Fever and Constipation

We went to visit Daddy Lim's auntie today. The last time we saw his extended family was about 5 months ago, during Lil Shauna's 3rd bday.

All went well and Lil Isaac was having a good time crawling around. After dinner, we brought the kids for a walk and was rushing back when we found Lil Isaac looking sleepy. I was latching him when I found him feverish, which is strange bcos nobody else is sick and he has no cold.

We quickly left his auntie's place. Coincidentally, today is again the 5th day of Mr Poo Poo's disappearing act. We were given spare suppository when we last visited the GP for his constipation and had intended to do "it" ourselves tonight. But since he had a fever, we decided to bring him to a doctor.

On the way to the doctor, I was reading up on whether constipation causes fever. Apparently, doctors claim not but there are many of parents who swear that their kids' fever break after they manage to clear their bowel.

We brought Lil Isaac to the usual clinic, which is manned by a locum since it is a PH. The locums who manned the clinic in the past were quite alright and i thus have no qualms having a locum check on Lil Isaac. I have never seen this particular locum before.

The doctor immediately insisted that the fever is not a result of constipation. He said that it is a viral fever. But he would give a suppository to ease his constipation. The last GP who gave Lil Isaac his suppository was very gentle with him. Lil Isaac showed no sign of discomfort and there was no tears then.

This time, Lil Isaac was probably already cranky from his fever. He started crying when I put him down. The doctor then came back with a suppository that looks oversize for an infant. He coated it with lubricant and tried unsuccessfully to stuff it into Lil isaac's "there". All the more Lil Isaac cried, which I suppose made the doctor panic. He tried for many more times without success and even inserted his finger inside, which I suppose is to help Lil Isaac "loosen up". But it didn't help, Lil Isaac cried harder when he was "fingered" (sorry for the crudeness) and he was "fingered" 2 times. -.o"

I kept asking if there were other types of suppository and kept apologizing to Lil Isaac. Boohoo. The doctor finally gave up and came back with another type, which still looked so much more unfriendly than what the other GP used the other day. He finally got the job done but Lil Isaac kept crying.

Lil Isaac did move his bowel after that but he was so tired out from all the crying that he fell asleep on the way home. Haiz...

I really don't know what to do with his constipation and have no idea what causes it. He didn't just start solids and we could not link his constipation to any particular food. We bought apple juice, which is suppose to help. We had been trying to feed him prune juice and will be sourcing for pear juice. I already ask Popo to cut down on the bananas. Poor, poor Lil Isaac. I haven't seen him cried so badly for a long time. My heart broken. He is sleeping with me tonight.

Mummy Lim

Mobile

I have to record this.

He is everywhere now.

Mummy Lim

Spending $$

Daddy Lim and I knocked off at 3pm today and we went for a coffee before picking the kids. We also looked at computers. Our computer died on us awhile ago and we have been either relying on our netbook or iPhone. We get pretty irritated at times trying to surf using the mini screens but we get do. We also thought of sparing our eyes the torture and get a new computer.

We are pleasantly surprise to find computers relatively cheap. We cab find pretty good ones that are below $1k but we did no impulse buying. Daddy Lim said that he would think about it.

At one of the computer shops, Daddy Lim and myself were very much fascinated by the Kinect xbox 360. I was so tempted to buy when I realized that it is actually quite cheap but I manage to stop myself in times. Seriously, we barely have time to watch tv, let alone play games.

And a thought strikes me.
When Daddy Lim and I first got together, we had to be thrifty to save up what was left of our miserable pay. We had to think hard and do planning before we commit to such purchases. Now, we have the financial ability but we are thinking hard bcos of the kids. If we have no kids, we probably have bought the computer AND kinect xbox 360 tonight. Life is interesting, isn't it?

We did eventually buy something tonight - a pair of pink goggles, color pencils and crayons for jiejie and a toy for didi. Well, at least Daddy Lim and I had our coffee in peace.

Mummy Lim

Constipation

Lil Isaac is constipated. He must have taken after me. He used to move his bowel once every 2 to 3 days even when he was on full breastmilk, before he started solids. Breastfeed babies are rarely constipated and I was the least concern even when he didn’t poo for more than 3 days. He eventually moves his bowel with ease.

However, things headed for the worse when he started solids and he moves his bowel once every 3 to 4 days. His longest record was 5 days. And this is after lots of fruits. We had to bring him to the GP last Friday bcos there was nothing on the 5th day despite the papayas and bananas. Lil Isaac got “poked” down there. Poor boy.

Since the last visit to the GP, he hasn’t moved his bowel. Popo tried to feed him sweet potato on top of the fruits and I tried to give him prune juice last night too, which he didn’t like. He spitted out the prune juice, as if I was trying to feed him medicine. -_______-“

Polo called to tell me in the afternoon that Lil Isaac tried to force the pellet-like poo poo out. Both times, he managed with only little success but lots of crying. It must be really painful down there and uncomfortable. But at least something came out.

Popo is wondering if it is bcos we fed him too little. He loves water and should be well hydrated. In fact, he loves water more than milk. Chey, don’t know how to appreciate good stuff. I have to remind Popo to give him fruits everyday and not only to start piling when he didn’t poo for 3 days. Most website would recommend prune juice, which isn’t to Lil Isaac’s liking, but I will try again. Maybe he will grow to like it?

Dear Mr Poo Poo, pls do not play hide and seek with us. We need you out of the system.

Mummy Lim

Updated:
Popo says that Lil Isaac poo poo 4x today and shld have gotten most of it out of his system. It wasn't easy, there was lots of crying but he was happy afterwards. I tried to feed him prune juice just now, but I think jiejie enjoys it more than him. At least it is out and I am looking forward to Mr Poo Poo next appearance.

Breastfeeding

Since last Wednesday, the breastpump that I brought to the office has been making funny noises. I don’t know if I am paranoid but somehow the suction seems weaker. I brought this pump less than 1 year ago and serviced it once already when it died a few months back. -.o” And my right side’s yield has dropped recently. I don’t know if it is bcos I haven’t been diligently simulating my right side or the breastpump led to the problem. Arrggghhhh, it is just plain frustrating. It doesn’t help that Lil Isaac prefers my left side to right, which I suppose is bcos of the faster flow. Lazy tiger prefers not to spend too much effort latching.

Now, I have to spend a longer time to express and I get a lower yield. Hmpf. And it is very noisy. The other pump that I have at home doesn’t seem to work very well too. I am wondering if I should get a manual pump to standby. Then again, it does not make economical sense since I am already 10 months into my breastfeeding journey and am not sure how much longer I will sustain. Manual pumps are not much cheaper than electric pumps too and I dread the thought of having to go back to the service center. Tagore Lane leh, so uber ulu and far away and they only operate during office hours. Tell me about after sales service. -.o”

Whenever I bring Lil Isaac to the nursing room now, he is so much bigger compared to the mostly newborns. People are also surprised when I tell them that I am still breastfeeding. Well, I have no real intention to stop yet. The breastfeeding journey had been fairly smooth so far and I am enjoying it. More importantly, I need to breastfeed to lose more weight. My weight will surely jump the moment I stop breastfeeding, even if I just breathe air. Lol.

It has been a week and both pumps are still surviving. I am still taking longer than before and still not back to the same yield. I know I can try to increase my supply by expressing more frequently but it is tough to do so during office hours. I can add in a night express other than the normally-one-night-feed schedule but I have been lazy. My body simply refuses to wake up for that additional express.

I know, this is a conflicting post and I am wavering between persevering full breastfeeding and just trying my best and not get too upset about having to supplement with formula milk. Well, I just need to rant, having to listen to that noisy pump 3x a day. ;p

Mummy Lim

LCentral Trial

Lil Shauna is now attending her free trial class at LCentral, Foundations class. I was worried that she would be in tears but surprisingly, she was cooperative. There was no tears at all, not even when I left the room. :) I am not sure if this is a result of her being older as compared to her 1st attempt at independent classes or simply the fact that she has grown bolder since the incept of her ballet class. Regardless, I am a happy mummy. I get to peep into the class and she's participating in the activities, but a little on the quiet side. Maybe it will be better when she gets a little warmed up.

I was trying to decide between LC and I Can Read. I have checked the forum and heard better reviews on LC, on how it is more comprehensive as the program progresses. As compared, LC is also slightly cheaper. If all go well, we will sign Lil Shauna up for LC and skipped the ICR trial altogether.

The only problem is that they only have Sun, 1pm class for Foundations class, which make church going a near impossible task. We can only hope that she progresses to the next level quickly and get to attend class at a different timing. And mummy has to find something to do while jiejie attends class. It is so boring.

As Lil Isaac grows up and joins the mad enrichment classes race, I foresee myself being converted to ah mad status and ferry the kids around for classes. Kiasu parents lifestyle.

Mummy Lim

Performance

I have never seen S performs on stage. The last time she performed in school, I couldn’t make it and had to miss it.

The school sent us a consent form recently to ask for our approval for Lil Shauna to join some post National Day celebration at the Geh Poh Ville CC last Saturday evening. The kids will be performing a few song items. I replied OK, but I think I was late in replying.

We were excited and brought Lil Shauna to the CC on Saturday. When it was time to gather, the teacher asked me if Lil Shauna was performing??!! She mentioned that kids who were performing had some parental consent form signed and Lil Shauna didn’t had that. There were some special rehearsals too, which I supposed Lil Shauna wasn’t included while they were conducted in school. Regardless, I wanted Lil Shauna to go on stage and of course the teacher allowed that since we were all there already. But I could tell that she was worried that Lil Shauna would cry on the stage.

Lil Shauna was initially clingy when she was queuing up. She didn’t look too happy. We kept assuring her that we will be around and right at the bottom of the stage.

The kids performed a total of 4 songs. Lil Shauna was at the back and hidden most of the time. But we could see her singing and dancing happily to the songs. I don’t think you can see her, she’s at the left hand side, at the back.

I am really proud of her. No crying and totally enjoying herself even though she was hidden. I was so touched and near to tears when I see her on stage performing. Daddy Lim was beaming from ear to ear too.

Lil Shauna was happy after her performance and showed me how to do certain moves while waiting for Daddy Lim to drive the car down from the carpark. It was seriously cute. When we were home, she did another performance for ah yee. Hohoho, so cute.

Our princess is growing up.

Mummy Lim

Ballerina

Lil Shauna loves her ballet classes and I am so happy that she’s enjoying her classes.

She can’t read time yet and it does get a little tough trying to get her to start preparing for class. But once I take out her leotard, stocking and tutu, everything is a breeze. She loves to be dressed in her ballerina clothes. Happy, happy, happy.


She’s generally an early person and we have no problem getting her up for her ballet class at 9.15am. For the past 2 lessons, she was at the class earlier than Felicia and had no problem going into the dance studio on her own. No tears.

Interestingly, the girls do not sit together most of the time. They do look for each other once in a while.

I stay outside the dance studio for the 45 mins that Lil Shauna is in the class. I make sure that she can see me through the glass door if she tries to look for me. Have to build up this assurance and trust so that it will be easier for me to send her for other closed-door enrichment classes in the future.

I am just one proud parent. I hope Lil Shauna will maintain her interest in ballet for a long time. Phonics, swimming, music… Busy, busy.

Mummy Lim

Princess

Lil Shauna drew us a princess with long hair.

Nice? Hohoho.

Mummy Lim

I Can Read vs LCentral

After like forever since the Zoophonics (ZP) saga, I am back in my search for a phonics school for Lil Shauna. I thought it is timely now since she has started attending her independent ballet classes. The prospect of independent class should look less daunting to her now? Well, in the very least, she understands that mummy is waiting for her outside the class, just like when she attends her ballet class.

Mummy P is also looking for phonics class for C. C is 6 months older than Lil Shauna but just as shy. We had hoped that the girls can attend the same class and provide companionship to each other. We made arrangements for the girls to attend a free assessment at I Can Read (ICR) at HaborFront (HF). Unlike ZP that allocate kids to different classes based on age, ICR is competency based. HF is also a good location since we live at 2 different ends of Singapore.

The assessment, which was a mere 4 minutes went well. The teacher then spent the next 26 mins telling me about the program. The teacher assessed both the girls into this Creative Thinking Skill (CTS) class, which is one level from their most elementary class. I was keen to sign Lil Shauna on and wanted to sign Lil Shauna up for a paid trial class. However, C wasn’t ready to go on independent class yet. There is then no point for me to travel all the way to HF every week. I am back to exploring the ICR branch in Jurong East (JE).

I called up the JE branch and understand that they are a franchise unit and works on different policies. They do not allow trial but finally agreed to grant us a paid trial after my pestering. The administrator was surprised that Lil Shauna was assigned to a CTS class, which is usually for 4 to 5 YO kids. But I was told that their elementary class is made up of really young kids who couldn’t really speak and I do not think that it is helpful if we place Lil Shauna in that class. ICR classes are very expensive, almost $50 for a weekend lesson and I don’t want to throw away good $$. Moreover, Lil Shauna is very advance in her speech. So, we will be going for a re-assessment this Sunday.

I also called up LCentral (LC) @ JE to check. The last I called, the administrator insisted that they only take in kids who are at least 3.5 YO. But this time, they probably changed their policy and allowed kids as young as 3, as long as they have started some form of school. I bet LC must have felt the stiff competition. Seriously, if I do sign Lil Shauna up with ICR, which takes in kids as young as 2.5 YO, and she is comfortable, I don’t think I will ever explore LC again. In this way, they lose out potential customers who are kiasu parents. Hoho. So, I also signed Lil Shauna up for a free assessment at LC, right before the one at ICR. Both schools are located at about the same area in JE, easily accessible by MRT. To add on to the stakes, LC throws in a free trial wor and they are a little cheaper than ICR, at $40 for a weekend lesson.

Yeah, I am looking forward to the start of many enrichment classes for Lil Shauna.

Mummy Lim

Down

Lil Isaac is sick too. I expected this. He had been spending so much time with the jiejies and all of them are coughing and leaking mucus. I was hoping that my BM can help him but I must be dreaming. Boohoo.

Lil isaac started coughing and his nose started running this morning. This flu strain comes with fever and he is down with fever now. Jiejie has gotten past her fever but still battling with e cough n runny nose. But at least she's super easy with most medicine. Lil isaac hates medicine.

He is taking the flu medicine from his last doctor visit and the medicine won't last him through this episode. We will have to bring him to the doctor tomorrow.

I was really hoping that Lil Isaac doesn't come down. He can't blow his nose, cough put the phlegm, tells me what he wants and hates medicine. -.o" We will be so dead tomorrow.

Mummy Lim

Sick

Lil Shauna is sick. She has caught the flu bug from Felicia. I heard her coughing a few days back and is now down with full blown flu. Popo says that she had fever this afternoon and was already given some medicine.

She was still having some low grade fever at the clinic. She was coughing and her mucus flowing. Haiz. But at least she's very much ok with taking medicine, no need to even coax her for taking most medicine.

I hope she doesn't pass on the virus to Lil Isaac. Lil Shauna may be cranky bcos she's sick and throws a little tantrum but she can at least articulate her wants and blow her nose. It will be horrible with a cranky tiger with mucus blocked nose and cannot verbalize his needs. And he hates taking medicine. Nightmare.

Pls get well soon jiejie. Mummy wants to see you perform this coming Saturday. She's performing rasa sayang hei with her class at some community center this Sat. I have never seen Lil Shauna performs and am looking forward to it.

Mummy Lim

The Tiger

Lil Isaac is a master crawler now. He gets to places, crawls up and down the platform and is gaining speed. He is practically everywhere. He is definitely at places that he shouldn't be, like near to Daddy Lim's very expensive bicycle and the dirty door mat.

He gets to where he wants and either attempts to stand up or to grab some things. Then it is either to make sure that he doesnt fall or doesn't grab what he shouldn't. It is super tired trying to block his access, place him somewhere else or stops him from grabbing the forbidden stuff, like the fan's wire, the dustbin or jiejie's potty. -.o" We simply have to take turns to chase after him. He exhausted us but he is still so energetic. Geez, where did his energy comes from?

I don't remember jiejie to be so active. I remembered Lil Shauna struggling to go to the floor to crawl whenever we are out, which Lil Isaac doesn't but she was nowhere as active as him. I hope he starts walking soon. Then again, it could be a manifestation of our problem. Muahahahahaha. Time will pass quickly, Lil Isaac will grow up quickly.

Mummy Lim

Ballerina

Lil Shauna wanted to be a ballerina but she wasn't keen to attend the class without mummy. She said that she is still a small girl and she will go for the ballet class when she's older; when she's as old as Fione.

I have been seeing ballerinas "flowing" out of the sports complex. DancePoint, a dance school located in the sports complex, conducts ballet classes for kids as young as 3, but Lil Shauna didn't dare until Felicia says that she wants to try ballet too. Hehehe.

The school conducts free trial. I left their name and the girls went for the trial last Sunday.


They love it and wanted to go back somemore. Actually, it wasn't really a ballet class, but lots of jumping and action-packed music and movement. The teacher says that the nursery class is to help build up foundation. The classes surround different themes so that they will be interesting and not bored the kids.

My bro was keen to sign Felicia up and I have signed for the girls up. The classes are actually reasonably priced but the ballet costume is almost $100. That is not forgetting thst kids grow up so quickly. Most importantly, they don't lose interest that quickly and wants to stop class. Lil Shauna was so excited when I brought her to register for her class and tried the costumr. She even wanted to walk home in the leotard and tutu. Lol.

The girls started their first official class last Sunday. Woohoo, Lil Shauna's first step to independent classes. The ballerinas were having fun. Can you spot Lil Shauna?


Ok, next step, phonics class. :)

Mummy Lim

Sleeping Through?

Lil Isaac hasn't wake up for his night feed. Is he sleeping through? For the past few weeks, he is waking up later than usual for his feed. Hmmm.. I hope that he is growing out.

I just expressed. He will have to work mummy's breasts really hard if he wakes up for mill now. Oh well, let's see how it goes. Dreamland, wait for me!

Mummy Lim

Edited:
Well, Lil Isaac only woke up for milk at 5.30am and I supposed that is considered as sleeping through already. But he woke up for his usual night feed again last night Hohoho.

Educated Guess

I went with Popo to NUH yday to collect the results of her MRI scan. She had been worrisome but still attempt to put on a strong front, telling me that she can collect the results herself. I hope she appreciates that I took leave to accompany her. I think she does and needed that companionship bcos she didn’t insist too much when I told her that I already applied for leave. Hmm.. I wonder if my kids will do likewise for me when I am old.

Anyway, the doctor who saw us is really young. I half suspect him to be housemen. The good news – there is no growth, either on the nerve or brain. The bad news – the doctor is not sure what is wrong with her. -______-“ Popo is also not complaining of any major giddiness episodes after the last one that left her stranded outside. I still think that her giddiness is triggered by the lack of sleep.

The doctor made her lay down, turned her head here and there to see if she experienced giddiness in certain positions. She didn’t and he ruled out imbalanced fluid. Apparently, this fluid in the inner ear cannot be seen and they deduced imbalanced fluid using the exercise mentioned earlier. He also corrected the report about her having severe hearing loss in one ear, the loss isn’t that severe. So we were given a follow-up 3 months later. We can choose not to come back if nothing happens. We were also given some medication if her dizziness comes back.

The doctor is basically saying that the most critical condition for her symptoms had been ruled out, i.e., the tumor growth. For all other conditions, they are not life threatening and we can live with it. He went on to say that giddiness that is triggered by ear conditions do go away on its own, i.e., she will not get a dizzy spell that doesn’t go away. And sometimes, some ear conditions do resolve by itself.

I think Popo is very happy with the results. Ah yee mentioned to her earlier that she will treat Popo to a 3D2N holiday if everything turns out well. I drool and want to tag on even if ah yee never treat us. Hohohoho. Thank God. Must remember to pray for good health for Popo, she is not young anymore.

Mummy Lim

Knock, Knock

Two nights ago, which is the start of the ghost month, Lil Shauna woke up at 2am to attempt to remove her wet diaper. I was doing the night feed.

She woke Daddy Lim up. After helping her to remove the diaper, she asked him, "Pappy, who is at the door?"

Pappy was seriously freaked out. Now, who is at the door? Hohoho. Must be God's angel.

Mummy Lim