Alyssa's Diarrhoea - Part 5

Her stools remained watery (there was one time when there was a puddle of water when we were changing her diapers). She even vomited once (Note, there is a difference between a baby having a reflux reaction and vomiting. Reflux in babies is common, where small amounts of milk backflow, out of the babies' mouth after consumption. This is because babies' stomaches are quite small (about the size of their fists or a golf ball), so they are easily distended by the milk, and their lower esophagus valve may be immature and may not tighten up when it should. http://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/bottle-feeding-9/spitting-up. The condition tends to improve as the baby grows up. Vomiting, on the other hand, is a forceful reaction.) I could hear her stomach churning very loudly and saw that she was turning pale when she was about to vomit. The next thing I know after I asked if she was ok, I got puke on my shirt. It was yellowish-greenish liquid that came out of her. I was really worried, however, had no choice but to send her to the infantcare. Thank goodness she didn't not vomit anymore for the rest of the day.

Persistent diarrhoea and vomiting yellowish-greenish liquid are not good signs. Vomitus containing bile (a green substance) may mean blocked intestines (http://www.babycenter.com/0_vomiting_9955.bc) while persistent diarrhoea may signal certain intestinal diseases that is potentially dangerous. (http://www.health24.com/medical/Head2Toe/777-778-783,11814.asp). Alyssa's condition did not improve after a week, and being really concerned she might have contracted some of these terrible intestinal diseases, we decided to send her back to KKH. Another reason was also we needed to confirm she's fine, if there's nothing wrong with her, so the infantcare wouldn't bug us anymore. They were really worried about Alyssa's condition and that the disease, if there's any, may spread to the other kids at the infantcare.

The doctor decided immediately upon seeing her to admit her for observations as 2 weeks of diarrhoea may signify something more serious. We were sent to her ward at 11pm and waited for the doctor visit. Alyssa was really funny when the doctor was interviewing us to get more information on her condition. She sat on the nurse's desk and tried to snatch the doctor's document. Everyone found her quite amusing, apparently. The doctor even offered her Tigger keychain to her, until I cautioned her that Alyssa's quite likely to put that thing into her mouth.

Again, we had to wait for her to poop so that tests can be carried out on her stools to determine the cause of her diarrhoea, only this time, the diarrhoea decided to stop. She did not poop for the 2 days she was hospitalised, until the doctor who saw the her the last time came and did a check on her. The doctor-in-charge of the ward decided that the doctor who looked after her the last time she was hospitalised was the best candidate to follow up on her condition as he's the gastroenterology expert of KKH (he's Prof. Phua Kong Boo. We later found out he's the recipient of some Superstar award at KKH and there's a full body picture of him at the clinic). He decided to send her home again, with more advice than the last time.

1. The baby is probably ok if she still appears happy, like Alyssa, even though she may be having watery stools.
2. Porridge is better than milk for baby if she is having diarrhoea. This is because milk is more likely to spoil/be contaminated than porridge.
3. Solid food should be Alyssa's focus now. (We were also concerned that she was refusing milk)
4. Chicken is a good source of proteins for baby. (I can't remember if it's because it's easily digested)
5. Baby doesn't have to pass motion everyday. She is only constipated when she shows difficulty in passing motion.

He wasn't so concerned about her diarrhoea, but more about her height and weight. Apparently, she's supposed to be 3x her birth weight then and she has some catching up to do.

Luckily, this ended the diarrhoea episode and we just have to bring her back for follow-up check-ups about 2 weeks later.

Some interesting things did happen during this stay though. For example, she had biscuits for the first time in her life.

Overall, we were just so glad she's finally recovered after such a long period of time. I can only say it's really not easy being a parent.