Happy New Year!!!

Bye bye to 2010 and Hello 2011!

Brought RaeAnne to see GP in the morning cos her fever hovered around 37.8. At first, she refused to see the GP. So we had to bribe her with toys from 7-11 next door and reminded her that the nice doctor will give her a sweet. And he did give her one soft jelly sweet. But RaeAnne ripped off the packaging so forcefully that the sweet landed on the floor. Hubby and I refused to let her eat it since it's dirty. She protested loudly and wanted to put it in her mouth anyway until the doctor told her he'll give her a new one.

GP said it's viral fever cos no ulcers and no throat infection. But she does have a runny nose. Assured that it's nothing serious. Hope she gets well soon to enjoy the new year.

Later, hubby asked her if the doctor is nice. She said yes, 'Doctor nice cos doctor gave me a not dirty sweet'.

She dropped food at Nai Nai floor tonight and hubby told her 'Gal, cannot eat, dirty'. And she replied 'No lar, dropped on the (bumper) mat'. kekeke. Things she said always make us laugh. ;P

After that, went to ILs place. She napped there for 3 hrs from 1 - 4pm so she was very alert when she came home and refused to sleep until almost 11pm. :P

Raelynn's MMRV vaccination

Went down to IEA at HDB Hub in the morning to sign up for the Real Estate Sales course. So exp, $780 + $100 (student membership). Got to go for class from 17 Jan 11 on Mon, Wed & Fri. Sian to travel from East to North cos bus take 1 hour plus and MRT is not direct. Think I'll spend a lot of cab fare cos I would rather spend 2 hrs of travelling time playing with RL than being stuck in public transport. :P

In the afternoon, finally brought Raelynn for her overdue MMRV vaccination. Was debating whether to split up into 2 jabs (MMR and chickenpox) cos some of the Jan08 mummies were discussing that MMRV's side effects are worse than MMR + chickenpox separate jabs.

Spoke to the PD about our concerns. She confirmed that MMRV may cause higher fevers and fever may last longer (depends on individual). She asked if there is any family history of fits and I told her no. So, that was good, cos risk of febrile fits is low.

Anyway, she said it's up to us, we can always bring her back next month for chixpox vaccine. No point jabbing her twice today, cos the side effects will be similar to taking MMRV then. Let hubby make the decision and he said just do it. He is not keen to bring her back again next month. Plus we usually give panadol syrup after jab anyway. Hope RL will be ok.

Strangely, MMRV vaccination ($110) is $5 cheaper than taking 2 separate jabs ($35 for MMR and $80 for chixpox). One of the Jan08 mummy was quoted $200 by her PD. Wonder why my PD's jabs are always so cheap, but then, I am not complaining. :)

Weighed and measured RL today, she is 9.3kg (75th percentile), HC 45 cm (50th percentile), but her height at 71cm is only 10th percentile :( I still think she's short but sweet. But wonder if I should introduce her to skipping rope soon. :P

Asked PD what to do about RL's thumb sucking habit (her poor thumb is getting calluses and infected). She advised us to bandage her hands and pull a long sock over it. She said it's important to bandage both hands so that she can't pull off the sock with the other hand. If it still doesn't work, she said we can get her to suck the pacifier instead cos at least that can be thrown away. But I'm not really keen to wean her off thumb to pacifier cos that will be another evil to be weaned off. As it is, the reason why RL has crooked front teeth is because of her frequent thumb sucking. PD said that's why must wean off bottles when the kid is 4 years old, if not it will affect their permanent teeth. :P

Went with hubby to a movie gala event at Vivocity. Got to try Ximending restaurant before going for the movie (Narnya 3). Haven't gone for a movie with hubby for a long time. :)

Sick of it

Officially, we have been sick for more than 1 month. We as in me, RaeAnne and Raelynn. We just keep cough and cold symptoms for the whole month. RaeAnne saw GP twice, PD twice, TCM once. I saw GP twice, TCM twice. Raelynn saw PD twice. Can imagine the ENORMOUS hole in hubby's pocket for medical bills this month. And worse, he can only claim $10 each time we see a GP/PD. TCM cannot claim. The PD has given RaeAnne Singulair for her cough and though cough is better, she has been having runny nose for the last 2 days. She missed school on and off for more than 1 week too. That's also why there are fewer posts these few weeks. The two gals are getting skinnier and skinnier esp RaeAnne. Even Raelynn has started to walk 8-10 steps quite confidently during this time and I had no time to take nor post her video. Sigh... hope all of us get well soon.

PD visit

Paid another visit to the PD again cos Raelynn is still coughing, phelgmy cough now but at least no fever. :P PD gave antibiotics this time, changed the cough syrup and gave something for her runny nose. Hope she gets well soon.

We are going to have a stayacation at Changi Village hotel over the May Day long weekend since there is a buy 1 night, get 1 night free promotion. Also scheduled a photo shoot with Bambini for their May promotion. :)

Mysterious fever

Raelynn started a mysterious fever early this morning. She was already feverish hot when the maid carried to me for feeding. Tried to latch her her and she suckled well but she did not perspire as usual so her head and neck were still warm. Checked her temperature with the IR thermometer and it was 37.7 deg. Fed her paracetemol at 4am and the fever came down after that.

At 10am, fever was still down but decided to bring her to see PD since she's been coughing on and off. At 10am, PD said her lungs are clear but upper respiratory tract infection cos her throat is a bit red. Suspected that she caught the bug from RaeAnne. Prescribed her paracetemol and cough syrup. Hubby took leave from work cos I had lunch appt with my ex colleague. Luckily the fever did not return for the day. Hope her cough subsides soon.

RaeAnne is 27 months today. Measured her and was surprised to know that she is already 90cm according to the new height chart decal that we bought. She is still featherweight of 11.3kg though. Hiaz, wonder when she can be upgraded to booster seat cos Mei Mei is almost 7kg now, just 2 kg more to be upgraded to forward facing car seat. :P

Hubby and I went down to Metro Preview sale cos there was 20% off storewide. Got some toys for RaeAnne and my cousin's kids since there was a sale. Bought a fire engine and some construction toys for RaeAnne too. Hope she likes them. :)

Side effects from jabs

I've asked a few mummies about pneumoccocal jab and they said their kiddos did not have fever after that. Asked PD yesterday and she said may have. Well, turns out my friends are right cos RaeAnne didn't have fever. But poor Raelynn suffered. Her temp has been hovering at 37.6 - 37.7 whole day. Luckily paractemol helps to bring the fever down. See her so kelian and fretful though, can't sleep well too. Too bad breast milk can't help 'resist' the side effects of vaccinations. :(

Raelynn's 2nd 6-in-1 jab

Brought the two gals to see PD this evening cos Raelynn has a 'stye' looking bump on her upper inner eyelid. Also, RaeAnne's pneumoccocal jab is overdue since she is already past 2 years old. Didn't realise that Mei Mei's 2nd 6-in-1 jab is due on 13 Mar but hubby may not be free this Sat as he is on standby to report to army camp. So in the end, we went tonight. Raeanne did not cry when she was jab in the arm but she cried for the thigh jab (Pneumo and Hep B). Raelynn cried when given rotavirus as well as 6-in-1 jab. The downside of taking the jabs at the usual PD is that it's cash terms only and cannot claim CDA nor medisave. Total damage for hubby: $394. :P

I went to shower once we came back so that I can BF Mei Mei then make milk for RaeAnne then put her to sleep. Then after I came out of the shower, I had to give RaeAnne her paractemol cos she refused to take it when hubby tried feeding, only Mei Mei guai guai took hers. Hubby and maid were so busy settling the two gals that they forgot to give Mei Mei the eye cream to apply. Sigh, sometimes I wish I can clone two or three of me. :P

Oh yes, according to PD clinic nurse, Raelynn is 6.3kg (75th percentile) and 58cm long whereas RaeAnne is 11.7kg and 86cm tall. :)

Back to school

RaeAnne went back to playgroup today. She was quite happy initially, ran to the classroom after washing her hands. But when she reached there, she started crying cos there are quite a few new faces today. (teacher Suriya is sick so there is another stand in teacher), then there is a new boy who just enrolled last week (when she was on 'MC') and another lady (maybe the boy's mummy) Duh, bo bian lor, she's been away for 1 week so far. Bound to have some changes.

Tonight, we brought her to PD for review. She was guai as usual, never cry or make any noise when the PD examined her (think the Elmo goes to the doctor DVD helps a lot to ease her fears). Dr Lee prescribed additional med: one for wheezing, one for phelgm and oral drops as well. Today's damage: $58.60. She said to bring RaeAnne back for review on Sun, hope RaeAnne recovers before that (duh, don't know if I popped by then) :P

Poor RaeAnne is Sick

It's been almost 4 months since RaeAnne started attending playgroup but she's finally fallen sick. She started with a bit of cough since last Thurs/Fri. Not sure if I spread to her. :P

Then she started phelgmy cough yesterday. Last night, keep waking up every 2 hrs. Poor hubby had to keep carrying her. I didn't want to leave her to cry for fear that it will aggravate her cough. By 4+am, i gave up n ask hubby to bring her to our room to sleep.

Luckily, hubby clearing childcare leave today so he brought us to the clinic this morning. Hubby wanted to bring her to the TCM clinic but we lost the namecard and couldn't remember which block it was at. PD said she has a throat infection and a phelgmy cough. She is 10.7kg and 84cm tall when they measured her at the clinic. She was very guai for the visit. Didn't cry at all even when she had to lie down for the PD and PD used the cold stethoscope to listen to her lungs. So different from her previous PD visits. Shows that she has really grown up. :)

PD consultation, med and 2 creams (eczema lotion and cream which we requested) came up to $60+. Hubby said next time we should bring her to GP not PD to save costs. Told him we start doing that after 2 years old bah and after she finished all her jabs bah. Below 2 years, I'm still a bit kiasi, prefer to bring her to see specialist. :P

She didn't go to school today but we still brought her to mil house after pd visit. Since it was too late to tell ILs not to cook for her and there's hardly any food in the fridge to cook for her.

After that, went to watch 2012 with hubby n had a late lunch at seoul garden. Most likely the last movie i'll get to watch for a long long time cos of the 3 hr BF schedule. :P

One of the Dec09 mummy popped on Sun morning even before she got to watch the movie. Last night, had a lot of Brackton hicks contractions and baby Raelynn was moving a lot so told hubby I think it may be within this week. Let's see if I'm right. ;P

Just now while at ILs house, she felt a bit warm and she was still active and playing. Came home and hubby took her temperature, it was 38.6 (using ear thermometer). PD already warned that she may develop fever so we gave her paracetemol and the cold med as well before she slept. She just slept at 1025pm. Hope she will sleep well tonight. Don't know whether to let her go to PG tomorrow. :P

P.S. Over the weekend, all of us LOL when we realised that she asked the maid to 'put it here' when the maid was helping her to take the dollhouse. She's really parroting our language. :)

Trip to the PD - double ouch!

Knocked out with RaeAnne around 11pm but woke up at 12 midnight. :P

Hubby and I had an early dinner at Pu Tien. Decided on the place when we walked by cos they had 20% discount from 530-630pm for early birds. Had the set dinner at $68 which came with 2 kampong chicken doubled boiled shark fin's soup (usual price $25 for each serving) so it's value for $. Anyway, I hardly have tonic soups unless I go over to my mum's place on Sundays. Sometimes, my 2nd aunt also makes for me, so nice of her. :)

Went to NTUC to stock up for the weekend. RaeAnne has been rejecting porridge nowadays, ILs have a hard time feeding her everyday so they've resorted to giving her rice for one meal and porridge for the other meal. Don't know what to cook cos I already cooked modified claypot rice last week. Hubby suggested one dish meal, 'chu bee hoon' soup so I bought ingredients for that. Saw Red Prawn durians from Penang for sale at NTUC (only 2 packs and it was 2 for $25). Each pack only 5-6 big seeds. Decided to buy it cos we missed trying Red Prawn in Penang as it was OOS. And it was the award winning durian in this year's Penang durian show.

Brought RaeAnne for her 18 mth booster jab this evening. As usual, she cried once the nurse tried to measure her head circumference. Her weight is 10.5 kg and height 79cm at the clinic. Poor gal, besides the DPT booster, PD recommended flu jab for her as well. Apparently there was a lot of pent up demand for flu jabs as it has been OOS for the last 2 months. PD said she placed order for 100 doses and it just arrived on Wed and stock is already running low. Must be due to H1N1 cos young kids are more vulnerable to the virus.

When the PD heard that she is attending playgroup next Mon, she strongly urged us to give her the jab. Thought she already had a flu jab before we went to HK in Dec but PD said this flu jab is for the most recent strain. With H1N1 being increasingly prevalent, hubby thought it's better to give the flu jab.

Poor RaeAnne cried buckets when the PD, nurse and hubby held her down while she was given the jab, both in the right thigh and left thigh. I could only hold her head and tell her that Mummy loves her, can't help to take away her pain. :( Was worried about the fever side effect of the 18mth booster jab, that's why brought her to see PD today, and she ended up with 2 jabs! Sure kenna fever like that lar, hubby said start panadol syrup today, maybe it'll help knock her out. :P

PD suggested pnueumoccocal and Hep A jab for the next month if we are keen. I asked PD about her 18 mth development milestones and she said she's fine as long as she can walk and talk (single words are fine). Asked her if it's ok that she can't drink from the cup all the time, she said it's fine, it's an 21 months milestone. Told PD that she can't self feed yet, is it ok? She said it's fine, at this age, they are only playing with the food, real self feeding will be around 3 years old. Okie, at least she's not slow. Took the chance to get PD to prescribe a cream for the angry mosquito bites that she sometimes get. Calendula cream smells nice but doesn't get rid of the mosquito bites fast. End up, she's scratch until it bleeds, then the marks will darken and become ugly scars. :P

Outside the clinic at the counter, the nurse saw the doctor's notes and asked if we want to wait until 2 years old for pneumoccocal cos she'll only need 1 jab ($150) by then. Told her I was thinking of doing that but she's starting playgroup next Mon. She just replied 'oh' (i see). Looks like once the kids goes to playgroup, CC etc, PD will recommend all kinds of vaccination jabs. Asked the nurse to give us an appt, they'll remind us closer to the date but I'll see if I really want her go for it. :P

Oh ya, when we were coming home from ILs place (had to go back to collect our perishables). RaeAnne cried when we were in the lift, there was a little boy and a little gal together with their daddy who lived at the 10th floor. We bumped into the grandma a couple of times when she takes walks with the little gal so I was talking to the little gal, 1 month older than RaeAnne. There was a slight red mark on both side of the little gal's lips so I was asking the little gal in a teasing manner, what happened to your lips? Why red red? And RaeAnne just suddenly burst out crying. Asked hubby what happened, did he hurt her feet when he pushed the stroller into the lift? But hubby said nothing happened. It's true cos I only talked to the little gal when the lift door closed, if she had hurt her feet, she should not have cried out only then. She continued crying until I opened the door and carried her out of the stroller.

Hmm... why caused the sudden outburst? Did she hurt her feet while playing in the lift without us noticing? Or was she jealous cos Mummy was paying attention to a little gal and not her? Maybe, we'll find out one day if she ever repeats this behaviour.

Recently, she has been facing serious separation anxiety. ILs said Thurs afternoon, she refused to let Ye Ye or Nai Nai go into the kitchen to cook, She'll push and pull them out of the kitchen and make them sit in the living room with her. Yesterday and again today (Fri), she didn't allow me to close the toilet door at Ils place. At home cos I'm alone with her, I usually don't close the door cos I got to keep an eye on her. Guess our gal is really growing up, 懂事 and not blur blur anymore. ;)

Mummy has been sneezing a lot today, I even woke RaeAnne in her sleep just now with my sneeze. Hope the scratch throat/cold that I managed to stave with cold and inflammation medicine last week is not making its return. :P