Reyes Latest Pics

These pictures were taken last week or week before last. Its Reyes' latest look. haha he is looking kinda chubby now. Think he is about 5+ kg. Everything is looking good! :)

Jabs and stuff

Brought Reyes to his PD, Dr Yong on Fri to get his jabs. It was so coincidental that we met a mummy there having 2 sons same name as mine! She has a Regan and a Reyes and the order of birth is the same too. Haha!

I overheard she's rushing for time thus I offered for her to see the doc first. She was so grateful about it that she bought us a cake thereafter but I forgot abt the namecard she left in the bag and my maid threw it away. Probably has to get his number from the clinic to say once.

Reyes is about 1.5 mos old now and he weighs 4.7 kg. Not bad at all. Discussed with Dr Yong and decided that it seemed like we can skip the 2 am feed as he is growing well and most of the time sleepy for the night feeds. For the past few nights it wasn't very successful cos I still have to get out of bed a few times but I guess I would soon be having my much needed sleep! :)

Regan specifically asked not to be included on this visit to the doctor, when I asked him why, he replied saying he doesnt wanna see Reyes cry. I guess he was traumatised when we brought him along the last time when Reyes has to draw blood from the sole of his foot for blood test.

Reyes was so strong, he only let out a short loud cry after each jab and soon he drifted off to dreamland. In fact, the same goes for Regan as well, I remembered when he was a baby, he has no problems for these jabs, crying stops like after 3 seconds. Perhaps they both inherited my high threshold for pain. For both my deliveries, I didn't have epidural and for Regan it was even an induced labour which is supposedly more painful than a natural one. :)

We are going back KKH this Wed for Reyes' cranial scan. I'm praying that the "echo" gets lesser now. Lets hope for the best.

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:

Reyes is home!

After having spent a total of 7 weeks in NICU and a week in Special Care, Reyes is finally home.

We picked him up from the hospital on Fri. Initially I was glad that I can finally put my pump aside since he is coming home but it didn't seem the case. He has a whole lot of stuff to add to his EBM for every feed, the vitamins, MCT oil, protein powder and iron drops. So, I still have to express my breastmilk for him to be bottle-fed with all these goodies for the next 2 mths not to mention the various follow up appointments with the cardiologist, eye doc as well as a cranial scan. He was discharged weighing 2.16kg.

He is now fed 3-hourly, starting from 8 am every morning round the clock. I practically didn't get much sleep. -_-' I was down with mastisis, inflammation on my right breast, it was so painful and I developed a 40 degrees Celsius fever in the middle of the night on Sat. Went to see doc and was given antibiotics as well as some panadol. Its now better already.

Brought Reyes to the PD on Mon and was glad to see him now weighing 2.35kg. Generally he is ok but needs to beef him up a little and the rest of the vaccination will have to wait till he is at least 3.0 kg. But we need to go back every week for review though.

Everyone says he looks like the brother.. hee :)

Latch-on Breast Feeding Begins!

I've been busy these past 2 days. I was at the hospital during the afternoon to try latching Reyes on for one of his feeds, his weight fell from 2010g to 1985g and is now 2022g and taking in 42 ml every 3 hrs. The nurse commented that the initial drop in weight is due to the introduction of bottle that takes up more of his energy. I also did some diaper change for him, practicing since I haven't done it in years. hee.

He suckles pretty well, but he falls asleep so frequently that it seemed like its more comfort suckling than suckling to satisfy his hunger. Since I dunno how much he is taking in, I'll have to feed on demand when he is home.

I was told that he should be able to disharge on Fri if nothing arises so I had to attend the CPR training today. I had to call my mum to join me last minute as I thought having 2 person learning it would be more beneficial than one.

Now, I'm compiling the list of to-buys and I'll be off on a shopping spree tomorrow to get the necessities for Reyes. a little anxious about him coming home but I bet I'll be much busier... :)

Bottle Feeding!!

Reyes is now in the "Growing Prem" room in SCN. We couldnt find him in his usual spot today.. haha.

Glad to see that he is now off the tube and is fully on bottle feeding, taking 36 ml every 3 hrs. His weight is now 2010g and he looked so much better without the tube, his chin is cute!

I carried him for a while and the attending nurse asked if I would like to bottle feed him, I said yes to that immediately. He suckle on the bottle for a while, and paused for a while and suckle on it for a while, in no time, the bottle of EBM was almost finished. I took the bottle out of his mouth and let him rest a little..

But viola, the next thing I know, he vomitted all over himself and me. -_-'
Then I checked with the nurse and was told that I should burp him occasionally through out the feeding session. oh.. I felt so bad.. Reyes, so sorry, mummy didn't know I have to do that cos I thought 36 ml was very little. I'll be more careful next time.

The attending nurse decides not to give him anymore EBM until the next scheduled time so I placed him back into the crib while I wipe myself dry. The nurse changed his swaddling cloth and he was pretty restless. He looks as though he is still hungry so the nurse asked if I want to try latching him on direct. I'm like all wided-eyes, "can I??", I was so excited and anxious about the thought.

I sat down and tried latching him on direct. So cute, each time he suckle, I can see his dimples. I think he did get some breast milk but not a lot as he keeps stopping after suckling for a while, but I stopped after a few mins as I didn't want to overwhelm him and was afraid he might throw up again.

I enquired when I can bring him back as he is already more than 2 kg and he is now more than 35 weeks. But apparently it seemed like it will only be possible after we, the parents have learnt some important skills dealing with premmies. We need to go through a CPR class and also some basic childcare skills sessions.

I'm having mixed feeling now. I'm happy and yet worried at the same time, I'm happy that Reyes is coming home but I'm also worried that I might not know how to take care of him properly. But like what hubby said, I should just take care of him like how I would a normal full term baby, perhaps if I think this way, I might feel less pressured.