Home photo therapy & Airlock Issues

Baby Adi (that the correct spelling deemed by the boy) did another blood test for her bilirubin count today. Initially when we check out from the hospital, it was 175 umol/l, when she was admitted it was 225, when she was discharged it was 209 but today it was 275, on the rise again after 2 days. Seeing this, the peadi wants her to be put in the hospital again for photo-therapy.

I suggested to him that we gonna do our own at home photo-therapy as we had friends who did that with comparable results with what the hospital could achieve but with another big advantage, the baby stays at home. He was reluctant at first saying that for one, to his knowledge no one does the renting out of the equipment, certainly not his clinic and two, it might not be as affective as doing it in the hospital due to the fact that as parents we actually care for the child, if he/she as much as twitches let alone cries we gonna take her away from the light. In the end he agreed subjected to a daily blood test. Fine, at least there was a compromise.

I've seen the way they did it in the hospital, where the babies are just 'patients' to them and if they doesn't conform to the hospital regulation of feeding time, sleeping pattern then it too bad for the baby. Also they have this tendency that even if you brought your own EBM, the wold rather go for the baby formula because it is easier and convenient for them. No way I'm gonna let them have another go at Adi again plus it would be hard for me to travel every now and then to the hospital to check and relay updates back to base.

So with the info given by a friend, I called up the clinic which contacted the mobile photo therapy company. Within minutes, they return my call and says that their rep would come to the house in 2 hours to set up the equipment and the necessary instructions. At the appointed time, the rep was in the area with me fetching him from our designated rendevous and show the way. The equipment was actually house in a large hard shell suitcase, akin to the one you would take for a holiday. Setting up was quick and he showed me, with the help of a doll, on how to do it. Confident that I could do a much better job than those 'trained' nurses in caring for my child, and it seems easy enough.

After feeding her, we prepped her up and put her in the equipment. At first Baby Adi was crying, but as we comforted her, she slept through her first 3 hours under the lights without much issue. Then it was time for feeding and cleaning but this time it was harder as she was awake, probably due to the adequate rest of the prior session. I then put her to prone position, much to the chagrin of the other half and orang2 tua, but if that makes me a bad guy, so be it as I wants my baby to show some improvement for the test tomorrow. Then she relaxed with adequate time for me to catch some shuteye. Then I woke her up again for some feeding and cleaning and she was comfortable for the 3rd session. The rep says that normally they would recommend stopping the treatment at midnight so that the minder could get some sleep for tomorrow, but I think I'm gonna go the whole yard for the first day to maximize on getting a noticeable reduction if not arresting the rise of the serum bilirubin for tomorrow's blood test. Its 1:25 am and I wonder whether I should continue the treatment or call it of for the day.

Baby Adi under the limelight, eh bluelight

On another note, they say problems always come in pairs. When the mrs. found out that there was no water in the master bedroom toilet, my thoughts were like, great, another unscheduled water cuts. We had this problem a few times for the last few months so maybe its time to write in to SYABAS and make an official complain. But then there was water in the kitchen and the rest of the bathrooms, so I was stumped. Suddenly I recall this situation when I was small, and my dad used to relieve some trapped air in the pipes and this could block the water flow, so I gave him a call for some guidance before setting off to work. It showed some promised but then the water flow stopped completely. I decided to check out the tank above the ceiling and to my surprise the tank is almost empty, making my problem bigger than it was. It showed that I have a trapped air bubble in the main feed to the tank and this warrants help from "its gonna cost you RMXXX brigade".

I was adamant not to call them yet and I think this problem could be fixed. Since the storage tank was quite empty, it made the job easier. I tried to bleed the main feed to the storage tank, but that proves easier thought of than done. Then I decided to let all the pipes in the house to be empty of water and would rush water in from the main pipe in. It worked when I started to hear gurgle of air through the main feed to the storage tank and water actually starts to flow in, albeit in the complimentary 'rust' tint from SYABAS. Wonder whether they are in cohorts with these water filter guys.

So far, the water supply was all good and dandy, I managed to save probably 2 x RMXXX, got the bluelight up and running and Baby Adi going through her course of treatment. Not bad for a days job, maybe not to Superman's standard, but hey, at least I don't have a weakness to bluelight. Maybe to green cryptonite I suppose ;-)

Ady's back

Got the call today from the clinic, apparently Ady could go back today due to improving condition and lower bilirubin count. Everyone was excited especially the boy. And when she got home today, she spent most of her time sleeping. She must have been feeling better I suppose. Alhamdulillah.

Of highs and lows

Baby Ady's bilirubin counts were getting higher today, hence the doctor ordered her to stay in and undergo photo treatment. Pity her, her brother and especially the mrs. Leaving your 3 day old daughter to the hands of the nurses would be daunting . Even the boy was crying before he went to sleep, pining for his sister.

Hopefully she can recover and be with us again soon.

On another note, I have registered her birth with the JPN, hence she is officially and legally known as Adriana Hani Sharizal.

Welcome Adriana Hani

Ok, sorry about the 'live' update part, was caught up with the moment and decided that attending to the mrs and the girl was way more satisfying than trying to update this.

The delivery was scheduled at 1:30 pm, but with all the necessary pre-op precodeure, the mrs was only wheeled in at 1:50 pm. As she was wheeld into the OT, the spouse has to wait outside. SJMC has a strict no spouse allowed in OT, due to histories that husbands have fainted during the procedure and need more attention than the mother and baby themselves.

At 2:45 pm, 28January 2008 Adriana Hani was born. I was introduced to her about 15 minutes later. Quick check reveals that she has all 10 toes and fingers, quite a good size at 3.32 kg, 40.6 cm with an AGPAR score of 10, has a great pair of lungs as most importantly is a GIRL! After a more thorough check, I was able to 'iqamat' in her ears before handing her over to the nursery staff for cleaning and warming up. Her features was more on the mrs side of the family, with me wandering whether they got the right baby or not as her eyes were just slits. Even the nursery staff has to double check with the OT staff that they haven't mixed up the baby.

Baru lahir dah pandai posing

Macam anak patung Jepun

Yang ni macam Shin-Chan plak

At about 4:30 pm. I went back home to do the 'cleansing' of the placenta, along with picking up the boy from school so that he would be able to go to the hospital. I think among all of us, the boy was the one who's really looking forward for the arrival of his sister. He was really excited and was talking about things that they would do together, oblivious to the fact that his sister would need about 4-5 months before she can play along with him.

Welcome to the world Adriana Hani Sharizal.

Ok peeps, we have a live feed

Checked in at a temporary room in the hospital, waiting for the preparation. BTW, this is the free wifi courtesy of SJMC. What we could do now is wait and hope everything would be ok.

Wouldn't know if I could do a hourly updates, maybe I'll just update the important timelines. The rest macam malas nak report. Soon-would-be mom anxious, me just taking it as it comes, waiting in anticipation for my bundle of joy in pink.

Till further updates

It's here today ....

1 more day ...........

1 more day 2 go

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2 days 2 go

more days 2 go ........

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6 days and counting

6 days of waiting in anticipation, lots of things to think about, lots of things to do, self preparation to make, physically & mentally .

So right now, I'm gonna take things easy and pace myself till the day comes.

Issue with a pussy

I've got some issue with a pussy at the moment, before anyone of you get any ideas, it's the real pussy with four legs. Lately a white stray cat has been encroaching our kitchen through the window trying to find scraps of food, up to the extend of uprooting the garbage. Tired with the antics, I've decided to put up some netting on the grill to prevent it form getting in.

So off I went to the hardware and after getting the required materials, begin to work on it. Up the netting went, covering 2/3 of the window. Once the work was done, I got the thumbs up for the effort. So the proof of the pudding is in the eating right? What better to test the newly put up barrier that enticing the cat in. I was expecting that she wouldn't figure out the way in but I was dead wrong, In minutes, she managed to enter the kitchen through the windows. Twice. Grrrr... No wonder the coin the term cat burglat

Been outwitted by a four legged creature, what's next?

First Day of School

First day of school! I meant the real school not like kindies and the ones that are excited more are the parents from what I observed. Parents are the ones who would queue with their child and eagerly awaits the nest instruction from teachers, whereas the child would be absorbed in his/her own world, anxious to survive the day rather than savour the experience of being in a new place and meeting new friends.

Also I found that some parents are a bit insensitive in the sense that they were hogging the tables at the canteen during the first year recess. Granted that you would want to save a seat for your child, but if theres five of you in the family at least get up and clear the table. Also wouldn't it be better to let them find their own way around the canteen with newly made friends. The least you could do it get up and clear the space for them to sit. Instead some of them have to sit on the floor or anywhere available to have their break.

It also brought back memories of my first day in school. Blackboards, chalks, long yellow ruler and feather dusters for dishing out punishments. Wonder what the boy will remember about his first day.

Toys for Boys

I got the boy a miniature RC Helicopter for Christmas as I thought it was a cool toy (definition of cool toy : the ones that dad can play too). I was drawn to it rather than the bigger ones as it can be played indoors and the parts are mostly unbreakable, hence even when it crashes at the hand of inexperienced pilot, the craft would come out unscathed. The heli even came with its own rechargeable battery to keep the weight down and to ensure that with even a small dimension it can still fly around. Wonders of technology eh?

It took some time to master the art of flying it, as long as it stays airborne the two of us are contented. Brings back the memories of Airwolf.

Can we fix it, Yes we can!

I took some time off this time off the year to clear all my annual leave and also to run some errands wrt to The Boy's schooling matters, the impending arrival of the bundle of joy and also to do outstanding year end cleaning and repairs around the house. Of all those, the one that I dread was calling up a plumber to have a look at a slow flowing wash basin that has been there all the while but never get around to fix it.

You see, plumbers are a different breed than the rest of us. They are in their own world and one thing for sure they will make every job look and sound impossible to do without the help of someone from UTK & some C4. The thing with modern day plumbing is that most of it are concealed into the walls, with only bits accessible. I have looked at it one day thinking I culd DIY but then decided that its best for professionals to have a look at it and bracing myself for the day.

As we know, the white van trade has the most lucrative payrate irregardless the location worldwide. The chap came and looked and starts with, " Bang, this one kena kasi jolok sikit, kasi clear itu sumbat dulu. For that I need to charge you RMXXX. Kalau tak boleh, then kena potong itu paip and kasi tengok apa barang ada dalam. That will cost you a further RMXXX."

I said fine, but managed to bring down the price after some haggling. Hey, thats part of the culture here right? They'll quote you something then you try to reduce with some haggling and at least tried to get some discount off. For one, they know that you mean business and the other reason is that the significant other will see that you seem to be in charge of the situation and you got it under control and that will score you some brownie points.

After some time, he came back to me saying that there was something lodged in the pipes that he can't removed even after cutting the pipes. "Bang, itu lantai mau kena hack, potong itu pipe, kasi keluar itu barang, pasang baru punye pipe, tampal balik itu lubang and siling baru, That will cost you a further RMXXX" I said," Every costing that came out of you seems to be RMXXX? Did your teacher taught you until that amount so that it'll be easy for you to count or is it a prerequisite of being a plumber to quote the magic number of RMXXX?"

After some more haggling, we reached a figure that was agreeable by both parties but then he said that he needed to go and buy some stuff and have his lunch break. His buddies would come around after lunch break to finish up the jobs. Typical, do a halfway job, then cite that you need a coffee/tea/lunch/smoke* (*choose which ever applicable) break and get somebody else to finish up. To cut the long story short, off he went for his break and his buddies came back to finish the job. Where is the true and honest Bob-the-Builder when you need him. " Can we fix it, yes we can with RMXXX!"

In the end, the Mrs got what she wanted, which is a fully functional* (it was functioning before, only the dv/dt of the flow was a little off to according to her charts, love you dear, mwahhh!), the plumber got his dues and me, a burning hole in my wallet. RMXXX, that's the figure I'll teach my offsprings to quote for duit raya/birthday gifts/angpows etc. to patch the hole back.

The day I got itchy hands....

Probably I was watching too much Spooks and got carried away with it, so today whilst attending a telephone call, I decided for no unbeknown reason to emulate a lock picking scene with some paper clips. As luck would have it, the paper clip broke in the keyhole, leaving me with one unlockable set of drawers. Grrrr...

Then when I got home, my son has taken delivery of a set of Gundam action figures which require self assembly. He managed to assemble most of the robot himself, and was waiting for me to finish it. Upon seeing the instruction which was written in full Japanese but has some pictures as a guide, I was impressed with his effort. As I was trying to figure out how to assemble it, I managed to snap off a small part which had to be superglued back on. Double grrrr.....


ps. We did an 'Honest Abe' today. I mean the mrs did it. We realised that an establishment that we had lunch on last Saturday not charged us for a dish hence we made a trip back and corrected it. Hopefully the big guy would chalk it up as one good deed.

pps- Welcome Aqeef Nuqman to the Shamuri Clan on 1702 24 December 2007. Pictures would follow suit.

A Twist At The End

Haven't been updating this blog for a while due to some unforeseen circumstances with a twist that had happened. It had us in shock in a while, but as the saying goes, when the going gets tough the tough gets going. One thing for sure is that it will take us a while to give full trust to anybody outside our circle of trust.

Chance / Community Chest ?

In line with the monopoly theme, I have gotten a phone call today that could have been classified as Chance / Community Chest. It goes something like this :

Caller : Who's this?
Me : I dunno, who is it that you're looking for?
Caller : Oh, this is Z**a from E*A, did you enter our contest the other day?
Me : Yeah, but I didn't get any notification so I assume that my entry did not go through.
Caller : It did, & you have won 4 pass to see I Am Legend at G*C M*M.
Me : Oh, thank you.

This is like the third official win for me from E*A. It was unofficially 4 times but they decided not to accept me as I have won before. Normally I would be jumping in joy with the win, but I have decided not to attend but to give it out to a friend who could utilise them better. The only drawback is that the winner has to collect the tickets in person, so I still have to go there to collect it for him. Enjoy the show, I*am & way go go my trusted Treo!

Board Games

Image from here

Remember once that the word games means physical activities? It is either spent outdoors or indoors but it always involve physical exertion such as running, climbing, jumping and etc. Not like today where the term game means sitting in front of the telly with hands permanently glued to the controller of a video game console.

Bought a Malaysian Edition Monopoly for the boy last weekend. Ever since that he'd been bugging me on playing it with him. So far, we had one quick game and another extended game, in which he manages to procure the most prime location of real estate and actually built houses on it. The intention us buying the game was actually to teach him the concept of money but the way he's playing the game is like a duck to water. While the adults are busy buying all the plots that we landed on, he coolly waited until he could get a suitable plot and develop it. And in those prime areas, the return are so much better, hence he's raking it in. Could he be the next Trump in the making?

Deciphered!

Now I understand why so much work was poured into encryption and the same amount spent to break any encryption. The sense that you have if you could use coded words and left everyone else baffled is priceless. But what if someone manages to decipher what you were saying? Then the code is useless and you have to move on to the next encryption technique.

Our 'parental' codes have been deciphered by the boy up to the exact meaning of it. Dayyumm! How could he decipher it so easily? I mean he's just 6. I guess 6 years is a little too long to use the same codes. Now need to learn new ones soon. like Safayafa rafasaya mafacamfa nakfa mafakanfa nafasifa lefamakfa. Or better still, habla espanol or parlez francais?

Completely Incompetent & Bungling fools

Arrrggghhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Service with a smile they say! Service beyond expectations! Service that should have left your equipment as good as before or even better! Bah! Humbug!

This is the feeling that I had today. My HRM battery has died on me last week. Hence it was hard for me to keep up with my workout session and I was feeling a bit under the weather plus extra workload(plus giving me the excuse of not doing any). So yesterday as I was out doing some shopping with the family, I decided to get it fixed. Once the deed is done, the watch was as good as new. Or so I thought!

A few laps in the pool today proved otherwise. I was about to time myself ans as I was looking at the watch, all I could see was a pool of water in the display. I was like WADAFAK! It was fine when I took it for swimming before the battery change. Took it off and start to examine the backplate, 3 out of 4 screws are MISSING!!!!! How could it happened? Didn't they checked all the fixing screw should have been in place before returning it to your paying customer after a battery change or else the watch wouldn't be waterproof anymore?

A trip back to shop was called for. The salesgirl recognised me and with the look on my face she knew that it wasn't good news. She explained that her completely incompetent and moron of a colleague didn't screw all the fixing screws yesterday, She only knew about if after he asked what to do with the extra screws? She said she tried to find me after I left the shop but couldn't find me. Call yourself and establishment that deals with fine timepieces and you find extra screws during a basic routine battery change?

I wouldn't know whether they could repair the watch or not as from what I could see it had extra electronics part for the HRM. If they couldn't than I would like to request a new one, equivalent or better replacement. Till then I have to wait till they have a look at it more closely.

Ulterior Motives

I received a phone call today that makes me wonder whats the motive behind the call. You see, I had investigated an incident a few months back, and since I couldn't find anything conclusive I have issued a report with possible causes and not pinpointing into one. The reason being is that I can't say with full conviction that I have found the root cause of the incident. So when the call came in, the caller was basically saying that my report was akin to "paralysis by too much analysis" and wanted me to at least identify one root cause that would indemnify a vendor.

What happened was that the caller is the head of another department who have slapped a vendor on the wrist and would like to use my report as means of further punishment. Hence he kept pushing me to select at least a reason so that my report could have been used against the vendor. I felt that they had an ulterior motive as dishing out punitive reports wasn't in my scope of work. They wanted to impose a sort of punishment but wanted to be seen as it was not by them.

Macam mana ni? Baling batu sembunyi tangan? I personally won't do up a report that I have no strong conviction in it. I have to talk it out with my immediate supervisor about this and see what he's going to say. I really hate the feeling that I'm being a pawn in someone else's chess game.