Sunday, April 30, 2006
Where's My Bedtime???
29-APRIL-2006:
Today is the day we flew to London. We woke up at 5am and reached the airport at 6:30am. By 9am, we were on our way to London. There was a slight commotion in the plane. Initially, there were 3 babies sitting on our row, including Dominic. Since there were only 5 oxygen masks but 7 of us (3 babies + 4 adults) in that row, the air stewardess requested me to move to another seat ... one which was not on the front row, which means Dominic won't get a bassinet to sleep in. I refused to move since I paid RM900+ for Dominic's ticket. I said I wasn't going to carry him in my arms throughout the entire flight which was about 14 hours! In the end, they asked the lady and the baby next to us move and the seat next to us was empty, which was nice. :-) However, there was still another baby next to us who made quite a lot of noise throughout the entire journey. Dominic took the flight pretty well. He was sleepy most of the time, but the other baby crying and screaming made it difficult for him to get good rest.
It was day time and sunny throughout the entire journey and the passengers occupying the window seats did not care to pull down the flaps. By the time we touched down at London Heathrow airport and reached home, it was already 6pm London time, i.e. 2am Malaysia time. Yet, Dominic has not gone to bed. He was extremely cranky and tired. He was screaming all the way during check out and wanted to be cuddled. I was carrying a knapsack on my back and a shoulder bag containing Dominic's essentials. Plus Dominic refused to be seated in his stroller. So imagine me carrying him in one hand and pushing the stroller with the other ... it wasn't easy at all. As soon as we reached home, Dominic fell asleep immediately. For the next few days, he slept at 6pm and woke up at 4am ... until we gradually adjusted his bed time.
Picture 1: Dominic slept in a bassinet in the plane. The pacifier proved to be invaluable. It saved me from having to cuddle and rock Dominic to sleep. And the plane was noisy ... the pacifier helped him keep his eyes shut and rest even though he wasn't really asleep.
Picture 2: It took us forever to check out at the immigration. The Heathrow airport was crowded with people. The photos below show people lining up in front of the lifts to goto the car park. The lesson that I learned was that if you do not force your way in, you'll never get into the lift.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Ipoh Here We Come!
15-APRIL-2006:
I took Dominic for his first long distance trip today ... back to Ipoh for Grandma's birthday (my Grandma, not Dominic's Grandma). It took me the whole morning to pack his stuffs. KS (my brother) arrived at around 10:30am to pick us up. By then, I was trying to load the stuffs into the car and KS helped. He asked me if I'm shifting house. Haha! You see ... it wasn't that much; I only packed the following:
- Dominic's stroller (so that he can sit/sleep at the restaurant)
- A moses basket (so that he can sleep at my dad's saloon where there's no bed, but we ended up not using it)
- Dominic's car seat, of course
- Bag containing Dominic's clothes, diapers, bottles, handkerchiefs, etc
- Bag containing my own stuffs
- The steam steriliser
Not much right? However, after this first experience I will eliminate the moses basket and the steam steriliser next time.
The birthday dinner was a blast. The food was exotic. The first dish was, as usual, some expensive shark's fin dish, followed by individual servings of abalone ... large abalone. Then there was a lobster dish (picture below). Too bad I only thought of taking photos of the dishes AFTER I have finished eating the first two dishes. :p
There was this fish which costs more than RM1000. Below are pictures of the fish before and after it's been cooked. The fish is too expensive, therefore we had to inspect it before it is cooked, you see. :p It tasted just like any other normal fish to me. Apparently, it was expensive because it was a deep sea fish which is hard to catch. The name of the fish in Cantonese is "So-Mei".
Our first long distance trip turned out okay. Dominic seems to love car rides. Well, at least he slept throughout the journey. He was a bit cranky at the restaurant though because he was sleepy and the place was extremely noisy. At night, we slept together in one bed while I cuddle him. He must have been happy for that. :-)
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Bigger, Stronger!
12-APR-2006:
Dominic has recovered from fever and UTI. His appetite has also returned. It is such a happy feeling seeing him eat happily. :-) He has gained 1.3kg (from 5.7kg to 7.0kg) since the last measurement 7 weeks ago. And he has gained 4.5cm since then (from 59.0cm to 63.5cm).
Weight Chart:
Dominic has recovered from fever and UTI. His appetite has also returned. It is such a happy feeling seeing him eat happily. :-) He has gained 1.3kg (from 5.7kg to 7.0kg) since the last measurement 7 weeks ago. And he has gained 4.5cm since then (from 59.0cm to 63.5cm).
Weight Chart:
Height Chart:
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Oral Thrush
8-APR-2006:
I forgot to mention in my previous post that Dominic had oral thrush too. Oral thrush is a yeast infection in the mouth caused by a yeast germ called Candida. This is the same yeast germ that often infects the vagina. I noticed that Dominic had white spots in the mouth, especially on the inside of his cheeks.
I forgot to mention in my previous post that Dominic had oral thrush too. Oral thrush is a yeast infection in the mouth caused by a yeast germ called Candida. This is the same yeast germ that often infects the vagina. I noticed that Dominic had white spots in the mouth, especially on the inside of his cheeks.
Candida will normally live inside the mouth. However, if there is an overgrowth, then oral thrush occurs. The normal bacteria that live inside the mouth will balance up the growth of yeast. However if the baby is on anti-biotics (as with the case of Dominic), there could be an imbalance and infection sets in.
The doctor prescribed Mycostatin which is anti-fungal mouth drop. Mycostatin is actually the brand name. The common name for the anti-fungal is Nystatin. It is dropped into the side of the mouth and swallowed. I have tasted the medicine myself and it is not bitter. :-)
For more information on Mycostatin: http://www.medbroadcast.com/drug_info_details.asp?brand_name_id=1494
Since Dominic is still on anti-biotics, there's a possibility that the oral thrush will return even after treatment. So what I do now:
- Feed him plain water to wash out any milk residual after each feed.
- Clean the insides of this cheeks with a wet cotton pad twice a day
The doctor has told me oral thrush does not actually hurts, but I've read on the Internet that the baby's mouth may be sore if the infection is serious.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Fever
5-APR-2006:
Dominic has fever again! And this time it is not due to immunisation. It started on Sunday, 2-Apr-2006. Dominic's usual paediatrician does not have a clinic on Sundays, therefore I took him to another clinic, i.e. the one which Joe and Vincent normally go to. The doctor asked if anyone else in the house is sick and I said, yes, Joe is sick. And so the doctor concluded that Dominic must have caught the infection from Joe, which is just the normal fever virus. He prescribed some paracetamol.
The whole family was very concerned about him, especially Joe's dad because he believes that a high fever can cause brain damage. He has met some mentally retarded people and he practically freaks out when his kids have fever. That was when I started doing some research on the Internet, as well as consulted a GP and a paediatrician. What I found out was as follows:
Myth 1: High fever can cause brain damage. I notice by talking to parents at the hospital that many parents do think so.
Fact: High fever does not cause brain damage unless the body temperature is higher than 42 C. A body temperature this high is only caused by the environment, for example if you're trapped inside a hot place or have been standing under the sun for prolonged period. Otherwise, the brain has a thermostat which will control the body temperature within 41.1 C and below. Meningitis is a bacteria infection of the brain's membranes that can cause deafness and brain damage, and very often meningitis has no other symptoms except high fever. I guess that is why most parents associate high fever with brain damage.
Myth 2: Fever is treated by bringing the body temperature down such as using a wet towel, ice pack, etc.
Fact: You don't treat fever because fever is a symptom and not a disease. You treat the underlying cause of the fever, e.g. flu, bacteria infection, cold, virus attack, etc. However, if you do have a fever you may want to take steps to bring the body temperature down simply because having a high fever is extremely uncomfortable. Panadol or paracetamol is taken to just bring the temperature down temporarily and does not cure anything. Some parents find that their child's fever keeps coming back. That is because the underlying infection is not cured, therefore the fever comes back after the paracetamol wears off. In most cases, doctors will prescribe antibiotics to kill the bacteria infection that is causing the fever. In some cases, the body recovers on its own after the immune system is done fighting the infection.
Myth 3: The higher the temperature of the fever, the more serious is the illness.
Fact: Actually we should pay attention to the behaviour of the child rather to the temperature. If the fever is high, the cause may or not may not be serious, but if the child looks very sick then chances are the cause is serious.
There are a lot more facts about fever but these are the 3 points that I find worth noting. Also, we should know that a temperature higher than 37.5 C is considered a fever. But I find that Dominic often have temperature higher than that because of the hot weather.
After visiting Joe's paediatrician, Dominic's condition did not get better over the next 2 days. His fever came and went. Because there were no other symptoms, I worry that it could be due to more serious infection rather than just the common virus. I took to him to see his paediatrician on Wednesday. A blood and urine test was done and Dominic was diagnosed with urinary tract infection. He is on antibiotics now. How did he get urinary tract infection? That's another story .... do come back for more updates. :-)
Sunday, April 02, 2006
His Favourite Toy
2-APR-2006:
The toy is called la pieuvre coloree by Lamaze (whatever it means ... I think it means something colourful). It is basically a soft toy shaped like an octopus. Each of the octopus legs is of different colour and there's a tiny mirror on one of them.
Here's another toy which is as colourful but does not catch Dominic's attention as much as the 'Octopus'. I bought it for him myself so that he can practice holding stuffs.
Dominic received a Lamaze toy from his uncle at birth. I have kept the toy away since because of 2 reasons:
- The box said the toy is suitable for babies 3 months and above.
- I didn't think that Dominic will appreciate the toy since it is basically just a soft toy which doesn't make any sounds or movements. (In other words, it looks like a boring toy to me. [shhh]).
Recently, I removed the toy from its box when Dominic turned 3 months old and hung it at the side of his crib. Surprisingly, it captured Dominic's attention almost immediately. I now come to appreciate the toy more and more. It is colourful ... with bold and contrast colours ... I believe one of the reasons why Dominic likes it. At times when Dominic was just yelling for attention and I was busy, I'll just leave him in his cot and the toy will entertain him for about an hour.
The toy is called la pieuvre coloree by Lamaze (whatever it means ... I think it means something colourful). It is basically a soft toy shaped like an octopus. Each of the octopus legs is of different colour and there's a tiny mirror on one of them.
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Here's another toy which is as colourful but does not catch Dominic's attention as much as the 'Octopus'. I bought it for him myself so that he can practice holding stuffs.
