Down with Fever and Throat Infection

Sick and didn't run around... just rest on the sofa and watched cartoons

Like a King

Out of the blue on Sunday night Reese became sick. He had slight fever and was trying to cough out something... We were baffled. Why the coughing suddenly? Daddy fed him his dinner of fried fish and suspected he might missed out a fish bone and Reese probably had a fish bone stuck in his throat. So how? He was feverish, and constantly trying to cough something out and at one point even used his finger to dig! And it didn't helped that a few days back my aunt mentioned about kids being struck with Autism after taking vaccination... that really freaks me out because I have heard of it before. Reese just took his Hep A a couple of days ago. Reese also vomitted a few times. So out of desperation, we decided to take him to a nearby clinic to check. Thank God nothing was wrong just a very 'red' throat and no fish bones.

Felt much better. Didn't sleep well at all because Reese still has high fever and was shivering (first time seeing him like that)... the thought of Autism still lingers and I stayed up to sponge him down for a good 45 minutes. When I went to bed, it was already 5am. By 7.30am, Reese was up and whining. Took him to the Pediatrician and was told that he has a throat infection. Has to monitor the situation because with fever and infection, his red blood cells might burst due to his G6PD condition. So Reese was prescribed Augmentine (Antibiotic to be taken for 7 days) , Aerius (cold and cough) and Uphamol (fever).

We used to have nightmares feeding Reese medication. This time around thank God it's alot easier. Very minimal resistance. So one thing less to worry. He is still feverish as I write this post, fever off and on and highest recorded was 38.8. Didn't sleep well yesterday as he was coughing. He is not used to it because this is the first time he experience something like that. So hopefully he will be better today.

I also took the opportunity to ask the doctor about vaccination and Autism, she explained that it was the MRR jab that 'might' cause Autism in certain children as claimed by an American doctor who wrote a research paper on that with some evidence but later he retracted it because he was found to have falsified the research or something like that. The pediatrician also said that should a child have Autism, it will show by age two with all the symtoms.

Reese is over weight!

I took Reese to the pediatrician just now because Reese has an eye infection probably due to dust, so one of his eye is tearing and once dry can be sticky...so he was precribed with some antibiotic drops. The doctor did a detail health check on Reese since he is a toddler now and he found that he is the fastest growing child in all aspect among all children he sees at his clinic... hehhee... but... he also said that Reese is over weight.

His weight is over the 95% percentile! (17.45 kg) It's out of the line in the graph... As for his height, he is at 90% percentile (96cm). He is being compared to Americans and not Asian kids.....

So I need to help him lose some weight! Doctor suggests I reduce his food portion. He is eating very healthy food so that is good but need to reduce the portion and maybe make him run more! He is already super active....Aiyo....

Another thing, now that he is a toddler, the doctor said that there is a need to clean his birdie every day with water by pulling up the foreskin gently. Otherwise, he will risk infection. You can't pull it up too hard as that will hurt the child as it is not fully opened yet. So has to be gentle when doing it. At times, Reese will experience itchiness on his birdie. So I had to use dettol to gently clean the birdie (dettol is not necessary, water will do according to doctor) and today the doctor shown me how retract his foreskin. So mummies with boys (toddlers)... got to start cleaning the birdie properly.

What is it with plastic baby bottles?

Recently I read a post by Darren's Mummy on the danger of using baby plastic bottles by major brands. The concern is that BPA (Bisphenol-A) from the plastic bottle can leach into the liquid and thus can cause harm to our children. There is still no proof that it actually causes harm to human, thus far they only did experiments on mice and it shows harmful effects on them. BPA (Bisphenol-A) is a hormone disrupting chemical that can cause cancer and some other disease. This Smart Plastic Guide gives you comprehensive information of the dos and don'ts. Another website that might be useful http://www.bisphenolafree.org/

I am looking at alternative bottles and there is one by MAM. It is still plastic by safe. At least I don't have to go for Chico's glass bottle... heavy and inconvenient.

By the way.. it's not just baby bottles that are effected ...it's everything plastic that that we use to store food and liquid. At the bottom of your plastic wares, you should see a triangle shaped label with a number in it. Try to avoid using those labeled with number 3, 6 and 7.

I am still sad that everything we consume or use may never be safe! Who should we trust? I am very upset about this but then again... I grew up with these plastic bottles and I seem ok... now you tell me... is there real danger or people are just making a big deal out of it? How come our government are not saying much about it? mmmm.....

My husband's company had issued some statements regarding this issue or plastic leaching into food and liquid and claims there is no harm...bla...bla...bla... so what now? My husband doesn't seem to be concern... but I am... somewhat... So I will be replacing Reese's bottles soon just to be safe.

Better....

Yesterday staying at home with Reese was kinda tough. With his condition, he didn't want to eat much and was demanding and whiny. For breakfast he only had 2 crackers dipped in Milo and for lunch, he refused his porridge and cereal and only took 2 digestive biscuits and some chocolate milk. He took 2 bottle of milk before he napped.

Thank God, for dinner, he ate his mushroom soup with pasta. Have to constantly play with him, he will not let me have some 'me' time. It's tiring when you are not doing much, just sitting around playing with your kid and just watching him... you know what I mean?

I took a semi nap while the maid played with Reese and very patiently fed him the digestive biscuits. I got to surf the net for a while too. He only wanted to watch Cinderella and I allowed him since he was not well. We got through the day and he was much better and only chocked once vomited some mucus and tiny bit of milk. He was able to sleep and hubby took care of him during the night while I tried to sleep without interruption.

Poor hubby and thank you dear.

He was in his whiny mood. First asking to open the door while watching Cinderella and then started licking his mucus and then asked for a balloon. Towards the end of the video, you can see his sick and sad face. My poor boy.

A sick child

Reese is down with a cold again. This time, I have no idea how he got it. Could it be from one of the kids in my classes? Anyway, this time the cold is quite bad. His nose is so runny that the mucus will tickle down his throat and irritates it so much that he will cough.

Whenever he tries to sleep, after 20 minutes or so he will be awaken by a choke and follow by coughing and then he will vomit. Not to mention it will take him quite a while to go to sleep because of the blocked nose.

It all started on Saturday morning. So I gave him the decongestant nose drops and also Clarityne (cold). Come Sunday it became worse. We all didn't sleep well. Yesterday it got worse so I took him to his old Pediatrician in Pantai Hospital, Bangsar. Boy, it was expensive! Haven't seen this pediatrician since a year ago after we discovered another pediatrician near our home and it's alot better and cheaper. Anyway, no choice...given the circumstances yesterday.

After a chat and a check, pedi said Reese has no viral infection, just a very runny nose and that is causing all the cough. So asked me to continue with Clarityne, a cough mixture and a different nose drops. That's it and it cost me RM153.90. His consultation alone is RM90! It used to be RM70.... It has gone up!! Anyway.... it's a relieve that it's nothing serious.

So last night Reese slept at 7.30pm but woke up and vomitted. What a big mess. After cleaning up and changing the bedsheets... he played a while and slept and sometime around 11+ pm... he got up and vomitted a little bit, we managed to control the mess and then he went back to sleep.

I didn't sleep much... Reese was tossing around on the bed and I have to constantly monitor him and also the room temperature. Any slight choke or cough woke me up. Hope today is going to be better for Reese. Taking the day off today.

One thing about parenting, I hate taking care of a sick child. Not only is it physically draining and mentally stressful, my heart also aches alot watching my child suffers.

P.S: I asked the pedi how effective are vitamin/multi vitamin pills? He said there is no research that actually proved that these products are effective in boosting the immune system. In fact if taken too much it may be harmful. (which confirmed what I read sometime back).

Then I ask is there anything that can help boost the immune system? He said you can take Cod's liver oil because of the DHA compound in it and according to him, more and more research has shown that Probiotics actually help boost the immune system. So he recommended Probiotics instead of vitamins..... and what brand? He just said go for reputable ones and it's costly too. About 28 days supply it will be about RM100. For toddlers and older children it comes in capsule form. Just put it into a drink and let the child drink.

So mummies, forget about vitamins and go for cod's liver oil or probiotics if you have a weak child else just make sure your kid takes a proper balance diet!