More details on mattress cleaning

A lot of mummies asked me questions about the mattress cleaning so here are more details.

The cleaners use this 25kg vacuum to suck out the skin cells and use UV(C) rays (the vacuum has a separate light attachment) to kill the remaining dust mites. According to wikipedia, the Sun emits ultraviolet radiation in the UVA, UVB, and UVC bands, but because of absorption in the atmosphere's ozone layer, 98.7% of the ultraviolet radiation that reaches the Earth's surface is UVA. (Some of the UVB and UVC radiation is responsible for the generation of the ozone layer.) UVC rays are the highest energy, most dangerous type of ultraviolet light. Little attention has been given to UVC rays in the past since they are filtered out by the atmosphere.

The vacuum system can penetrate about 4 inches so they flipped the mattress over to do the other side. After each cleaning, they also spray with this orange essential oil alcohol solution to stop the dust mites from multiplying again.

For those who are interested, please visit http://www.dh-asia.com/about.html. Alamak, should charge commission/referral fees. Hee. ;P

RaeAnne's cough update and mattress cleaning

Brought RaeAnne to see TCM dr at Tampines St 43, recommended by hubby's colleague on Sunday. RaeAnne cried so much once she entered the room. Maybe cos the sinseh was a guy and wearing a mask. She was terrified. Cried even more when sinseh touched her fingers and felt her pulse. Luckily there was a playground nearby so hubby brought her out of the room once sinseh saw her.

Sinseh said it's not asthmatic cough (Phew!) and we can stop the med once she gets better. End up sinseh gave her 2 bottles of cough mixture (which smells and taste like pi pa gao). But it was much harder to feed her TCM med cos though it was sweet, it's also minty hot and she is not used to the taste. Until now, we are only giving her half the dosage cos we just can't syringe 5 syringes of the black stuff down the throat. Sigh, hope she gets better nonetheless.

Mummy finally got the professional cleaners to clean the mattress yesterday afternoon cos dust mites faeces may also be an allergen causing RaeAnne's cough. I tried out De Hygienique service. And look what they suck out from my 4.5 years Sealy mattress after just 1 minute of demo. So scary! :P In the end, I paid $65 to clean 1 Queen size mattres and my baby cot mattress. The cleaner said regular maintenance should be once every 6 months.

Super nose and MS triggers

Thought I better note this somewhere before I forget. There are a lot of smells I can't stand now and most of them were different smell triggers when I was expecting RaeAnne.

Smells I can't stand when:

Expecting RaeAnne
1) Frying of Garlic,
2) Frying of Onions,
3) Smell of Curry
4) Smell and taste of fish
5) Smell of Daddy's Snake brand talcum powder
6) Smell of Palmers stretchmark cream

Expecting Baby no. 2
1) Smell of boiling porridge or 'muay'
2) Smell of boiling instant noodles (before condiments are added)
3) Smell of stew (lor)
4) Smell and taste of fishballs
5) Smell of Daddy's Snake brand talcum powder
6) Smell of Axe brand medicated oil
7) Frying of onions. :(

Yesterday I experimented and it seems that if I eat every 2-3 hours even if my nose and mouth rejects the food initially, my MS is better. Maybe it's because it doesn't trigger my gastric problems which aggravates the situation. The antacid helps too. I take it when I'm feeling super bloated after a meal which is happening all the time now.

P.S. Aiyoh, just smelled frying of onions after I posted. Definitely CAN'T STAND THE SMELL. Better add to the list now.

Baby size

Mummy was comparing the old US scans of RaeAnne and found one taken on 15 June 07 (when she was 7 weeks 4 days old), her CRL was 9mm. Baby no. 2's scan taken earlier in the day was already 10.5mm and it's only exactly 7 weeks.

Hmm... Dr Wong says second baby tends to be bigger, don't know if it's true. Anyway, glad to know that baby is growing well even though I have very bad MS nowadays. Drinking honey lemon water and eating crackers but one aggravates my gastric while the other makes me heaty and want to cough. Arggh.... Told hubby to knock me out and wake me up when 12 weeks is over. :P

The worst thing is RaeAnne's cough seems to be getting worse, more phelgmy in fact. Sigh, wish my MS can go away and my energy will return. I'll rather take care of her myself when she is sick. :(

First visit to TMC, saw BB's heartbeat! :)

This morning, finally went for my first appt with Dr Joycelyn Wong, TMC today. Must say she is very nice and patient dr, very reassuring with my questions. Saw bb's heart beat today, CRL is 10.5mm. EDD on ultrasound is 8 Dec but Dr Wong said she'll keep to 10 Dec since that's the date according to my LMP.



But arghh, I still cannot make up my mind whether to switch to TMC though dr Wong very nice because 1) I don't have good vibes when walking around TMC maybe because it's cramped and not much shops. Very boring when waiting for appt. Or maybe I'm too used to KK liao, kept going there for LC visits so the place machiam like second home to me. Thinking of going for TMC hosp tour before I make up my mind 2) Transport wise, really can't stand the Thomson exit from PIE, I took a cab there this morning and the cab spent more than 10mins just trying to exit. And it was 10am, not peak hour somemore. Can't imagine if I rushing for delivery how? 3) Anyone knows how much TMC LC charge for clinic consultation vs home visit cos I always kenna blocked ducts type. I know my KK LC so well but I know she gives priority to KK patients. Some pte hospital patients always try to book her cos KK cheaper I think ($55 per visit). If I switch to TMC, afraid I'll spend an even bigger bomb there visiting LCs. :P

RaeAnne is 15th months today!

Our little gal is officially 15 months old today. She can definitely walk better. She has 8 teeth so far, four upper and four lower. Physically she is quite strong, she can drag two small toyogo containers full of toys and walk off. She lost quite a fair bit of weight due to being sick for the last few weeks. If not, her chin won't be so sharp and cheeks will be chubbier. Mummy forgot to weigh her today so must remember to do that later. :) Nai Nai cut her fringe all the way to her ears yesterday, if not, she will look prettier. Sigh. What to do, she sweats a lot and they can't bear to see her hot. :P

P.S. Weighed her at night and she is only 9.1kg. Sigh, really lost weight. Poor gal. :P

5th visit to the PD!!!

Yesterday morning, brought RaeAnne went to see PD for the 5th time in the last 4 weeks liao. Her cough just didn't recover and she kenna diarrhoea on Sat. Super sianz. Now, PD said she has mild brochoasthma and the same allergy that caused her hives also caused the cough. I asked her what is the allergen, she said it could be dust mites, cockroach faeces etc but anyway, treatment is still the same. And this time, RaeAnne got a HUGE bottle of expensive cough syrup ($38) that will last her for 1.5 months, after that, still must go back and see PD cos need to take the cough syrup for 6 MONTHS!?! Faint lor, so 'sim tia' to see her taking medicine long term. Total PD damage yesterday - $87. This month spent more than $250 on PD visits liao.

Scared liao, yesterday changed and washed my bedsheet and today washed her bedsheets in case there's dust mites, thankfully, my PT cleaner came on Sunday so cleaned up the house. Right now, I'm also giving her DIY TCM, ground cordyceps and 'chuan bei' powder. Yesterday, also asked my mum to help me double boil cordyceps soup for her. My hubby very funny, he told my gal looks like you must drink Mummy's nen nen to be healthy. I told him can, but must wait for another 8 months leh. Once supply stop, cannot restore leh.

Anyway, after PD diagnose her with mild bronchoasthma, I've more or less decided on hiring a maid liao. Cost will be an concern but I can always send the maid back after a few years when the kids are bigger and more independent. If not, I won't have time to look after 2 kids and clean up the house religiously plus have my meals let alone BF/pump in peace. I think her recent PD visits is a wake up call, the children's health is top priority now, if money spent will lead to better quality of life then JUST DO IT.

Next step, must find a good maid agency and a good maid. Tough process cos heard so many complaints about maids. :P

RaeAnne having the Runs

Poor RaeAnne, she poo poo 6 times today, first time was still nicely formed but soft ones. After that, it went downhill, she kept pooing loose stools and farting. Today ILs said they were busy and hubby had to go to school again for the debate competition. So I got to take care of RaeAnne myself. Luckily, SOSed my mum and she could come. But still I had to change RaeAnne's diapers 5 times before hubby came back in the evening. Poor gal, I don't know what she ate. I told hubby don't know if it was the Prima deli durian fudge cake which MIL fed her the cake part when I bought for them on Thursday. :P

Aiyoh! This year, she has been sick so many times. From Feb, she had stomach flu, then 3 weeks ago, she had hives, then coughing and cold, Already started giving her ground cordycep and ground 'chuan bei' powder on my 2nd auntie's advice but her cough is still there but seems less hacking. But now, coughing still haven't recover, today started diarrhoea and we noticed her under eye area is a bit swollen again. Don't know if it's allergy. Think may have to bring her to PD again tomorrow. :(

I don't know if it's because I stopped BF her in early Feb or she is allergic to some unknown allergen (ask PD before but she said if having acute attack, cannot test for allergy) because we didn't bring her to temple to pray beginning of the year or does Pig year 'fan tai sui'? Also don't want to be so pantang but so heartache to see her sick for so long. She slimmed down quite a bit over the last 3 weeks. No more double chin even when she smile liao. :(

P.S. Oh ya, today I made yong tau foo plus fishball and spinach kuay teow/chu bee hoon soup for me and hubby. RaeAnne saw it eating, kept coming to 'beg' for food. End up I let her try a bit of kuay teow. She LOVES it. Kept coming back for more but don't dare to give her too much cos of her diarrhoea, I break it up into 1cm squares and gave her a few pieces in the end. Since it's home cooked, minimal seasoning, should be ok lar. Anyway, once she starts attending CC playgroup, I can't control the food also. Let her slowly get used to outside food bah. :P

RaeAnne's persistent cough

Sigh, heard RaeAnne coughing so hard in her sleep just now. Think there's phelgm but she just can't spit it out. Poor gal. Sick for so long, saw PD 4 times already. Thinking of stopping the medicine and trying TCM this weekend liao. :(

Gai gai day for RaeAnne :)

RaeAnne woke up bright and early today at 7am, maybe because she knocked out from 12+am to 6am last night after taking her med. We brought her to Macdonalds at TM again for breakfast. Hotcakes happy meal again. This time, she got a Pokemon toy and a Yellow balloon. :)

Then Daddy wanted to go to Safra to buy cheap DVDs as there is a warehouse sale. We bought $160 worth of VCDs and DVDs, mostly hubby's and RaeAnne. The house is really running out of storage space liao. Daddy promised me to shift through his DVDS, books and other barang to clear space. I will hold him to his words cos we really need space for no. 2. :P

After the trip, RaeAnne had porridge and knocked out from 1pm to 230pm. Decided to visit my cousin and 2nd aunt who stays at Serangoon North. RaeAnne had fun mingling, less shy this time but she cried when she saw my cousin's hubby cos long time never see. :P We went to sunshine park and the kids had a WHALE of a time eating their porridge in the park, first time experience for RaeAnne plus playing with bubbles. There were a lot of nice pixs but all in my cousins' cameras so will take some time to upload them. :)

P.S. Oh ya, yesterday Daddy said RaeAnne kissed him on the mouth. Yes, RaeAnne can kiss on demand some months ago but she's now getting more accurate and not shy at all about giving wet kisses with her mouth wide open and aiming straight at our mouths. So cute. Told hubby to enjoy this phase. Once she grows up, I'm sure her kisses are reserved for her bf(s). :P