Wednesday, February 01, 2006

1st month

My first month in this world was interesting… I went home with mummy and papa after 2 nites at the hospital. They were excited to bring me home but I cant seem to share their joy as I feel so tired all the time and I just want to sleep. I was put into my own cot once we got back and I hear a lot more of voices other than mummy’s and papa’s.

I was handled more by Ah Por when it came to my cleanliness and boy do I hate it! It makes me so cold all the time and my attempts to tell Por Por that just seems futile and I understand it makes mummy and papa panicky from all my screaming. At nights, it was more of mummy and papa handling me and that also I hate it. It only feels good when I’m in mummy’s arm, all warmed up and it’s time for feeding again.

The first few days at home, mummy was waking me up every 2-3 hours to feed but I’m just too lazy to open my eyes or suck. I only wake up when I’m really hungry and mummy complaints that I drinks too little. Seems that mummy wasn’t getting enough rest from all these (her paranoia again) and she caught the cough from papa who was already sick before I came out. Then I got the cough too just a week old and it made mummy’s heart ache to see me coughing. Well, it doesn’t seem to bother me coz I go back to sleep after I coughed.

I had to go back on the 5th day for a checkup and it seems I had jaundice and needed to be hospitalized under the UV light. Was there for one and a half days and mummy and papa were with me too. I had to be stripped down to my diapers only with this eye mask over my eyes and was put under this bright bluish light. When the doc gave the green light for me to go home, mummy was so relieved coz she was unhappy with the service she got. Doc said that I need to be exposed to the morning sun still to bring down the jaundice level and told mummy not to eat any ginger. Papa got upset when the next few days were cloudy and it was raining too. So the next best solution was to leave me in my cot next to the window in their room. When the sun finally came up after several days, Por Por took me for morning walks. At times I like it, at times I didn’t and I had to voice out my dissatisfaction.

As I was heading towards my 3rd week and the cough doesn’t seem to want to go away, my nose begin to feel more stuffy and it was hard to breathe at times. And then I became really hot one night and it scared both mummy and papa. They were monitoring me that nite and my temperature went up to 38 degrees. The next morning my fever was still high and I was brought to another hospital, one that is closer to home. We waited for quite a bit for our turn and it seems my temp went up to 38.8 then. Finally, I got to see the doc and after checking me, he told mummy and papa that I need to be admitted as I was still too young and too small. So in the hospital once again and this time I had it much worst! They had to insert this needle into my right hand and I was given a few jabs every 6 hours into this needle. It was so painful that I have to scream. Mummy stayed with me again that 2 nights and she was always there when I was in pain. As much as she was trying to comfort me each time, I still cannot understand why I had to be in pain. My fever went down and up in that 2 nights and finally was stable towards the end and the doc said it was ok to go home. The tests that were done on me were all ok, much to mummy’s and papa’s relief.

I was supposed to have a full moon do during Chinese new year (cny) and this was in plan before the nightmare started. But due to me being so sensitive to the germs around me, mummy and papa decided not to do anything other than to give ppl stuff. Besides, the doctor advised them not to expose me too much. Grandpa told mummy to bring me over and hang out at his place on the first day of cny which we did and I was asleep the whole time we were there other than to get up to drink.

Seems I became rich after cny…relatives and friends of mummy’s and papa’s were giving me money! So cool! And I received gold too! Wonder if I ever get to wear them.

Ah Por and Ah Kong left back to Penang on the 4th day of cny. Mummy was grateful to have Ah Por around the whole month although she found Ah Por at times over smothering her. I find Ah Por entertaining…she has the loudest voice I have come across so far. Whenever she takes care of me, she will be talking to me in Chinese of course. She can go on and on and I cant help but just look at her till I fall asleep. And it’s interesting to hear Ah Por’s and Ah Kong’s conversation. I’m not sure if they’re talking normally or fighting… when they left, the house became quiet and it was just me with mummy and papa.