Traumatic experience with nubiliser

I was glad a few months back when Oliver fell ill, he didn't need to be nubilised. But time has finally come for Oliver. On top of antibiotics, cough syrup, mucusolvan which are taken three times a day, Oliver has to be nubilised every four hourly. By this time, Oliver has already lost some weight. I could feel his weaker than usual strength when he struggles and fight off the nubiliser.

My dad came over my home to pass me a gift left for me by my grandma. He saw us nubilising Oliver and kept telling us to stop. Boon Heng's mum also said the same thing when she saw poor Oliver struggling. I felt the very same way when I first started. It is quite painful to see Oliver's face turning all red and crying without a voice while we hold him hard in order for him to breathe in the vapour. It has been a traumatic experience not only us, but mostly Oliver. Which is perhaps one good reason that baby has short memory.

Bronchiolitis

As we discover from Doctor Ong of Aglow Clinic in United Square, Oliver has Bronchiolitis. It is the inflamation of the smaller branches of the bronchial tree in his lung. If not well taken care of, it could develop into asthma. Cause: various viruse, most often Respiratory Synctial Virus (RSV)

On 22 Sep, his temperature peaked at 39.4 degree celsius. Throughout the night, I sponged him and fortunately that brought his fever down a bit. And for the seven consecutive nights, he had low-grade fever which hovered around 37-38 degree celsius.

In the mornings, he woke up with mucus which dried around his nostrils and upper lips. He lose appetite and his milk feed was down to 50 ml from 180ml.
The 2-hr porridge which I cooked, he ate half of it. At nights, he would cough until he woke up.
Emotionally, he get really clingy. I could not walk away from him. I must always be within his sight. Otherwise, he would cry uncontrollable.

Oliver & Raidon at Botanic Garden

Oliver is 10 months old

Oliver baby is 10 months old today. It is also the day I decide to stop expressing milk for Oliver. It has remarkably long and tiring journey for me. Every time, I sit on the sofa putting on the Medela pump on for 15 minutes, it is a mental challenge. The amount I expressed was simply so little that I have to keep motivating myself that little is better than none for Oliver. For the past two months, it has reached a point that I have to express for three days to complete one feed. Imagine, for a 5-minute feed, 45 minutes are spent on milking and this excludes washing and sterilization. I cannot help but full of envy of those mothers with endless supply of milk. They can even afford to throw them away. Supply exceeds demand.

This has been a long yet short journey for me (Long because it is mentally and physically exhausting; Short because I do not have enough milk to last).

Picnic at Chinese Garden

22 Nov - My group of girlfriends, Adeline and her mother, Aileen, Alan and Andy and Caroline, Raidon and Mr Ma congregated at Chinese garden for a little picnic. It have had been for years since we organised an outing of such nature, that is, we had to prepare food and stuffs. Easily more than 10 years. The difference between now and back then is that we are occupied with our kids and hardly have time to chit chat and gossip loh.

For me, I have an enjoyable time. Even Oliver's throwing up of his food several times did not dampened my mood. It is Oliver's first time at Chinese Gardens; and it is also Boon heng and my first visit to Chinese Gardens eversince we have grown up.

The birth of our child has somehow brought closer my group of girlfriends from Ngee Ann Polytechnic. I recalled at a lunch gathering at Plaza Singapura last year, I had wanted to surprise them with my bulging tummy, but ended up being surprised by them. Caroline was also pregnant. She put on some weight and looking really radiant. Aileen and Eve were there too. We chit chat and when it was about time to leave for work, Eve revealed to us she too was pregnant. The cows are so active that year.

Oliver at Chinese Garden

Oliver is unwell for almost two weeks

Two weeks ago, Oliver was isolated away from other infants in the care centre for suspected Chicken Pox. There are already 20 toddlers who were infected with Chicken Pox in Del-care to-date. This week, Oliver again did not go to Del-care. The reason is heavy mucus and phlegm condition. He has been coughing for a while and the condition worsen. The blocked duct causes him to have booger stuck in his eyelids. Oliver could not open his eyes when he wakes up. He throws out food as the mucus goes into this throat. It is really quite heartache to feel his feverish body.

Being a parent is my greatest upheaval task in life. I envy those parents who have endless bounds of energy and patience towards their child. My brother has 3 girls and I wonder if he has that energy and patience. I totally lost patience tending to my sickly Oliver. He refused to eat his meal and drink his milk, vomited and made a mess out of himself. This is made harder especially now that I have to prepare his puree meal and Boon Heng cannot be around due to work. On two occasions, I hit him very hard on his thigh leaving red marks behind. On the third occasion, I scolded at him. I feel very remorseful, especially knowing that Oliver is unwell and not himself. It is at this moment that he needs more tender loving care. In an uncontrollable state of mind, I burst into tears. Oliver, who was seated in my lap, looked at me with a puzzled expression. Although, this is not the first time I have cried in front of him, it is the first time I realize he is starting to pick up the state of my mood. It might be my imagination but Oliver seems to ask me why I am crying. That thought made me laughed at myself somewhat. So it was cry and laugh and cry again. Why cry again? I have to let go of my stress. Crying has an effect of cooling my mind because it made me fell asleep. Well, in the past I can still sleep, now the sleep has to wait.

Anyway, I am writing all these down in Oliver’s blog site for a reason. I want to say sorry to Oliver for my bad behaviour. Oliver, you are too young to understand now, but when you are older, this is what I want to say to you, “Mummy is sorry.”

Latest hangout at Kampong Glam Cafe

We enjoy the ambience, the friendly servers and the delicious food there. My saliva drips simply just thinking of the delicious Gado Gado and stomach-warming Teh Halia.

Evening stroll by the Singapore River

How I wish Singapore is bigger. We are really running out of ideas of places to go. One of our favourite weekend activities is strolling by the Singapore River. The stroll is pleasantly peaceful at evening time. Joggers hit the track and Japanese housewives bring their dog for a walk. Occassionally, we see bumboat carrying tourists who wave at us. It must have been Oliver's cute face that attracted their attention.

Oliver at Dempsey Hill

New Hairdo for Oliver

Gone is the thick mane of Oliver's. He is now sporting short layered hair and we almost cannot recognise our son. His hair is cut by my longtime hairstylist Sandy from Supercut. He looks so different, cute in a different way. The hairdo reminds me of a 3-month old Oliver.

Boon Heng kinda "blamed" me for insisting on having Oliver's hair cut now. Likewise, I miss Oliver's thick mane. It will take some time before we can fully get used of Oliver's new look.

Head banging

Oliver is 9 months, 3 weeks and 3 days old.

Oliver baby has taken to banging his head on the wall, and he seems to be enjoying it. It is his way of discovering rhythm and his way of expressing it. Fortunately, he does not bang his head every day. He only bangs his head when he discovers there is a wall beside him.

Karen and Oliver

After searching the thousands of photographs on Oliver, finally I manage to find this one. The moment Karen shares with Oliver, then 4 months old. This photograph was taken during Oliver's baby shower. Dear Oliver, when you are old enough to understand this question, let us know - "Do you think you have Godmother Karen's mouth?"

Morning chat with his friends

Every morning, Oliver greets his friends by acknowledging them with "hmmm" and laugh as if they greet him back too. Imaginary response from his friends.

Oliver and his company of friends

While Oliver has friend whom he fears (remember our monkey friend - monkey chase), he has a company of friends who he can tough out with. Oliver's hot favourite will have to be Mr Bear. The smallest among the lot because he can throw him about. He has chewed Mr Bear on almost all part of its body by now. Next in the chart will be Mr Cape House. Mr Cape House is a gift from our neighbour Jean and Richard Cooper. Recently, bunny from our Tibet aquaintances - Oi Lin and Ilse of Holland seemingly rolling into his chart too.

Lackadaisical in nursing

Last three days, whenever I breastfeed Oliver, he will look at it for a second, bite it or pull away. Oliver wanes his interest and refuses the breast entirely. According to the books, his boycott could be due to many reasons:

1) Oliver could be going through a readjustment in his nutritional needs
2) He could be put off by the altered taste of my breast milk brought on by hormonal changes
3) Or that his lost appetite is temporary due to a virus or a bout of teething (Could it be this reason?)

I always think that I am ever so ready to wean Oliver off the breast. Now that the time has come, I am somehow not ready for this milestone to take place. Shall see how thing turn out tonight.

Oliver is either a girl or Japanese

That's what people are likely to say the first time they see Oliver. He's often mistaken as a girl because of his hair, as he's probably the "hairiest" baby around. If not, then they think he's Japanese. In fact, even some of the infant-care teachers think he looks like a girl and call him Olivia.

Which leads me to think, if you have 2 kids, esp twins, can you call them both the exact same name? Is there a law that forbids that? If one is smarter than the other, the parents can actually send him to all the exams and tests. If the other has better motor skills or EQ etc, he can also take driving test or interviews on behalf. Hmmm... and claim that it's an honest mistake, lets move on etc... hahaha

Anyway, back to Oliver.

Oliver has good motor skills. We noticed, sometime back, that when he's lying on his back, and you leash a beach ball just above him, he will trap the ball before kicking it, and repeat this very often, so that it is not coincidental. That is, he doesn't kick the ball wildly.

This may seems clever or cute, but I see it that he has the making of a great football star, or a Cirque du Soleil performer, because it is not easy to trap a ball while lying down, and then kicking it, for many times. If you don't believe, you can try it. You'll either be overwhelmed by boredom or cramp. But not Oliver.

Oliver's "Godmother" in school

Oliver being a fussy little boy has many preferences. His milk cannot be too warm or too cold. Temperature must be just right. He also chooses over teachers in school. Siti is his favourite. Even the teachers joked that Siti is Oliver's godmother, and they have much affinity with each other. I can also see why Siti is Oliver's favourite. She would leap Oliver into the air and played "rough" with him. She is also gentle with Oliver and talked to him a lot. Lucky little Oliver to have Siti with you.

But Oliver is going to miss Siti these few days. She has a fall and is resting at home. No playmate for you in school for the moment, Oliver.

It is really just a Chicken Pox scare!

Confirmed by doctor, after monitoring Oliver's 3 blister for 3 days, not working for 3 days and busy preparing his meals for 3 days.

Oliver at Tanjong Pagar MRT

Oliver waits for his first MRT ride.

Is the Chicken Pox for real?

11.11 am – Another SMS blast from Del-care, “No change in infant Oliver’s condition.”

Oliver drank well and did not exhibit any signs of being ill. Is the school being overly kiasu? Maybe, but it is a good practice. As a mother, I would have worried if my child gets infected from Oliver too.

Oliver is isolated for suspected Chicken Pox

5.30 pm – I received a call from Jeanette, director of Del-care telling me that Oliver was isolated at the clinic. They suspected Oliver’s blisters on his hand could be due to hand, foot mouth disease or chicken pox. I had to go down soon to fetch him home. I panic and imagined little Oliver crying in the clinic longing for comfort from us. Boon Heng and I left the office immediately hoping to get him out of the clinic in case he might contract any virus there since Jeanette said there were other kids whom were sent to there.

We reached the clinic and found teacher carrying Oliver. He looked at us through the glass door and recognizing us, he smiled excitedly. That moment, I let out a breath. He was still the same old Oliver, except that he did not finish his milk feed. We waited to speak to the doctor. Dr Kevin Chan suspected Oliver of having chicken pox. Since 20 August, there were 10 cases of chicken pox and 3 cases of HFMD reported by Del-care. If Oliver caught the chicken pox, he would be the first among the infants there.

5.48 pm – I received this SMS from Del-care, “Infant Oliver has 2 tiny rash on his hand. He has been examined by Dr Kevin Chan. To err on caution, he is isolated at the clinic which he waits for his parents to pick up.” Boon Heng joked that Oliver is now famous as none of the child in the school, be it from the nursery, play group or infant group received such intensive publicity in the SMS blast. The SMS blast was sent to all parents.
Joke aside; I hope it is not HFMD that he caught on.

The Differences between Eve's baby girl & Sophia's baby boy

CHEYANNE
5 months old
8.7 kg
150 ml per milk feed 5 times a day
3 meals per day (breakfast, lunch and dinner)
Nap time 7 pm
Wake up at 6 am
Sleep through the night
Grandma wakes her up at night to feed her. No fuss over it.

OLIVER
9 months old
8.4 kg
150 ml per milk feed 4 times a day
2 meals per day (lunch and dinner)
Nap time 10 pm
Wake up at 7 am
Cannot sleep though the night
Oliver wakes up himself and fusses over drinking bottled milk.