Been away for more than a year!

In Hongkong Botanical gardens

To all the people, parents, who came across this blog for information on plagiocephaly and posted questions, i apologise for not having been able to reply to your comments in due time. I've somewhat neglected this blog for many reasons. I just hope you were able to find the information you were looking for on the web, and from the stuffs i've mentioned here on this blog.

Kate discover how to blow bubbles on her own

As for Kate, she's now almost 3 yrs old, a smart, sweet, funny, and happy child.

We weren't very successful with the helmet treatment we sought the last time perhaps due to factors, like my daughter's age before her treatment, the weather in this country, our patience to follow it through, my daughter's tolerance with the helmet, and i guess the expertise of the orthotists here in treating plagiocephaly.

As for her head shape, which i've now stopped monitoring since she was 2, it may still not be the perfect symmetrical head that all parents want for their child (though i've not really checked). But it's something we can live with. I could sweat it out all over again, but i'll probably miss out with a lot of things about my daughter which are more important.

I'm thinking, in 5 or 10 years from now, this concern will be the least of my worries. I could be wrong, but take me on it in ten years time.

So for the parents who are worrying, do what you can while you can. If your child's plagio affects the health of your child, then by all means do what is necessary and what you think is best.

If it is within your means geographically and financially to seek the orthotic helmets from DOCband or STARband, go ahead and maybe you'd have better success than we did.

But if it's just cosmetic and something you can live with, then maybe, just maybe, there's really no reason to be worked up so much. That or maybe i'm the one whose head needs examining. Cheers and i wish you all the best.

The only hat/helmet she's fond of right now. :)

Kate's 2nd helmet

Kate's 2nd helmet. This was done in August after our 4th visit with the orthotist, when i have previously expressed my concern with the first helmet's shape. I must say i'm impressed with this one, though now we still struggle with making Kate to wear it as much as possible. Not easy at her age since she is now asserting herself more, and forcing it on her is a difficult thing to do, for us and her. Posting this for the benefit of a fellow parent in the same boat as us from India.

Kate on helmet

Day 2 with the helmet: She's now slowly getting used to wearing her helmet. At times she plays with it, treating it as a basket for her toys. I tried painting it with acrylic today to make a ladybug design, but it seems the paint can't adhere to the material. So now we'll probably find some stickers we could design it with rather than using paint.

Clip happy!

More clips? :)

CarmenBand

No brand cranial helmet of Kate done by a local orthotist named Carmen. Looks good, except for the slanted side at the back which i'm still asking with the orthotist if it can be tweaked or if there's a special reason for it. I'll know when she gets back at my email.

Update: According to the orthotist, the slant at the back was intentional since it will aid in restricting the rotation of the helmet when worn. She added that it can be tweaked if it puts too much pressure on that side.

Kate's plagiocephaly

Two views from top

It's been a while now that we've noticed Kate's head shape as assymetrical. Since she was 6 months old we've already noticed her irregular head shape. We've tried positioning her to lie on the side away from the flat spot of her head but even after months of doing this positional therapy, it didn't improve her head shape that much, contrary to some success stories from the internet.

During her 10th month, we went to a craniofacial specialist in KKH and he ordered a CT scan, which we didn't get to do since during that period, Kate also got sick and hospitalised, and had bouts of diarrhea, hence, a follow up visit also fizzled.

It's only now, at Kate's 15th month, we're picking up on treatment options available for her head shape. I know it's only cosmetic, but if you're a parent, you would know our dillema. We actually had a schedule this morning for a CT scan again, but we canceled it for fear of radiation side-effects based on what we read in some websites. I'm now thinking we should've just had it done and get on with it. Guess we'll have to reschedule again next week and meet the specialist again as well.

There's a treatment in the US called the DOCband which we can try, but since it's only available in the US or Spain, we'll have to go there for her to be fitted with it. I have yet to find a conclusive answer if the treatment is available here in Singapore, so i've been enquiring in Australia too.

The other option available will be corrective surgery, which can be done here, but i have yet to justify to myself why we should consider an invasive procedure for my daughter's condition.

Fingers crossed, hopefully we'll have answers soon.

Couple of pics of Kate in a good mood.

Kate in good mood

Baby Kate steps

Me and Kate

31 years apart

Kate and her lego phone

A belated Merry Christmas to everyone..
Kate pics at Ninong Mike's place on Christmas Day.

Christmas 2007

Kate at 2008

Apologies for the lack of update on our baby blog. I've been: (choose an excuse for me)

a) lazy
b) busy with work
c) busy with facebook
d) busy with electronic distractions (PC, PSP, NDS, TV, DVDs and other acronym-named gadgets)
e) tired from the few events that happened while this blog has been in stasis
f) sick

Obviously i now have more pics to put here.

Kate's been hospitalised again for UTI infection last Dec, though this time they got it right. That was tiring. Any parent can relate with the stress and anxiety you'd have to go through in going to the hospital. I'm just glad Kate's didn't have to stay that long. After more than ten attempts by doctors to find a vein in ALL her limbs, trying to insert a needle for an intravenous drip, I asked the docs to reconsider making another attempt. They administered the first set of antibiotics by injections on her thighs. Fast forward four days, Kate got discharged but will need to finish a month's worth of antibiotics. Thankfully it's oral antibiotics. We still have a week and a half to go to finish.

At KK Hospital

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Kate's first Christmas eve was uneventful since she slept during the night, only opening her gifts (or us opening it for her) during Christmas Day. We spent the afternoon at her Ninong Mike's place where we filled ourselves silly with mocha flavoured custards, while Kate was playing with their big Christmas tree. She also got her Baby Big Bird present which she instantly nibbled the moment it was out of the box.



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Now she's still having bouts of diarrhea, which we're still not sure if its caused by the meds or a fish porridge she had few days before Christmas. Two doctor visits have already told us its nothing to be worried about, as long as she's eating and hydrating well. But just the same, we were given some Ridwind drops and Smecta powder to aid her tummy.

Morning sunshine

Early morning sunshine with Kate, Kat with camera on hand.

Finally found the time to update the blog. We just came back to Singapore after a two-week trip (Sept 15-29) to Manila for Kate's baptismal. Been busy most days meeting people, relatives, friends etc.. and been going from one place to another. Hence two weeks felt shorter than it is. Anyway, here are pics from Manila and during the baptismal.. Enjoy!

Kate's first Philippine trip

Chinatown

Strolling at Chinatown after daddy's visit at China Square to meet Starscream.

Afternoon at Spinelli

Munching a biscuit while mommy finishes her mocha latte.

After a feed

After a feed of rice cereal and drinking water. Kate had some insect bites on the side of her face, as you can notice from the pics. Couple of bites on her arm as well. I'm still wondering if it's a landborne insect or a mosquito though we can't seem to detect any mosquito in our room, so the culprit is still at large. I woke up the other day with bites on my feet as well.

Back home from weekend KKH

Its been a while since my last update so i'll have to track back to Aug 13 when we just came back from KKH hospital after Kate got admitted the Saturday before.

AUG 10, Friday: We intended to go to the hospital to have Kate checked up for a different reason. She has a slight assymetry in her head shape which we were concerned about. It's one of those "flat head" condition which happens when the baby spends too much time lying in a single position and the pressure "flattens" a side of the baby's unfused skull. But before we can even book a schedule, we realised that she was having a fever. at 38.8C.

AUG 11, Saturday: The fever still remained and we got quite concerned, hence a trip to KKH got underway. Doctor checked her, ordered a urine test since he's suspecting a possible UTI. Tests came back with a non-conclusive result, yet he advised us to have Kate admitted. I voiced out my concern on the fact that he was recommending hospitalisation despite a non-conclusive report from a contaminated urine sample. He said he wouldn't take the risk of letting the baby off, with the findings he got from the test. So there begins our sleepless and uncomfortable, hospital weekend stay.

AUG 13, Monday: A second urine test and a blood test confirmed that she's negative for UTI. Fever came off but rashes appeared on Kate's torso. Attending doctor, a different one this time, said it may just be false measles from a viral infection. He said as long as the fever came down, this shouldn't be a concern.

AUG 14, Tuesday: Kate got her fever-free status for 24-hours. She got discharged the same day, after i expressed that we're keen to go home since all of us we're not getting enough sleep in the hospital.

We went back home and I finally had the time to do some research on the viral infection Kate may have gotten. I found one called Roseola. Apparently it's a common sickness that babies more than six months old get. And you know what? it doesn't require hospitalisation. I'm no doctor but i can say that the symptoms and duration were spot-on. Three days of fever and appearance of rash right after. Kate went back to her normal self by Friday, and we get our collective sigh of relief. We're all back to smiles..

Kate at Miel's

Went to meet a couple of artists in an impromptu lunch hosted by Dengcoy Miel in his newly bought and beautifully renovated flat last weekend. Kate tagged along to see the master and his lair, and mommy Kat was at hand to take a picture of us in his work desk.