The days in the hospital with my boys

As what I mentioned in my previous post, more challenges are waiting ahead. And Yes, the challenge is just right in front of me!

Baby Hang had slight fever before I left for Kaho meeting. After I left, he refused to eat and drink. He was very quiet, not like normal him. He was so sticky and always wanted Por Por to carry him, like a Koala bear. When I returned home from the meeting, Baby Hang still not willing to let me carried him. He seemed very tired. I noticed his palm and toes had some blisters. There were some ulcers in his mouth. Oh dear, Baby Hang had Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease! Actually, Little Ze had it a few days before. He got it from school (his classmate had it) and his school closed for a week. We tried to separate Little Ze and Baby Hang. They were not sharing food, towel and so forth but still… sigh!

03 Nov 2014

Doctor confirmed Baby Hang had Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease. Both my sons admitted hospital. Baby Hang more serious compared to his brother. At the same time, Hubby Jay was leaving for work. So, I had to stay with my kids in the hospital alone! I had very funny feeling inside me… worry, stress, anxiety and so forth but somehow I was quite cool and sturdy.

Before admitting the hospital, we had to go back home and send Hubby Jay to the airport. Luckily, my cousin sister Angie was around and she helped me to send Hubby Jay to the airport. Meanwhile, I settled my kids and packed our luggage. Later in the afternoon, my dad sent us to check-in the ‘hotel’.

We took 2-bedded room. We joined the beds. Oh dear, can you imagine how to survive staying within a room with 2 boys for days ? We had to quarantine ourselves in order not to spread the virus to others. I not dare to think much about it. 

Little Hang was more active compare to yesterday but he still refuse to drink and eat.  He kept putting his fingers into his mouth and tried to dig out something. His saliva kept dripping and wet his cloths. 

Later, he was called to put on drip. I stood outside the treatment room. He was crying like hell and my heart was so pain!!! I could imagine what was happening inside. He was very strong and he kept turning and pulling. 3 nurses needed to get him on-drip.

When the door opened, he saw me and he was liked crying for help. Both hands covered with bandage like mummies. His left hand was on-drip and right hand was covered, like Doraemon palm. My heart was so pain and my tears dropped. He kept trying to pull out everything on him, even the clothes. He cried till he fell asleep.

Though Little Ze had mild one but he could not eat much because of the ulcers in his mouth that cause the pain. He was quite tired and slept for whole day.

After half an hour, Baby Hang awoke from his short nap. He hardly took his rest. He started pulling again. There and then, whenever he saw nurses or doctor, he would cry. The moment they stepped in, he would cry. Nurses also noticed that and scared of him. Haha…

Around 11 something at night, Baby Hang managed to pull out his right hand’s bandage using his teeth. Oh my! Since the bandage was loosen, I asked him to move his fingers, open and close, and played with his little fingers. I was thinking to free his hand but actually not able to, as he started to pull his drip and clothes again. No choice.

Baby Hang was cranky. He could not sleep well during the day and night as well. I was exhausted. 

04 Nov 2014

Both my boys no longer fever. They played around. 

About noon, the alarm of the dripping machine kept beeping! Baby Hang’s drip out of its position. The nurse needed to take out his drip and change to another hand. She suggested me to monitor whether he could eat and drink accordingly. If yes, then we stopped dripping. Baby Hang was so excited and energetic after the nurse took out his drip. He kept walked around so freely and he crawled under the beds! My dad had to chase him while I was taking my bath.

However, Baby Hang refused to eat and drink except for my milk which was not enough for him. Doctor worried that he might get dehydrated. Without any other choice, Baby Hang had to put on drip again! Oh no! He have to through the pain once again! And of course the pulling things as well. My heart pain too!

Both of them were so wanted to take some food but when the food went into their mouths, they felt the pain. Little Ze slowly picked up and started to eat some soft food like oats but not Baby Hang. The only food that they really enjoyed was ICE CREAM! Both of them so happy and excited for that!

I would say Baby Hang cried a lot. Imagine you keep crying for two days. What will happen to your voice? Yes, he had rough voice and swollen eyes.

Here's the photo taken in the room:

At night, Baby Hang was given some mild sleeping medicine to put him sleep, in order to boost up his immune system. Baby Hang slept through the night.

05 Nov 2014

Baby Hang slowly got used to the drip and no longer pulling here and there. No more Doraemon palm! He can move his fingers. He saw me pushing the drip here and there and he wanted to push by himself. 

Oh, I was thankful that my aunt Nee purposely took leave to accompany my boys for half a day. Phew! At least I could take a breath and relaxed a bit. A bit only because it was my turn to get the Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease! I started to have some blisters on my hand and legs. I had ulcers in my mouth and tongue. Oh, it really hurt! I couldn’t really swallow! Now I 100% understood the pain that my boys had been through.

06 Nov 2014 

Little Ze discharged from Hospital. He was fit enough and ready to go for his school concert rehearsal! Finally! 

Baby Hang getting better and more energetic. He ate more. Talk about medicine, actually there was no medicine that directly cure the disease. The progress of recovering all depends on the body immune system. There were only some medicine such as drops, spray or gel to apply to the mouth and tongue to relief them from pain and be able to swallow. I would say Baby Hang was so tough and brave. From Day 1 he admitted, he refused to apply any medicine. He split out all the medicine we applied. Today, he even threw out all the food he taken whenever I apply the medicine. He rather suffered from the pain while swallowing the food. So, I decided to stop applying the medicine. I told his doctor about it and she said ok, as long as he be able to take his food. Yeah, Baby Hang started to suck more milk and eat more soft food like porridge.

Baby Hang was so bored and kept searching for new things to play. 

He changed the setting of the dripping machine! I had to call the nurse to reset. Cheeky boy!

Hubby Jay updated me that he started to have blister on his hand and ulcer in his mouth.

07 Nov 2014

Doctor stopped Baby Hang’s drip. Hooray! And he could walk, run, jump and crawl under the bed freely! Then, the poor Mummy had to chase him around in the room. He played every corner in the room. He even opened up the cupboard and sat inside. Cool! 

This was the photo taken when I lay down on the bed.

In the evening, Hubby Jay finally came back and visited us in the hospital. “Papa!” Baby Hang called his dad in a very sweet tone.

08 Nov 2014

Baby Hang ate a lot! Biscuits, bread, oats, breast milk and he drank water! He just can’t wait for me to feed him. He so eagerly wanted the food! This meant that he recovered! And great news was he could discharge from hospital! He was able to attend his brother concert the next day! Hooray!

Oh yes! I survived! How could I survive in the four wall room for 6 days with the kids? We draw, read, hide and sick, watching cartoons shown in TV, role play … from caveman to snowman, from car transformed to ship and even spaceship…  almost anything! Anything that could made my kids happy and had fun! 

I was thankful that I being at home! Oh I missed my bed so much! I was exhausted! All I needed was a good night sleep!

At last, I could breathe the fresh air, hear the birds sing…

I was thankful that I could go back to the world with internet! The Wifi in the hospital super duper lousy and slower than a crawling tortoise. I was in the world without internet for 6 days! Well, look at the bright side, no internet access meant no distraction or disturbance. I could fully concentrate on my boys and rest more. 

Most import, I was home for my Hubby Jay's birthday and our wedding anniversary! No celebration because Hubby Jay had serious ulcers in his mouth and tongue. He could not even swallow and talk. Me? I was recovering as I had mild one as Little Ze. It seemed that Hubby Jay got the most serious one.


Last but not least, I was most thankful to both my parents. They were so busy with their work but still rushing to the hospital to help me out during lunch and dinner time. They came with some home cooked food and looked after my boys while I took my bath. They also took care of Little Ze when I was not around. Thank you, Daddy and Mummy!  

A Kiss by Mosquito

September going to end soon! Hmm… I did not blog for nearly a month! What makes me so busy? Spring cleaning? Travelling? Nah...

Actually I was kissed by a mosquito, Aedes. Yes, I had dengue fever!

I did not know when and where I get the mosquito bite. But the symptoms started on 04/09/2014. I remembered that was a pleasant Thursday morning. I had great time with my bestie Min opening our happy mail from Mei Li Paperie and chit-chatting. Suddenly, I felt dizzy and hard to breath. Min noticed that too. Slowly, I got better but I felt something very wrong in my body but I could not tell exactly what was wrong. Later, Min sent me and Baby Hang to my office. After she went off, I straight away collapsed. My back and joints very pain. Then, I started feeling cold. I refused to seek for doctor because I afraid of being hospitalized.

The pain did not go away after I rested for two days. I was very tired. I kept sleeping and sleeping but actually I couldn’t sleep well. I suspected I had dengue fever. Furthermore, may be I skipped my meals, I had gastric that caused me nausea. I vomited once but no frequent vomiting. I just could not eat and drink. Only then I was willing to seek for doctor.

I was verified having Dengue Fever after a blood test. I was allowed to opt for home care as my level of blood platelets still okay. All I needed to do was to do blood test daily, had adequate rest and most important drink plenty of fluids. (Drinking plain water is inadequate.)

Now, the problem was I could not drink that much of fluids because of the nausea. I tried my very best to drink some watermelon juice, bitter gout and apple juice, isotonic juice and so forth but still not enough. I was dehydrated.

After 3 days of home care, my body temperature was back to normal, no more fever. No more back and joints pain. However, I was required to admit hospital in the middle of the night, right after 2^nd blood test of the day because my level of blood platelets kept dropping and I was dehydrated. I was on drip.

With the drip and some medication to relief my gastric and stomach wind, I was able to eat and drink on the next day. I could finish a bowl of kuey teow soup! Can you imagine how happy I was? I kept drinking lots of liquids such as barley, warm water, Milo, juices including papaya leaves juice.

A rash described as "islands of white in a sea of red" occurs in the second night of the stay in hospital (7th days of symptoms). Oh my, the rash made me feel so uncomfortable. Even the clothes slightly in touch with the skin, the ‘pain’ would irritate you and make you incredibly uncomfortable. You would rather stay still. Later, the rash made me feel so itchy but I could not scratch them. Oh I should say I not manage to do that because the itchiness was from inside, not from the skin!

Okay. Let's see some nice things. Here's the view from the window of the room I stayed. 

Well, I was discharged after staying for 3 days.

On 18/09/2013, doctor confirmed that I was fully recovered from Dengue Fever. I was so happy to hear that! Not because of my recovery (I believed that I will definitely survived and win this battle) but NO MORE HORRIBLE BLOOD TEST! Hahaha...

Because of the kiss of mosquito, I missed my precious time with my kids and family; I missed the chance to celebrate and play lantern with my kids during the Mid Autumn Festival; I missed the Penang Adventist Hospital breastfeeding event; We cancelled our trip to KL; We missed friend's birthday party etc. Oh, I missed my crafty corner so much!!!

Another thing that I must share is I still continue to breastfeed my Baby Hang although I had Dengue Fever. I never stop breastfeed him from the day I fall sick. I knew lots of people will stop breastfeeding when they have Dengue Fever but not for me. I was dehydrated but I still continue to feed. Doctors said it is alright to feed if I feel comfortable with. Tell you what, I engorged during my stay in hospital. Can you believe that? It’s true! I had to call my Hubby and bring Baby Hang to ‘rescue’ me. In the middle of the night, I had to stay up and hand express out some breast milk.  To me, it was another great experience and achievement.

Last but not least, I really want to thank my parents and Hubby so much for helping me taking good care of my 2 kids when I was sick. They have to work and at the same time they have to take care of my active and playful boys. Thank You! (Sob.. Sob… my mom fall sick after that because she was lack of rest.)

That’s all for the story about the kiss of the mosquito. This is the reason why I’m kinda disconnected for the past few weeks. No blogging, no facebooking, no instagraming, no emailing … Now I slowly replying messages and emails. I will definitely reply your messages, just that it will take some time as they will be sent by 'snail'…Hahaha!

Random

I’ve been waiting for so long and hope that my boys can sleep early. Yes! Today both of them slept early at 10.30p.m.! It was a big task for me to train them to sleep early. I wonder how and where they get so much energy that last for one whole day without a nap. Little Ze can play, jump, run and talk nonstop. His mummy so exhausted by the end of the day.

Well, it was time for me to have some updates.

ü  Hooray! My family recovered from flu and cough!
ü  Registered Little Ze to a preschool. He will start his school life very soon!
ü  Completed 4 handmade cards and left 1 more to go.
ü  Done with 2 gift wrappings.

Is time for spring cleaning our stomach?

All of a sudden, Little Ze vomited after lunch last Saturday (07 Dec 2013). He said he wants to poo but thrown out everything he ate unexpectedly. After that, he was being so active as usual. In the middle of the night, while I crafting, I heard a weird sound and realized he vomited again! Oh my goodness!!! I felt like vomiting too! Hubby Jay and I had to clean up Little Ze, bed sheet, mattress protector, mattress, pillow cover and etc. Can you imagine how tired it was?  Our neighbor must be wondered why we were so crazy for washing this and that in the middle of the night. Then, it happened again two days later (10 Dec 2013). He thrown out after his tea break. Something was wrong with him? I had no idea. He had no sign of sickness or fever. He just back to normal after all.

Then, it was my turn. Last Monday (09 Dec 2013), I suddenly felt nauseous in the afternoon. I vomited at night for 2 days. Oh, I knew what you are thinking right now. Nope, it was not morning sickness! Everyone thought of that including my doctor when I told them my condition. Definitely not pregnant! (Can’t imagine if I have my 3^rd baby NOW!!!) I seek for doctor and took the medicine on the third day. I felt better now. I no longer looked green around the gills. I think I must be lack of rest and I did not have my meal at proper time.

Another new milestone for Baby Hang – Crawling

Baby Hang started to crawl! He not even can sit at his own without support. But just in a week of time, he could move to anywhere he aims and he could reach anything that he wants. This made my hair stand up and I need to keep an eye on him whenever he awakes. I had lesser time for my own unless I place him in the playpen with my ears closed. He will cry out loud and hoping someone to ‘rescue’ him!   

Back to Hubby Jay’s hometown

Now, we’re back to Hubby Jay’s hometown for a couple of days. Here’s some photo during our stay.

Just like what I used to draw whenever art teacher asked for: Paddy field, hill, coconut trees, 'Atap' houses and blue sky.

Cooking in the garden.

These flowers made me recall my childhood.

Baby Hang watching TV!

 Brothers picnic at the front of the house.

Little Ze cooks; Baby Hang waits and eat.