Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Blessing in disguise?
Last Thursday, 15 January 2009, my husband and I took our 10-month old baby girl to her pediatrician at Gleneagles Intan Medical Centre as she had been coughing incessantly throughout the night. I kept waking up, fearing that she would vomit all over herself in the buai like she did before. Oh, didn’t I mention this before? I just breastfed her, then she was coughing and coughing, and suddenly I heard the vomit. This was 6 in the morning, mind you. Vomit was all over her face, in her hair, (I suspect she swallowed some as well) on her bolsters, on the Sleep Sheep which I put under her buai, and also the toto underneath her. I had to give her a quick bath, and she was happily splashing herself as if it was 6 p.m.
That was the week before. Her coughing did not subside, so we decided to take her to her pediatrician. He listened to her breathing and immediately frowned, which was not good news for us. He asked us to do an x-ray on Aliah downstairs, suspecting pneumonia. His suspicion turned out to be right, and he advised us to admit Aliah into the ward. So I got two days compassionate leave.
Hubby had to go to work after the admittance, so I was left with Aliah alone for the rest of the day until evening. So I got to fully breastfeed her and luckily, she settled down easily, sometimes falling asleep after a feed. It was a bit tedious as I couldn’t let her crawl all over the room on the floor, so she was restricted to play on the bed only. And I couldn’t leave her alone even for one second, because she would follow me to the edge of the bed. One time I had to call the nurse to watch her so I could urgently go to the toilet.
The first night in the hospital ward was, in a nutshell, a nightmare. Hubby’s family came to visit, and Aliah had a great time, the social little butterfly. I could see that she was very sleepy, judging by her number of yawns and eye rubbings, but she simply refused to lie down and relax. So around 11 p.m. everyone left and I had the light dimmed, so she could settle down to sleep. She fell asleep within minutes while suckling. We lifted her into the baby cot beside my bed. Around 3 a.m. she woke up, wailing at first, then started playing and talking. Then she tried to climb into my bed and got her leg stuck in the cot bars, and that really woke us up. Hubby was really mad by this time and gave her a scolding and a few whacks on her leg. She was scrambling to get away from him to me, sobbing. We gave her hugs and comforted her, and then I don’t know how (I was dozing my head off), he succeeded putting her to sleep, around 5 a.m.
The next day was more fun as Daddy was around, and we were granted home-leave by the doctor. We left the hospital around 2 p.m. and had to get back before 10 p.m. for Aliah’s next medication. She got a more fitful sleep in her buai, and got to eat homemade porridge, which she devoured like a starved baby. I guess she could tell which one tasted better. Good girl.
Going to bed that night was pretty easy too. After breastfeeding her to sleep, I lifted her into her cot next to my bed and whispered in her ear to sleep tight tonight and “wake me up only if you need to feed.” Miraculously, it worked! She woke up once at 5 a.m., then went back to sleep right after the feed, and didn’t wake up until 7.30 a.m. she didn’t even stir when the nurse came to check her temperature or came to give her medication. Talk about psychology babble, haha!
All in all, the hospital “vacation” was boring because we, of course, had to stay in the hospital. (Duhh.) The food sucked, the air-conditioning was too cold, Aliah had too little space to play, limited tv channels etc, etc, etc. But I got to spend four whole days with my beautiful baby, which I enjoyed tremendously despite the tiredness. Babies grow up so quickly, I wish I could capture every single moment of her growing up so I wouldn’t miss a thing. I was pretty bummed to see her cry her heart out when we left her at the nursery Monday morning. But then again, life goes on.
That was the week before. Her coughing did not subside, so we decided to take her to her pediatrician. He listened to her breathing and immediately frowned, which was not good news for us. He asked us to do an x-ray on Aliah downstairs, suspecting pneumonia. His suspicion turned out to be right, and he advised us to admit Aliah into the ward. So I got two days compassionate leave.
Hubby had to go to work after the admittance, so I was left with Aliah alone for the rest of the day until evening. So I got to fully breastfeed her and luckily, she settled down easily, sometimes falling asleep after a feed. It was a bit tedious as I couldn’t let her crawl all over the room on the floor, so she was restricted to play on the bed only. And I couldn’t leave her alone even for one second, because she would follow me to the edge of the bed. One time I had to call the nurse to watch her so I could urgently go to the toilet.
The first night in the hospital ward was, in a nutshell, a nightmare. Hubby’s family came to visit, and Aliah had a great time, the social little butterfly. I could see that she was very sleepy, judging by her number of yawns and eye rubbings, but she simply refused to lie down and relax. So around 11 p.m. everyone left and I had the light dimmed, so she could settle down to sleep. She fell asleep within minutes while suckling. We lifted her into the baby cot beside my bed. Around 3 a.m. she woke up, wailing at first, then started playing and talking. Then she tried to climb into my bed and got her leg stuck in the cot bars, and that really woke us up. Hubby was really mad by this time and gave her a scolding and a few whacks on her leg. She was scrambling to get away from him to me, sobbing. We gave her hugs and comforted her, and then I don’t know how (I was dozing my head off), he succeeded putting her to sleep, around 5 a.m.
The next day was more fun as Daddy was around, and we were granted home-leave by the doctor. We left the hospital around 2 p.m. and had to get back before 10 p.m. for Aliah’s next medication. She got a more fitful sleep in her buai, and got to eat homemade porridge, which she devoured like a starved baby. I guess she could tell which one tasted better. Good girl.
Going to bed that night was pretty easy too. After breastfeeding her to sleep, I lifted her into her cot next to my bed and whispered in her ear to sleep tight tonight and “wake me up only if you need to feed.” Miraculously, it worked! She woke up once at 5 a.m., then went back to sleep right after the feed, and didn’t wake up until 7.30 a.m. she didn’t even stir when the nurse came to check her temperature or came to give her medication. Talk about psychology babble, haha!
All in all, the hospital “vacation” was boring because we, of course, had to stay in the hospital. (Duhh.) The food sucked, the air-conditioning was too cold, Aliah had too little space to play, limited tv channels etc, etc, etc. But I got to spend four whole days with my beautiful baby, which I enjoyed tremendously despite the tiredness. Babies grow up so quickly, I wish I could capture every single moment of her growing up so I wouldn’t miss a thing. I was pretty bummed to see her cry her heart out when we left her at the nursery Monday morning. But then again, life goes on.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
