Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Happy baby...healthy heart


ECG or echocardiogram is a test that uses sound waves to create moving pictures of your heart. The pictures show the size and shape of your heart. They also show how well your heart's chambers and valves are working.

When our doctor referred us to a pediatric cardiologist because Little One has slight heart murmurings, my reaction was like that of any other mother would have had...I was scarred, anxious and apprehensive to have my boy undergo the test.  But the doctor assured us that we should not worry too much because the heart murmuring could just be blood flowing which is quite normal for young babies.  But considering LO's background, undergoing the test would ensure our peace of mind.

We were referred to Kidslink Child Clinic who has a pediatrician who has Special Interest in Paeditric Cardiology.  I called the clinic to make an appointment.  After the appointment, I "googled" on what to expect during an ECG test.

Echocardiograms are considered very safe, and generally require no special preparation.  Its a simple, painless way for doctors to investigate possible symptoms of a heart problem exhibited by your baby. Armed with that knowledge, still i was not pacified.

We were 45 minutes early for our appointment.  I was thinking that we should be early so that LO would have time to settle down and relax so that it would not affect his test results.  I don't know whether there is any scientific basis to my theory though ;)  Then when it was our turn he was weighed and measured and then we were asked to bring him to the doctor's room where he was examined.  Dr. Heng Joo Teck was quite positive. He  reassured us that he doesn't hear anything that would cause our concern.  But still he recommended that we go on with the test.

Miguel did very well during the test.  He did not moved that much which is quite surprising :). He was very cooperative that time. We dress him with button down shirt for easy access.  And we did not apply oil on his body (which normally we would after every bath).

The rest of the ECG test was very similar to my sonogram when I was pregnant.  After jelly is applied to the chest, the doctor slides the probe around to get pictures of the baby's heart.  He even examined his tummy area.

There is a monitor where you will see pictures of the baby's heart on the screen as the echocardiogram is performed.  And well, if you are as "crazy" as me, you may be searching for any signs of problem and jumping to conclusions even if you have no idea what a normal or abnormal heart would look like.  I also from time to time would look at the doctor to see any signs of concern in his face.  I was hardly breathing, that hubby had to squeeze my arm and jokingly say that  if I continue to hold my breath, I would be the next one to be examined.  After several minutes, which for me was like eternity, the doctor finally said it was over.

He gave as a smile and said everything is normal.  Then that's the time I started breathing normally again. And little one is innocently blabbering as we dress him up.

We got the result on the same day. I tried to read what the results says.  Ventricles, Aorta, Artery, Atrioventricular valves and some I cannot even read was written on the piece of paper.  I really don't know what those foreign sounding terms are and for now I actually don't what to know.  What I was interested in was the world "Normal" besides every foreign sounding heart part.

As what my mother told me, nothing is impossible in prayers.

I am a very happy mom.  I have a happy baby, with a healthy heart.  What more as parents can we ask for? :)


Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Life happens...

I have promised myself that I would not give any excuses why I haven’t updated my blog.  It’s over a month since my last entry.  So instead of ranting on why I haven’t even dropped by to say hi and ho, well I can only say one thing…Life happens 

I often read successful bloggers say that just go out there and live your life so you have something to blog about.  I guess I took the advice way to seriously, I went out there and live my/our life, however I forgot the part on seating down and writing about how amazing it went. 

So to recap these  are the happenings that have transpired since last mid July.

The little one went for his out of town trip and rode the coach to Malacca Malaysia.  It’s a good 3 to 4 hours drive and he was behaved most of the time.  5 stars for him…
Little one on the way to Malacca
Malacca has more than 500 years of history. It was one of the oldest Malay Sultanate. Its unique historical background means unique local cuisine too, with Peranakan food and Portuguese food.  I would try to feature it in one of my features posts. 

After a 3 day stay in Malacca, we enjoyed the long weekend in Singapore because of the Hari Raya and National Day celebration.  

So my little family took the opportunity and rode the World’s Largest Observation Wheel.  The Singapore Flyer.
 
Family picture at the World's Largest Giant Observation Wheel
Then off we went to Garden’s by the Bay…
 
Garden's by the Bay
And before the long weekend winds down, we took the little one to the Chinese Garden, where he was all smiles. 

Happy baby at Chinese Garden
 I guess we have an outdoorsy young man in the making here.

In between all these happenings, well there was the laundry, cooking, ironing and all those stuff.  Plus work and family time, outing and invites of friends and family worship time (Make God the center of your family)

Love your work, and you don't have to work a single day in your life...
inviting positive vibes for the career  Yahoo!!! ;) 

One of the cheaper things to do in Singapore! Picnic at the park.
Quality time spent with family....

Bible reading time, digital style with the little one...

Can't wait to have a real dip soon!!!

Nightlife with friends at McDonald's (East Coast Park)

Whew! Life happens ….. And if I may quote Kung Fu Panda  It’s “Awesome!!!!”

How about you, how’s life lately?



Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...