Swollen Eye

Poor little Caitlin has a swollen eye! I was shocked to see that she woke up one morning and one eye was red and swollen. I brought her to the GP downstairs who prescribed antibiotic, and constantly assured me, the anxious, worried and frightened mother, that she do not need any eye drop or wash. So I gave her two doses of the antibiotic that day (once in morning and once at night) but the next day, the swelling got worse. The upper and lower eyelids were so swollen that her eye look permanently shut! So we went to the GP again who referred her to KKH.

Here's the answers I got from the doctor at KKH.

• It's not contagious.
• It's an infection of the eyelid, most likely due to her excessive rubbing of the eye when there is a broken skin on the lid. He suspected the broken skin is due to insect bite, mosquito or something else.
• It should get better in two days. If not, we have to go back to the eye clinic. We were given an appointment in case we need to return.
• Caitlin has a stubbornness to reject medicine and spit it out while we feed it to her. So if she continue to reject the medicine and the swelling persists, she has to be admitted to hospital and be put on drip.

So when we come home, hubby changed the bed sheet and vacuumed the bed. Maybe she was bitten by an insect while she was sleeping, maybe not, but we are not taking any chances! I just mopped the floor with tea tree essential oil yesterday. Every night starting from yesterday night, I diffuse lavender essential oil to ward off the mosquitoes and hope we all enjoy a better sleep.

The experience at KKH was quite good. The waiting time was long but the process seamless. There was a flat charge of $103 for children emergency cases that included doctor's consultation, blood test, urine test, medicine etc. But when I was purchasing the medicine from the pharmacy, I was told that I have to pay for the amoxicillin antibiotic as it is not a standard drug. Standard drugs, like paracetamol, are free. I hope more drugs can be subsidised. This could make a big difference to low income families.

Pray hard that Caitlin get well soon!

Decreased movement

This is pretty scary... I got a real scare from baby on Monday morning. Every morning, by 10am he would have given me 10 kicks or movements but on Monday, no matter how I move, lie down, turn left or right side, shake my tummy, he refused to move. I was using computer early in the morning after accompanying hubby for breakfast and our usual morning chat. Hubby left for work and I was so busy at the computer that I didn't note baby's movement. We are supposed to take note of baby's movement since we wake up and he should complete 10 kicks a day. So I got a bit worried, stopped using the computer, and lied down on one side. Usually when I lie on one side, baby felt uncomfortable, felt pressure on that side and will start turning around or kicking to protest. But this time, it's all quiet. Then I stood up, walk around, went toilet, shook my tummy, bounce my tummy, drank water, still no movements...

I remembered that on Sat, I saw greenish vagina discharge, put these 2 incidences together and got more n more worried, so I called clinic. The nurse advised me to go down.

Gynae did heart beat test, scan and vagina infection test for me. He said we have natural bacteria in vagina. As long as there's no inflammation and/or pain, it's ok. The test today showed no infection. Phew!

He said fetal heartbeat looks normal but he has patients whom even though normal, experienced lesser fetal movement n baby heartbeat suddenly stopped. So he told me to do heartbeat test again tml morning. I was so scared n worried when he told me that. He said if I felt lesser movement tonight, I must admit myself immediately, don't wait until tomorrow. If not, we'll monitor tomorrow. And coz my baby is considered smaller at 2.6kg, he's not sure whether he's a healthy smaller baby or smaller coz there's prob so it's better to deliver baby early if we suspect any prob.

On Tues morning, as scheduled I went to see Dr Ho again but this time with a lighter heart because last night baby kicked me a lot and with big movements! I'm so happy to be kicked! Lol. On Tues morning, he's also moving a lot and I counted 10 movements by 10am.

Dr Ho did a heartbeat test and said it's normal. He explained we cannot rely solely on the heartbeat test because accuracy is 1/400. I may be among the few, and with his experience, he has seen several cases where baby heartbeat suddenly stopped at late stage of preg. He cannot pinpoint a reason and he has to deliver the baby but with really sad news. He told me he once had a patient who did not feel fetal movements for many days and stayed for many days in KKH to test fetal heartbeat. For many days, everything is normal but one day, baby's heartbeat just stopped! They did emergency caesarean but could not save baby. His opinion is, dun just rely on tests, monitor baby's movements, report abnormalities immediately and deliver baby early if need be!

Today he also reminded me to watch out for signs of labour because now I'm approaching EDD, it could be anytime. Oh, I'm so excited and nervous to think of the delivery date!!! It's all happening soon!!! I'm wondering how my labour would start? Would it be water bag burst, regular contractions or bloody show followed by the earlier 2 symptoms or... maybe he just won't come and I need to be induced? Hmm... we'll know in time!