AS2 is hovering around 9+kg. She was 9.45kg pre Raya and 9.75kg last night (different scale though). The Saturday- a day before Raya, following Saturday and Monday, she was seen by Dr.Eric for her cough. Nebuliser of Pulmicort and Ventolin/or Combivent was the mainstay. Pretty lucky she did not spike fever. Unfortunately here we are 2 weeks later- baby begins coughing again, no thanks to big sis.
Big sis on the other hand is spiking temperature up till 40C. This is going to be the third day of fever. Coughing with runny nose is slightly longer. Oh, she can take meds with less resistance! That's a huge a achievement for a feisty girl who previously had to be restrained for her meds.
I have managed syrup Zyrtec, Durotuss and Zithromax. I'm still relying on suppositories of diclofenac 12.5mg and paracetamol 250mg. With very high temperature- we cannot afford dosage reduction (ie by her spitting out). I am starting her on Singulair as her MDI Alvesco has run out. She has the similar nebuliser regime as lil sis.
Disclaimer: Meds are as per paediatrician's prescription with mommy-doc-dispenser nursing her.
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Just a day short of her 5th month, we had to make a quick visit to Dr. Eric. Sofea has cough, fever, urticaria. Antibiotics completed- it was still a struggle despite once daily dosing of Zithromax. Oh she weighs 18kg, 1kg increase since last visit in January.
Sarah had mild fever. She wasn't prescribed anything for the fever. She also has cough. Ventolin/ normal saline nebuliser as needed (had started her on it already).
I made minyak kunyit this time around. Previously I just used fresh kunyit, and draw over the forehead down the nasal bridge. Minyak kunyit is easier, worked for both girls. I'm trying it myself today.
Minyak kunyit @ turmeric oil:
3cm of fresh turmeric
2tbsp coconut oil
- the turmeric is burned over fire till the skin is charred, the flesh is reddish
- grate it into the clear coconut oil till the oil turns yellowish
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It came back positive for cow's milk only. Not even house dust mites? Hmm... We should consider skin prick test for more allergen?
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sick baby
There are many causes of croup. Sofea had urticaria during ward stay, thus it was thought all these were caused by allergies. She cried when they took blood- quite a surprise because few months back she was really brave about it. Allergy test was expensive- they charge per antigen they tested. Let's see if there are any positives.
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Aircond is drying, so we need a humidifier. The old one was broken (but DH had fixed it!). We were looking for it yesterday in OU. Not cheap...RM200+ even for non branded ones.
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sick baby
Sofea had an awful barking cough. Started a little bit at night, but sounded awful by 2am. Off to the hospital she goes.
Urticaria rashes appeared on day 3, thus doc thinks it is allergy related. I'm cracking my head thinking what can she be allergic to....tapioca pearls/ bubbles? She had plenty of chocs the day before. Let's see what the allergy test reveals.
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Call it what you want, call it lower respiratory tract infection... The fact remained that she was really sick, spiking temperatures after her dose of diclofenac supp (did not attempt syrup paracetamol, nor syrup ibuprofen).
I was sick initially- I thought it was the freezing aircond in CT reporting area. Took the first MC of the semester. Sofea got sick after that and we brought her to Dr. Eric.
After 2 antibiotics, 2 MDI, Singulair granules- she recovered in early November - alhamdulillah. We went to see the pediatrician every 2-3 days, daily/ twice daily nebuliser (including weeknight neb in emergency department.
Looking back- would it be faster recovery if she was admitted? Being in 3rd trimester, immunocompromised (being a pregnant, asthmatic mom as well as recently recovered)- I think we did what we think was best. It was a struggle to administer meds- but that'd be the same in hospital, and I dread what she'd do to the IV cannula.
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Whenever she has prolonged cough, and reliever inhaler- MDI Salbutamol does not provide relief, it is usually time for steroids or long acting drugs. We are on the first week of MDI Alvesco- one of the newer steroids.
For me, warm honey drink lessens my cough. Oh and get this, kicap+limau!! One of the Jawa tips my friend told me earlier.
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Rashes disappeared in just 4 days/ day 7 illness. So how did we know?
We shared flaming seafood platter at Manhattan Fish Market, IPC on Malaysia Day September 16th.
I guess she wasn't fully healed, but she ate the salty (to my taste) seafood. Not the charred prawns- those were mine. Never mind the fact she downs it down with gulps of icy cold water.
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Manhattan Fish Market,
preschooler food,
sick baby,
toddler food
She requested to go the hospital on day 3 illness. I had to go to work, but she knows I work at the hospital. Smart girl! Full blood count was pointing more towards viral infection. True enough, mouth ulcers appeared that days and rashes the very next day.
I went back to work today since I was oncall last evening. Yesterday she did say she was hungry but refuses to eat. Today she said she's hungry and helped herself to some cheesecake. That's my girl!!
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Still struggling to give Oral Aid. But no fever >24 hours. Fever subsided but rashes came out. Yesterday she was well hydrated, judging from her pee consistency and frequency. Not eating much but I know her appetite is there. Such a pity that the ulcers are hindering her from eating.
Usual dialogue:
"Ow shaket... Tongue shaket"
"I don't want ubat. Mommy give me ubat"... While throwing a tantrum.
"Pain! I cannot eat. Tongue shaket"
1 ulcer on the tongue- getting better. 5-6 ulcer at the roof of her mouth/ throat. It's so heartbreaking.
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sick baby
I think she had that few months back. She really had itchy palms and soles. No mouth ulcer that time. Yesterday, at day 3 illness we saw mouth ulcers!! Pity the toddler. Blood was normal- must be a viral thing.
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sick baby
The only pics I have of her rashes, but the vesicular rashes are not that clear in the iPhone pics huh? Did not manage to get the pic of the rashes on her palms.
I'm all better!
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sick baby
Ok cerita basi. This wasn't even this week, it was last week. I worked only on the last day of May (only because that the last oncall for the semester). The 4 days were spent at home with the quarantined girl.
This time around... since she's more of a chatterbox, I have to tell her why she has biji-biji itchy. Wikipedia-ed on iPad.... toddlers these days.
She'd rather use calamine lotion, or any cream rather than take oral meds... what else is new? She didn't have fever, she may had very mild fever during the night. But nothing requiring meds. I became her official scratcher- and she only had one dose of cetirizine 5mls spiked into her drink. All in all, it's quite a mild self-limiting disease.
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I think I first mentioned about speech therapy back in
July. Signs have been there, but when 2 year-old speech
milestone was again not achieved, which at the same time hampering my efforts to potty train, we were referred to a
developmental paediatrician.
I was given a list of speech therapist/ centre. Most operate only during office hours, and charge for first consultation... hmm kind of a rip off because I only wanted to check out the place and see if the aura is okay with my baby. PPUKM (we are still fond of by the name of HUKM) would be a good place too, as recommended by my fellow paediatrics lecturer... but I'm sorry, I hate the waiting time, I hate to queue, I hate driving so far. Plus DH has medical benefits :p. So I googled and found Shine from a humble
blogger mom.
I only brought Sofea here, and since she took to the speech therapist almost immediately, I made further appointments with her. I trusted my instincts :)
- first consultation can be done on alternate Saturdays
- they did not charge for the firstconsultation
- therapies during office hours (9-5)
- they allowed me to replace therapy session that I missed
- it costs RM120 per session. Therapy is once a week
- you can reschedule if unforeseen circumstances arises (provided you call in earlier)
We started, and we stopped :( When we started, I had my FIL to bring her, and I meet them there. Then he went to UK, and got admitted to IJN, and then recuperating (no driving), after which- again readmitted. And I had no more leave to spare (putting aside for my exams). Felt like a bad mom *crying softly*.
People may not appreciate the speech therapy... true Sofea doesn't seem to talk much during therapy despite much coaxing, guidance, prompts (feel free to add more adjectives here). She's just like a sponge, she learns... and she practises with mommy dearest at home. I think she has some confidence issues. I realise that now.
- she speaks softly, almost to a whisper
- she knows her ABC, but it tooks her 6 months later to repeat it at school
- only when she has fully memorised a song, that she'll scream it out loud
- she refuse to speak much with daddy, but babbles with mommy lots
- if you ask her to repeat what she 'pelat'ly said... she cries in exasperation
Ok, my oncall period is almost over. I think I should get back to sleep and enjoy my weekend. Will blog more later.
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sick baby,
speech therapy
I was born here.
My daughter was born here.
And she was here when I was taking my exam in HUKM.
Life is full of irony.
Good thing is: H1N1 screening came back negative.
Poor baby had a nasal swab *snort snort*
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sick baby
Ok this is a googled image of Unasyn syrup. If any of my doc friends are asking..... NO I haven't moved to Pfizer, or any drug company for that matter. My kid just have to take the original drugs, not the generic ones.
She was back at school last week, however on Monday she came back with runny nose. Spiked temperature throughout the night, scared shite outta the grandparents (as I went to work yesterday). We search high and low for our paediatrician, thank God he works (only one night a week) at Taman Desa Medical Centre (apart from our usual haunt Pantai Bangsar, and even his clinic in Sri Petaling).
Syrup Nurofen (ibuprofen)
Syrup Panadol (paracetamol)
... didn't work of course. Most were spitted out. I guess the next step once she's better ....
The 2010 flu vaccination has incorporated H1N1 strain inside too. And these vaccinations have different viral strains, made every 6 months tailor-made to the pattern of current viral strain. Means you have to take it every few months... not the kind of vaccination where you take only once a lifetime. I have a feeling I've been missing out on it coz Prof was chasing us to get it :-pp
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My poor daughter has an allergy: to cats. Her cough is not responding to just
MDI Salbutamol 'Ventolin. She's on steroids for the time being *sob sob*.
And now she has superimposed bacterial infection, thus 2nd time ever on antibiotics.
Azithromycin is a daily dose. That's already a huge struggle.
Suppository Diclofenac 'Voltaren' works, as usual other oral meds don't work (due to spit ups most likely).
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As Arianna has started preschool (it's not kindie, it's not nursery or daycare... so it's pre-kindie or playschool?), she has had more cough&cold and fever episodes in this past 6 months compared to the whole 2 years of life when she was at home.
The breakfast I prepared for her included:
- rice (she didn't like porridge before)
- chicken soup
- baked beans
- 3/4 boiled egg (ended up in my tummy)
- hard boiled egg
- yogurt
Now I have another sick patient recuperating at home. So the menu extend to all the household.
Day 1
B: oatmeal/ Milo/ biscuit
L: mihun sup
L: steamed cod with broccoli/ rice porridge
D: steamed cod/ blanched spinach/ rice
Day 2
B: capati/ chicken fillet with salad/ Milo
L: udon soup
D: stir fry chiken with spinach, broccoli/ rice
Now back to the hospital. Make doa for us, ameen.
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toddler food
So far I've only been recommended to Dr. Malinee (Pantai Hospital, KL) or Dr. Sofia (Sime Darby Medical Centre).
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speech therapy
