Trying Times November 8, 2007
Posted by hunnybunz in Parenting, Scrapbook.trackback
This few weeks have been trying.
Hang was having difficulty adjusting to his dentures initially. He took them out often. Ulcers started to develop on the third day. “You still have to put them on even if it hurts,” I screamed! I was impatient, frustrated and losing confidence believing that the dentures were badly made.
Help poured in over the weekend. My sis arranged for Uncle Andrew and his daughter to take a look at Hang’s dentures when we were at her place for lunch. They assured us that the dentures were very well made. During the weekend, Uncle Ngoi travelled all the way from Jurong to visit Hang and gave us the same assurance. Leanne, who’s grandson is also affected by HED called long distance from Perth to share her experiences. And of course the encouraging comments from all of you warmed our hearts.
Hang’s guradian angels must be looking after him for he adjusted very quickly thereafter. The pain was bearable even though the ulcers had not healed. He was willing to put the dentures on for a good part of the day, only taking them out during meals (Yes! He still needs to practice eating with his dentures) and bedtime. On Monday, he had fun showing his removable teeth to his friends at school. During the week, his speech improved eliminating the need for theraphy. And somehow he found a way to stop the lower dentures from ‘floating’ and flying out!
Thus, the only challenge left is to chew with this set of ‘magic teeth’ as Xiang enviously calls them.
*****
Xuan came next in line. He has always been small weighing merely 2.6kg at birth. He has a small appetite and comsumes only 2oz – 3oz of milk per feed, when he should be taking at least 6oz to 7oz. I noticed that he has not grown much. We weighed him and plot his weight against the growth chart. I was frantic when it revealed that he had dipped from 25 percentile to less than 5 percentile!
That weekend, I was again consumed by uncertainty and fear. The first sign that something was wrong with Hang was when his fail to thrive.
“Is my baby alright?”
I brought him to the pediatrician on Monday. Dr Yong says that there is no cause for concern as Xuan is growing fine, reaching his milestones. Thus, that evening, our prince was once again in our embraces, as we savour every little moments with our baby who is growing quicky by the day.
*****
And finally, its Xiang, who is down with viral fever causing his temperature to fluctuates, peaking at 40.3 degrees! I’ve sleepless nights, waking up every other hour to check his temperature, to feed him his medications and to sponge him.
In a nutshell,
This is
Parenthood.
hunnybunz
Xiang, I suppose you must stop eating ice cream and the “rubbish” when you visit me next time.
Gell well soon, my dear grandson.
*Hugs* It is trying…but am sure all these will be over soon!
good on you hang for the effort and am sure u will get over it and perhaps using your “magic teeth” to impress gals..haha
xiang, just prayed for you and u are a tough boy and surely you will be back to normal real soon.
siao chee ceh ceh and hubby, pray that u guys will have the strength and peace in this time of trial, so hang in there.
love
ah peng
Oh, Xiang looked really unwell in the photo, I hope he gets well soon. Hugs to you Janice, parenthood is such a mystery package at times, but I will be thinking good thoughts for you all!
guess must take some time to get use to new dentures.. even my mom who is using dentures for so many years dread making new sets.. the pain is bad.. probably need 2-4 weeks before getting use to it.. your Hang is brave.
as for ur xuan, both my kiddos are always at the 5% percentile.. never bothered me.. my pd also never worry.. cos he say as long they are eating and alert, shd be fine.. my #2 until now (2+ yo) at most take 4oz milk.. so, i wd assume different bbs different appetite..
*sending big virtual hugs*
Hope your kids are getting better. {hugs}
Whenever, I kept vigil, sponging my boys when their temperature soared, make a time-table of the medicines to take and stick it on the fridge, set alarm for medication, I remember with fondness and gratitude, how my dad took care of the the very same way when we were young. Love you heaps, dad. Thanks.
Peng, Thanks for your encouragements. And thanks for writing about Paster Kong on your blog. We visited the website and watched the online sermon. Impressive.
Just want to let u know that we are also reading your blog (don’t know why cant leave comments) and glad to know that our lil bro has grown to be a mature and confident young man.
Looking forward to seeing you again.
Biow, thanks for being so reassuring. And yes! Thanks for reminding us that even ‘big people’ needs lots of time to get use to new things. Our patience paid off – Hang finally got used to his dentures.
Hey Janice, no worries about Xuan on his milk in-take. Ethan and Jarrett always had 2-3oz. They never had to use the big milk bottle.
I’m sure Xuan is doing fine.