It's A Crazy Week (Part 2)

The procedure I went through is laparoscopy. It is a diagnostic procedure in this instance, where the surgeon inserted a tube with a camera at its tip into my abdominal cavity through my belly button. That's the extreme pain I felt before falling into a temporary coma. As it turns out, it was a right ectopic pregnancy, meaning the fetus grew in my right fallopian tube. The fetus caused the fallopian tube to ruptured and the surgeon had to perform Salpingectomy, that is, to REMOVE my right fallopian tube. I didn't know about this initially.

I had asked the Medical Officer on duty what the surgeon did after I woke up and he told me, they had probably just cut up the fallopian tube, took out the fetus and repaired the fallopian tube. Had I not request to stay for another day because my baby was also hospitalised and there was no one at home to look after me, I would have never found out my fallopian tube was removed. It was only the next day, when the surgeon who performed the procedure came around then I was informed of the unpleasant fact. Even though the other doctor present tried to assure me that fertility rate isn't affected much with one tube gone, I had felt absolutely crappy and I'm definitely worried that I won't be able to have another cute baby. I can only pray very hard now that I'll still be able to have at least one more baby in the future. It was a really devastating piece of news since I had planned to have 3 kids. I'm not even half way through. :(

Occasionally, I feel sad about the loss of a baby but consoled myself that at least I have my beautiful Alyssa. I appreciate my baby much much more, and motherhood as well. It's not easy to become a mother - many want to be a mother but never got the chance to, and now that I'm recalling, the feeling of having your baby in you is truly a magical one.

After this experience, I think people should appreciate their children even more and take care of their children well. I'm definitely loving Alyssa more.

It's A Crazy Week (part 1)

Let's begin the story with what happened to me. My period was late and when it came, it was weird. I didn't really have period, just some weird discharge. After a few says of that, I decided to check if I was pregnant since my period was late and it's a common thing to experience spotting during pregnancy, though I didn't during my first pregnancy. The first clearblue test was positive. Being really worried, I decided to get a Predictor to test. It turned out to be negative. Really confused, I decided to test with another clearblue in the morning. Pregnancy tests are most accurate in the morning as the concentration of hCG is the highest in the morning. That test turned out to be positive. I decided I would take half day off to go the gynae to check it out. As Infant care called to inform that Alyssa was having a fever, desmond had to pick her up before we head for the gynae.

When we got to the gynae, the gynae couldn't find the fetus in my womb. Instead, all he saw was some blood clots even though the lining of the uterus was thick, suggesting a pregnancy. His guess was, it's quite likely I had a miscarriage or the pregnancy could be ectopic. He decided to first confirm the pregnancy with a blood test. When blood test results came, I indeed had a pregnancy, however the hCG level was low. It could be that a miscarrige had already occurred. A second blood test on thursday was needed to confirm that. However, when the second test result came back, I was told the hCG level had doubled within the 48 hours after the first test, which indicated the fetus was around and still growing. The gynae decided to give me a hormonal jab to stabilise and help the fetus grow before we try to look for it in my womb a week later.

Although Desmond and I didn't plan to have another baby so soon, I would very much want to keep the baby. Just imagine another Alyssa, a big bundle of joy. Who wouldn't want to keep the baby? I certainly didn't hope it would be a miscarriage and definitely not an ectopic pregnancy as I know the trouble such a pregnant spells. I was quite happy to know the baby was around and there was a chance it wasn't an ectopic pregnancy since the hCG level doubled quite normally. It could be that the fetus wasn't spotted in the womb as it was too small.

However, I suddenly experienced a terrible pain at my right hip on Thursday night and I noticed before the pain that my spotting had suddeny became very bloody. As I was already staying over at kkh, I decided to go to the 24 hour women's clinic as I feared something was going wrong with the pregnancy.

I was attended to immediately due to my condition. When the doctor did an ultrasound scan for me, again, he said there wasn't any pregnancy in the womb. Instead, he spotted alot of blood and fluid around my womb, especially on the right side where it wad hurting the most. He told me it was most likely an ectopic pregnancy. As I was already having internal bleeding, a diagnostic surgery was required immediately to see what was going on in there and to remove the fetus if it was indeed an ectopic pregnancy. By the way, for your information, an ectopic pregnancy is one where the pregnancy occurs outside the womb, most of the time, at the Fallopian tube but could also be at the abdominal area etc. It is a condition that is potentially life threatening if not found out early.

The hospital was really cold. My teeth was clattering away as I laid on the bed, waiting for the operation. I couldn't even speak properly. The operation theatre was even worse. I trembled uncontrollably, even 3 blankets didn't help. I only became better after they put the warmer at my tummy. The doctor for anesthesia asked me about my medical history and explained the possible side effects I can get from a GA, e.g. Vomitting etc.

When they finally got everything ready, I was told to take in deep breaths of oxygen. I did and suddenly felt a sharp pain through my arm which was connected to the drip. Then I felt a cut through my belly button. I really wanted to scream then as it was really painful but I couldn't move at all. I felt the cut went deeper into my stomach and passed out.

Money Should Fall From the Sky Instead!

I was putting Alyssa's school bag into the car after picking her up from the infant care one day last week, when something fell onto my car. I ducked and looked for the thing which fell after a while. It was the core of a toilet roll. Why are people throwing things out of their windows?! Don't they have dustbins or access to the rubbish chute at home?

This toilet roll just reminded me of something else nasty that I found on my car a few days earlier. Dear peeps, see if you can guess correctly what that thing on my windscreen was.

Yes peeps, no prize for the right guess but it is a HALF EATEN BREAD!!! Why on earth does anyone want to throw their half eaten breakfast out of their window?! It is too bizarre! I don't need to know what sort of breakfast my neighbours are having!

I wonder what next is going to fall on my poor car! Unless they are throwing money out of their windows, people should really be more considerate!

The Usual Suspects (Part 3)

I thought all will be well and I could send Alyssa to the infant care the next day since her fever subsided and was gone completely by the time she slept. So that's exactly what I did - I took her to the infant care the next day. It was alright at first, her temperature was fine, until I had to tell them how the antibiotics she's supposed to take come about. So, I explained how she woke up with a fever on Saturday, how we took her to KKH and why the doctor gave her the antibiotics. Then, unknowingly, I told the teacher Alyssa only started the antibiotics on Sunday, meaning she had only been on medication for one day prior to going to infant care. Then the teacher pulled me aside and started telling me one of the hidden rules - babies are NOT allowed in the infant care if they had only started on antibiotics for a day! The baby must have at least had the antibiotics for TWO days before they can be accepted at the infant care. What the hell?! I had no idea of this rule at all!

Then she went on about how if the baby's fever had subsided, the infant care still could take her in and monitor her situation, but she really couldn't help it if the baby hadn't been on antibiotics for at least 2 days before entering the infant care. I was well aware that by that time she told me that, my face would have been as black as charcoal and fire was burning within me. I simply asked her if she wasn't going to take my baby and stormed out of the infant care with my baby, burning with anger. I don't think they told us of this rule and that teacher kept insisting that I forgot about it. Is this what I'm paying so much for?

When we got home, Alyssa refused her cereal and only wanted biscuits. I tried to cut a deal with her: she would get the biscuits if she ate the cereal too but she refused. So in another fit of anger, I decided to keep the biscuits out of her sight and threw all the cereal away. Alyssa was aware I was angry and remain a nice little baby who didn't dare to make much noise while I was preparing her porridge. It's good to be fierce once in a while so the baby wouldn't take too much advantage of you. Normally, had I been nice, Alyssa would have been screaming her head off in her seat for me. She can't stand me ignoring her and doing something else.

While feeding Alyssa the cereal, I also received a phone call from Desmond's Ah Ma. She had been keep tracking of the situation and decided to call and see if we were at home (she thought there was a possibility the infant care wouldn't want to take Alyssa). Her predictions came true and she informed me that she was coming by to help out with the situation at home. That was really very sweet of her. She bought very delicious chicken rice for me for lunch and cooked barley water for Alyssa. Ah Ma even brought along clothes so she could stay over till the next day if the infant care doesn't take Alyssa again. She's my favourite Ah Ma now, after the Ah Ma at my parent's place.

At least I didn't have to worry about my lunch and there was company so all my anger went away. But Ah Ma should have told me about her plans. Then I would have told her I'll take leave for the next day as well. LOL. It is actually quite nice to slack at home with good company. What's more, Alyssa is an affectionate little girl now, who's always hugging me, crawling over me and headbutting me as displays of affection.

But please, baby, get well soon and don't be sick again. It's too tiring for Mummy!

The Usual Suspects (Part 2)

The wait for the laboratory test results was a rather interesting one. No, Alyssa didn't dance around and entertain me. She slept in my arms rather peacefully most of the time. What I found interesting was the little girl who sat in front of us.

I suspect she had a fall and cut her head, since there was a bandage on her forehead and there were red stains that indicated bleeding. Despite her condition, she was still rather bubbly, blabbering away to the people around her. I think she's only slightly older than Alyssa since she doesn't talk yet. Then her mum called her grandpa and and passed the handphone to her. Usually when I pass my phone over to Alyssa, she would keep quiet and not say a thing as if the phone would eat her up if she made any noise. This kid is different. She started blabbering into the phone as if she was talking some serious stuff. The blabber went on for quite some time as well and she looked very adult-like. It was really funny and cute. I wonder when Alyssa will start blabbering into the phone like this girl did. I just bought Alyssa a new toy phone and she doesn't do anything else but put it into her mouth. I think Alyssa talking into the phone will be a long way to go.

Finally, the results are out, and indeed, Alyssa's got urinary tract infection. What puzzled me was how the doctor decide when to perform a urine test on the patient. So it seems, that's the normal procedure they perform when a child suddenly gets a fever without any other symptoms. In addition, I also found out baby girls are more predisposed to urinary tract infection than baby boys. To let you peeps understand this better, I must first explain how urinary tract infection happens in babies. That's because their feces is contained a diaper and may get into contact with other parts of their bottom e.g. the part where urine is passed out. Now, we know feces contains millions of bacteria so ta-dah! That's how a baby contract urinary tract infection. In fact, babies are actually at a high risk for urinary tract infection. Anyway, because the baby boy's private part is further away from his anus, there is less contact between the feces and his private part. Therefore an urinary tract infection is less likely in a baby boy.

So since the cause of Alyssa'a fever was known, the doctor sent us back with some antibiotics (Cephalexin). Initially, she only prescribed 10 days worth of cephalexin to be taken 3 times, but at the end, she decided to increase the duration which Alyssa should take the medicine. All in all, my dear baby has to take the antibiotics for 24 days, which really sounds quite crazy. I wonder why I didn't ask the doctor why Alyssa must take the medicine for such long duration. Maybe I was too tired and wanted to get home as fast as possible. My guess is, doctor had done so most likely because she doesn't want Alyssa to suffer a relapse of the infection, until her follow-up appointment on 3rd November. The doctor did advise though that, if Alyssa's fever persist even after 3 days of taking the antibiotics, we should bring her back to the hospital immediately.

Because we only got home at 12 in the middle of the night, we did not give Alyssa the medicine. I waited till the next day so it's easier to regulate the times she take the medicine. For the medicine to be effective, it should be taken at regular timings and must not be missed. You can imagine she wasn't a very pleasant kid the next day because she still wasn't well yet without the medicine. She continued to refuse milk and took very little porridge. I had to resort to giving her my ice lemon tea to make her eat. (Relax peeps, she didn't take any of the ice lemon tea. She only played with the BK cup. She did try to eat my brother-in-law's french fries though.) She also didn't sleep well during her naps and woke up screaming rather regularly.

Things did get better in the night though. She finally started taking milk and didn't have any fever since after dinner.

But my nightmare didn't end there.