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My Poor Little Baby - Part 2

All seemed well the next day - fever's down, she seemed active and nose was still running but at least it wasn't the green and thick mucus anymore - until feeding time. For the entire morning, Desmond (and I at a later time) tried to feed her but she simply refused to let anything into her mouth.

We tried means and ways:

1. Nice warm milk
2. Nice warm milk in a nice cup
3. Water
4. Water in a nice cup
5. Feeding with spoon
6. Glucose laden water (last resort)

She was most receptive to Glucose laden water. Of course, any kid would love some disgustingly sweet stuff (and I mean it, even the few DROPS I tasted was damn sweet). I had always resisted giving her glucose water because I don't want to make drinking sweet stuff a habit and sweet stuff does nothing for a child except to ruin their appetite for proper food. However, I made an exception this time because I imagined she must be hungry after such a long time without milk and I wanted to prevent her from being dehydrated. She managed 60ml of that and refused any more.

Desmond and I finally decided to make a trip to KKH again after she had not had any milk in 12 hours. Luckily fees for the second trip to KKH made within 24 hours of the first trip were waived so we need not pay anything this time round. Desmond suggested to let her try drinking milk again while we wait for our turn to see the doctor and guess what - the girl gulped down all the milk as we watched in amazement and wondered what we should do next.

Nevertheless, we told the doctor of our problem and the doctor hardly said anything, except that Alyssa's nose was blocked and she had difficulty breathing while she drink, which was why she's refusing milk. I found that to be an unsatisfactorily explanation because this is not the first time my baby's nose had been blocked but she had NEVER refused milk so vigorously before. I think there's got to be some other reasons, which I'll never know. Options were then presented to us:

1. Take baby home and monitor her feeding
2. Admit her into the hospital and let the nurses there monitor her feeding. If she still refuses to feed, IV her.

IV sounded like a terrible option for a little baby like her. Desmond was excited about admitting her because according to him 'it's money back' on the hospitalisation policy which he had bought for her (duh). After a few moments of deliberation, we decided to take her home first and bring her back to the hospital if she still refused to feed within the next 12 hours.

Desmond's Ah Ma came by again to visit Alyssa and even made some barley water for her, which is really very nice of her. Again, it was pain again trying to feed little baby anything and we finally resigned to fate, to just wait and see if her feeding gets better. I was really concerned about her condition because it was obvious she wasn't urinating at all for the rest of the day and the risk of dehydration is very high.

Luckily she started feeding in the middle of the night and everything went back to the normal the next day. Just a day of hunger strike and my dear girl lost 150 grams. For your information, babies after the age of 3 months only gain about 400 grams per month which means that's alot of weight she's lost in a day. Even the teachers at infant care commented yesterday that she's lost weight when she finally went back to infant care after being absent for a week.

Now her nose is still running and she's even developed a cough. I wish my dear girl won't fall sick so frequently. We're planning to visit a paediatrician recommended by my friend and hopefully he'll be able to help us.

Little baby, please get well soon!

My Poor Little Baby - Part 1

Sigh. Last week had been totally crazy. I went to pick my little darling girl on Monday from Infant Care and they informed me that she was down with fever! That was a shock. She had been a happy baby on Monday and there was no signs that she was getting seriously ill. Desmond decided that we should give her some medicine and monitor her condition as opposed to taking her to the doctor. I sponged her almost the entire evening after dinner. It became quite clear she was rather ill, as she lost her appetite and refused milk (how could it be?! That's her FAVORITE drink) and fell asleep really early that evening. She got better later in the evening though. The fever subsided and she started feeding again.

I thought I'll let her rest at home the next morning as her head still felt a little warm though the thermometer did not register any temperature that indicated she still had a fever. She seemed to be getting well till her temperature suddenly shot up in the late afternoon.

That was quite a nightmare. My poor little baby just wanted to be comforted the whole time and did not allow me to put her down at all. I could not attend to my sister who had come by for her GP session and I had to endure Desmond's Ah Ma who had come by incidentally and went on insistently that I should not have brought my darling girl to the zoo, that I should have brought her to the doctor last night and that I should have brought her to the doctor then. I became really concerned by Alyssa's rising temperature and decided not to wait for Desmond to come home anymore and walked to the baby clinic with my sister. Unfortunately, the baby clinic was shut and would only open for consultation an hour later. This is something I cannot understand. Why does baby clinic operate only a pathetic 5-6 hours a day while charging exorbitant fees and when babies fall sick easily and quickly?

Luckily my father-in-law came by and gave us a ride home. Desmond reached home later and we decided to take my poor little baby to KKH, Singapore's famous hospital for children and women. I was horrified upon reaching KKH, to learn that my baby's temperature had risen to 39.1. The nurse had to force feed paracetamol to her immediately to bring her temperature down. One thing I like about KKH is that waiting time is almost zero. We were allocated a doctor immediately after registration, as opposed to the usual 1 hour wait at the rest of government hospitals. It was also colourfully decorated to make children feel better. Anyway, doctor immediately ordered suctioning of Alyssa's nose to clear her nose congestion. The experience must be a terrible one for her as she was wailing inconsolably throughout the procedure. My poor little girl. Besides the fever and blocked nose, she also had a bit of a sore throat. Doctor kept us at KKH to make sure Alyssa would feed before we go home as I told her little baby had refused to feed since late afternoon.

Darling girl didn't feed immediately but took another hour or so before she did. Thank god she fed because otherwise the doctor would have kept her at KKH overnight. Fever subsided when she was at KKH and we were allowed to go home after the doctor checked on her again. The whole episode was only over at 10 plus and Desmond and I were beat and hungry by the time we got home. Luckily she fell asleep rather fast after medicine later that night and we both managed to get some rest.

It is a real nightmare for mothers when their babies fall sick. :(

However, this was not the end of the story for me.......