Category Archive: Alycia

It’s The Thought That Counts

This Disney Pumbaa sticker is very special, both for Baby C and me because Alycia took it from her precious collection of stickers she got from Hong Kong Disneyland recently and gave it to Baby C.

This morning, I told Alycia that tomorrow I have to bring baby to the hospital to get an antibiotics jab.  Alycia knows that her baby sister has ‘kidney reflection’ (kidney reflux but Alycia keeps saying kidney ‘reflection’) and always needs jabs.   In the past, I’d borrowed her toys to bring them to the hospital.  She knows that I need toys to distract baby when the doctor gives baby a jab.  So this morning, just before going to school, she ran to me and said lovingly to me “mummy, I give baby something.  This sticker is for you to bring to the hospital tomorrow.  When the doctor give baby injection, give this sticker to her to make her happy”.  At that time, I was busy tying up my princess wannabe’s hair and just said “thank you” and didn’t really look at the sticker.  But my caring Alycia insisted that I kept the sticker and she put the sticker into the pocket of my shorts.    When I saw the sticker after they had gone to school, I chuckled looking at the sticker.  On one hand this caring cheh cheh was thoughtful enough to have given her baby sister her precious sticker but on the other hand, she picked the ugliest cartoon character for her baby sister LOL!   It’s the thought that counts right?  She’s still a very, very loving and sweet cheh cheh to Baby C.

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Alycia Gave Us A Scare

On the night Alycia returned from her vacation in Hong Kong 2 days ago, she gave us all a scare. When she got home from the airport, she appeared very frazzled and her cheeks were very rosy. After her dinner, she told us that she was very sleepy and so she went to bed at around 9ish pm, which was very early for her.  At around 1:30am, she got up from bed and cried… which was a very rare incident.  She hardly cries these days.  First she said that her hand was very painful. There wasn’t any swell or any scar on her hand so daddy massaged her hand with his Perskindol deep heat   cream for pains in the muscles and joints.  After crying for about an hour, she told daddy that her leg hurt.  First pain in the hand, then pain in the leg.   Worried, daddy wanted to bring her to the hospital.  I told him that it’s not necessary as the doctor would probably just give her some painkillers and tell us to observe her.  I know those MOs in the ER too well!    I told daddy that we should just wait and see what happens the next morning.  After telling us that her hand and leg were achy, Alycia then complaint that her tummy was painful this time, haiz!    Minutes later, she said she wanted to eat biscuits!  I said no to her request as I didn’t want her to eat sticky and sweet food at 3am.  I then fixed her some milk which she finished.  After finishing her milk, Alycia requested daddy to play cards with her, which dadddy did at 3:30am!   After playing cards, it was already 4am and daddy could not open his eyes any further. He told Alycia to lie down on the couch in the living room and turned on the TV for her to watch Disney channel, whilst he slept on the floor to accompany her.   Alycia watched TV for about 2 hours before dozing off on the couch like this:

Daddy was so dead tired that he slept until 10am the next day.  As for Alycia, she woke up at 9am, then went back to bed after breakfast and slept all the way until 2pm.  When she woke up, I asked her if she had anymore pain in her hand, leg and tummy and she said no.  I think Alycia most likely overworked her legs and hands when she was at Disneyland!  And she really gave us all a scare that night!

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Both Older Girls Down

…with cough and runny nose.  With only 3 more days left before their trip to Hong Kong, I didn’t want to let them heal on their own, so I told hubby to bring them to the paed this morning.  Flying with a runny nose can be really disastrous and torturous as the ears will most likely get blocked.  My ears got blocked for several days one time when I had the sniffles and boarded a plane for a vacation.  Moreover, Alycia has quite a bit of phlegm irritating her throat and has been coughing and throwing up since yesterday.  She has no appetite and has not been eating much.  Alycia has not been this sick for many months and she must have caught the virulent bug from either one of us in the house as almost everyone is having the sniffles and cough lately.  The paed prescribed them with a cough syrup, a cold syrup, fever meds and a bottle of powder antibiotics (not reconstituted yet) to be on guard, just in case their condition worsens.  Praying hard that Baby C will not get bitten by the virulent bug too!

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Most Likely Indigestion

I think Alycia most likely had indigestion (a result of over-eating, mostly junk food) coz she did not purge and she stopped puking today. I’ve not given her any milk since last night until this morning and I think I will skip milk for her for the rest of today. It’s best is to let her fast and let her guts rest. The best diet is soup, juice and some plain crackers but guess what? This morning Alycia woke up very early and came knocking on my room door, waking up Baby C.  She kept telling me that she’s hungry… of course…… coz she puked last night after drinking half a glass of water and her tummy was empty the whole night.  She said she wanted milk but I told her that she can’t drink milk. Then she said this to me “mummy, can I bring all the Kit Kat in the fridge back to KL tomorrow?” This junk food lover remembers her Kit Kat and still wants to eat them. Looks like all the puking yesterday has not scared her a wee bit and she’s still undeterred to eat junk food! She is just as stubborn as her mummy!

Anyway, Alycia ate a slice of homemade multi-grain and multi-seed toasted bread, 2 slices of organic veggie and whetgerm crackers with homemade pineapple jam (my mum made it yesterday), half a persimmon and a glass of water, split into 2 sessions for breakfast today.   She also ate half a cup of Calci-Yum in the mid morning.  Now she’s eating kon loh mai fun (rice vermicelli with some dark sauce) that koong koong bought.  Hopefully she’ll be A-ok.

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Hallucinations Arising From High Fever

I got a scare outa my wits one time when Alycia had high fever and started to have hallucinations. That happened 2 years ago when she was almost 3 years old. She was having high fever for a few days, despite being on medication and one morning, she woke up and told me that she saw a snowman at the window and she appeared to be in a daze!  I thought she had brain damage resulting from the high fever and quickly brought her to see the pediatrician.  She also had rashes resulting from the high fever, which hubby and I were worried sick that it was Dengue fever.  The dr ordered a blood test done and thank God, all was well.  In fact, Alycia’s fashion is that whenever she has very high fever (above 38.5 degrees Celsius), red blood spots and rashes will appear on her face and body.  After noticing this trend several times, I no longer get worried when she gets blood spots and rashes when she has high fever now.  My mum told me that I used to be like this too when I was a toddler, so I guess it’s all in the genes.

Alycia is very prone to getting fevers. In fact, she will have fever whenever she has a throat infection (something which she gets very frequently as she has a sensitive throat, just like daddy and mummy) or runny nose. Each time her body is burning with a high fever, she tends to have a mild hallucination and will say things that she will not say when she is normal, which is really scary. As she grew older, the high fevers are lesser now, thank God! But she is still pretty much prone to having throat infections and can’t eat too much heaty food like biscuits, chocolates, crackers and deep fried food.

Here’s an article on hallucinations and high fever, which I obtained from the internet :

A high fever, especially in children, can evoke hallucinations, consciousness changes, or dream-like states that resemble hallucinogenic states. Requires urgent medical attention.Hallucinations can arise from a high fever or other illness involving a fever. These type of febrile hallucinations arise particularly in children and the elderly.Hallucinations can affect any of the senses: visual hallucinations (seeing things), aural hallucinations (hearing noises or voices), taste hallucinations, or sensory hallucinations.

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Alycia’s Hip Dysplasia

continuation from Hip Dysplasia.

Our Orthopaedic surgeon suggested that we try a non-invasive and non-medical method of treating Alycia first before deciding on a medical treatment plan for Alycia. Since Alycia was only 5 mths old then and her bones were still soft and not fully developed yet, there was still hope and high chances of ‘intervening’ the formation of the bones. Alycia had to be put on double diapers for 4 months and she was to be carried and put to sleep in certain positions in the hope of pushing the hips back to the socket. We spent lots of money on diapers for the next 4 months. Alycia was also very uncomfortable and hot in double layer of diapers 24 hours a day for 4 months.

4 months later, a scan and x-ray revealed that Alycia’s hips were symetrical and perfectly in place. When the dr said “I can now confirm that your daughter is ok and does not need to see me again”, I almost wanted to scream. That was another happiest day of my life. Thank God, my prayer had been answered again, it was trully a miracle.

So to all parents whose babies have some kind of imperfections or another, do not give up hope. Pray and miracles do happen.

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Battling PCOS And Infertility

I will never forget that particular morning in December 2000 at the office of my first gynae. After experiencing very irregular periods, spotting, unexplained weight gain, acne on my face and moodiness for a few months, I just knew there was something really wrong with me. That prompted me to drag my feet to the gynae’s office. After a scan of my ovaries, Dr Fan told me that I had Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome or PCOS in short. When I heard that diagnosis, I was really stunned and horrified. What the heck is that disease? Dr Fan then gave a brief explanation of this disorder and drew out a step by step treatment plan. Wah, wah, wah, wait a minute, what is this laser treatment to ‘drill’ holes in my ovaries and did you just say PCOS will cause infertility? You are saying I can’t conceive? I just couldn’t absorb so much info in a mere 20 mins or so in the clinic. So I went home in a daze and for the next few days, weeks, months and 2 years or so, there I was, surfing the net to study my ‘disease’ and how I can treat it. Dr Fan told me that there is no cure to the disorder but the symptoms can be treated. The symptoms are unexplained weight gain, obesity, acne, hirtuism (excessive hair) and also loss of hair, irregular periods, insulin resistant, infertility, among others. PCOS is actually a hormonal imbalance disorder.

Long sob story cut short and fast forward a bit ok…… in summary this is what I had gone through :

Consulted 6 gynaes in 3 years.

Took 3 cycles of Clomid only to suffer 1 miscarriage which was the saddest day in my life.

Went thru Hysterosalpingogram or HSG which was by far the most painful procedure in my life.

Went thru Ovarian Drilling keyhole surgery so that my ‘eggs can be released from my ovaries’ .

Went thru years of emotional roller coaster, tears, fears, worries and pain.

Had uncountable number of trips to my gynaes’ office.

Burnt a big hole in my pocket for treatments and sustaining both pregnancies.

Went thru 1 cycle of Intrauterine (IUI) fertility treatment.

Went thru an extremely difficult and high risk pregnancy when carrying Alycia. Was on semi bed-rest for 5 months when carrying Alycia as I had symptoms of pre-term labour. Had spotting and threatened miscarriage when carrying Alycia and Sherilyn.

Never had so many jabs in my entire life before. I had more than 50 jabs in a period of less than 3 years.

Whenever my gals made me feel like giving up being a SAHM, I would sit back and think what I had gone thru to have them. When my gynaes told me that it wasn’t only me with problems but DH also had very poor little swimmers, I had almost given up hope of ever having my own babies. It was really double whammy. Even on the day of my IUI, my gynae had put on a ‘no hope’ look on his face and told me that DH had very poor little swimmers, i.e. only 3% was good. But God really does answer prayers you know, not only 1 miracle happened to me, but 3 in a span of less than 5 years.

Everytime when I think back on how much I had wanted Alycia, how anxious and worried I was for 10 months, the sleepless nites I had before each consultation with my gynae, I would hug Alycia tightly and tell her that she’s mummy’s little ‘precious baby’, the term gynaes use to describe hard-to-get babies.

Each time Alycia made me mad and boiling with anger, I’d think back what I’d gone thru just to have her and my anger slowly dissipates, like I had just gotten an antidote shot in my arm. The day I gave birth to Alycia was the happiest day of my life which no word can describe.

So to all mommies out there, every baby is indeed a miracle and a gift from God. Ain’t we just so lucky to have our own kids? Love and appreciate them more coz there are many women out there who are desperate and would do anything, just anything just so to have a baby of their own. Go give your lil’ ones a big hug tonite and say “mommy loves you very much” and thank God for them.

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Hip Dysplasia

When Alycia was around 6 months old, my 6 months of sheer joy of having Alycia, my beautiful first daughter came to an end when we were informed by our paed during one of the well-baby checks at the paed’s clinic that Alycia has ‘clicky hips’.  During a routine examination of Alycia’s legs and body, the paed told me that he heard some ‘clicking’ sounds on Alycia’s hips.  He then referred us to the orthopaedic surgeon for further evaluation.  I shall forever remember that day.  I really wanted to cry in the hospital.  This super imaginative lady here has super morbid thoughts and as usual, my mind fast-forwarded to the utmost worst case scenario.

Upon my return from the hospital, I immediately surfed the internet to find out more about hip dysplasia.

Here are some excerpts on Hip Dysplasia from Hip-Baby.org:

What Is Hip Dysplasia

Doctors should test every baby for hip dysplasia within moments of the baby’s birth, and also at many of the initial well baby doctor visits. These tests consist of the doctor moving both legs at the hips into various positions. The doctors are checking for symptoms such as “clicky hips”, or unexpected movement such as a loose or dislocated hip joint. If the doctor suspects hip dysplasia, she may perform an ultrasound (on a newborn) or have an x-ray taken. In our experience, the baby should be referred to a pediatric orthopedic doctor for a final diagnosis and treatment.

You, the parent, may suspect that something is not quite right with your child. Some common symptoms that you can detect include: the child may “crab walk” when cruising the furniture, her feet may be turned out so much that they begin to point backwards, or as shown in the picture, the folds of skin in her groin or on her legs are not the same (they are asymmetric).

The baby in this picture here is wearing a Pavlik Harness.

After reading the articles and information from Hip-Baby.org and other websites, I was devastated.  I imagined that Alycia would need to be in a Pavlik Harness, Braces, special shoes or worst, go under the knife.

to be continued….. 

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