All About Viruses

I’m finally back, after a long silence. It’s been a long recovery this time. Yes, I’m sick again (poor me) for the 3rd time during this pregnancy. Have been battling with a fever and a bad throat, which eventually turned into an iritating cough and a stuffy nose. But this time, I hardly took any medicine (except for the first day to get the fever down), which was also another reason why it took so long to recover.  

Maybe part of the reason was also because my daughter was sick too. I suspected that she passed the virus to me and hubby, and after she had recovered, we passsed it back to her. So, that’s why we’re sick one after another, like a merry-go-round, just that it’s not a tarry merry at all. But what troubled me the most was that my daughter suddenly got red spots all over her body, after her high fever (38.9′C) went off. The first thought that came to my mind was – is she having measles? But she’s had her MMR vacination a long time ago. If she’s really having measles, this would be really risky to the baby that I’m carrying now.

We took her to her paediatrician right away. He didn’t think that she’s having measles, but rather suspected Roseola instead. Roseola differs from measles in the sense that the fever goes down when the rashes occur, while for measles, the fever will increase. So, we were just given some allergy medication (Zirtex) and I’ve never given much thought to that. Even the paediatrician didn’t warn me to keep away from her, so I think it should be alright. He however, warned us that the rashes will become more and more in a few days time, which is another symptom of Roseola.

The following day, we noticed that instead of having red spots on her exposed area (face, necks, hands), they have spread to her whole body and legs. MIL suspected that it’s really measles. And my Mom was hysterical when she knew about it. She advised me to avoid contact with Sze Yi immediately. Well, for the past few days, I’ve been in close contact with her, except that I avoided sharing food and sleeping with her. Hubby took over and tucked her to bed (and she eventually showed preference for him over me now ).

Slowly everyone started to get worried and MIL took her back to stay with her so that she’ll not be in contact with me. And that’s when I started to google up these topics to find out how much a risk have I been exposed to. According to the sources, if it’s measles, then my baby might be affected if I got affected. If it’s Roseola, and if this is my first exposure to the virus, it might cause my baby’s immune system to be affected too, but if this is the 2nd or 3rd time, then I should be alright. Well, I knew I would be ok if it’s Roseola because Sze Yi had got this when she was 5 months old and hospitalized due to this (and I was with her in the hospital all the time), so at least this is not my first exposure to it. But what if it’s really measles? I was given the impression by my mom that even if I’m not affected this time, my baby might. Terrified, I called my gynae for consultation. She just asked me one question, “Have I got measles when I was small?”. I told her yes. Then she said I should be ok, it won’t affect the baby. And she went on to add that if it’s Roseola, I should be ok too, as the virus shouldn’t affect adults or pregnant ladies.

I was so relieved, but when I called back to check on Sze Yi’s conditions, MIL told me that even though her fever has gone down, the rashes marks were still there. The marks made her more certain that it’s German Measles. I still felt that it should be Roseola, so I called up my paediatrician to ask him. He also thought that it’s very unlikely to be measles, since her fever had gone down, and he suspected some virus instead. But when I asked him if this would affect me if I’m expecting, his reply was more on the conservative side – try to avoid contact if possible.

So, that’s why I have time to blog now. But I missed her terribly, and wished that I could be with her during this time. Anyway, hubby had gone to see and play with her,  and he told me she’s alright. I called her and tried to talk to her on the phone several times, but she always ran away and prefer to play instead! That’s my girl

Lil’ Sis

This year is going to be a very merry year. I have many friends who’re either expecting a baby or have just delivered. And I’ve heard many stories about how the elder child treat the younger one. Most, if not all, showed some sign of jealousy.

I’m not sure how Sze Yi would react later when the baby arrives. I’ve been reading on ways to prepare her for the 2nd one. When I found out that I’m pregnant, one of the first people that I told was Sze Yi. I told her that she’s going to be a big sister soon. At first, she didn’t show any sign that she understand me. But over time, as my belly was growing bigger and bigger, she seemed to be excited. And she knew baby’s in there. Everytime she sees me, she would say “baby”, and tries to pull up my blouse and point to my belly button. Sometimes I wonder if she thought the belly button is the baby, because she would want to touch that before saying baby. If I’m in a public place, I would not allow her to pull up my blouse. So she would end up crying. She would only be satisfied if she can see and touch my belly button everytime she wanted to touch or talk to baby. When we asked her to sayang the baby, she would kiss my tummy.

By the time she learned her first song, we asked her to sing to the baby. So, she’s been singing her favourite song, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star at my tummy (I wish I could record that down, as this is the first song that she could sing from start to end on her own, though some of the pronounciation was out a bit).  Well, something interesting happened here. One day, hubby tried to sing to the baby (you see, he’s not been communicating with the baby as frequent as when I was expecting Sze Yi, so he was feeling guilty about it). He started with one song (I forgot which one), but there’s no reaction at all. So, he switched to other songs, and still the same, no kicks. Then he started to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and guess what? The baby started to kick! So, it looks like she’s been listening to her sister singing all this while!

Recently, Sze Yi has started to massage for the baby, or rather my tummy. She would repeat the steps that I normally do on her to the baby (start with the eyebrows, then the eyes, gently pull her nose, make a smiley from her mouth, rub her ears, then hands, legs and back). But she only did the face portion with the baby. First, she would ask me to lie down. Then she starts by using her fingers as if shaping the baby’s eyebrows on my tummy, and then pull my belly button (as if pulling the baby’s nose. Hubby always asked me to stop her because sometimes she’s pulling a bit too hard!) and proceed with the smiley, etc. Well, she also used to massage for me, including my hands and legs as well, just like how I did to her.  I wish she would continue doing this when she’s bigger

I’ve also started to read her bedtime stories since Dec last year and she seemed to be enjoying it. It’s been a routine now, and she would request a certain story to be read. What turns out the most tiring thing is that she would want me to start over again when the story has finished. Well, at times, she would ask me or hubby to lie down and she started reading to us or the baby. Here’s how she would go, “Ali Baba,” turn to the next page: “Ali Baba,”, flip the page, “Ali Baba,” (repeating for every page until the last, and then followed by “The End”. And then she closed the book. She would expect a clap from us when she’s done.

Is she ready for the baby? Well, I’m not sure. There were also times when we told her that she needs to share her toys with the baby, and she would say “mai!”. I guess time will tell.

Our Little Peacemaker

I was having a small argument with hubby over a small matter last night. And much to my surprise, Sze Yi called me, “Mama”, and shook her head. I automatically understood her that she asked me not to argue anymore. So I said OK and kept quiet. 

Hubby was still driving then and didn’t see all this. Sze Yi was sitting on my lap at the back seat that time. So hubby continued with his lecture. And guess what our little angel said? She called “Dad Dad”. When hubby turned to look at her, she shook her head again. And immediately Daddy kept quiet too.

Not too long later, when we reached home, we found her asleep already! It’s amazing how a 2-year old toddler could understand things, ya?   

Mimi

 

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Template – HarvestSpice_VintageFrames by Shabby Princess
Alphas – HarvestSpice by Shabby Princess

A few weeks before Sze Yi’s birthday, I have been thinking either to get her a Barney or an Elmo birthday cake. And since I couldn’t decide so I asked her, “Sze Yi, do you want a Barney or an Elmo birthday cake?

She ignored me. I guessed she didn’t know what I was talking about. When her birthday was drawing nearer, I asked hubby’s opinion. Hubby referred that question to Sze Yi. And to our surprise, she answered, “Mimi”. We both knew that she meant Minnie.

Hubby and I tried asking her again, to really confirm if that was what she wanted because we didn’t give her that choice. We only said Barney or Elmo. And everytime we asked, the answer was the same. So, that’s it. Minnie then.

Hmm… if at two, she already knows what she wants for a birthday cake, imagine what birthday gift she’ll request in a few years time!

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2nd Visit to Dr. Sim

Hubby and I took half day leave today to take Sze Yi for her 2nd visit to Dr. Sim at GMC. He didn’t have night clinic, and from the previous visit it was such a long wait that we decided to take the second half off. Her cough has improved, but she just caught a cold and might be having a flu anytime soon.

Our appointment was at 3pm, but we waited nearly 2 hours or so because Dr. Sim needed to attend to an emergency. It was not easy trying to keep Sze Yi in control, and during the wait, she’s finished 1 egg tart, half a cheese tart (it dropped on the floor when she was running around), as well as her 8-oz milk. Luckily the cartoons on the walls and also the children there kept her occupied for sometime.

One interesting this is that Sze Yi kept knocking on Dr. Sim’s door and wanted to go in. There were a few times when the nurse open the door, and she rushed in to play with the toys! I have to go and pull her out again. Haven’t seen her so eager to see the pediatric!

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Alphas – Another Boho Love Affair by retrodiva{designs}

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally our turn came, and Sze Yi happily went to the play corner while we talked to Dr. Sim. I showed him all the medicines this time. He put aside those that we can stop giving Sze Yi, and asked us to continue with the Singulair (he gave us another 2 tablets FOC), Ventolin and Rhinathiol Promethazine. The Singulair must be completed, while the other two could stop when her cough stop. Since Sze Yi might be getting a flu soon, he asked us to give her Polaramine (we still have some left from Dr. Lim).

So, we thanked Dr. Sim and wanted to leave. But our little girl wouldn’t want to budge! In the end, Dr. Sim gave her some stickers to play with, and only then she agreed to say bye bye to him. My, my, my, I’ve never seen her so happy walking out from a doctor’s room before  

In Search of A Cure…

It’s about two weeks now since her last visit to Dr. Lim, but Sze Yi is still coughing. Only occasional and it’s not as bad as before, but the cough is still there. And the vomit-like symptom is our greatest worry. So since I’m on MC today (I’ve recently got a coughing attack too, and since I’m having a high fever, I got an MC to rest at home), I decided to bring Sze Yi to GMC to see Dr. Sim.

After a long wait (close to 3 hours), our turn came. It was worth the wait because Sze Yi let Dr. Sim put the stethoscope on her chest for quite long. Well, I was anxiously waiting for her to cry, and after it seemed like ages, she did But Dr. Sim already checked her, and could tell that she’s still having some phlegm. He wanted to listen to her ears, but she wouldn’t let him. So he didn’t insist. Sze Yi then saw all the toys at the corner and went down to play with them. The nurse helped to entertain her while I spoke to Dr. Sim. She tried to weigh her, but she wouldn’t let her. Then she used the toys as a bait and Sze Yi agreed. She’s still 11kg, no gain compared to last time.

Dr. Sim suspected that she’s having an allergy or something, and advised me not to give her coloured-sweets, oranges and strawberries. I told him MIL suspected that Sze Yi is allergy to eggs too so he advised me to keep away from that as well. He asked me if I remembered what type of medicine that she was prescribed before, I showed him my list. However, since I didn’t write down the exact dosage that she took, he asked me to bring the actual medicines with me when I come back to follow-up on Thursday. You see, we’ll be travelling to Singapore this coming Friday, so he wanted to see Sze Yi again on Thursday to make sure that she’s ok by then. He told me that what he’s giving was also an experiment, since he couldn’t tell for sure what’s wrong with Sze Yi.

Here’s what he prescribed:

1. Singulair 5mg tablet – 1 table to be taken daily, at night. This is to clear the phlegm, also an anti-allergy.

2. Ventolin 2mg/5ml syrup – 3.1ml to be taken 3 times daily. This is to clear the airways, similar to what Dr. Lim prescribed, just that the dosage is different (I went home to check later).

3. A red syrup (I forgot what’s the name, because I forgot to take it back during our 2nd visit. Dr. Sim put that aside, telling me that Sze Yi could stop that medicine during our 2nd visit).  That was at 5ml per dosage, 3 times daily.

4. Rhinathiol Promethazine – at 3.5ml, 3 times daily, for coughing. This is similar to what Dr. Lim prescribed – the one that would cause coma if overdose.

Well, I hope she would be better soon. At least the visit to the pediatric was not a bad experience to her this time.

A Blessing in Disguise

Yesterday, while I was getting ready to Church, Sze Yi woke up. She sensed that I was going out without her, so she started to cling to me. In the end, I agreed to bring her along. I quickly changed her and prepared her things in less than 10 minutes and off we went. Hubby dropped us first, while he went to have his breakfast. You see, initially it was only me going to Church, and I’ve taken my breakfast. But because Sze Yi wanted to follow along, hubby decided to drive us there. He just woke up by the way ;P

In Church, I carried Sze Yi in. I thot everything was going to be fine, but the moment she entered the Church, she started to point at the direction where we came, and asked me to go back out instead. She kept saying “pooh”, because my car has lots of the Winnie the Pooh bears, signalling that she wanted to go back to the car. I was persistent, as we were already late for Mass, and walked straight in, ignoring her protests. I did the sign of cross (also helped her with it) and knelt down to pray, all the while carrying her because she wouldn’t want to be let down. After I was done with my prayers, we sang the entrance hymn, which helped to quieten her down a bit. However, when the reading started, she began to make noises and I was forced to make a move or else she would disturb the rest of the parishioners.

I carried her to the benches at the back and tried to find a place to fit in. However, she wouldn’t let me sit down and insisted to go out. So I took her out for awhile, calling Daddy for rescue. However, Daddy couldn’t be reached because he didn’t turn on his handphone! So I have no choice but to bring Sze Yi around. I tried to bring her to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, but she’s making too much noise so I took her out again. I then took her to see the Mother Mary Statue, and make a little prayer there. I helped her do the sign of cross as well. We then walked along the garden and I put her down at the swing, which she enjoyed very much. All the time, I kept calling hubby to try my luck, but he still haven’t turn on his handphone . Finally I left him an sms and decided to bring Sze Yi back into the Church.

This time, I tried to find a place at the back rows with a child about her age so that she would be interested. Finally I found a cute little girl, slightly older than her, but still a toddler and there’s a place for me to sit as well. I kept telling Sze Yi how good that girl was. Not too long later, Sze Yi was focussing on her childish antics, and I quickly use that precious time to catch up with the readings. By the way, I’ve missed all the readings and it was homily then.

After awhile, hubby came. He carried Sze Yi out so that I could concentrate. They never came back in. After Mass ended, I went out but they were nowhere in sight. So I called hubby, and was told that he brought Sze Yi to see 2nd Chik Chik since Sze Yi wanted to so much (he’s just staying nearby, very close to our church). No doubt Sze Yi was very attached to him, because he really doted on her. In fact, while we were staying with them last time, this 2nd Chik Chik of hers has been a great help  – he always relieved me by playing with Sze Yi so that I could do my things, like bathe, eat, etc.

All in all, I was very disappointed and angry with Sze Yi because I’ve missed more than half of the Mass, and in the end, she didn’t participate as well. If this happened a few years back, I would attend a 2nd Mass again if I even missed the first reading (hubby would be very worried too because he’d need to take me to another Church and check when is the next available Mass). However, now I can’t afford to do this after Sze Yi came along. I’ve always dreamt of having her with me during Mass, but I guess it’s not easy. She’s still small and could not understand, considering the fact that I only took her to Church once in a while, that is whenever hubby could accompany us.

That evening, I took MIL and Sze Yi to Queensbay Mall while hubby went for his badminton games. We felt hungry so we decided to have dinner in Kenny Rogers and tapau something back for hubby, instead of coming out for dinner again later. While we were waiting for our orders, Sze Yi started to do the sign of cross! MIL initially thought she was doing the “head and shoulder, knees and toes” dance, because she touched her forehead, skipped the sternum and straightaway touched her two shoulders. But I could tell it’s the sign of cross very well since she did the Amen sign as well. I told MIL, and she was very surprised because only this morning I took her to church, and she could learn that so fast! I was amazed too, and felt really happy about this.

Back home, Sze Yi demonstrated the sign of cross to Daddy. She started by signing on her forehead, skipped the middle part (….and of the Son…), and straight away did the ”and the Holy Spirit” sign, in the right sequence – left shoulder, followed by the right shoulder. And the highlight of the whole act is that she actually bent both her knees a little when putting her hands together for the Amen sign. I have no idea where she learnt that. It was so cute, even hubby was amazed and can’t help laughing when she did the little bent. I wish I could have that recorded and shared here, but it’s not easy.

Guess the whole morning incident was actually a blessing in disguise after all, and I felt really proud of my girl Praise the Lord!

A Terrible Experience

Since Sze Yi had been coughing for more than 2 weeks, we decided to take her to see Dr. Lim. It was not a bad cough, just occasionally and very rare. However, when it came, she could be coughing away until she sounded like wanting to vomit. This caused us really worried, as we’re not sure what’s causing this.

I asked her if she wanted to see Dr. Lim, she would laugh and then said “Ai”. I’ve been preparing her for the visit by imitating the way Dr. Lim will take her temperature, and say “Ah… open your mouth”. She played along happily.

Well, the moment she stepped into Pantai Mutiara Hospital, she panicked and directed me to turn back. I was carrying her, but at the way she’s struggling, it was quite difficult to handle her. I tried to tell her it’s ok, that she needed to see a doctor because she’s coughing, but to no avail. So, I had to purposely make a few rounds and told her that we need to find Daddy (hubby dropped us off at the entrance to find a parking) to go back. Everywhere I went, she could sense the direction was not correct and pointed to the entrance. Finally I managed to convince her that there’s a play place up there, and thank goodness she agreed. So, I quickly took her into the lift, up we went and finally we arrived at Dr. Lim’s clinic. When she saw the slide, play house, etc. she started playing there happily. Then the nurse asked to have her weight taken, but she struggled away. I’m not sure if we finally got an accurate measurement, but she’s 11kg That’s a relieve, because she’s been sick and I don’t expect her to gain any weight since the last visit.

Well, Daddy then arrived and played with her. Before long, we were called in. It was a great parents-baby struggle (2 vs 1, and yet she seemed stronger than us). She wouldn’t want to go into Dr. Lim’s clinic! And when we forced her, she was very stubborn and gave a very good fight, struggling with all her might and crying non-stop, as if some terrible monster were coming at her. We tried to soothe her, coax her, and reason with her, but she was crying and struggling too much until we need a few more pair of hands to hold her, or she’ll drop off. Gosh, it’s really a terrible experience, not only for her, but for me as well. She seemed so helpless, but never wanted to give in. From here, both hubby and me realised what a stubborn and strong-willed girl we have. She never once rested or gave in, and fought all she could with everyone, kept calling Mama and Mai at the same time.

In the end, Dr. Lim gave up and told me he can’t diagnose what’s wrong with her, since she wouldn’t let him hear her breathing. Hubby quickly took Sze Yi out while I stayed on to find out what’s wrong with her. According to Dr. Lim, there were a few possibilities that caused her to cough- either a blocked nose, lung infection, or sore throat. So, since he’s not able to hear Sze Yi’s breathing properly (due to her screaming), he decided to give her the following to try out:

i. Rhinathiol Promethazine, which is for unproductive and irritative coughs particularly nocturnal coughs – this is to cure the phlegm and throat 

ii. Ventolin Syrup (Salbutamol Sulfate) – to treat the lung

iii. Fluimucil A (N-Acetylcysteine), in sachets form, need to be disolved in water – this ia also for the phelgm.

I was told to bring her back if her cough didn’t stop in 3 days. So I thanked him and left. Sze Yi and Daddy were happily waiting for me outside, at the play place. We went to get the medicine and went home. Throughout the journey, Daddy kept teasing Sze Yi, “We go and see Dr. Lim, ok?”, which would start making her cry again. But after a few times, she got the joke and replied him with a laugh and a big ”hahaha” instead!

We’ve been feeding her the medicine diligently, and started to see some improvements after 1 day. But when I read the description on the Rhinathiol that an overdose could cause the child to be in coma (and it’s only supposed to be given to children above 1 year old) I was worried and called Dr. Lim to check. Furthermore, MIL told me that after Sze Yi took it for the first time, she’s been sleeping for really really long. Before calling him, I told Sze Yi that I’m going to call Dr. Lim to check on something. She was very apprehensive and stood near the phone, looking at me intently. After I finished talking to Dr. Lim, she was relieved and went back doing her things again. Well, according to Dr. Lim, that’s what stated for all cough syrup and he’s already prescribe a lower dosage than recommended in the description. He told me that if I’m still worried, I could further lower it down to 3.5ml (previously was 4ml). So, we continued the medication for 3 days, with a lower dosage for the Rhinathiol. She seemed to love the sachet type drink, but it was not so easy with the other 2. Anyway, a treat on Barney CD always did the trick. And of course the thought of going back to see Dr. Lim would make her take the medicine too. Since then, everytime I asked her if she still have cough after I returned from work, she would reply me with “Boh”.

After this experience, I started to ask myself if it’s wise to change her PED? Since Sze Yi just wouldn’t give Dr. Lim a chance, it’s so difficult to diagnose her and she needs to take so many medications to actually know what’s wrong with her. Well, that’s something to consider, will see how… 

A Battle Against the Virus

I’m not sure if I’m being superstitious. I’ve been commenting on how big Sze Yi looked compared to the rest of the kids her age. Actually I was rather worried if she would be a very big size girl next time. And not long after that, she started to fall sick. There’s a chinese myth that forbid us to say things like that in front of the child, but I don’t really believe this.

However, last Sunday, I noticed that Szeyi was suddenly quite attached to me again, without any apparent reason. She wanted me to carry her and go for a walk, so that she could sleep on my shoulder while I carried her. She normally does this when she has difficulty in getting to sleep. I noticed that she was a little bit warmer than usual, but I didn’t suspect anything. However, after the walk, I felt that her temperature was not improving. I quickly measured her temperature, 36.8′C. Mine was 36.2′C. Still not considered as fever, but since it didn’t get better I decided to give her a dose of paracetamol.

Towards evening, her temperature stayed at around this level, but her body was very warm. We put a wet towel on her forehead, which she eventually pushed away. Hubby wanted to take her to our paedetrician, Dr. Lim but I asked him to wait, since she hadn’t reach 37′C. From our past experience, the paed won’t do anything if there’s no fever. Night came, and she went to sleep. We were monitoring her temperature closely. She didn’t show any sign of discomfort, like flu or cough, so it was beyond us why she could suddenly have fever. At around 2am, she woke up. Her whole body was hot. The thermometer showed 37.3′C. We fed her paracetamol (she was very good this time, didn’t really push it away but took it from the spoon directly since we told her she’s having fever). I continued to sponge her forehead until it went down to 36.8′C and then I went to sleep.

We took her to see Dr Lim the next morning. When Sze Yi saw Dr. Lim, she quickly insisted to be taken out from his clinic. She wouldn’t let him touch her and cried so pitifully. Poor girl, she asscociated him with jabs and pain, so everytime we took her to see him, she would grow very apprehensive. In between all her stuggles, Dr. Lim managed to check on her quickly, and confirmed my suspicions that Sze Yi was having a bad sore throat. However, he didn’t prescribe us any antibiotics since he prefered her to fight the virus on her own. According to him, it’s just another viral infection. So he prescribed us Ventolin expectorant (for her cough, since she coughed occasionally, although not serious), Polaramine Syrup (for her runny nose, also just a mild one) and Paracetamol for her fever (her temperature was 37.3′C when he measured her).    

It was not that hard to feed her the medicines, as she was very co-operative. But she hates the cough syrup (whitish in color) and it took hubby some persuasive power to convince her that it’s ok. Hubby would say “sweet sweet” and we gently coaxed her to take it. She was very good. It worked well with both the syringe and the spoon. However, she was very demanding especially when it comes to Barney. She would keep on insisting to watch Barney. We relented because she was sick. We also used that as a bribe for her to take her medicine (chuckled)! 

That night, after she slept (the 2nd night that she got fever), MIL went in to check on her. She noticed that her temperature suddenly shot up and so she sponged her body. However, Sze Yi was shivering. Hubby got really worried so we took her to the Hope Specialist in Tanjung Bungah because Pantai was already closed by then. If we went to Pantai, it would be considered as an emergency and they had to page for Dr. Lim.

When we reached Hope, we had a hard time trying to get Sze Yi’s weight. She wouldn’t want to stand on the weighing scale, so I have to weigh both of us, and then minus my own weight. Her weight was around 10.4kg. Later, when she saw all the toys and indoor playground there, she suddenly grew very active and started to play with the slides, the car, etc. We didn’t wait long before we were called in. The doctor in charge measured her temperature – it was 38.6′C! We all got a shock. So, he prescribed her antibiotics (Zithromax Susp), Actihist Co Syrup (for running nose/cough) and Paracetamol. He also asked the nurse to administer the suppository for her since she’s having such a high fever. We were given some to take back with us, in case her fever couldn’t subside. We were told that if she’s still having fever after 48 hours, we should bring her back to the clinic again.

We went home, but Sze Yi wouldn’t want to sleep. She wanted to see Barney instead. It was already 1am in the morning. So we had to accompany her. If we insisted of not letting her, the little monster would scream until the roof came down and still crying.  We have no choice.

All of us were really tired and drained out during this period. Despite her being sick and taking all the medicines, she still slept very late and demanded to watch Barney. So we took turn accompanying her, there’s once when I could only sleep after 4am. Later, MIL woke up to relieve me. Guess what time that little girl slept? 5am! That was a great record.

Well, it had not been easy feeding her medicine after that. She hated the antibiotics, and it took us lots of coaxing to get her to eat. We didn’t use force since the medicine would surely spilled instead of going into her mouth. So, we use Barney as the bribe. “If you take this medicine, Mommy will let you watch Barney”. It didn’t work all the time, so I’ll need Daddy’s creative idea. Sometimes I would accosicate the color of the medicine with strawberry, orange, etc… Or hubby would say “Szeyi, come mum mum…” since she loves food. It’s getting harder to get her to eat the medicine each day, but thank goodness she finally completed her antibiotics and so now I only gave her the cough/runny noise syrup once at night, since her cough was very rare and mild.

We also noticed that she’s much stronger this time. Hubby commented that she fought the battle well because she recovered very fast. She looks thinner now, because we didn’t feed her rice or porridge for fear of her getting a fever again. Her appetite went down, and only drank milk for the past one week. However, I noticed that she’s very active again by Wednesday, no more fever at all and I have never been so glad. Maybe I should refrain from commenting about her size again, since each child will grow according to her own pace and rhythm.  I think I’ve learnt my lesson

Daddy’s Princess

Finally Daddy came home, after 2 weeks. The most excited person was of course Sze Yi. I went home earlier than usual that day. Sze Yi was still having her afternoon nap. After I’ve taken my bath, I went to check on her. Since she’s still sleeping, I decided to do some ironing. Halfway thru, she woke up. MIL and I told her that Daddy was coming home that day. How excited she was! So I decided to carry her down to the guard house there to wait for Daddy. She didn’t even want to walk on her own, but asked me to carry her instead. On any other normal days, she would be struggling to be let down to walk on  her own.

When Daddy arrived, Sze Yi asked him to carry her. So I ended up being the porter instead! Well, since then, she’s stuck to Daddy like a glue. Everything must be Dad Dad. If she fell down or knocked herself accidentally, she must go to inform Daddy to get his symphaty, no matter how minor it was. If she discovered something new, Daddy must be the first to know. And if she had a little achievement, she would go tell Daddy and make him proud of her. She really knew how to steal Daddy’s heart.

For the past two weeks, I could hardly do anything once I reached home because she would ask me to feed her (she would pushed Amah away when MIL tried to relieve me so that I could have my dinner) . She wouldn’t even let me have my dinner nor bath. I had to bring her in with me to my room (thanks goodness I had an attached bathroom) and asked her to view her photo albums while waiting for me to have my bath. Sometimes she would quietly wait for me, but most of the time, she would keep on checking on me and urging me to speed up. But then, after Daddy came back, I couldn’t say how relieved I was. I was suddenly so free. She no longer demanded my attention, because everything would be Dad Dad. That’s why I had some time to blog lately.

Daddy bought lots of gifts for his little princess. It was not like him because he would normally say that it was a waste of money when I got her expensive stuffs. Even getting a car seat had received a lot of objections from him last time. But somehow this time, everything that he bought, they were all hers. Nothing for Mommy at all! Look at what he had bought for her! I was especially attracted to this blouse. 

He told me that it was rather expensive, compared to the other clothes that he had bought for her. Furthermore, this was not from a branded design. But what really stuck him were the verdings “I get my good looks from my Dad”. He really like to show off, don’t you think so?

Another significant changes that I observed was that Daddy is more patient this time. He could play with SzeYi longer, not like last time when he would grow tired easily and asked either me or MIL to take over. Even the tiredness from jet lag was nothing compared to his little princess’ attention. Well, that was a really good improvement and I was really impressed with how situation changed. Hopefully that would last…