Hao - 1 month old

We celebrated Zhe Hao's fullmoon celebration on July 27, 2008 (Sunday). There is no party inviting friends, just a dinner with all family members on both side. For those relatives and friends who come visiting during the confinement month, we gave them the pre-ordered fullmoon package from the fullmoon specialty shop as a token of thanks and appreciation.

This time, I feel the confinement month as if very short. I will definitely miss the time with the confinement lady around as I can have as much of rest as I want, without worrying about taking care of the 2 kids. We gave a big ang pow to the confinement lady (even though I'm not too happy with the food that she cooks) for her excellent service (taking care of our food, laundry, clean the house and help take care of Lynn too) during the month.

Oh yes, forgot to include this earlier: -
Weight: 5.1kg (birth weight 3.67kg)
Height: 58cm (at birth 52.5cm)

Zhe Hao - Day 23

Wow, time flies. So fast Zhe Hao is already 23 days old. Which also means that the confinement month will come to the end soon. :) I still remember the last confinement when I delivered Lynn, the time past so slow. However this time seems like very soon the confinement month will be over. :)

Even though we don't weight him, but we know that Zhe Hao has gained weight already. See, his face become much rounder now. And becoming more chubby too! I think he become longer too. I still remember how tiny Lynn was during her first month, compared to Zhe Hao. A bit worry Zhe Hao will outgrow those old clothes from Lynn very soon.

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.

Lynn - becoming big sister

Lynn has been reacting positively towards the born of her little brother Hao. I'm glad that she has been showing her love to her little brother and feel proud of her.



During the confinement month, Lynn did not go to the babysitter. Instead she has been staying at home with me. See, she found a new way of playing with her little friend, Julie. She saw us swaddling Hao with the diaper cloth, so she trying to do the same to her friend, Julie. And she also trying to change diaper for Julie too! LoL

Zhe Hao - Day 12

Little Zhe Hao is 12 days old already! He got a little yellow, but he has been eating well (most of the times every 1-2 hours, sometimes about 2-3 hours though), and we take him for sun bathe every morning. So far we saw some improvement.

Little Zhe Hao likes to laugh. Each time after having milk, he will sure show his happy and laughing face. :)And he likes to shout too. Whenever he got wet diaper, he will sure open his mouth big and shout for a diaper change! :)

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.

Little Zhe Hao

Name: Tang Zhe Hao

Born at: 29 June 2008 (8 days earlier)

Weight: 3.67kg (1 kg more than his sister Lynn)

Head: 35cm (5cm bigger than his sister Lynn)

Length:52.5cm (2.5cm longer than his sister Lynn)