Review

Brought Reyes to KKH for a review checkup and blood test yesterday. Hubby and Regan went along.

Poor Reyes shriek when pricked in the sole for blood samples and Regan was slightly taken aback by the sight of blood oozing out didi's foot. But we explained to him what its all about then he felt better.

After we got the blood test results, we went back to Clinic P to see the physio therapist. The lady had to assess Reyes' physical development. In fact, to date, his corrected age is about 3 weeks old and he weighs about 4 kg now. Was quite happy that his weight gain is good. :)

The therapist feedback that his physical development is pretty apt for his age but we have to give him more tummy time to strengthen his neck, haha but he doesnt quite like it though.

Next stop is to see his neonatal doc, Dr Khoo, she looked at the blood test report and we were told that his blood count is a bit low. -_-' She recommended for us to increase his Iron intake to 2 times a day and also he needs to take some folic acids.
Then she went through the report from the cranial scan last month with us. The cyst on his left ventrical has disappear but the one on the right is now 4 mm. Dr Khoo didn't think much of this but she is more concerned about the part in the report that states that there are plenty of "echos" in the scan. -_-' I asked her what is the impact of having all these echos and was told that it could affect development so we have to monitor Reyes carefully, probably for stiff muscles in the thigh and stuff.

Next, the umbilical hernia, it seemed to have grown bigger. Dr Khoo is not that concern about the size of it but rather the possibility of intestine getting entwined in it. So, she instructed to watch if Reyes is throwing up a lot and if that's the case I have to bring him back immediately. Luckily, he doesn't do that too often, only once in a blue moon.

So, the next review appointment will be next month, coupled with a cranial scan and also blood test. -_-'

I've decided to listen to mummy and put a binder over Reyes tummy to hold down the "ballon", hopefully this might help.

I'll be back to work on 6th Jul but the feeds for Reyes has to be maintained, think I'm gonna have a hard time coping and am not sure if my EBM supply will be enough. But I've gotten a preemie formula, NeoSure and gonna introduce that to him soon, this will supplement my EBM.

When I'm back to work, my maid will be taking care of him for me in the day, didn't really have a choice but she's trustworthy. Right now, she's helping with the 5 am and 8 am feed while I sleep more since I have to do his 2 am feed. Lets hope everything works out the way its supposed to be. :)

Regan has got "double" infection

Regan ran a fever at 38.7 degrees celsius last night, today he was all up and well but I kept him at home to monitor him. He seemed alright, active and all.

It puzzles me as the onset of the fever must have been brought on by something. upon further probing by my mum, he revealed that his penis feels painful when he passes urine. I checked and discovered that his privates is a bit red at the tip. So I was thinking this could be an infection that led to his fever last night.

Brought him to the doctor in the evening and he was asked to do a urine test and the doc found that he is indeed having a urinary infection as well as a throat infection as his throat is all red.

So, he was given antibiotics and several other meds to be consumed at home. I discussed with the doctor on how he could have gotten this urinary infection, doc commented that for boys, its actually quite hard to contract this and since its hard to contract, its hard to heal as well, so we have to go back next week for a review and another round of urine test.

The enrichment school Regan is attending does not have proper toilet facilities for kids his age, in fact, they uses the adult toilets and all the boys are required to stand by the toilet bowl to pee. My boy being small in size have a bit of difficulty and it is no wonder that his penis might have touched the edge of the toilet bowl or something. hm, I'm gonna talk to the teachers in charge about this and hopefully they can come up with a solution for me before I put him into another school.

But frankly speaking, this school is pretty good except for this issue.. sigh..

Some Updates

Reyes has been home for almost 3 weeks. I think he is around 3 kg now as his last known weight was 2.7 kg on 28 May 09.

So far he has been to 2 reviews already. Did his cranial scan, the 0.3 cm cyst is still there but doc said its nothing to worry about. He also did his eye test and everything was fine. It was quite shocking to discover that preemies actually have 3 times higher risk of getting short sightedness, lazy eyes and other eye ailments then a full term baby. Reyes is scheduled for another eye test when he turns 6 mths old (corrected age). I'm glad things are ok for now and his next review will be in Aug with the cardiologist. Hopefully, that will be ok as well.

I've been real busy taking care of him, feeding him 8 times a day, expressing my EBM almost 6 times a day, bathing him twice a day, taking my own meals. I'm left with very little time to sleep and to do my own stuff. Tough tough! But seeing him growing bit by bit as the day goes by, that is satisfying enough.

Everyone is saying he looks like Regan. This little boy is kinda sensitive to any noise, everytime I express milk in the room, he would be tossing and turning and making noise in his bed to protest. haha, blame it on my medela NOISY pump.

Here are some of his recent pics: