Julia Gabriel Term End Party

It was the term-end party for lil' Ash today! Theme for the term: Things People Do. Thus, she was dressed up as a lil ballerina.

Lil' Ash dressed in her tutu, standing

next to her sweet German classmate

Lil' Ash has completed 1 term of English Playclub. It was a regret that I couldn't join her for the party today. The rest of her classmates turned up with their parents. Lil' Ash was the only one without the company of her parents. Hubby & I are truly guilty that we couldn't be with her due to work commitments. Helper mentioned that she wasn't in a cheery mood. Perhaps, she felt the absence of her parents.

Helper has been telling me that she has become attached to her teachers. She is always standing in front, listening attentively. It's a pity that I am not around to witness her behaviour & developments.

As usual, she's standing right in front of

the class again, making the "U" sound

The quality of the playclub programme is indeed a cut above other enrichment programmes I can find in Singapore. Activities conducted in the class are able to instill interests in learning for her. After she has started attending this programme, her development accelerated. She dances and sings, and her vocabulary and word comprehension have greatly increased. It's money well-spent.

Back in Action Soon

Will be back in action soon.

Two pink lines.... here n gone....

Two pink lines, albeit one faint yet visible to the naked eye and to the pragmatic lil' Ash's papa. I had to strain and squint to make the faint line darker so it would seem more definitive, more certain. I was skeptical but I didn't want to worry much.

We all thought we were going to have a new 'addition' to our family in March 07, lil Ash was going to be a JIE JIE in a few months' time......

All our hopes were dashed. I had a chemical pregnancy (a very early miscarriage) today, on 30th June 2006.

I was "technically" pregnant (produced the chemical HCG), but a normal pregnancy did not result.

Suffering from a miscarriage can be traumatic. Not only is it taxing on me physically but emotionally as well.There were lots of mummies who wrote about multiple miscarriages with years of trouble conceiving, late-term miscarriages, and still births. I am considered "luckier" as compared to these mums. I hadn't bonded with this baby, hadn't sung to it or felt it kick. I hope I can emerge as a stronger person after this ordeal. Afterall, I am blessed with lil' Ash.

Discharged!

Lil' Ash seemed to be a cheery mood when she woke up this morning. Perhaps, her medication and calamine solution helped to ease her itch.






Her rashes have started to fade. She was feeding well and no longer fuss as much as she did yesterday. She was back to her 80% of usual self... she could play with us, nurses and the other mummies in the ward.

Fever has subsided. Pruritic rashes have definitely faded too. She no longer needs to face the masked doctors or nurses. She no longer needs to sleep on the uncomfortable cot mattress in KKH. She was officially discharged today!!!

The diagnosis still remains a mystery. The principal cause of her illness may be due to antibiotics allergy. It is still unknown. Nevertheless, I can't wait for the return of my lil' healthy precious girl!

Scarred

From a cheerful and cheeky lil' girl.....

to a lil' girl covered with horrendous red spots!

How would you feel when you see your own child in this state?


I was utterly heartbroken.

Questions ran through my mind to narrow down the root cause of these horrendous rashes. Was it caused egg yolk allergy? Was it caused by air contaminants? Was it caused by drug allergy? Were they post-viral fever rashes? Was she down with measles? Or was she down with some incurable disease?!

The rashes started as tiny red spots that resembled diaper rashes. The spots seemed to 'bloom' within a short period. She was attacked by another bout of fever again. This time round, she cried unconsolably. We knew she was feeling awful coz of her fever and itch! Constantly, I felt bouts of sadness whenever she was brawling big time. All of us seemed to be in a frantic state.
We had no choice but to send her to KKH. She was on her unusual behaviour. A girl who seldoms cry became a brawling toddler overnight. A girl who smiles sweetly at me became a sick and grouchy toddler overnight. All of us couldn't accept the fact.

Mummies with babies shunned away from us when they saw lil' Ash in such a state in KKH. Though I felt hurt by their reponses, as a mother myself, I understand their worries.

Trust me, her rashes certainly looked worse. We didn't have the mood to take photographs of her when the spots seemed to 'bloom' within a short period. Confluent rashes were found not only on her face, but all over. Her limbs, arms, tummy, back....... whole body were covered with big red spots that showed signs of darkening. PD admitted her for further medical examinations. Poor lil' girl was pricked so many times! It was a heart-wrenching moment for Papa Ash and me to see our lil' girl crying her lungs out. She refused to be placed in the cot. Apparently, she was tired. But she couldn't sleep due to the itch. All we could do was to sign and rock her to sleep. Evetually, she fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion.

The medical team in charge of her ward couldn't figure out the cause of her rare case of occurrence of such rashes. They suspected mycoplasma pneumonia (infection of lungs, rashes & fever are one of the symptoms) but her blood test and x-ray results didn't confirm that she wasn't infected by this deadly bacterium. They suspected that the anitbiotics she had more than a week may be the 'culprit'!

Thank God, within a few hours, her fever was settling after suppository was given. Rashes started to fade when she was given anti-histamine to reduce the rashes.

V is for Varicella

Chicken pox is becoming a disease of the Stone Age so to speak.

Although chicken pox vaccination is available and recommended, it is not universally a part of the standard immunization package, and therefore, I am leery about trying it. But I can't imagine lil' Ash being covered with epidermal eruptions.

Although this varicella vaccine is only 70-90% effective & she's going to half-day childcare in 6 months' time, we went ahead to let lil' Ash take this vaccination as a preventive measure.

With so many vaccinations on the schedule already and many more in the pipeline, I do feel a little overwhelmed. In 2 months' time, she has to take MMR and pneumococcal jabs! Yikes!

Height: 76.5cm
Weight: 8.835kg

Paracetamol! Amoxycillin! Syringe! Suppositories!

These four are lil Ash's 'instruments of torture'! High fever! Cough! Sore throat!

Her PD was away for a holiday, we had no choice but to consult a GP in our vicinity. She was prescribed antibiotics amoxycillin for treatment of her sore throat. I was skeptical as it was her 1st prescription of antibiotics. I am quite apprehensive about the consumption of antibiotics at such tender age. However, GP reassured us that it's the only fastest way to cure her sore throat. I gave in.

Her fever was hovering as high as 39.8 degrees celcius. It was no joking matter. She coughed till her face turned red, cried till her voice turned husky. All we can do is to force medicine into her mouth, stick suppositories into her anus so as to bring her temperature down.