Simplot Simply Good Meal with Chef Wan

Many thanks to Cleffairy for her invitation so that I can attend the Simplot Simply Good Meal Cooking Workshop with Chef Wan last Saturday. And also thank you very much to Little Sprout's papa for letting me follow their car considering last Saturday was a big day thus the traffic was not in our usual condition as other normal Saturday.

The workshop was held in BSH Home Appliances (Bosch) in Bangsar as a venue sponsor. Ah I was drooling at the appliances displayed there. The mixer, build in oven, build in coffee maker etc. How I wish I have a kitchen like this at home!

Since this workshop was brought to us by Simplot, thus the main focus of the day was on the launch of its new products, frozen Hashbrown and Popcorn Hashbrown. The frozen hashbrown and popcorn hashbrown are made from premium potatoes, with no cholesterol, no artifical flavors, no added preservatives and no artificial coloring. So it's definitely safe to serve to our children. If you have eaten the hashbrown from McDonald's big breakfast, it's actually Simplot product.

The other main ingredients used are Leggo's products. Very convenient especially for us to cook at home.

First dish of the day - Minestrone Beefball Soup with Simplot Hashbrown Popcorn. Love the herbs, chunk of vegetables, with the meat and the potato, a complete meal for us and our little ones!

Next we have Baked Seafood Casserole with Simplot Hashbrown. Alright, some of you know that I'm not a cheese or milk person. If possible I will not touch them at all. But let me tell you, despite cheese and milk are being used in this recipe, but sweet taste from the seafood is not being overwhelmed by the white sauce and the cheese! It's simply delicious and this actually is my favorite dish of all!

Third one we have Greek Moussaka. It's a bit like lasagna but instead of layering with the pasta, this one is layering the meat sauce with the Hashbrowns, fried eggplants, white sauce and cheese. Again, I walloped all except giving away the cheese topping to Mama Little Sprouts. :) How can I resist not to taste and finish up the food cooked by Chef Wan? It's so delicious that it's simply irresistible! Hb actually regretted did not follow me to go that day. Hehehe.

Last dish of the day - Simplot Hashbrown Potato and Shrimp Pancake. A dish that consists of eggs, vegetable (bean sprouts), prawn, potato and fresh herbs. Simple to make, delicious to taste and yet healthy for the whole family!

A group photo with Chef Wan.

Wish I have something for him to sign! Sigh. Well, at least I get to take a photograph with him. Chef Wan is fun and friendly. It's an enjoyable experience to attend his cooking workshop. :)

After eating and eating, we get to take some goodies home too! The organizers are very generous on the goodies bag for us. :)

I learn a lot that day. All the while I just fried the hasbrown and eat it plain with the ketchup. Now I know besides fried, it also can be baked, grilled and can be served as mains or side dishes. Thank you very much Simplot and Chef Wan for teaching us those wonderful recipes!

Homemade Yogurt

Many years back, one of my Indian colleagues during that time taught me how to make yogurt at home. But I did not make it very often until recently, after all these "no added-sugar" awareness from those formula milk companies. Besides, it is cheaper to make it myself too. :) Both hb and Lynn are huge fans of yogurt.

It is very easy to make yogurt at home.
What you need: -

1. Fresh milk (low fat or full cream also can). Or if you can use milk powder also.
2. Plain yogurt - any brand.
3. Soup bowl, or whatever size that you prefer depending on how much yogurt that you want to make. 

 Steps: -

1.  Pour out the fresh milk, with the amount of about 2/3 of the soup bowl (about 400-500ml), to a small cooking pot. Heat up the cold fresh milk using small fire. No need to wait until the milk is boiled, just make sure it is not cold.  **If you want the yogurt to have some sweetness, you may add some sugar into the milk.
2. Transfer the milk from the small pot into a bowl. If the milk is hot, leave it there for a while until the milk is at room temperature. If you are using milk powder, you can directly mix the milk powder with warm water in the bowl.
3. Add one tablespoon of the plain yogurt into the milk. Cover it and leave it overnight (about 8 hours) at the counter.
4. The next morning, the milk now becomes yogurt. The texture should be something like tofu fa. If it is still watery like milk, leave it at the counter for longer hours. Once you are happy with the yogurt, keep it inside the fridge. The longer hours you leave it at the counter, the more sour it becomes.
5. Scoop up one tablespoon of yogurt to keep it for your next round of yogurt making.
6. Before you serve, add some fresh fruits to the yogurt for flavor and sweetness. We found that banana and mango are the best. If you don't have fresh fruits, you can add some honey and raisins, or Ribena into it.

This is the bowl that I use to make yogurt. This is a little too much milk actually.(This picture is actually showing the milk has already become yogurt. But the level of milk won't increase or decrease after becoming yogurt.)

This is after becoming yogurt with tofu fa texture.

Fresh mango cut into cube. For the amount of yogurt that I made, a medium-large size mango will do.

This is after adding the mango into the yogurt. It's too full, that's why I said I have used a little too much milk here. :) Serve it on cup or small bowl and keep the rest back to the fridge.

This one is with mashed banana and raisins.

It can last for days inside the fridge. But so far I have not kept it for more than a week. Usually we finish it within 3 to 5 days.

Hope you enjoy the homemade yogurt as much as we do. :) 

What helps healing my back pain

Since mid of last year, I always complain about back pain. It was not due to coffee, it was not due to I twisted my back, it was not due to carrying Hao. I did not go to see any doctor. But Uncle Lee's comment did remind me that - I do stop taking Vitamin E for a while during that time. So after I resume taking Vitamin E, it really does help reduce my back pain. Then the back pain does not bother me much, until recently.

This time, the back pain is worse than last year. Again, it is not due to coffee, not due to I twisted my back, not due to carrying Hao, but due to spending long hours on reading. (Maybe someone wants to say "Padan muka". LOL! ) And this time, I found something that help reducing my back pain.

Not sure what do you call this? I heard some people call it "washing board". I actually wanted to get one of this long time ago. I asked my mom to get one for me from morning market since last year but she said no more selling. My father has been using it for quite some time and he said it is good for him. Right before CNY, I saw he got a new one at home. So I asked him to get one for me too. However instead of getting a new one for me (he said that one is a gift from his friend), he gave me his old one which is the one showing in the picture above. Maybe it looks ugly to you, but this special "washing board" is handmade by my father, using recycle materials from my old reading table (my old reading table, was handmade by my father also). My father is a real DIY person. He's not a carpenter, but he can make many things from scratch. From reading table, wall cabinet, display cabinet, to the gate, grill etc. Many things at my parents house, handmade by my father.

Alright, back to this "washing board". What you need to do, is to stand on it, with perfect posture. Your leg and your back has to be very straight. At the beginning, you will feel your calves are pain as they are being stretched, until you get used to it. The more steep is the board, the more difficult to stand straight on it. Every day, I spend 15 minutes standing on it. Even just 15 minutes, it makes my whole body sweat a lot. And after stepping down, I can feel a relief on my back muscle and my calves. I used to have leg pain, so I do a lot of leg stretching too. Standing on this "washing board" definitely helps a lot. And let me tell you, no matter how pain my back is, by standing there 15 minutes just for one day, I can feel the different - No more back pain for next few days! It's like an instant cure to me. But once I stopped using it for a short while, and my back pain coming back to me! So cannot be lazy. Hehe.

I heard from my father, standing on this "washing board" is a very good exercise especially for the elders. I think it helps the blood circulation of our body. It is not very costly too. So do consider this especially if you have back pain problem like me. :)


 
P/S: Sorry for my silence during these few weeks, something has happened so I was a little depressed for a while. Thing is not fully settled yet but I'm feeling much better. Thanks to those (you know who you are) who care about me and trying to help. Thank you very much!

Coffee o Coffee

I'm not addict to coffee. Coffee is not a must for me. But I do enjoy drinking coffee and usually I would like to have a cup of coffee in the afternoon in office, enjoying the aroma and the taste. While I enjoy drinking coffee, I also aware the fact that I can only take it with the following condition:

1. Must not be empty stomach
2. Must not take it after breakfast no matter how heavy the breakfast is
3. Take some food after taking the coffee

Not sure why, drinking coffee made me feeling hungry. So if I drink it with empty stomach, I will feel very weak later as if I have not had food for the whole day. The feeling is terrible! So the only time I will have a cup of coffee, is after lunch.

Recently, I discover one more thing - I can't only drink certain brand of the coffee! I usually buy 3-in-1 only, white coffee most of the time. Usually I buy the same brand. But once a while, I would like to try something different. And see if I like it. The first time I encountered this, I did not realize it's the coffee that did not suit my stomach. I thought I have eaten something wrong with the food, causing my stomach not well. Same thing happened for few days, before I realized I had changed to different brand of the coffee. I stopped immediately. Then the next day nothing bad happen. So I know I could not take that brand, because the coffee tastes stronger. That was sometimes last year.

2 weeks ago, I bought a different brand of the coffee. I tried it on Sunday - did not taste very strong to me. So I guess I could take it. For last Mon to Thursday, every day I had a cup of coffee after lunch. Monday morning, I had a pack of nasi lemak. Then in the afternoon, I started to feel my tummy not well. I thought is the nasi lemak. Same thing happened in Tuesday, but very mild one. Wednesday too. And then Thursday also. So cannot be still the nasi lemak from Monday right? Then suddenly it hit me - the coffee!!! Argh, looks like my stomach cannot tolerate the new coffee also! I was sick and staying on my bed the whole weekend. Fever and stomach upset. Hungry but no appetite to eat, thus ate very little. :(

I don't think I will try other brand of coffee anymore. I will just stick to that one brand from now onwards! *sob sob*

Back pain

When I was young, I always heard my mom or grand mother complaining having back pain, especially after they had carried something heavy. I was still a teenager. At that time, having back ache seems like not something happen to me very frequently.

The last time I had terrible back ache, was when I was pregnant with Hao. I was around 8 months pregnant during that time. It was a Saturday and we were getting ready to travel to Malacca for a short trip with my parents and my brother family. Lynn was 2 years old that time. She was much attached to me, and even more when I was pregnant. She always demanded me to carry her. So that morning, she asked to be carried again. It was my mistake actually. I thought just for a while, I did not squat down before carrying her. I just bend down and when I wanted to lift her up, *OUCH!!!* I felt a sharp burning sensation on my back! I shouted in pain, and put her down immediately. For a while, I couldn't move at all. Just stood there letting the pain go off. I could hardly walk. But I thought it would go off soon so I did not think much about it. Just continue to load the stuff into the car and then we set off to Malacca.

During the car ride, the pain did not go away. In fact, it was getting worse. When we stopped the car for toilet break, I had difficulty getting down from the car to bring Lynn to the toilet. I could hardly walk too. Every movement would cause me in great pain. I consider myself have very high tolerance on the pain, still could not take it. It was very very very painful. Much much more painful than giving birth. :(

After taking our lunch in Malacca, we decided to pay a visit to the doctor. We went to one of the hospital in the town. Seeing my big tummy, at first the nurses thought I'm going to deliver! LOL! The doctor checked my blood pressure and my back. He prescribed me panadol as pain killer. He mentioned that it is safe for me to take the panadol. He also gave me some patches to put on my back, to relief the pain. Could not remember the name now. I did not take the panadol but I did put on the patch. The patch did help a lot. Still painful, but at least I could move around. Night time sleeping was another night mare. I could not get up alone without help, to go to the toilet. I could not turn my body too. Every movement was a great pain. It was a restless night.

Could not remember how long I suffered from that back pain. But Lynn did not ask for carry anymore after that. She knew I was in pain. She would say "Mama pain pain".

Few months back, I experienced some back pain too. During that time, I had coffee almost every working day. So I tried to cut down the coffee intake, and the back pain would go away. Since then, I limit myself to maximum of 3 cups of coffee a week. Usually I only consume 2 cups per week.

For the past one month, consistently I'm having back pain almost everyday. At first I thought maybe due to coffee. However despite I stop taking coffee for the whole week, the pain did not go away. I also tried putting a small pillow under my back when I sleep at night, but it did not help much this time (this method used to work well for me before this). It is not very pain, still bearable, but VERY annoying. I can feel the pain most of the time, whether I am walking, sitting, or even sleeping. I'm not sure is it due to carrying Hao? He is getting heavier now. However I don't really carry him much nowadays. Not even more than 5 minutes. A short hug and carry when I pick up the kids at my parents house (Hao will sure ask for carry, except if he's sitting in the high chair having his dinner), carry him to the car seat and carry him to switch off the lights. I don't carry him when we are outside shopping etc. Usually hb is the one (only if Hao asks for carry). I don't really think carry Hao is the reason. Then what is the reason causing the back pain? Sigh. No idea. Maybe it is due to the stress from work? *Shrug* Going for a body check-up this weekend. Hope to find some clue there.

Wishing you all a great weekend!   

Update

Sorry for no new posts for past 2 weeks. Kids were sick. One after another. Started with Lynn vomited on our bed in the middle of the night, followed by fever. Brought her to the doctor and she was alright after taking the medicine. But 2 days later the fever came back and never go off despite me feeding her the fever medicine round the clock including waking up in the middle of the night. We were worried if she was having dengue. Brought her to the doctor again and this time doctor prescribed her the antibiotic. Thank god her fever finally go away after taking the antibiotic. And the flu and cough recovered one week later when she finished all the flu and cough medicine. After that it was Hao's turn to get fever, flu and cough. Luckily the fever was not too serious and never come back after 2 days. And lastly, it was my turn to down with bad case of flu, cough and fever too. Having a very bad nose blocking which affect my breathing. And not to mention frequent trip to the washroom to clear the nose. And headache... something that I hate very much. :( We suppose to go for the "cheng meng" last Saturday but hubby saw me in such a bad condition, he asked MIL to reschedule it to this Saturday. With the kids and me falling sick one by one, I did not do much activities with them during the weekend. No craft work. Besides the homework from the kindy, just some coloring, some cut and paste activities and reading. Been trying to do more reading with the kids especially on Chinese language. Hao the impatient one, will always "run" away to play with the toys before I finish reading the whole story. Exactly like Lynn last time. But at least now, still have one kid (Lynn) sitting beside me listening to me finish reading the whole story. :)

Poor Hao has got the Roseola

    

Hao: Aww... when the red rashes on my handsome face will go away?

Hao got fever last Saturday evening. We were in Port Dickson for a short CNY trip at that time. Since I did not bring any fever medicine with me, we came back to KL right after the dinner. I would not want to take any risk in case the fever shoot up in the middle of the night. And I think I made the right choice of cut short of trip.

Good thing I always have a bottle of fever medicine on standby at home. The fever come and goes until Monday. Then it came back again in the evening and finally no more fever on Tuesday.  So I thought he will be alright.

On Wednesday morning, when I was breastfeeding him, I noticed many red spots all over his face. Cannot be such many mosquito bites. Immediately I suspect he got the Roseola. Lynn was contacted with Roseola when she was about 9-10 months old too. It's the same symptoms - several days of high fever, followed by a distinctive rash just as the fever breaks.

We took him to the doctor and confirmed it's Roseola. Doctor gave some lotions to apply to his body and another medicine for the allergy and itchiness. The rash will last for few days. Due to this, I have to cancelled the CNY visiting to one of my primary schoolmate house this Saturday. More important is Hao get well soon.

Gold fish

What is the characteristic of a gold fish? Some say they are forgetful, but whatever the reason, all I know is that gold fish will keep on eating as long as you keep on feeding them food!

Back at home, at one time both me and hubby joke around wanted to give Lynna a nickname "Gold fish". Why? Simply because she just likes to eat! Whatever food that she saw, she will definitely ask for it. She will say "Qian Lynn want! Qian Lynn want!" And after she has finished her portion, she will ask for some more. In short, she will keep on asking as long as there is food around. Sometimes we do get worry that if she is over eaten, seeing that she's having a big and round stomach. :)

Fractured femur - Update

Last Fri (10 Oct 2008), I brought Hao back to HUKM for the follow up appointment on his fractured femur. As well, long wait was expected in the government hospital. So I had applied for a half day off earlier of the week. However the charges is cheap - RM 15 for the x-ray and RM 5 for the doctor consultation fee. One thing I like about HUKM is they will make sure the patient is safe to go before stopping any follow up appointment. And if they suspect anything, they will make sure respective tests have been carried out. So I'm still sending the kids to HUKM despite the long queue (in fact, have get used to it already. :D).

It was my first visit to the Orthopetic clinic. Hao had been transferred to the Ortho doctor from the Paed. He had to take x-ray before seeing the doctor. It was quite a long queue. We had waited for about an hour before the x-ray was taken. Hao was quite coorperative taking the x-ray. He even smile to the radiologist.

The x-ray shown that his fractured femur bone now is connecting. However you still could see the trace of the broken part. I'm glad his leg is healing. Baby really has super healing power. In fact, about 2 weeks ago, I had noticed Hao started to move and kick using his right leg. So he was already showing the healing sign by then. Well, the next follow up appointment by the Ortho doctor is 3 months later in January 2009. Hao will be 6 months old by then.

4 days in the hospital...

While we were thinking what kind of treatment that Hao needed, the doctors were thinking what was the cause of the fractured bone. To them, this is a serious injury. They said a normal fall would not cause the bone to be broken (yes, i saw the x-ray, 1 bone has been broken into 2 smaller bones.)

In total, Zhe Hao was admitted for 4 days (from Sept 1 - 4). In fact, according to the paed ortho doc, Zhe Hao required no treatment. Since he was still a baby. the bone will require by itself. It will take about another month more (since they said it happened about 2 weeks ago). By the time, it will be back to 1 whole bone by itself. When I asked about any side effects from the fractured bone, I was told that any side effects will not be visible when he grow up later. As for Zhe Hao, he is just like normal. He did not really cry a lot, does not seems to be in pain. At least I feel relief seeing him being normal. His diet is normal, passing motion also normal, did not complain when I move his leg when changing diaper etc. As long as we be more careful on his right leg, do not cause any pain to him, Zhe Hao basically is just like normal.

And since Zhe Hao does not need treatment at all, so why we still need to be in the hospital for 4 days?

Day 1 (Night): the paed doc came to ask me details on Zhe Hao, like who take care of him, who else in the family, in the babysitter house, any accidents, how Lynn treats Zhe Hao etc.

Day 2 (Morning): Another paed doc come asking me a little bit more details than the first paed doc. Then she told me about the NAI, about what they need to be done as the doctor, in order to protect the child, they need to investigate how this could happen, to make sure no child abuse incident etc.

Also when other doctors, nurses or other parents come to know that Zhe Hao was having fractured bone, they all started asking did he fall down, is he taken care by the babysitter etc. Most of the people suspecting the babysitter but me and hubby are not. The same babysitter has been taken care Lynn when Lynn was still a baby. Lynn has been well taken care of. And the babysitter family all treat Lynn very well. Buying clothes for her, buying toys for her, taken her out for shopping, willing to take care of her till late, or even overnight, willing to take care of her even during public holiday when me and hubby need to go to work. And she's not a calculative person. She never ask for any OT money from us. So we trust her will not harm Zhe Hao. However we do worry that if it's caused by the kids. Besides Lynn, the babysitter also is taking care her one year old granddaughter too.

Day 2 (Afternoon): Zhe Hao was taken for another x-ray session - to scan any other places in his body that also having bone fractured. The doctors also examined his whole body for any bruises.

Day 3 (Morning): The eye specialist doc came over to check Zhe Hao's eyes, see if there is any internal bleeding. Poor Zhe Hao... when the eye specialist come over, he was just fallen asleep. Howeve the examination required him to have his eyes open. So they forced to open his eyes and he was crying loudly complaining the doc disturb him sleeping. Until me also feel like crying. Luckily the whole session did not take that long but enough to make you feel pity to the boy having to go through all this examinations despite the fact that he's not being abused.

Day 3 (Afternoon): Both me and hubby, as well as the babysitter were required to be in the hospital to be interviewed by the doctors. So I had to repeat the story how I found his leg swollen then sent him to hospital for further checking... After that, we were required to lodge a police report. It is for the hospital to further carry out the investigation. The people from social welfare will pay a visit to our home as well as babysitter home, to ensure the environment are safe for the baby.

Of course the doctor will not trust the babysitter. However I do believe they don't think we the parents will abuse the baby. How can a mother who is fully breastfeeding the child will abuse her own baby? This not make sense at all. And because I need to breastfeed Zhe Hao, I had been 'stucked' in the hospital, 24 hrs a day, to take care and breastfeed him. So my job in the hospital is breastfeed Hao, eat, sleep, drink, rest. That's all. It was sooo cold in the hospital at night. I could not sleep well as it was too cold. Thanks to hubby who brought me the blanket on the 3rd day so at least I still get to sleep well on that night. It was a tiring experience. But I'm glad Zhe Hao is fine.

Day 4: Finally we were allowed to go home. And I need to take Zhe Hao come back hospital for x-ray after one month.

Poor Zhe Hao

Have not been posting for the past 2 weeks. Yes, something has happen., to the little baby Hao, and all of us are very shock about it.

Aug 31 (Morning): After I have bathed Zhe Hao (wanted to take him out to visit a friend, who has just give birth few weeks back), when I was changing diaper for him, I noticed his right thigh was much bigger size than the left thigh. I thought maybe he did not exercise that leg much so causing the different in size.

Aug 31 (Afternoon): When I changed diaper for him again, I paid a closer look to both legs again. This time I realized the different in size was due to the right thigh is swollen. That's why it's so much bigger. I was wondering how come the thigh was swollen.

Aug 31 (Evening): Zhe Hao was crying. And I noticed that the right leg was not moving. I started to get more worried. Tried to call up the child clinic nearby our house to check if it was opened (usually it opens on Sunday night but due to Aug 31 was a public holiday). Unfortunately no one pick up the call, means the clinic was not opened.

Sept 1 (Morning): Called the child clinic again. It was opened in the morning. So me and hubby quickly took Zhe Hao to see the doctor. I was praying nothing bad happened on him.

The pead advised us to take Hao to the hospital for further checking as he found the thigh is quite swollen. So he wrote us a referral letter to HUKM.

Sept 1 (Afternoon): We reached the HUKM Emergency unit. Zhe Hao was immediately given treatment and brought into the treatment room inside. I followed the nurse into the treatment room while hubby went to make the payment. Only 1 parent is allowed in the treatment room. They took some blood sample from Hao. And then he was sent for the x-ray.

The x-ray showed that his right thigh was having fracture. We were all shock. There were no falling accidents ever happen at home, and I did not hear any from the babysitter too. So how is Hao get the fractured bone?

According to the doctors, the fracture had been happened about 1-2 weeks ago, as the new bone has grown. As to we cannot explained how he got the fractured bone, they suspected NAI (Non-accident injury) and wanted Zhe Hao to be admitted for further investigation.

Jaundice

When Lynn was still a baby, she got prolonged jaundice until she was about 4 months old (if I remember correctly). She had gone through the photo-theraphy twice within first month of age, and even had taken the ultrasound for her liver. During that period, she had gone through numerous blood test (until it leaves a mark on her hand!) and were given multivitamin and iron supplement for it. Each time I take her to the hospital, I feel so sorry for her that she had to undergo all these despite she was just a few months old baby. She also gone through the audio test to make sure her hearing has not been affected by the high bilirubin level during the first month of life. One good thing about government hospital is they make sure the baby is healthy before they stop seeing you.

After first experience with Lynn on the jaundice, I give extra care to Zhe Hao to make sure same mistaken would not repeat twice (Lynn had to go through the photo-theraphy during first week of life is due to underfeeding. She just refused to wake up for milk.) Zhe Hao on the other hand eat mor than his sister. In fact, towards the end of the confinement month, he had increased his milk intake tremendously - almost every hour he will demand for milk until I become so tired and so scare of nursing him. However Hao still cannot run away from not having jaundice.

We first notice the yellow towards the end of first week. Then it subsided about more than 1 week later. However in the beginning of the 4th week, we noticed the yellow come back again. I started to worry and wonder why. Zhe Hao had been eating well, sleeping well, and had enough wet diapers for the day. His stool was normal, he was active and healthy. And he got good weight gain. So that make me less worry. After 1 month, I took him to the clinic. There the nurse and doctor advised me to take him to the hospital to check for the jaundice. Following their advice, I brought Hao back to HUKM. To avoid long wait at the emergency, I was being directed to go to the HUKM Premier Clinic in Taman Tasik Selatan. As usual, blood test as well as urine test must be taken. Hao is diagnosed with prolonged jaundice. However the bilirubin level is not high enough for him to go through the photo-theraphy (phew!) but he is still under the observation of the doctor for the prolonged jaundice. Another blood test was taken on that day and another urine sample needed too (due to the last results show that the urine sample had been contaminated).

The second blood test results show some improve on the bilirubin level, but there are 2 readings from the liver panel that are not good. This time the doctor from the HUKM Premier Clinic refers us back to the HUKM Paediatric Clinic.

Hao took his 3rd blood test during the subsequent appointment in HUKM on August 13. Again, the same 2 readings from the livel panel still not good. No further test recommended at the moment. The next appointment is one month later on Sept 10 where another blood test will be taken during that day before seeing the doctor. I do hope Hao is fine and does not need to go through what his sister had gone through.

I have read that if the baby are breastfed, and the baby is active and healthy, having prolonged jaundice for few months is normal and give no harm to the brain. I'm glad that Hao is a fully breastfed baby. Once I was thinking of giving up breastfeeding him as he is eating too much, too frequent and make me so tiring. Luckily I did not stop at that point. Now with the jaundice, it makes me more determine to continue breastfeeding.

Hao at 6 weeks old: -
Weight: 5.8kg (birth: 3.67kg, 1 month: 5.1kg)
Height: 61cm (birth: 52.5cm, 1 month: 58cm)

Soy Milk or Cow Milk?

Just now when my SIL come visiting, we talked about milk powder. The price of the milk powder has been increased tremendously since end of last year. The price has been increased few times and last month I heard there will be another round of increment also. Not sure if this has already incurred.

Lynn was fully breastfed until she was 10 months old. Since then, she was taking Nestle Naan 2. However her babysitter complained she has too many loose stools and not gaining wei
ght. So I have switched her to Isomil till now. Now she is 2 years old already, and with the high price of the milk powder, I'm actually thinking maybe switch her back to a cheaper cow milk brand. 1st brand that pop into my mind is Dumex (hehe, don't ask me why is Dumex). I think I will do some research before deciding what to give her.

Government hospital

Many people are sceptical about going to government hospital. As for me, I delivered both Lynn and Hao in the government hospital nearby my house - HUKM. Choosing HUKM firstly is because it is near my house, less than 30 minutes away, and the traffic going to the hospital is not heavy, compared to other parts of Cheras. I would not like to stuck in the jam on the way to hospital, worrying that I may not get it there on time to deliver the baby due to the traffic jam.


I'm not sure if I'm considered lucky or not. In both deliveries, I was having pleasant experience with all people from the O&G unit of the hospital. The doctors and the nurses are friendly and helpful.

For Lynn, she was admitted twice due to jaundice. Each time they needed to take some blood to get the bilirubin reading. I remembered few times the blood was taken by some newbie doctor or trainee, where they are not experienced in taking the blood. Lynn was crying non-stop and loudly throughout the whole process and I fell so sorry for that. Luckily only 2-3 occasions and not all the time. Other time, there were some students around and we were being asked lots of questions about Lynn.

Due to her very high reading in the bilirubin level, she was given an appointment on ear test on her hearing when she was being discharged the second time. This is to ensure the high bilirubin did not affect her hearing. And we just need to pay very minimum amount for it. Well, I don't think if I sent her to the private hospital, we will getting this kind of treatment, or even if we did, it may be very costly.

Lynn's jaundice did not go away even after her full moon. She was then diagnosed with prolong jaundice and the hospital even performed an ultra-sound on her liver, to make sure her liver is not abnormal. And every 2 weeks, I was required to take Lynn back to hospital, to check her bilirubin reading, to make sure it was decreasing. They did all kind of test, to make sure she is healthy. So how can I say government hospital is not good?

For the second delivery, I needed to take the venofer. I was told that venofer treatment is not available in all hospital. And I believe if I go to the private hospital, it will be costly. However I just need to pay RM5 for each visit, and RM10 for the medication. Where else can I get this?

Check up after taking venofer

One week after finish taking the last venofer, I was requested to go back to the hospital for check up. This is to ensure my hemoglobin is at the normal reading level, after taking all the venofer.

So I went back to the hospital yesterday. Since I did not need to see the doctor, I did not need to wait long to get my blood test taken by the nurse from the lab. After that, I can go home already. The results will be ready on the next day. And I just need to make a call to check for my results.

I was told to call up in the afternoon of the following day after the blood was taken. So earlier this afternoon, I called up the number given by the nurse to check my blood test results. When I was told that the blood test results are okay, I feel a relief. I really do not want to take more venofer already. My hand still in pain even until today.

Venofer

Do you know what is Venofer?

• Venofer® (iron sucrose injection, USP) is a brown, sterile, aqueous complex of polynuclear iron (III)-hydroxide in sucrose for intravenous use.
• It contains no preservatives or dextran polysaccharides.
• Venofer® is indicated in the treatment of iron deficiency anemia in non-dialysis dependent - chronic kidney disease (NDD-CKD) patients receiving or not receiving an erythropoietin, and in hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis dependent - chronic kidney disease (HDD-CKD) and (PDD-CKD) patients receiving an erythropoietin.

How do I know Venofer? Well, I almost fainted when walking to the toilet, on the evening of the day after delivering Hao. My blood pressure indicate normal. So the doctor did a blood test for me and found that I have insufficient blood. Normal reading is 11.0. During pregnancy, my reading was 9.9, slightly lower than the normal. However at that time the gynae said still fine as long as I keep on taking the iron supplement (which I did). And the latest blood test indicate my reading is only 7.9. In addition, they found my blood is quite thin/diluted also.

The option given to me is either getting blood transfusion (the fastest way), or get the venofer, the iron dripping. However due to there is limited intake per day, I have to undergo a total cumulative dose of 1,000 mg of iron, on 5 different occasions (on alternate day), on 200 mg slow IV injection each time.

Obviously I do not wish to go through a blood transfusion. No matter how, there is certain level of risk. Taking iron supplement needs to take very long time for me to reach the normal reading, so it is not recommended. So I have opted for taking the venofer. They gave me one drip before I discharge to go home. And then subsequently I have to come back to the hospital, for the rest of the 4 dripping sessions.

I'm not a kind of person that is scare of needle and injection. However after this one whole week of dripping, I'm afraid I may want to change my mind. They have to put the needle into my blood vein. The iron is straightaway flow into my blood stream and mix with my blood. And the needle is about 2 inches long. So it is quite a painful process. After the dripping finish, they will remove the needle and normally the blood vein will become swollen and remain painful for the next few days. So just imagine within this one week, I have to be poke 5 times for the dripping, 5 swollen blood vein, and both hands remain painful for few days. And on one occasion, after the nurse has put the dripping on, the solution does not flow into my blood vein. So she has to remove it and poke on another hand.

Finally now 5 sessions of the dripping are done. Next week I need to go back hospital to take another blood test, to see my reading after the venofer treatment. Well, I hope the results will be good. I do not wish to get more venofer treatment.

Back ache

I have been enjoying minimum back ache for many months in this pregnancy, until recently. On the day we went to Malacca, I hurt the back muscle from carrying Lynn. I accidentally pulled the back muscle When i was putting her down. I can feel the sharp pain from the lower back and I can't help to shout out.

For a moment, I couldn't move and get up. Lynn was looking at me. She knew something was not right. And she knew is was because I carried her. Actually all these while I'm avoiding carry her, unless she's really demand for it, and I will just carry her for short distance and short while only. We have been keep on telling her that mommy cannot carry her anymore because she's getting heavy, and at the same time mommy also need to carry the baby in the stomach.

I knew I cannot carry Lynn anymore, due to the pull muscle. And I have to be very careful not to hurt the back again. However I don't expect the pain get worse. When I was in Malacca, I come to almost cannot walk stage. I need someone to support me when walking. Every step create a sharp pain in the lower back. I had no choice but to seek medical treatment. The doctor gave me some patches for the back. It was just to relief the pain, but not for healing the back muscle. The muscle need quite a while to heal, and I had to be very careful.

From that day onwards, we can hear Lynn said "Mama tong tong" (means Mama in pain in Mandarin) to everyone. And she stop requesting me to carry her anymore. Instead she will just ask for a hug, and some kissing. Of course she still miss me carrying her, as she will demand me to do something for her, as if to replace what she has missed. I will try my best to fulfill her needs, whenever I can, unless I feel very tired, then I will ask her to demand it from her daddy.

Since then, I will constantly having back ache, whenever I feel tired. I hope this will not continue for long, after the baby has come out. I do hope able to carry Lynn after delivering the baby.

Tiring weeks

Everyone in the house fall sick end of last month, after CNY. At first was hubby not feeling well. He has been affected by the gall stone problem since long time ago. However sometimes it get worse and make him feel very uncomfortable. He has been waking up in the middle of the night to go toilet etc. And due to this, my sleep has been interrupted and resulting me not having enough sleep.

Just when hubby was getting better, Lynn fall sick. She started having fever on Wednesday night and vomitted twice. Well, when a child is sick. They will be more demanding, especially to the mommy. I have no choice to let her sleep with me. I was worry as she refused to take the medicine. Lynn couldn't sleep well. She woke up crying after about an hour later. This time I took the opportunity to feed her the fever medicine.

We didn't take her to the doctor the next morning. She has stopped vomitting. I passed the fever medicine to the babysitter and asked her to call us if Lynn condition is getting worse. At night when we went to pick her up, Lynn still having fever. But no more vomit. She had no appetite and she had milk most of the time. The fever did not go up very high, just stay mild. However the fever did not go away for the next few days. She was also having flu and blocking nose, which made her could not sleep well at night. Keep on crying in the middle of the night.

As for myself, due to continuous lack of sleep for the whole week. I had becoming weak too. And finally on Friday, I had to take MC off from work as I was having fever too. I lost the appetite to eat. Whatever things that I had eaten I will vomit it out later. Yes, this is bad for me especially I'm expecting. It was a torture for me feeling hungry, and yet no appetite to eat. I ate very little during that few days with the fever with me. And due to my own sickness, I really don't have much energy to take care of Lynn. Hubby decided to leave Lynn with babysitter on Friday night so that I can get a good rest without worry about taking care of Lynn.

On Friday, Lynn vomitted again. She also vomitted few times at night after go to bed. So the next morning, we quickly took her for the doctor. Unfortunately, the regular child clinic that Lynn has been visiting is closed for a week. We had no choice but to go another child clinic. It was a long wait and finally it was Lynn's turn. She was making noise as she was sleepy. And after taking the fever medicine for few days, Lynn becoming not like to take the medicine anymore. I had no choice but to force her to take the medicine. She cried whenever we tried to feed her the medicine.

Finally after taking the antibiotic, Lynn has no more fever. However her appetite has not been getting better and she still vomitting. Poor Lynn, she had lost some weight due to the sickness. No more chubby face for her. As for me, my appetite has not been getting better too, even though finally I had no more fever on Sunday afternoon. However I started to get sore throat and blocking nose on Sunday too. Immediately I know I'm getting that from Lynn.

Lynn finally was recovering though her appetite still not good. She only resume taking porridge on following Saturday. And on the next Monday, she was fully recovered and resume her normal food intake. As for me, it took me more than a week to fully recover. It had been a very tiring weeks for me, as if I had gone to a battlefield to fight.