One Month Post Surgery

Can't believe it that it's only been one month since Emily had her open heart surgery. She is doing so well at home that it feels like it was ages ago. My little baby is eating and growing like a young baby should and we have gotten really so used to her being around us all the time. She is a very smart baby, she knows when there isn't anyone watching over her, even when she is supposed to be sleeping. If you leave her side for even a minute, she will start fidgeting. If you still do not run to assure her of your presence, she will start crying! Her grandmothers and I have gotten used to this. Some singing is also required to make her sleep faster. She also loves to be cradled in your arms, she would sleep so soundly.

As I write this in my office, I miss holding her and planting kisses on her little chubby face. I love to kiss her chin most, the cute little chin of hers :). Fortunately, I have her pics and videos on my iPhone when I miss her. Her hair is starting to grow back on her little bald head. I can't wait for her to grow bigger to fit into the pretty clothes that I bought and also given by relatives and friends.

Can't find her neck no more!

We have a few checkups to go to in a few weeks, both at Kajang Hospital and at IJN. At the moment, we are about to run out of the special, fat-free milk powder and I cannot find it in any pharmacies. I think we need to have one or two packs more to last till the end of the 1st week of July. I think I have no choice but to call IJN to ask where I can buy them from.

Getting into our routine

Emily is growing nicely, we can see her face getting rounder and she is demanding more feeding :). She is still on her special non fat diet until a week into July but we have ran out of Carborie, a calorie supplement. I tried finding it in a few pharmacies but none of them have it. Finally, checked out the main marketeer in the country for it and found out that it is available in Caring Pharmacies, nearest one in Balakong, Aeon Jusco. So I plan to go there this weekend.

Emily's cheeks are so kissable!

Emily has been well-behaving so far, not much of a trouble maker :P. She is due for her check up in a few weeks at Kajang Hospital and IJN in August. Her chest wound is healing but the end part of it looks a bit rare and still has a small hole in the skin. I know it doesn't hurt her because she seems fine when I bathe her or put antiseptic on it. But it still worries me, but we will wait until the next check up to ask the paediatrician.

At the last check up, the paed could still hear murmurs in her heart. I suspect this is due to the ASD which may not be entirely closed up. But I think it's not something to worry about since she is doing pretty well now. Even pre-ops, the doctors didn't seem too concerned with the ASD and they were concentrating on fixing the large VSD. They did mention that since they were doing the ops to close the VSD, they will close the ASD as well. So I believe the residual ASD should not cause problems.

We have arranged for our mothers to take turns in caring for Emily while we are at work. This week, my dear mum is down from BP to help us. She took the bus here and I went to Tsk Selatan Station by KTM to get her. Was my first time to the new bus station, it's very big and I think still under utilised. I am sorry to trouble the 2 grandmothers but maid is still not here. Checked with the maid agency and she said that the maid is expected to arrive only late August, so we have a few more months to wait. My mum also helped us do some rearranging of furniture (with the help of my sis' maid) in our living and dining rooms and now it looks a bit more spacious. I need to do more organising and cleaning and also need to clear some stuff. Didn't manage to clear the maid's room yet, so hubby need to make time to do so soon. Lots to do but we are much more settled. Getting into a good routine, tight/rushing but manageable.

Journey continues...

We have been home for 4 days now.Emily is feeding from the bottle very well. I think she will be catching up with all the weight gain that she needs very fast.Tomorrow, we are going to have her stitches removed from her poor chest. I think it will hurt quite a bit for her but compared to what she has been through these 2 months, it will be a breeze. And moreover, this is the last bit from her surgery. She should be gaining speed to a full recovery and also start growing like a baby should.

Whenever I bathe or change her, I will cringe at the sight of the stitches and think about the permanent scar on her chest. I hope she will take the scar positively and take it as a reminder of what she has been through and how precious life is.

When I look at her now, how she sleeps so peacefully, how she feeds to quickly and how she sometimes flashes her smile that melts my heart, I am really happy that the worst times are over. I tend to forget that she may have other problems related to her syndrome. But then again, it's a 'may'. So I guess there is really no point in thinking about the mays and maybes. Well, I should just enjoy taking care of a young life and nurture and love her as I did her older siblings.

Family and friends have been very supportive of the whole situation. Concerned family members and friends from work and church have visited us in the hospitals and at home quite a bit. We are really thankful for all their concerns and especially for their prayers which I really believe helped Emily a great deal in her recovery. As suggested by my dear friend, I went to church today to offer thankgiving mass for Emily.

As I said, this is a journey and Emily, we as parents and her siblings, as well as all family and friends are in this together. And the journey continues, we hope we have more happy times then sad ones...