Monthly Archives: April 2009

Colorful Meal

I double boiled some beet root + chicken soup for Baby C the other day.  She loved the soup to bits.  Here’s her colorful dinner:


Porridge with purple sweet potato, pumpkin, organic purple cabbage, fish, pork and garlic; beet root soup and E.Excel’s Nutrifresh.


Double boiled organic beet root with chicken breast soup. The soup was really sweet, though it had a tinge of raw taste.  Nevertheless, my sweetiepie finished every drop of her bowl of soup.

Food For Thought :

Nutritional Benefits Of Beet Root

Beets are loaded with vitamins A, B1, B2, B6 and C. The greens have a higher content of iron compared to spinach. They are also an excellent source of calcium, magnesium, copper, phosphorus, sodium and iron.

While the sweet beet root has some of the minerals in its greens to a lesser degree, it is also a remarkable source of chlorine, folic acid, iodine, manganese, organic sodium, potassium, fiber and carbohydrates in the form of natural digestible sugars.

Its iron content, though not high, is of the highest and finest quality that makes excellent food that is blood building. This renders it highly effective in treating many ailments caused by our toxic environment and surrounding.

Health Benefits

Beets have long been known for its amazing health benefits for almost every part of the body. And yet, it is something that very few people take, much less its juice.

Start adding beets to your juicing diet to enjoy all its heavenly goodness:

Acidosis: Its alkalinity is essential and effective in combating acidosis.

Anemia: The high content of iron in beets regenerates and reactivates the red blood cells and supplies fresh oxygen to the body. The copper content in beets help make the iron more available to the body. A great blood builder.

Atherosclerosis: This wonderful crimson juice is a powerful solvent for inorganic calcium deposits that cause the arteries to harden.

Blood pressure: All its healing and medicinal values effectively normalizes blood pressure, lowering high blood pressure or elevating low blood pressure.

Cancer: Betaine, an amino acid in beet root, has significant anti-cancer properties. Studies show that beets juice inhibits formation of cancer-causing compounds and is protective against colon or stomach cancer.

Constipation: The cellulose content helps to ease bowel movements. Drinking beets juice regularly will help relieve chronic constipation.

Dandruff: Mix a little vinegar to a small cup of beets juice. Massage it into the scalp with your fingertips and leave on for about an hour, then rinse. Do this daily till dandruff clears up. Warning: you will smell awful during this hour!

Detoxification: The chlorine from this wonderful juice detoxifies not only the liver, but also the entire system of excessive alcohol abuse, provided consumption is ceased.

Gastric ulcer: Mix honey with your beets juice and drink two or three times a week on an empty stomach (more frequently if your body is familiar with beets juice). It helps speed up the healing process.

Gall bladder and kidney ailments: Coupled with carrot juice, the superb cleansing virtues are exceptional for curing ailments relating to these two organs.

Gout: Another ailment that can be greatly helped by the cleansing that beets have to offer.

Liver or bile: The cleansing virtues in beets juice is very healing for liver toxicity or bile ailments, like jaundice, hepatitis, food poisoning, diarrhea or vomiting. A squeeze of lime with beets juice heightens the efficacy in treating these ailments.

Varicose veins: In similar ways that it helps to keep the elasticity of arteries, regular consumption of beets juice also helps prevent varicose veins.

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Lean Food Premium Organic Yoghurt

This is the organic blueberry yoghurt that I bought for Baby C. It’s a tad sour and my sweetie-pie didn’t like it. I had to put some homemade pineapple jam to sweeten the yoghurt. But I really like this yoghurt, especially the mango flavored one. This yoghurt is really smooth and has generous amount of fruits.

Next time, I’ll just get my sweetie-pie strawberry yoghurt by Dutch Lady since she likes this brand of yoghurt.

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Baby C’s Breakfast

This is Baby C’s breakfast today:

Freshly squeezed orange juice, Millenium cactus juice with probiotics, organic blueberry yoghurt, hard-boiled egg yolk mashed with avocado, some crushed Pureen baby biscuits and a dollop of unsalted butter.

I find that the organic blueberry yoghurt by Lean Food (made in Australia) a tad sour for Baby C’s liking. I added some homemade pineapple jam (which my mum made) to the yoghurt for a tinge of sweetness…. but still my sweetie-pie didn’t quite like the yoghurt. When I mixed the yoghurt with the eggs, she ate them. My sweetie-pie has started to get fed-up with hard-boiled egg yolks. I now have to alternate it with steamed egg and fried egg.

I try to feed Baby C at least half an egg a day to boost her weight increase and to strengthen her immune system and body so that she’s one healthy baby with an average weight by the time she goes in for her surgery in a week’s time.

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Appointment With New Pediatric Surgeon In Penang

Our appointment with the new pediatric surgeon (who was referred to us by a pediatric surgeon in London) went well. This surgeon seemed very thorough, patient, confident and assuring. After a lengthy discussion, we were given a date for Baby C’s surgery. We will have to check into the hospital on the 4th of May, where an IV line will be set up on Baby C’s hand that night. The surgery will be carried out early the next morning and Baby C most likely have to be hospitalized for 4-5 nights.

Baby C was also prescribed a new antibiotics (Trimetoprim) after being off antibiotics for a week (when the E.Coli bacteria became resistant to all 9 of the antibiotics tested in the sensitivity test). I am praying that Baby C will not get another UTI from now until the day of the surgery coz if she does, the operation date has to be postponed again.

In the meantime, I hope to be able to feed Baby C more food so that she can gain a little weight. The surgeon said that Baby C is a little underweight. The surgery will have a higher chance of success if the child is bigger. This has to do with the size of the bladder and ureter or something to that effect. I don’t really know how to explain it but the doctor did mention about the size and weight of a child and their relation with the success rate of the ureter reimplantation surgery. Feeding Baby C and making her interested in food is a challenge for me now. My sweetiepie seems to get bored with a single type of food pretty fast and I have to keep changing menus and giving her new food to whet her appetite.

We were told by the surgeon that the success rate of the ureter reimplantation surgery is 97% – 99%.


Petite Baby C on the king-size bed in Northam Hotel in Penang. She cried and screamed throughout the 1-hour flight from Subang to Penang. When we finally reached the hotel, she was all smiles again 🙂

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Baby C Losing Interest In Porridge… But Has Interest In Adult Food!

Baby C has started to lose interest in her porridge for the past few days. It would be a struggle for me to finish off feeding her the bowl of porridge and it normally takes at least an hour for her to finish her bowl of porridge and her bowl of soup.   The easiest way out would be to put on her favorite VCDs and sit her right in front of the TV. Otherwise, she would scream and turn her head left and right to avoid the spoonful of porridge when I’m half way with her porridge. What interest her most is adult food… food on the dining table… food not meant for her… food that doesn’t taste bland…. food that she can chew, though she doesn’t have teeth.  I have let her try some of the food that we eat and she loves steamed eggs with minced pork and fried fish. She even eats raw yellow bell pepper! I am not keen to start her with adult food just yet as our food has soy sauce, dark sauce, a little salt and other sauces (with preservative and perhaps MSG hidden in the sauce). If she didn’t have issues with her kidney and an impending surgery, I would start blending up rice with dishes to feed her, just like what I did with Sherilyn when she was a year old.

When we are back from our trip in Penang, I will stop cooking porridge for a week and try feeding her with something different to whet her appetite for food. I plan to steam fish with pumpkin and sweet potato and mash up steamed brocolli with fish and butter for a start. Do you have any other interesting suggestions for a 12-mo baby?  My baby likes savoury food and she has no teeth yet :S

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Baby C’s Meals When We Travel

With our impending trip to Penang this Thursday, I am now worried about Baby C’s meals.  She only eats porridge and has no interest in cereals or jar food.  I am now cracking my head on what to feed her during our 1.5-day stay in Penang.  This being said, I will still buy a pack of chicken flavored cereal to bring to Penang and feed her with it.  Will also bring along some butter buns, which she likes. If she doesn’t want to eat cereal, she will survive on breast milk, buns and egg yolks!   Should be ok wat right… as it’s only for 1.5 days.

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Appointment With A New Pediatric Surgeon In Penang

We will be taking a flight to Penang this Thursday to meet with the pediatric surgeon / pediatric urologist who was recommended to us by a pediatric surgeon in London.  Our appointment with the pediatric surgeon, Dr N will be on Friday, at a private hospital in Penang. 

This will be Baby C’s first time on board an aeroplane and I hope she’ll behave well on the plane.   Anyway, it’s only a 1-hour flight.    I hope everything will go smoothly in Penang this week and that the surgery can take place next week.  This is one big hurdle for my sweetiepie and me this year and I hope that everything will be over and done with and behind us soon.

Over the telephone, this doctor sounded pretty confident that Baby C’s problem can be fixed with a clear-cut surgery, i.e. a ureter reimplantation.  We’ll see what he says when he sees the MAG 3 scan report and films.  I hope what the surgeon had told me is true and that Baby C’s problem can easily be fixed with the ureter reimplantation surgery.

This 2-day trip to Penang will cost us over RM1k… and hubby is about to break his wallet soon with the impending surgery…. and more trips to Penang. Haiz….

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Mashed Egg Yolk With Avocado

Baby C doesn’t like to eat her hard-boiled egg yolk on its own. I have to add butter, some fresh milk, some crushed biscuits, yoghurt or some bread to the egg yolk every morning. Yesterday, I added avocado to it. I thought she wouldn’t eat them but boy did she like them. I’m glad she likes avocados as avocados are an excellent first food for babies.

With its smooth and creamy consistency and delicate, nutty flavour, the avocado should be given the title of ‘Nature’s Baby Food’. Not only is the taste and texture ideal for a baby food beginner, the avocado is an unrivalled, all-round, complete food for infants – with an impressive list of health-giving properties.


Mashed egg yolk with unsalted butter, a little fresh milk and avocado. Yums and good stuff!

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Surgery Most Likely Done In University Hospital PJ

The pediatric surgeon in London has referred us to see a pediatric surgeon in University Hospital PJ. We were informed that this doctor from UH, who has years of working experience in London is a skillful surgeon. We will be getting the details of this surgeon from hubby’s uncle tonight. Hopefully we can make an appointment to see him next week and hopefully the surgery can take place in a week or two.

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Update On Baby C’s Surgery

We have just received feedback from the surgeon in London.  The pediatric surgeon is of the opinion that there is no necessity to do a partial nephrectomy (partial removal of the right kidney, i.e. the upper pole of the right kidney).  He has recommended that a ureteral reimplantation be performed.  We have however not received the complete details yet.  Hubby’s uncle who is a surgeon in London will be helping us find a good pediatric surgeon in KL who can perform the surgery on Baby C. While I am glad that my sweetie-pie doesn’t need a partial nephrectomy, I am also anxious and worried that the ureteral reimplantation surgery will not be successful. 

Our doctors have told us that many complications (which would lead to more infections) could arise in a ureteral reimplantation surgery.  Sometimes, several surgeries will be required to fix the complications, if the first surgery is not successful in fixing the problem.  I know complications can also happen in a partial nephrectomy. In fact in every surgery, complications can happen.  I can only pray that God will help us find a good pediatric surgeon, that there will be no complications before, during and after the surgery and that Baby C will be free from UTI attacks and kidney reflux after the surgery.  Please pray for us.

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