My Baby Got Amoebiasis

The month of December is the most stressful month for me for the year of 2011. Not because of the holiday season, but being the weakest month of my baby. After her emergency trip to the hospital on December 9 to 13, 2011 because of gastroenteritis, her tummy got ache again on the third week of December. She got amoebiasis. Her stool remained soft after she got well from gastroenteritis. I was alarmed when I noticed streak of blood in her watery stool with mucoidal texture. Aside from that she is crying because of abdominal pain. I remember what her pediatrician told me when she was struck with amoeba when she was only seven months; green watery stool is an indication of infection. I hurriedly take her stool for Fecalysis so that her pediatrician could have the report for her check-up.

Fecalysis report showed the following:

Color: Yellowish

Consistency: Mucoid

Red Blood Cells: 3-5/hpf

Pus Cells: 18-20/hpf

Ova/Parasites: Entamoeba histolyca cyst 0-1/hpf

How it was treated?

1.      Her pediatrician gave her home medication of 5 ml, three times a day Metronidazole (Flagyl) for ten days to treat her parasitic infection and 2.5 ml, twice a day Antibiotic (Cefixime ) for seven days to treat bacteria infection.

2.      Soft diet for two weeks, like mashed potato. Greasy foods and fruit juices that trigger diarrhea are not allowed. Sweet foods like candies, chocolates and sweet drinks are also not allowed since sugar if the food of Amoebas.

3.      We wash her butt with warm water before going to sleep to alleviate redness due to frequent bowel movement.

4.      We let her drink yogurt and Gatorade since she does not like Pedialyte.

5.      The squash seeds (buto ng kalabasa) are good for treating Amoebiasis according to elders.

Thankfully, she was better after two weeks of medication. We had a repeat Fecalysis and the amoeba and bacteria are no longer present in her stool. To prevent this kind of parasite, frequent hand washing is recommended. Avoid eating street foods and drinking juices sold in the street. We also washed our hands with soap and warm water after washing my baby to avoid contamination. Although there are remedies for some illnesses, it is better to prevent it before our children will suffer.

Sleep Apnea Awareness

It is just wonderful seeing a family sleeping together. Bedtime is one of my favorite bonding moments with my husband and my toddler. I love to feel their warm body, smell their breath, and feel how secure I am with my husband’s arms and to let my baby feel how secure she is beside us.

There is one thing that bothers me whenever we sleep, the snoring of my husband and sometimes my little toddler. I wonder if they have what they call sleep apnea. Although I am already immune with my husband’s snoring, I am concern if this snoring is a health problem. I want to be aware of this problem so I googled about this sleeping order. I found out that there are three kinds of sleep apnea: central, obstructive and mixed. The common symptoms to be aware of are the excessive daytime sleepiness, loud snoring, episodes of stopped breathing during sleep and shortness of breath that awakes you.

My husband usually snores when he is drunk and tired at work. He has also gained weight. We will consult with our company’s retainer physician about his snoring. Being a wife and a mom I should not be ignorant with the common disorders I observed with my husband and baby because these may lead to health problems.

As one of the famous quotes says:

There is no capital more useful than intellect and wisdom, and there is no indigence more injurious than ignorance and unawareness.

Must Have: Medicine Cabinet For My Little Toddler

My Tot's Medicine Cabinet

Last September, my little girl has a low-grade fever and common cold at the same time. That night I was so anxious since when I looked at the medicine cabinet there was no paracetamol available for her fever. It even took me also longer hours looking for the digital thermometer to monitor her temperature. I was nervous that I brought her to her pediatrician the following morning and requested for NS1 Dengue Test. Thank God that the result was negative and her low grade fever was due to phlegm in her lungs. One thing I learned from that situation is that it is a must for every home with toddlers to keep a medicine cabinet as first aid for any illness especially when those situations arise in the middle of the night. Experiencing those cuts, scrapes, insect bites, common cold, rashes and diarrhea are part of growing-up so parents must be pro-active and must be ready to give their children first aids at home. From them on, I made sure that the following items are available in my toddler’s medicine cabinet:

1.       Digital Thermometer. Once your kid has a fever, it is necessary to monitor her temperature. I opt to use digital than mercury since mercury thermometer contains toxic when broken.

2.       Paracetamol. I usually give my toddler Tempra when her fever reaches 38.2 degree Celsius. Her pedia does not recommend Ibuprofen and Aspirin when the cause of fever is unknown since it can increase the risk of bleeding like for dengue fever.

3.       Hydrocortisone/Diaper Cream/ Petroleum Jelly.   Having a sensitive skin, I always maintain inventories of these ointments to relieve my toddler’s diaper and heat rash.

4.       Antibiotic Ointment.  For minor cuts, burns and insect bites, I apply this ointment to prevent bacteria build-up and infection.

5.       Salinase Drops.   This is a must since at their age and with the changing climate toddlers are prone to colds.

6.       Mosquito Repellent.  Since there was dengue outbreak, I made sure that we apply the no-DEET insects repellent lotion from Human Nature (made from Citronella). I used to buy mosquito patch before but I noticed when I arrive home that there were still mosquito bites in her legs, so I switched to lotion.

7.       Oral Rehydration Fluid Pedialite.  I usually maintain a bottle of Pedialite, but it should be put inside the refrigerator. Toddlers usually have diarrhea since it is the stage of their exploration and they tend to put everything on their mouth. To prevent dehydration, I usually let her drink about two to four ounce of this depending on the frequency of her bowel movement.

I did not mention any decongestants, anti-histamines or cough medicines here since I don’t want to give them to my daughter without her doctor’s prescription. Medicine cabinets should be hang/place in areas free from direct sunlight or humidity to maintain the quality of the medicines.

Elder Care

One of the issues raised in most families is who will take good care of their parents when they get old. Nursing homes in the Philippines is not popular due to the cultural value of close-family-ties. Elders usually stay at home and taken good care by their children. There are exceptional cases wherein children are too busy with their work and they cannot attend with their parents needs. In this scenario, their children just hire some caretakers, usually one of their relatives, to feed them, dress them, and take good care of them while they are not present. It is just like parents hiring nannies for their little one. Caring elders is just like caring babies. They have to be nourished emotionally, physically and spiritually.

Emotional nourishment.  They need attention, patience, someone who will listen to their old stories, affection and understanding. They need to feel that inspite of their old physical appearance they are still loved. They want to feel that their children still need them inspite of being helpless. They still need communication inspite of their weak hearing. They need to be understood whenever they have those poor memory, repetitive stories, sensitivities on almost things and tantrums. They need to be guided to live their life normally just like they used to.

Physical Nourishment. Since their bodies became fragile, due care is necessary. They have to be maintained clean and fresh. Their dry skin should be kept moisturized. For the bed-ridden elders, their lying position should be change every hour to prevent them from having bed sores. Nutritious food should be given to them. Since their body could not absorb nutrient that much, food supplements and nutritional milk should be feed to them to have strong resistance against sickness. We must encourage them to still do simple exercises to have strong body and proper blood circulation.

Spiritual Nourishment. Reading the bible with them or other spiritual articles will build their faith in God and lessen their fear of being old. It will help them grow more with God inspite of getting old. Going to church with them is also a way of bonding with them and a way of letting them feel valued.

Caring elders is not a responsibility. It is a privilege to bring back the care and love they had given us-it is an act of gratitude. They once gave us the attention, patience, and time in order for us to reach what we are now. Now is the time to return the love and let them live their remaining life to the fullest.

Dengue Epidemic: Prevention Better Than Cure

Since the news declared the outbreak on dengue, I was in paranoia on how to prevent this deadly mosquito bite. Being a mom, my heart breaks whenever I see on tv the reports about the number of children killed by the dengue virus. Various news and articles can be found on the internet informing us to be aware of this killer mosquito. 

Dengue Hemorrhagic fever is an acute infectious disease manifested initially with fever. A day-biting mosquito, Aedis aegypti, is the transmitter of the disease. According to news. these mosquitoes usually bite at 5am to 7am and 5pm to 7pm (sunrise and sunset). They love dark-colored clothes, they lay eggs on clean stagnant water, they rests on dark places of the house and they need at least 3 bites for them to lay eggs.

I searched online for mosquito repellants that I can give my toddler in order to prevent being bitten by the killer mosquitoes.  I found out that it is best to apply no-DEET mosquito repellants for toddlers which are safe for babies.  I bought mosquito repellant stick-on patches in drugstores. I prefer these patches since these are made up from natural ingredients such as citronella and eucalyptus oil. For us adults, the Baygon Electric Mosquito Killer Mat I bought is only switched outside our room to prevent my daughter from inhaling it.

Caring My Toddler's Teeth

Who does not want her baby to have that beautiful smile? Of course, all of us moms want our baby to have those beautiful teeth. Since I was not able to take care of my teeth when I was young (the reason why I don’t have healthy teeth), I want to train my baby to take good care of her teeth at her early age. I want to start with her milk teeth. Although these milk teeth will be replaced by her permanent teeth, it is good to take good care of them since the position or alignment of her milk teeth will determine the placement of her permanent teeth.

My Baby's first teeth

I started cleaning her gums from the time she was born with cotton swabs (I don’t use cotton balls since I noticed that the cotton fiber sticks to her tongue). Her first tooth sprouted at fifth month- that’s the time I started cleaning her delicate new teeth and tender gums using a silicone finger toothbrush with Sans Fluo toothpaste (toothpaste with xylitol for babies without fluoride which is safe to swallow). Whenever a new tooth is sprouting, I am applying Xylogel (natural teething oral gel) to soothe her swollen gums.

Just beautiful teeth!

When she turned one, I switched to fine toothbrush using also the Sans Fluo toothpaste. I noticed that she has perfectly aligned teeth! And I want to maintain those until she grows up. There are times when she does not want her teeth to be brush, so I do the brushing of her teeth with fun (I sing the toothbrush song and sometimes I brush my teeth in front of my baby for her to imitate). Every 3 months I replace her toothbrush and I make sure that it has the picture of her favorite cartoon character for her to enjoy brushing her teeth.

Just beautiful smile!!

Teaching our children good oral hygiene is so much fun. Healthy teeth are needed for efficient biting and chewing vital in the ingestion of food nutrients. It does not only help them to develop consciousness for their body, it also helps them have confidence and most of all a complete teeth help them with their language development.

This is my share to Just Beautiful