All About Your Child

I was curious yesterday to know how you guys feel about bringing kids for hospital visits….Totally agree on the germs and virus part…today there was a new ‘neighbour’ beside my FIL, he had tuberculosis before and it seems that he is back to the hospital to check if the illness came back to re-visit him again.

When I heard that from my FIL, I was shocked. Tuberculosis is a highly variable communicable disease, how could the hospital allow him to stay in such ‘normal’ wards?! Anyhow, the moment we knew about this, my eldest BIL and SIL brought all the kids down to get some tibits, and kept them entertained with the nibbles for as long as they could.

I’m really unhappy with the ‘way’ this hospital handled certain things, especially towards my FIL. He can eat solids on his own without vomiting or getting choked, but they still put drips on him, causing him to have terrible water retention. His hands are like boxing gloves and legs are like baby elephants. Over the last 8 days in hospital, he has gained 10kg!!! - ALL WATER, as he hardly get to eat solid food till yesterday afternoon.

My frustrated MIL requested to get the drip off my FIL but was rejected. Their reasons were: “we still need to give him the antibiotics every 6 hourly, and we could only get it into the body through the drips…”NOW THAT’S SOMETHING NEW to me (at least).

We were all concerned, so we stayed longer than usual, but the 6 kids were getting impatient at the lobby. So I (the usual kids’ nanny for every Sunday’s family gathering at my parents-in-law house) went down and played quiet games with them, while the others continued to stay with my FIL.

We played the guess-which-finger-tapped-on-head game, count the number of cars passed by the drop-off point, count how many people wore a-particular-coloured top (this kept them entertained the longest, ‘cos all I need to do is just change the colour), count how many people carry a basket of flowers get into the lift and the usual scissors-paper-stone.

Of cos’ the un-unison toilet visits helped to kill much time off too. Before long, the adults were down and ready to leave. Keeping kids entertained is easy, but keeping kids entertained with their voices down is tough, when they are such easily-excitable-creatures….

What do you do to keep the kids’ volume down but at the same time making sure they are not bored? One rule to this question - no electronic hand-held games please….

So I guess, I’ll not be bringing my boys there till my FIL’s ‘new neighbour’ is discharged or relocated.

(Thank you all of your concerns, well-wishes and prayers, especially imbeingheldhostage, thank you for keeping my FIL in your prayers still)

As you know, I’m a SAHM. So no matter where I am, my children will be. Even when I’m bathing, they will come over every other minute and ask…..

“Mommy, are you bathing?…..Mommy, are you done?…..Mommy, are you putting shampoo on your hair?….Mommy, I don’t hear water-sound, so are you wiping yourself now….are you coming out now?”

So when I went to the hospital to visit my FIL, naturally they will go along. Everyone knows how ‘natural loud-speakers’ kids are, and being active 90% of the time, you could hardly get them to sit still for more than 5mins.

When my boys see their cousins, it’s party time! All of them would laugh and speak louder than usual. Even though every adult would go, “Shhhhh…..this is the hospital, the patients are sick, they need to rest, so you need to talk softly…” a thousand times, they would still forget this golden rule the next minute.

I’m glad that my boys obeyed the “NOT TO RUN ABOUT” commandment, but not my nieces and my little 1year old nephew.

My second sis-in-law had not brought her only daughter to see my FIL for the past 1 week since his hospitalisation, in order to prevent the need to discipline her in public.

My eldest sis-in-law’s kids, who stay with my parents-in-law, would naturally follow my MIL on every visit.

Being active is usually ‘acceptable‘ but sometimes being kids, they would say whatever that comes to mind and THAT may be ‘unacceptable’ to the ears of the patients or the patients’ families at time….

“Mommy, why the uncle got that thing stuck in his mouth?”

“Mommy, why that uncle make so much noise?”

“Mommy, why that uncle sleep like that?”

“Mommy, why that uncle poo-poo on his bed?”

“Mommy, why that uncle vomit?”

“Mommy, why that uncle’s leg got that big white thing?”

“MOMMY, that uncle not moving, IS HE DEAD??!”

and the ‘why’ questions continues….(my FIL stays in a male ward, so they saw male patients only)

Even if I wasn’t a SAHM, I believe I’ll still bring my kids along whenever I visit a family member or relative who is hospitalised. It’s vital to let them know the importance of being healthy. Actually, these few days, my elder one has started to eat slightly more vegetables, he used to eat only ONE vege per meal….

“Mommy vegetables are good for my body right? I want to be healthy, don’t want to be sick. If I am sick, I have to stay in the hospital and cannot go home….I don’t want that.”

I think there’s some kind of effect after seeing how people suffer in hospital…he doesn’t want to see himself in that state….

So are you like my 2nd sis-in-law, who prefers not to bring her kid to the hospital to prevent unnecessary noise pollution?

Or are you like my eldest sis-in-law who doesn’t have a preference if the kids went there or not?

Or are you like me, who thinks that hospital is another educational centre, where kids can learn alot from there too?

I over-slept this morning. Keatkeat was supposed to be in school by 8am, but that was the time I woke up. He usually needs about 30-45mins to get ready, laze around, whine a little, brush his teeth, wear his shirt, wear his shoes….in sllllloooowwwww motion.

Even when I was awake, I couldn’t get my tired body out of bed. With the travelling to and fro from the hospital, staying there to look after my FIL did tire my aging body. Sorry Keatkeat!

My FIL had an operation yesterday. The doctor inserted a tube to enlarge his shrunk gall. The tube will be remove only 4-6weeks later together with the couple of stones found in his gall as well.

Because my FIL’s platelets count is still not increasing and worse, it’s not reacting to the antibiotics (which is supposed to help increase the growth of it), so the doctor doesn’t want to do a ‘long’ surgery in fear of pro-fused bleeding.

He can only consume fluid now and constantly vomiting phlegm so it’s really quite a heart-breaking sight. He is bed bound till his platelets starts to reproduce by itself to the ’safe-level’ and provided his ‘yellow-ness’ disappears….

Thank you everyone for your concern and prayers. Thank you, thank you!

This morning at 10.30am, my FIL was shivering very badly, almost into a fit.

The doctors from Tan Tock Seng Hospital decided to do an ultra sonic scan for him and will be transferring him to the ICU.

Yet after waiting for 6 hours, the doctors came back and said they couldn’t fulfill whatever they had promised earlier because there isn’t a ’spare’ bed for my FIL in the ICU. *Urrrrrgggghhhh*

And because they do not have sufficient supply of the Platelets, they could not put the scope into my FIL. They were worried that any rupture internally may cause profuse bleeding. So they are waiting for more supply of the Platelets from Singapore General Hospital. *Double Urrrrrgggghhhh*

Anyhow, my FIL is having oxygen assistance right now. He seems better when we left at 6pm but he is definitely getting more yellowish…..*sigh*

Many DIL may not feel much for their FIL but for someone like me, who hardly had father’s love, my FIL is like my ‘real‘ dad and to see him lying there, breathing heavily is really an unbearable sight….*heart sank*

We went over to my in-law house this morning for the usual Sunday Family Gathering. But today is different….

My father-in-law, who is hardly ill, has been vomiting, having high fever and feeling breathless since Friday. When we were there, he turned slightly yellowish. My mom-in-law was worried that this sudden attack may have been the result of not going for the quarterly check-up after the removal of his gall stones 3 years ago.

I realized people of that generation dislike to go to the doctor till things really become out-of-hand. My dad was like that too. Either because of pride or refuse to spend that kind of money or they simply hate the faces of doctors, I have no idea….

My 2nd Bro-in-law brought my parents-in-law to the hospital around 3pm. 3 hours later, my FIL was admitted because of a possible liver failure and his low Platelets count. Platelets (also called thrombocytes) are tiny oval-shaped cells made in the bone marrow. They help in the clotting process, read here to know more.

The doctors will be doing a thorough check with X-rays and Scans tomorrow morning. So we’ll be visiting him again tomorrow at Tan Tock Seng Hospital to know the outcome….as children, what could be worse than seeing their parents lying on the sick-bed….*sigh*

This is the second time Keatkeat has hives. It started on Wednesday evening. I guess I learnt fast from the very first attack.

Though I still couldn’t figure out what triggered it again, at least I learnt how to let it subsides fast.

I gave him Leng-Yong (Cantonese Language) before he went to bed on Wednesday. Early next morning, continued with home-made barley drink every 2 hours, till the red bumps were totally gone.

So all the ugly reddish bumps stayed on him for less than 24 hours even though it covered more than 90% of his body. This time it disturbed his little elephant trunk, which was the partKeatkeat felt most uncomfortable scratching on. Poor guy!

So the Snowman is back again! Covered completely with Prickly Heat Powder. He liked how he looked though, whenever there is a part that’s un-white, he would call for more powder. This photo was taken upon his request too…

With that cheeky look, who would believe that he’s sick?!?! But trust me, after the shot was taken, he was scratching crazy like a monkey. It’s awful, but that’s not the biggest price he paid for.

His worst punishment was not being able to follow me to Suntec Convention Centre yesterday for The PC Show where one could get to see the latest hi-tech stuff and at the same time get great bargains.

I needed to get a thumb drive very badly. The price was good. For this 4GB ScanDisk, I paid S$25 only where outside is selling at S$30.

But this year, I found out that not all items are at a bargain. Allan was searching for Epson C110 printer. He checked out the price at Sim Lim Square before he went for the once-a-year event, The PC Show.

It was selling at S$155 at Sim Lim Square but was priced at S$168 with a free sporty bag thrown in at The PC Show. We don’t need the bag so we went for the lower price.

It was super crowded yesterday, thursday 12th June 2008. If the first day of the event was already a pushed-to-walk situation, I can’t imagine what would it be like when the show ends this Sunday 15th June 2008.

I like to sleep. That was my hobby before I had kids, now it’s a I-can’t-get-enough thing, ohhhh especially on a cooling, drizzling morning like today.

Allan was out early for a morning appointment. I was still lying in bed, semi-awake, heard the kids’ usual call for their milk, the sound of milk preparation and then the sound of him belting up his pants. Everything was so clear, but I just refused to open my eyes.

The confirmation of his departure was distinct, with his big chunk of keys slapping against the metal gate, I was ready to get back to my dream land as the kids brought in their Lego to play in the room. Then….

“Mom….my, gooot blood…”

That broken sentence woke me up like a pail of cold water splashed on my sleepy face. Opened my eyes wide, jumped onto my feet and searched for my glasses.

Keatkeat shirt and long pants were covered with blood, which dripped down from his mouth, which actually started from his nose.

Yes, it’s another nose bleed again. Maybe because he cried too much yesterday, maybe because the weather was too cold and he had been sneezing too much in the night which could have ruptured his old wound, or maybe it’s both. Whatever it is, I had to stop the flow.

After the experience I got from here and here, I was more composed. This is something that I am so used to. Not that he bleed very often, that would be scary. But whenever he has a bad runny nose for too long, this happens.

It was hard to switch from a sloppy self to a fast speed momentum machine in a split second, but the Mommy spirit in me did a perfect change. I covered his nose with tissue to soak up the blood, preventing it from flowing down to his mouth, while I use my index and thumb to add pressure to his nose bridge.

Keatkeat is used to this too. So our cooperation was perfect team. But the flow was too heavy, his mouth was full of blood, he knew he can’t swallow it because it will cause him to vomit, he knew it, he experienced that before. He signal me that he could no longer control the contents in his mouth.

“Binbin pass me a dustbin!” Yes I still have a 3 year old assistant who has been sitting still and watching the bloody scene. This was too much for this little boy, I could tell. Because he walked pass the dustbin without realising it! “Binbin! The dustbin is over there!!!”

Instructed Keatkeat to spit into the dustbin, then carried him to the toilet. He was a super kid, completely calm. He rinsed his mouth as I continue to add pressure to his nose. As if everything was not hectic enough, “Mommy I want to poo-poo” said my younger boy.

“But Mommy, I want to shh- shh…” said Keatkeat.

My priority was Keatkeat so I was prepared to let Binbin poo in his pants. Ignored Binbin totally and carried Keatkeat down from the inverted pail which he was standing on, pulled down his pants and positioned him to pass urine.

“MOmmy! My poo-poo want to come out already!” cried Binbin

“Ok, Ok….almost done!” I snapped.

When my elder one was done, I lowered the toilet bowl seat-er, then the baby seat-er and scooped up Binbin, sat him down for him to go ahead with his poo business.

Got back to the still bleeding Keatkeat, continued to add pressure to stop the flow. It’s getting better….the flow is not as scary now. Carried my boy back to his mattress….just then….

“Mom -mmy,  I fin-nished!” Binbin sang these 3 words with his usual tune that goes like this fa-mi-fa-mi-so.

“Yes, coming. I am changing Gor-gor’s shirt.” I snapped again.

In less that 3 seconds, “But, Mom-mmy, I fin-nished!” My little vocalist sang again! That’s him, he needs immediate attention, which I wasn’t prepared to give at that very moment!

Stacked up the adults’ pillow and let Keatkeat rest on it, half sitted, half lied down, to prevent the blood from flowing backwards, down his pipe that leads to the tummy. That was the biggest mistake I made the very first time he had nose bleeding. I learnt the hard way and I remembered it well.

“Mommy, I look like a patient now.” said my boy.

“Yes Baby, you ARE a patient now…. Ok let me go settle your brother, before the neighbours complain about him.”  Hopped onto my feet, leaped to the toilet to clean my smelly-stinky kid who has been singing the same line with the same tune over a hundred times….

Then back to my elder one again to check if the flow has stopped completely. Stayed with him for 15mins before I pronounced him, “Ok, you are discharged, free to go play now.”

I was exhausted, but fully awake at the end of everything! What a waste! It was a perfect weather to cat nap for at least another hour.  What a way to start my morning! Sigh….

I’ve mentioned over here and here before that Binbin has a head that’s as hard as steel and his pain tolerance level is extremely high.

He can bang his head onto the sides of the opened car door, ended up with a dent on his forehead and all he did was shed a few tears.

Now I got to know my boy a little deeper…he doesn’t only have a head so hard, he had such strong teeth too!

When I saw the tile, I was expecting blood with 1 or 2 broken teeth, but there wasn’t. Binbin just sat there looking stunned, that’s all….Should I credit this to 6 months of breastfeeding for such strong teeth and bones? Hmmm….what about his threshold of pain? Is that inherited from someone….way back to my ancestors…cos’ neither Allan nor I are as ‘tolerant’ as my 3 year old? Hmmm….*Scratch head*