by one of the ureters that is most likely blocked. In this surgery, our surgeon will remove the upper portion of the kidney, which makes up to about 20% of the entire kidney. The lower portion of the kidney will not be removed.  The good news is that her left kidney is perfect and with 1 3/4 kidney, she can still lead a normal life.  In fact, we can even live with just 1 kidney.  Our surgeon also informed us that though this is a major surgery, it is nevertheless a safe surgery.  He doesn’t even need to prepare blood bags.  Loss of blood and mortality rate are low.

The second problem – the other right ureter is refluxing the urine back to the right kidney. Hopefully after the partial nephrectomy surgery, Baby C will have lesser or no more UTIs. As for the reflux problem, our surgeon told us that most kids will outgrow the problem. If however Baby C still has the reflux problem in 2-3 years’ time, another surgery called a Uretal Reimplantation surgery will be considered to fix the reflux problem. Baby C still needs to take the oral antibiotics after the surgery for another 2 years or until she outgrows the kidney reflux.

Our surgeon suggested that the surgery be carried out soonest possible to prevent further damage to the right kidney, especially to the lower portion. He suggested that the surgery be carried out this Thursday as he will be away from the 16th onwards. This decision to operate immediately came as a surprise to us and I’m still not 100% ready for Baby C to go for the surgery so soon. I know it’s best for her, well hopefully. There will be more discussions with hubby and his uncle who is a surgeon in London today. We will have to come up with a decision by tomorrow. If the surgery takes place on Thursday, Baby C and I would have to admit ourselves to the hospital on Wednesday night.

Please pray for us everyone….

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Cassandra, Kidney Reflux
February 1st, 2009
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The Hospital Is Like Our Second Home

Lately, Baby C and I have been spending a lot of time at the hospital and there seems to be endless trips to the hospitals. Just this week, we were at the hospital twice and tomorrow, we’ll be going to the hospital again. This time, we have an appointment with the pediatric surgeon. Well, I believe there’s a reason by God behind all these. I may not see the reason now but I’m certain I will soon see His will.

Anyway, there’s no point wallowing in self-pity, feel sorry and ask God why all these are happening to my baby. I just have to trust Him that he’ll take care of my baby and me.

Whilst waiting for our doctor to arrive yesterday, Baby C got really restless. So we let her crawl on top of an empty table to let her release her pent-up energy.  She did not crawl for the whole of Friday as she was sedated and practically crying and screaming the whole day. 

Tomorrow we’ll know when Baby C needs to undergo the surgery. Pray hard for me peeps, that whatever it is, Baby C will soon be healed from kidney reflux and that she will suffer from minimal pain and discomfort.

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Cassandra
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