Progressing...

We went for Emily's check up last Monday, her weight is now 4.25 kg. Although she is still below the average weight for babies her age, it is still a good increase from her post-ops weight of about 3.4 kg. We will need to feed her about 90ml of breast milk every 3 hourly. Her medicine has also been reduced. Hopefully after the next IJN checkup, we can stop her medication. We will be going to IJN in 2 weeks' time. I hope her heart scan will show that she heart is doing well.

Since she has been staying in hospitals for a large part of her 4 months, we just realised we have missed 2 of her immunisation. Last night, we finally bought her to a local clinic and got her month 2 jab. She will need a few more jabs to catch up.

The paediatrician in Hospital Kajang has also given us 2 referrals to check her eyes and her ears in Serdang Hospital. We need to make time to bring her there too.

Emily, the Smiley

I wonder it anyone reads this blog besides my hubby but that's fine. I just want to write down what I go through periodically, together with our precious and special little girl, Emily. She is now 3.5 months old, her next check up is on this coming Monday. I really hope we hear all positive things from the doctor. She seems to be doing very well at home, feeding well, sleeping and playing well too. Even after I swap her formula powdered milk to breast milk, she seems to be doing fine. My MIL was worried about her not feeding as much compared to the formula milk but under my care, she seems to feed well. So I am quite sure, she is doing fine. I think it's more about getting her in a comfy positiion so she can feed on the bottle nicely.

Another 3 weeks, we will be seeing the IJN doctors. Apart from a healed scar on her chest that is about 3 inches in length and resembles a centipede, she seems to have healed very well from her operation. If I have not mentioned before, the IJN bill worked out to be pretty hefty and we will be paying a large amount from our pockets. But I keep reminding myself about the time when we were uncertain about her heart condition and we had made up our mind to foot any cost involved just to get her cured, I stop feeling the pain the money that her operation cost us. I honestly do not mind paying the money in exchange for her mended heart. In fact I am very grateful to my hubby's company for helping us (in whatever extent) even when the insurance doesn't cover medical cost from congenital heart disease.

Emily, she is a pro at smiling and making cooing noises. You can easily make her smile and laugh by baby-talking to her, provided you satisfy her tummy first. Life with her is at the moment pretty normal. She looks and acts like any other baby, most of the time. I hope she will continue to do so. I pray for her to grow and learn normally like any kid and that she will have a fruitful and fulfilling Christian life.

Gadgets for Baby

Emily is due for her check up in the hospital the Monday after next. She is going to have her blood drawn next Monday to run some tests. I hope the results will allow her to stop all the medication that she is currently taking. She is also due to change from fat-free formula milk to breast milk which I have accumulated for her in my new freezer. Her very expensive fat-free formula is almost out as well, but I am a bit worried about her ability to adapt back to breast milk after 6 weeks of not taking it. I am also worried if switching back to breast milk will cause any problems like it did right after her operation.I think I will mix both types of milk and take 2 to 3 days to switch her over. Hope I still have enough formula milk to do so...

Otherwise, Emily is doing just fine. I think she is well over 4kg now, hooray! She still pants after feeding for a short awhile but will resume feeding quickly. She is responding to us well, smiling when we make funny noises. She is even cooing and oohing back at us. She has been flagging her arms and legs since a long time ago and her neck is getting stronger.

As my mum suggested, I have brought an electronic automatic shaker for the baby hammock and it's a great help. We can leave her for a long while in the cradle while I do other stuff around the house, RM180 for that with 6 months warranty. This will be useful too when the maid is here so the maid can do other work while Emily sleeps in the day. Additional, I have ordered iBaby online. It's an IP webcam/baby monitor that can be accessed and controlled using iPhone app. It has night vision and supports 2 way communication too. I am waiting for the RM699 iBaby to be delivered. Quite excited about getting it to work so I can start checking on Emily live while I am at work!