let's pray for this little boy....

a friend of mine who is also Jihan's school principle (The Little Caliph Bandar Seri Putra), delivered a baby boy about 4 months ago... but it's not always sunny out there, her baby was diagnosed with a heart condition called Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD), or in other word "a hole in heart"...

he was born with the weight of 3.0kg but already showed symptoms of heart failure at early age such as, rapid breathing, very breathless and excessive sweating when feeding, bluish discolouration of his lips and fingers when crying (cyanosis) and did not gain weight satisfactorily....in fact when he was first admitted to the hospital, his weight reduced to 2.6kg....

he was given antifailure medications and was nursed in the hospital for quite some time before discharged home...he was fed via Ryle's tube (feeding tube through the nose) so that he won't become tired if fed through normal route (sucking)...

unfortunately, he was again admitted to the hospital for heart failure symptoms and stayed there until transferred recently to IJN for a heart surgery....

today, as scheduled, this baby boy through a major operation to close the hole in his heart so that he will regain his normal physiological function of his heart and grow up healthily....

let's pray for the safety of this baby, Taib Muhammad Nafis and his family, so that Allah will give them the strength that they need at this point of time...

BPA-free feeding bottles

i heard about BPA-free feeding bottles for quite some time but i did not take any action towards it...it's not that i was ignorant but i was quite usy to read thoroughly about it until recently....

you can just type the word BPA at any search engine and you'll be surprise at how much articles and beneficial informations you get from them and you would want to turn 360 degrees....BPA causes more harms than good...!

to my surprise my Jihan had been using a non BPA-free bottles since she was born!!!! after making some research, i decided to throw away the old bottles and change to a new brand...the older brand, AV*&T has not marketed the non BPA bottles widely in Malaysia yet, so it is quite difficult to find one...so, i resorted to MAM....i brought Jihan to to Mothercare and she chose the pink bottles....

Jihan seems to like the bottles without any fuss...it wasn't difficult for her to change from the old one to the new brand....

i'm waiting for the Year End Sale (YES) to buy a few bottles of similar brand for my newborn later...

Jihan's first neb...

Jihan had quite a bad URTI recently and when i came home from work one day, i found out she was a bit tachypneic and her cough was very chesty...according to my maid she had audible wheeze as well...but she didn't give any medications to Jihan or called me to infrom on Jihan's condition...

Jihan was very uncomfortable with her condition and she cried whenever she coughed....there were bilateral rhonchi and she appeared very tachypneic...we decided to bring her to the A&E for a neb after the medication we gave did not improved her condition...

Jihan was rather scared at first to get her first neb but the she seemed to cool down and felt comfortable with it....soon after completing the neb, i auscultated her lungs and the rhonchi had disappeared and she was no more tachypneic...in fact, she was singing and dancing in the A&E...

that was her first episode of acute wheezing....hopefully, it was just a hyperactive airway...and now she is back to her square one- active, cheeky and mischivious...!

down with illness....

i was to busy for the past week, so i have to put a backdated entry here...

Jihan was down with a bad cough 2 days ago...she coughed every now and then she was feeling so low...she possibly had a bad sorethroat as well and she soothed her throat by drinking a lot of water...

we gave her appropriate medications and she slept well that night...

the next morning, i brought her to see my friend who is a paediatrician to get a second opinion and he told me that Jihan's cough was nothing sinister....

Jihan is recuperating well and is more talkative and active than ever...our home was in a total silent when she was sick....i'm glad that she is over with it....

let's dance to the music!

Jihan continues her module in the ALIM Kids playgroup session last Saturday...she was so excited to see Teacher Farra (she was a singer once with her hit song Bagaikan Puteri)....

just look at her dancing along with Teacher Farra....Jihan simply loves dancing...she will dance to every tune she hears...and she sings along with it too...

it's good for mother and child to spend their time together doing fun activities like dancing together....it's a good workout for both of you...

Jihan loves following me when i do my salsa or cha cha...she can remember the steps and dance fairly well....she can also hum the rhythm well...both of us will really sweat out by the end of the session....

this is one of the way i spend quality time with my Jihan...

injured

we went to PD last weekend and did enjoy ourselves very much.....Jihan was being so active and naughty and she fell on the rough rubbly pavement....she cried for a while, then back to her normal self, running here and there, jumping around like nothing happened....

she suffered an abrasion wound over ther dorsum of her right hand and she held her right hand stiff and still....i applied the First Aid Lotion on the wound....there was no swelling or deformity on the affected hand and she can move the hand quite well, so we were not suspecting any fractures there....

during dinner time, she refused to use her right hand to eat....instead, she was using her left hand.....

the wound had dried up but once a while she refused to use her right hand that often...but she's recovering well....

that's what happened when you have little rascal like Jihan....

keep fit!

i entered the room just now and saw my little Jihan was doing exercises on my crosstrainer...!!! wahh!!!!

she always follow me when i'm exercising....doing aerobics, stretching, dancing and using the big GymBall...she loves exercising as well...

it's very good that she is exposed to a healthy lifestyle....being active all the time and at the same time eating healthy food as well...no junk food, please.....

so, keep it up everybody..let's begin this new year with a healthy start!!! keeping fit and stay away from all diseases!!

sweet tooth...

i remember when my Jihan had her first tooth...she was about 7 -8 months...it was the the lower central incisors...they emerged one by one...then it stopped...for quite some time...i started to worry and asked my dentist why the other teeth have not erupted yet...she said not to worry, in fact i should be thankful because the later they come out, the later they'll get dental carries....

we waited quite long for the other teeth to come out...when she was almost 1 year old, then the upper central incisors emerged...by then she had 4 teeth...we didn't give her foods that were hard and difficult to chew as she only had her gums to chew on the food.....

when she was about 15 months then she had most of her teeth erupted...by then she ate almost everything...

we have no problems to care for Jihan's teeth...we started brushing her soft gums when she was about 4 months....when she got bigger, we bought her her own toothbrush and toothpaste...and now, she is able to brush her own teeth....twice a day...and she really loves it...

besides that, we do not introduce chocolates and sweets to her...once a while, she got to taste them but those sweet foods are not in her dietary plans....and she never had a taste of carbonated drinks...that can promote dental carries if your child indulges into them...

it is not difficult to care for the little one's teeth....avoid sweet foods and instill the habit of good dental hygiene in them since young....by starting early, your baby will become used to having his teeth cleaned and hopefully, you will avoid future problems with brushing...

also avoid acidic, sugary or fizzy drinks especially between meals, at bedtime or during the night as a comforter..tooth decay can occur if a baby has long and frequent exposure to sugary drinks given in a bottle...if possible avoid night feeding where the bottle is stucked at your baby's mouth for a long time....

antibiotics...?

a healthy child....

very often when parents bring their children to seek treatment at clinics or hospital, they expect a correct, confirmed diagnosis for their children's illness....and they also expect that every illnessess need to be prescribed and cured by the wonder of antibiotics!

it is difficult to change our culture's mentality about antibiotics....antibiotics are prescribed for BACTERIAL infections and not VIRAL infections...not all common cough and cold need antibiotics as part of the treatment because most of them are viral in origins....it takes about 5-10 days to subside as that is usually the course for viral infections....

whereas bacterial infections make the patient more sick and unwell...and usually it is supported by several blood tests and other investigations...and the course of infections is usually longer....good doctors will know how to judge when to give or not to give antibiotics appropriately...

the reason why antibiotics are not easily prescribed for all ilnesses is because the patient will develop antibiotic resistant in their later life and may need stronger antibiotics to cure simple bacterial infections....the emerging of antibiotics resistant in the world is really frightening....

i observed 1 parent came to a private clinic and asked the clinic assistant to give her the medications that the doctor prescribed to her child previously as the child now is having fever, cough and runny nose....i saw the clinic assistant dispensing antibiotics and other medications to the parent without consulting the doctor!! this is absolutely wrong and easily will escalate antibiotics resistant!..

just imagine how it will be, if you or your loved ones, one day are down with a severe illness and have problems treating the infections just because there are no other antiotics that can cure the infections?....seek professional advice if you are in doubt...do not be your own "doctor" if you are not one...as you might out yourself or your loved ones in danger..if not now, maybe later....

constipation or not...?

i love fresh fruit juice...

i often come across mothers who come to the clinic complaining of their babies do not pass motion for few days and it is very stressing for them (the parents)...

parents need to understand that as children age, the normal physiologic changes occur in the intestines and colon that decrease the daily number of stools from a mean of 2.2 in infants younger than 1 year to a mean of 1.4 in 1-3 year old children...thus, less frequent stooling may not be constipation....

if your doctor has rule out the causes of organic constipation, we as parents need to see what our children eat....increase the fruits and vegetables intake as this can alleviate constipation...prepare your child's milk (if not breastfeeding) according to the instruction stated on the formula milk can...do not overdilute or overconcentrated it as this can cause hard stool in your child...for older child, increase their other fluid intake as well...

explore your child's toiletting habit...when your child is ready to toilet train, make this learning process as an interesting experience....a cute potty especially for them and perhaps you can pretend doing your "business" as well in the toilet with them...if they succed, perhaps you can reward them with something they like...you can encourage your child to go to toilet every 2 hours even though they don't pass out anything....

it is important to ensure that your children pass motion about 1 or 2 times per day or minimum of 3 times per week...if a child frequently avoids defecating, the stool will stay longer in the rectum and the stool will become harder....passing out hard stool is traumatic to a child..

after a thorough examination on the child, a doctor will then decide whether medication is really needed...usually, medication is used if there is evidence of rectal impation...so, if your doctor does not supply you with the medication for the above problem, maybe your child does not need them...sometimes, dietary modification alone can solve this matter....educate and encourage your child to pass motion everyday....

my tummy hurt and i puke...

Jihan when she was down with illness

one night, i was doing locum at a nearest clinic attending to a patient (one of the twin girls ) about 8 months old...she was accompanied by her parents and grandma and also her twin sister...both parents were very young (in fact younger than me!)..the twins have 2 other elder siblings who were well at that time...

mum said the younger twin had been having fever,diarrhea and vomiting (Acute gastroenteritis - AGE) since the past 2 days...oral intake was poor as anything went into the mouth would surely comes out...! the elder twin had a similar episode few days ago but recovering..

i examined the child...she looked very lethargic with sunken eyaballs and sunken anterior fontanelle...mum claimed that urine output had reduced and when she cried, hardly any tears coming down her cheek....

she was having temperature of 37.8...looked very much dehydrated, respiratory rate about 40/min, pulse rate about 110/min...i explained to the parents that she needed to be referred to the hospital for hydration...

the parents asked me, "Doc, can you just give medications that can stop the diarrhea and vomiting..?" i told them that this baby is going to collapse and might suffer from acute renal failure if they don't bring their child to the hospital..after a discussions between parents and grandma, they agreed...

then they asked me, "Doc, can i bring her to the hospital tomorrow morning..?" ohmigosh...!!! these parents seemed that they didnt really care about their child..the reason being, they own a shop, nobody was looking after it and the other siblings (including the twin sister) had nobody to take care of them..

i prepared them a referral letter and asked them to go to the hospital immediately...their baby's life was at stake at that moment...i prayed that she did not collapse before reaching the hospital...

Moral of the story:

1. pay attention when your child is not well....
2. if you feel the body temperature is hot, soak a towel in a basin of warm water and sponge your child.this is to prevent fits...
3. if your child is having diarrhea/vomiting, make sure she's taking enough fluid to prevent dehydration..
4. seek medical attention fast if no improvement..
5. do not buy medicine over the counter...some medicine has harmful effects to young babies. i.e; antiemetic (medication to stop vomiting) can cause oculogyric crisis (child's body becomes spasm)..
6. listen to the doctor's advice...