Saturday, March 11, 2006

Sick again

Mummy and Papa had a scare when I fell sick once again. It was the first week for Mummy back at work. Papa picked me up at the nursery that Monday evening. Once we got home, he realized that I was pretty warm and he took my temperature. It was 38 degrees and he called Mummy who wasn’t back from work yet. He told Mummy that he’s going to take me to the hospital, at this time I was crying from the discomfort I was in. I was feeling hot all over. Mummy managed to convince him to wait for her to get home first.

While waiting for Mummy, Papa got a wet towel to put on my forehead. And he fed me too. He held me all the way till Mummy came home. Once mummy came home, they got ready to take me to go see the doctor. We went to another doc this time coz my doc was not working that night. It took us a fair bit to get to this doc coz Papa wasn’t too sure where the clinic was. I was tightly snuggled up in the sling around Mummy then. Mummy who took pity on me felt that I should not be sitting in the car seat and instead, wrapped me in the sling on her. By the way, this sling was just bought over the weekend so that Mummy can have her 2 hands free to do whatever she wants when she carries me. I’ve been difficult to her lately it seems. What is wrong with me wanting to be held all the time? I thought all babies should need some TLCs as and when he or she pleases, no?!

Ok, back to this new doc. It’s the usual routine being weighed and measured. Much to Mummy’s and Papa’s delight, I have now officially doubled my birth weight. I now weigh 4.6kgs which is equivalent to 10.12 pounds. But of course their main concern was my fever and how is it affecting me. My turn came to see the doc and he checked me physically. He said other than the high fever I had (which hit to 39 degrees by then), I looked physically alright. He said to give me fever medication every 4-6 hours and to go see my doc the next day. Mummy asked whether will the fever go away and he said usually it doesn’t in babies. It will go up and down for a few days. Mummy doesn’t want another horrible time at the hospital for us again.

I think she prayed very hard coz my temperature went back to normal overnight with the fever medication. Mummy diligently got up through the night and made sure I had the medication. She took leave from work to look after me that day and she told Papa that she will take me to see my doc if my fever returns but it didn’t. So the next day, I was back to the nursery and Mummy back to work. That evening, Mummy picked me up from the nursery as Papa had to work late that day. I wasn’t being my usual self and that got Mummy worried. On the way home, I was crying over little matters. I was really tired and was falling asleep but anything that wakes me, I start to cry over again. I was just feeling uncomfortable and was voicing it out.

Once at home, Mummy took my temperature and I had a mild fever of 37.5 degrees. So I got a dose of medication every 4-6 hours again. And also this time round, my eyes were reddish-pinkish and puffy. Mummy said that if it doesn’t go away the next day, she will take me in to see my doc. My fever went away but not my puffy eyes so Mummy took leave again the next day and took me to see my doc. The doc that jabbed me real hard the last time! Again like the other doc, he checked me physically and said that there’s nothing wrong with me physically. He said that the puffy eyes are a reaction from my fever and it will go away. He told Mummy not to give me fever medication unless my temperature is 38 degrees and above. He said that my fever could be from some viral infection but Mummy thinks it could be from the nursery. He also told Mummy to make sure that I get a lot of rest too.

That afternoon, we went to Aiyee’s (Mummy’s sister) house and I was looked after by Kakak (Aiyee’s maid) and Grandma while Mummy got her rest at Grandma’s who lives on the floor below Aiyee’s unit. Poor Mummy, from the worries and lack of sleep, she too fell sick.

Mummy decided for me to be taken care by Kakak the next day too while she goes back to work. She told Aunty Ng that she will send me back to the nursery the following Monday. I had fun at Aiyee’s. I got to be with Ro Wyn cher cher (big sister in chinese) and Jo Tien ko ko (big brother in chinese). Some more Grandma was there too and she carries me all the time. What fun I had but my eyes were still pinkish. Mummy said it looks as if I’ve been punched in the eyes. Mummy came quite late to pick me up that day but it was ok. I had fun with Aiyee and my cousins. Once Aiyee got home from work, I couldn’t stop talking to her and also to Kakak. I’ve been termed a chi cha por (talkative one)…I must take after Mummy since I hear her talk more than Papa.

Saturday, March 04, 2006

First Smile



How can I not forget my first actual smile coz mummy, being the sour grapes, went on and on about it. You see, she wasn’t too happy that I gave my first smile to papa. She kept telling people how she always sings to me, talks to me, and of course looks after me more than papa and yet, I seem to response more to papa than her. She doesn’t understand that what I have lacking, I would want it more, just like any other human being. And in this case, I don’t get to be with papa as often as I am with mummy, so it will make more sense that I will react more to papa.

It happened like this… during my 9th week, Mummy was feeding me her expressed milk through the bottle in the living room. Papa just came back from Penang and walked through the front door. Once he entered, he called out “Baby” and I half smiled. Mummy, upon seeing this then asked Papa to say that again. And when he did, I fully smiled. Mummy yelled out “She smiled!”. Papa came to me and talked to me and this time I kept smiling. Mummy, again the sour grapes, just passed me to Papa and said “Nah, you feed her since she’s so happy to see you”.

She left us and Papa just talked to me. I responded with some sounds which made mummy even more upset. Papa was so thrilled that he said he wants to tell the whole world which for him, his world at that time was just to Uncle Adrian. He went on how it made his day to come home to see me smiling like this. He’s been stressed with work lately so to him, coming home to me is like forgetting all his worries. Sigh, poor Papa. Is it that stressful working?!!

Ever since my first smile, I only responded to Papa for the next few days. After that, it was to everyone. But mummy kept on telling people that the reason I responded to Papa was that I’m mostly exposed to women and children whose voices are higher pitch. So when Papa, who got a lower pitch, talks to me, it will definitely arouse a response from me. Sour grapes!

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

2nd month

After my first month, I was fully taken care by mummy as she doesn’t need to go back to work yet. Few days before Ah Por and Ah Kong left, mummy started taking over in bathing me. This bathing business, I still don’t understand it…it’s nice to feel warm all over again, kinda reminds me of my old home except that I feel too ‘lose’ here and not snuggly at all. In fact, it’s so lose that it terrifies me! Moreover, it’s only part of me that feels it, the other feels cold. At times, I had to voice out my discomfort…most of the time, I’m too shocked to voice out anything, I only feel like grabbing on to whatever I can get my hands on and if I cannot after many attempts, I will scream! One time, mummy responded “Don’t worry girl, I will not drown you…I went through so much just to have you so why would I want to drown you now?!”

My time with mummy alone was ok during the day time coz I slept most of the time. But at nights, I had such pain in my tummy that I cannot help but voice it out. Papa was not around most of the time as he had to work so poor mummy was all alone in comforting me which helped a little but it was still painful. I think I made mummy mad coz there were a few times she just left me at my cot to cry on my own. Boy, was it bad and I just had to cry more. But she will in the end still come and comfort me till I fall asleep from all that crying.

Mummy likes to sing to me…she will sing all sorts of nursery rhymes. In fact, she even bought some books for me with nursery rhymes. She will show me these books once in a while and she also flashes some cards at me. I cant really tell what they are but the colours are really fascinating. Mummy will flash them and say stuff and makes some funny sounds at times. I will stare at mummy when she does these things but at times, I find myself looking at other stuff coz it gets a bit boring looking at mummy.

Papa is really funny…he’s big! Bigger than what I expected. According to mummy, he has been a real big help too since I came out to this world. She’s so glad that papa was always there for us. Once mummy started expressing her milk to the bottle, papa has taken over some of the feedings. Papa doesn’t talk as much as mummy but he still talks to me, only in Chinese. He still calls me “Baby” just like before except that it’s much clearer now. He carries me a lot and mummy will tell him off for that. But I like it when papa carries me!

I went back to see the doctor again when I was about 6 weeks old to get a jab, well I didn’t know I was about to get one then. I was stripped and checked thoroughly by the doc before the jab which I was initially ok with. Then he asked mummy to hold down my right leg… it took me several seconds to realize what he was doing and then I felt a sharp pain. I screamed in pain and felt my eyes all wet. Immediately, the doc picked me up and passed me to mummy to be soothed but it took me a while to forget that sharp pain. What a mean doc this one. I heard that I will need to see him again in 2 months time. He better not jab that thingy in my leg again!

Mummy started sending me to Aunty Ng’s a few weeks before she went back to work. I quite like it there. There are a lot of other children there and the room I am put in has other babies as well. I’m the youngest in there. At first it was all alien to me but I find it quite fascinating. Mummy will send me there early in the mornings and she will pick me up later in the evenings. Mummy said that this will be the routine once she starts work again. I guess I’ll be missing mummy’s office as it has been a while since I’ve heard the dramas and commotion of it. Oh well, there’s so much more to see too at Aunty Ng’s.