Happy New Year 2009

This is my very first new year being a mom. Last year hubby and I went out to celebrate but this year he will continue to go out with his clients while I am going to stay at home to accompany a sleeping Hayley :-(. In the previous years, I will normally be busy performing at various New Year eve shows :-). Christmas eve and New Year eve are the best days for a dancer. Some can earn up to RM1k in just 1 night. As dancing is my passion (I don't dance for a living), I am just glad that I was able to earn an extra income doing what I love. Those were the fun and wild old days...

Now, at this very moment, I am at home updating my blog, hubby is preparing to go out, Hayley is sound asleep and my dancing buddies are all out there shaking their booties and earning a thousand buck :-). I guess I will hit the sack soon and will not be waiting for the clock to strike 12.

If you ask me today if I miss dancing, my answer would be a BIG YES. If you ask me if I regretted being a mom, my answer would be a BIG NO :-).

Anyway, papa Hayley and me would like to wish everyone here a HAPPY NEW YEAR! May 2009 brings you good health (most important), good luck, plenty of wealth and happiness...

My first swim

Cadence ceh ceh is behind me

Mummy bought me a new swim wear from Triumph at RM59.90. The smallest size they have is 'S' which mummy said it meant for those 1 year old and above. As I am only 10 months old and I have a smaller built, mummy will have to sew the swim wear for me.

Mummy and aunty Alice (mummy's sister aka Caitlin's mom) brought me to the club on Christmas day and I experienced swimming for the very first time. I was scared at first, sitting at one spot and didn't dare to move about. But after about 10 mins of warming up, I enjoyed it very much. Mummy put me in a float and I kicked my legs while holding tight to the float. I was having a lot of fun. As the weather was rather gloomy, mummy only allowed me to play in the water for about 15 mins. I sneezed a couple of times and mummy being the paranoid person she is, quickly bundled me up and changed me.

I would love to go swimming more often in the future.

10 months old, another milestone

My baby is finally 10 months old (well officially she was 10 months old 13 days ago.. hehe). In another 2 months she ain't going to be a baby anymore and I am sure I am going to miss calling her a baby.

Now that she's 10 months, she has achieved quite a lot.. hmmm... let's see.

She can now:
- clap her hands
- wave bye bye or hello (same type of waving)
- put her hands together and do the 'gong xi gong xi' gesture (I thought her that cause CNY is just around the corner) haha
- cruise around steadily although she can't walk or stand up unassisted yet
- climb up 2 steps on the stairs (not sure why she's stopping at 2, maybe fear, maybe she's not ready, we don't know)
- constantly making the 'oorrr, chiak, mum mum or ehhh... ' sounds. Oorrr is her all time favourite
- pointing at some of the things we mention such as birds (she even tried to make the bird sound and sometimes her pronounciation is very clear), fan, dogs, TV, toys, books etc
- she understands some basic words such as 'mum mum (food), nen nen (milk), let's go, gai gai (go out)' etc. When we say let's go, she will crawl very fast towards us knowing that we're going out :-)
- kick her legs when we ask her to (thanks to the Your Baby Can Read CD)
- raise her 'arms up' when we ask her to (thanks to the Your Baby Can Read CD)
- pay attention when watching her favourite shows or CDs (she can mimick the sounds of an elephant from the Baby Einstein CD)

She is now getting naughtier by the day. Putting her to nap is becoming a challenge. We have to force her to nap although she is already showing the 'I am tired' signs. She will never nap or sleep on her own. When we go out, she will never nap unless when we're in the car (where she has nothing to do or nothing to see). She always enjoy crawling here and there and poking her fingers into everything and anything. She also likes to pick things up from the floor and putting them into her mouth :-(.

When I brought her to my sister's, she refused to nap as I predicted. I guess she enjoyed all the new surroundings, toys and her little companion (Caitlin who is 3 weeks younger than her). Sometimes it makes me wonder if she's actually choosing where she would like to nap/sleep. What if we take her for a holiday? Will she end up not sleeping or napping because the place is not familiar to her? Should I introduce her to 'sarong' to make it easier?

Hair loss

I've lost quite a lot of hair from the time Hayley was about 3 months old till 9 months old. That is 6 months of hair loss! I was so fed up of sweeping the floor (I have white tiles, imagine that) and cleaning up clogged drain after I've washed my hair. I can even see bald spots when I look at myself in the mirror (what a horror). Thank God it has all come to an end.

When Hayley was about 3 months old, my mom warned me that the moment she learns to smile at me, I am going to lose my hair. And as most babies would be able to smile when they are 3 months old, this is just a mere coincidence :-).

So why are we losing our hair? Read below:

"Here's what's going on. Normally, about 85 to 95 percent of the hair on your head is growing and the other 5 to 15 percent is in a resting stage. After the resting period, this hair falls out — often while you're brushing or shampooing it — and is replaced by new growth. An average woman sheds about 100 hairs a day. During pregnancy, increased levels of estrogen prolong the growing stage. There are fewer hairs in the resting stage and fewer falling out each day, so you have thicker, more luxuriant tresses. After you give birth, your estrogen levels take a tumble and a lot more hair follicles enter the resting stage. Soon you'll have more hair coming out in the shower or on the brush. This unusual shedding will taper off and your hair will be back to its pre-pregnancy thickness about six to 12 months after you give birth. By the way, not all women notice dramatic changes in their hair during pregnancy or the postpartum period. Among those who do, it tends to be more obvious among women with longer hair."

Imagine how much we sacrificed just to have a baby - our body, our health, our lives and now our hair :-). We definitely deserve more love from our baby :-)

Long weekend

We initially wanted to start CNY shopping this weekend since it will be a long weekend but we've changed our mind since our little girl is still not well yet. We don't want to risk bringing her out when she's weak and vulnerable to germs. And then we thought of my mom :-).

We'll ask her to come over on Monday (cheeky grin) to babysit while papa and I go shopping ... yay! It has been a long time since we both went out on a date just the 2 of us. Its about time.

Hopefully mum would be available to help. Let's keep our fingers and toes crossed!

Just in case you're all wondering why don't I ask my mum to babysit Hayley since she's around, well, my mum still works and she mentioned to me from day 1 that she will not babysit. It will tie her down and she will lose all her freedom. My mum enjoy working 5.5 days a week and spend 0.5 day playing mahjong and the remaining 1 day just 'lepakking' at her home doing nothing. Well, that's my mum!

Pediatrician, are they reliable?

This incident with Hayley and the throat infection and rashes made me think twice about trusting a 'so called' child specialist. I'm going to tell you the story and you judge for yourself if you think they are reliable. Well, it wouldn't be fair for me to criticise all the pediatricians out there but at least this one deserves to be questioned. She is a Dr Wong from Klinik Pakar Kanak-Kanak Wong.

mid Sat: fever develops. Temperatur ranges from 37.6 - 39.1. Highest was 39.1 on Sunday night.
Monday evening: brought her to the clinic and first dose of Zithromax given.

Tuesday: Behaviour extremely grouchy and cranky. 2nd dose given at night. Spotted some mild rashes (that appears like red dots) around her neck and behind her ears.

Wednesday: I called the doctor in the morning to inform her that Hayley developed some mild rashes around the neck (it was still mild then), she told me to monitor the situation and let her know if the rashes spread. Come evening, the rashes spread to her face, back and vaginal area. She told me to stop giving her the antibiotic and continue to monitor the situation. She said the rashes would peak for 3 days and then they will subside. She also adds that the diarrhea would go away immediately after we stopped the antibiotic. We decided to stop giving her the last dose. Behaviour still grouchy and cranky.

Thursday: The rashes got even worst. Now her front and her legs have them too. It is as if the rashes are travelling downwards. She even had 4 bowel movements and the discharge was watery hence her buttocks were very very sore. Her face and eyes were slightly swollen too. I called the doctor at night and asked her if this was normal and if I can change her formula to Lactose Free formula until her diarrhea gets better. Guess what she said? She said this is not an allergy! This is a type of stomach flu and I should bring Hayley in for her to check on so she can prescribe some medication for the diarrhea. This caught me off guard and I didn't know how to react. I asked her if I can monitor Hayley for the night and see if she gets better with the LF formula. I asked her if this is ok and most importantly safe for Hayley. She then said yes I can monitor tonight and bring her in tomorrow morning. Her behaviour improved slightly.

It wasn't that obvious in both the photos but those patches are actually rashes

Friday: The rashes subsided and the diarrhea GONE! Her face returned to normal too. Behaviour was much better too.

What if I listened to the doctor and brought her to the clinic and gave her those unnecessary medicine? My poor girl would be traumatised yet again!

My mom was an ex nurse and I told her Hayley's symptoms. She told me they were definitely symptoms of allergy. If it was a type of stomach flu, why didn't the symptoms appear when she had those fever? Why did the symptoms only appear when the fever was gone? What was the logic behind the diagnosis - stomach flu causes rashes??

Honestly, I think I need to get another child specialist but I would like to stick to the same doctor who knows her history (if I can). We've been visiting this doctor since day 1. The papa isn't happy with her as well and I guess we need to start looking for a better one. Her next vaccination will be in February (1 years old) and I hope we'll be able to find a better one by then. If not, I definitely would not hesitate to tell her off this time if she gets impatient with her clients again!

One after another..

I found out today that Hayley is allergic to Zithromax (the antibiotic that the doc prescribed for her throat infection). This is the 1st antibiotic prescribed to her and she developed severe rashes throughout her body especially her face, neck, head, back and her vaginal area. Luckily she isn't scratching yet else I honestly don't know what to do. My husband and I are not allergic to any medication (at least not that I know of) and I am not sure why my little one is. Maybe its just plain bad luck.

I called the doctor this morning when I spotted some red spots around her neck. The doctor asked me to check her again later in evening and she said if she is allergic to this med, the rashes would spread and I should stop the antibiotic. I should be giving her the 3rd and last dose today but we have decided not to (approved by the doctor of course).

When I picked her up from the babysitter in the evening, I was shocked to see her forehead, neck, behind her ears, under her eyes and back were all red and spotty. She also had mild diarrhoea (her stools are watery, frequent but in small quantity). She is also very grouchy and easily agitated so we are sure that something is wrong and she is feeling very uncomfortable. It is so unlike her as she used to be very happy and playful - my poor baby. The doctor said the rashes would peak up to 3 days and then it will slowly disappear. I have to continue monitoring her to see if the fever would return (hopefully not) and if the rashes would subside (hopefully so).

Sigh... I don't see my sister's kids having such problem and I often wonder why my little baby has to suffer.. was it my fault? I don't know. And as she suffers, we suffered too... double sigh.

I just hope that everything would go away soon... praying hard, praying very hard!

The culprit - THROAT INFECTION

We went to the clinic last night and the doctor confirmed that her throat is infected. The infection causes fever. As Hayley is at a stage where everything is food to her, we are not the least surprised. Doctor said we just have to try and keep her toys and hands clean as much as we can to avoid this from happening again. Poor girl had to be on antibiotics for 3 days (or 5 days if fever still persists) for once a day and Ibuprofen which will treat her fever and sore throat. No wonder she woke up in the night crying, I guess her throat must have been dry and it hurts.

We gave her the antibiotic for the first time last night. Boy, that was like mission impossible. I don't understand why she hates 'sweet' medicine. I envy those moms whose babies will ask for medicine. Envy Envy.. She cries and cries and twist and turn. I dread each time when I have to give her the med.

I also want to mention about the experience we endured at the so called 'Child Specialist Clinic' last night. The doctor checked on her and what appears to be something she is familiar with scared the hell out of her. I used to check her temp using the ear thermometer and she is always fine but of course I got to tell her that I am going to check her ears (I dont know if she understands :-)) but the doctor simply just took out her tool and insert it into her ears and asked me to grab her hands while another nurse grabbed her head. Imagine what my little girl would be thinking? She immediately started crying and wrestling to break free. I was caught off guard as well and was so tempted to tell the doctor off. Being a doctor who deals with kids, she needs to learn the tricks and have a little more patience. But I guess she has a lot of patients waiting outside and can't afford to be patient. Sigh...

After the ear check, she went on and pressed her tummy, checked her eyes, her hands and feet and finally she checked her throat (all these while she continues to cry). As she uses the wooden thingy (sorry I dont know what it's actually called) to press on her tongue she must have gone too deep that my little girl vomitted. She vomitted for like 5 mins non stop and she was crying and howling and coughing and vomitting all at the same time. She was so scared that the moment the papa came to the rescue, she immediately clung on to him and continued to vomit onto his shirt. I have never seen her this scared before. I controlled my temper else I would have given the doctor a piece of my mind!

After the whole drama, she told me we had to take her out for a while and let her calm down. Give her a little bit of water to wash her mouth and then let her check the throat again to confirm. WTF! Anyway, for the baby's sake, we took her out again, played with her for a while and sent her in to be tortured again. As expected she cried the moment she sees the doctor's face. The doctor did it quickly this time and carefully and confirmed her throat is red. We left after paying them for torturing our baby.

When we got home, we also wanted to check her temperature and the moment we insert the ear thermometer into her, she cried. This is the first time she cried when we take her temp.

All the experiences a baby has to go through will leave a deep mark within them and I always believe that we have to make the first experience pleasant so it won't frighten them. I wish all the people out there who deals with babies ie caretaker, paeditrician, baby sitters, teachers etc would at least be professional enough to know what they're doing or at least to know this simple rule. SIGH....

Fever yet again... SIGH

Hayley had fever over the weekend. It started on Saturday with mild fever ranging from 37.5 - 37.8 but it got higher at night. As high as 38.4! I gave her some medication and she seems to get better after the medication but the fever would return after 4 to 5 hours.

On Sunday night (ie last night), her fever went up to 39.1! Shocking. This is the first time her fever went up that high. I am not sure if I should freak out and rush her to the doctor but she seems to be playing and eating like normal so I continued to give her the medicine every 5 hours and monitor her temp regularly (the ear thermometer is soooo good). She had fever about a month ago as well but it was mild and it went away in 2 days with only 2 dosage of the fever medicine. This time it seems to take a little longer.

The only difference I noticed about her this time is that she will stick to me like glue all the time and cry when she can't see me. She will be playing with the papa but the moment I sit near her, she will crawl towards me and sit next to me and continue to play. She also woke up more frequently in the night, crying and asked to be carried. I also tried to put wet towels on her forehead and reducing the room temperature but it doesn't seem to help. BTW, she dislike me putting cold towels on her forehead. She will pull the towel away or wriggle her head to break free. I also tried to use the Baby Cool Fever but she dislike it as well. Do you know of any other methods that works on a baby that you could share with me?

I was told this is normal as its parts and parcels of a baby growing up - scientifically: they are putting all sorts of things in their mouth and getting all sorts of germs which sometimes causes fever OR superstitiously: they are growing up and the bones are stretching which causes fever.

Does this happen to other babies out there too? Is this really normal? Or is there something wrong with Hayley and I should get her checked out?

I am just so tired and worried.