Thursday and Friday was spent once again at the hospital.

Yesterday (Thursday), we saw the doctor as part of UMMC’s admission procedure. In order to deliver at UMMC, we are supposed to register, attend a course (was told it is mandatory for all government hospitals to have this breastfeeding course for all mum-to-be) and then see the doctor (officially since Monday’s appointment was more as a 2nd opinion). We had originally wanted to use Serdang Hospital like what Dean and Adeline did with baby Shuyin. Serdang Hospital is one of the newer hospitals and basically everything there is ‘new’. But because of the complication that we are now facing, both Mrs Tai and myself have decided we will just have the baby delivered in UMMC. We understand they will have pediatric surgeons on standby during delivery.

After the course (dad-to-be are encouraged to sit in as well to provide morale support to the wife), we waited for our turn to see the doctor. As ours was a special case and we had to see one particular doctor, we faced this incident where we were told its our turn. When we went into the room, we noticed it was another doctor. After a quick check and after asking us a few questions, the doctor realised that we are a ‘special case’ and told us to wait again outside for the correct doctor. There are a few doctors on duty at UMMC’s maternal clinic.

After another 10-20mins of waiting, we finally got to see the doctor. She basically explained to us again and asked if we have any further questions regarding our baby’s condition (see The ultrasound scan and The follow up scan. She then used to Doppler to listen to our baby’s heartbeat… Words cannot describe how it feels when you actually can hear your baby’s heartbeat. Seeing her images on the ultrasound scan is one thing, but hearing our baby is a totally different feeling. I felt so happy and I just can’t wait for our baby to finally come into this world.

The doctor also wrote us a referral letter for us to meet up with the pediatric surgeon on Friday (today). And before we left, she told us that she will arrange for us to meet up with a Neonatal Specialist before the baby is delivered – possibly during one of the next ultrasound scan sessions.

So this morning, we were off to the hospital again early in the morning. We had been told to come early as we had no prior appointment with the surgeon and would be considered as ‘walk-in’ patients. However, our doctor was nice enough to write the word URGENT on our letter yesterday.

It was about 2 hours wait before it was finally our turn to see the surgeon. Basically he acted more as a counselor for the two of us. He explained the situation again and even drew a diagram for us to understand further. He also explained his role – the surgeons will only come once the baby has been delivered. He also briefly explained to us what they will do during the corrective surgery. According to him, the corrective surgery is done after the baby is stabilised, which is usually on the third day. The only thing is that during the three days, baby will be on IV drips. No food (milk) until after the surgery. Even then, it will be quite a while after the surgery before the baby is allowed to take food (milk). I guess our baby will not get to taste food until the second or even third week.

First of all, thank you to all our friends who have called up or texted us over the last few days. We really appreciate the kind words, prayers and concern you have all shown. It had been one nightmare weekend for us and we really appreciate the support shown, especially my wife. She had at a time over the weekend felt very down and was blaming herself for this – if she had eaten the wrong food, moved too much, etc. But I told her it is not her fault. It is no one’s fault. In a way, you can say it is fated. We can hope it will be a relatively smooth journey for us in the next few months till delivery.

Almost the whole of Monday and first half of Tuesday was spent at the hospital. On Monday, we met up with another doctor at UMMC (University Malaya Medical Centre) who performed a more thorough ultrasound scan on our baby. She also suspects the same as what our regular doctor has suspected last Saturday – our baby is most likely to have this condition called Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia.

Diaphragmatic hernia?!? What is that? That is what went through my mind the first time the doctor mentioned it. It is the same when I tell my concerned friends… A big question mark appears. So, in my own words, understanding and illustration… Diaphragmatic Hernia basically means that the diaphragm (see illustration below) is either not developed properly or there is a hole/ tear on the diaphragm and it is causing the organs from the abdomen (like the stomach, liver and intestines) to move into the lung area.

The doctor explained how she came to such conclusion and I have to agree with her. The ultrasound scan on the hear shows that there is ‘something’ located next to our baby’s heart. Scans on the abdomen showed us that our baby’s stomach was ‘missing’ or not at its place. So it is very likely that our baby’s stomach and perhaps even the bowels (intestines) have moved into the chest/ lung area. Other than this, there is nothing wrong with the baby – heartbeat is regular, growth is normal, no abnormalities with the hands and legs, etc…

Text added based on what I remember. I could have heard wrongly and mis-interpreted the photo.
According to the doctor, there is not much we can do at the moment. We will have to wait until the baby is delivered in May. Then the pediatric surgeon will take over. It is very likely that our baby will need to undergo a corrective surgery immediately. But all these will depend a lot on other factors as well. Anyhow, we are scheduled to meet with the doctor again this Thursday (tomorrow) and then the surgeon, on Friday.

Doctor have also informed us that there is a possibility of a ‘worst case scenario’. I guess this is one scenario which we hope will not happen but in a way, we have to be prepared.

Both Mrs Tai and myself have agreed that we will be open and positive about this. We will post updates as well as our experience, findings, links, etc here so that if there is anyone else who is facing such situation, especially in Malaysia (though we do hope no one else have to go through this), we are more than happy to share our experience and lend our support.

Mrs Tai is about 6 months into her pregnancy. Both of us are very excited about having our first child. We are still preparing for many things such as getting a baby bed, baby chair, confinement lady (sort of like a post natal doula), etc… Some have been generously given lent to us.

Over the past few weeks, especially over the Chinese New Year, we have had many friends and relatives asking us if we know whether its a baby boy or girl. On our last visit sometime end of January, the doctor said he could not be certain as the scan was not clear. So when asked, we would just say we don’t know but the next visit would be sometime at the end of February (in fact, it is today). Honestly, I have no preference be it boy or girl. I think both are equal and unique in their very own way.

The appointment was in the morning. So right after breakfast, we went straight to the hospital. We wanted to there early as we know from past visits that if you go there late, you end up having to wait for quite a while (can be more than 2 hours)… After about 1 hour of waiting, it was finally out turn.

As usual, the doctor will ask Mrs Tai the usual questions — Any more morning sickness (Mrs Tai was one of the few who had very bad morning sickness till the almost the end of the 5th month), anything to ask, etc… The doctor also commented that Mrs Tai’s weight gain is on the ‘above average’. He advised Mrs Tai to be more careful about what she puts in her mouth from now on.

Next, it was the part we always look forward to. The ultrasound scan. This is the time we get to actually ‘see’ our baby and take home photos of the baby. Like every other time, the doctor will scan the body of the baby and take down measurements to check on the baby’s growth and development. He will also check the heart and show is how the heartbeat looks like. As always, Mrs Tai and I will be excited and happy to look at our baby.

The doctor continued to scan the baby but I noticed it was focused on a specific area. The doctor then asked Mrs Tai if she is free for another check on Monday. That’s quite unusual… Normally the appointments are spaced out about a month apart.

We asked the doctor if there’s anything to be concerned about. He told us that it is nothing to worry for now but he suspects something and would like to schedule a more thorough examination together with another specialist. I can understand he does not want us to panic. He definitely do not want Mrs Tai to be upset or anything as it can affect the baby. He just briefly told us that he suspects our baby may have what is called Diaphragmatic Hernia. He wrote it down for us on the ultrasound print outs and told us to look it up on the internet. We can then probably discuss on Monday with him.

Suddenly, everything starts crashing down. What is diaphragmatic hernia? I have heard of hernia but I never actually found out what it was. Is it serious? How would it affect the baby? All these questions racing through our minds. We were still at the hospital waiting for our turn to settle the bill. Both of us wanted to quickly go home and look it up. Mrs Tai was visibly upset and worried. I have to be strong for her. We settled the bill, got home and started to search for information on diaphragmatic hernia.

I guess no parents can really prepare for all these. No matter how prepared we think we are, everything still crashes. The heart sinks… We are still in a shock. What does all this mean? What happens next? We hope to find out more on Monday. At the moment, we can only hope for the best…

Some sites for further reading on diaphragmatic hernia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congenital_diaphragmatic_hernia
http://www.chop.edu/consumer/jsp/division/generic.jsp?id=81164
http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/UVAHealth/peds_hrnewborn/dph.cfm
http://fetus.ucsfmedicalcenter.org/cdh/

Another hamster died last night… She was nameless (she and two other hamsters, of which one died last month) but like other hamsters, she was cute. This is the thing I realised about hamsters… At pet shops, we see very healthy and very cute hamsters (I wonder what happens to the not-so-cute ones — do they become snake food?). But like all other living creatures, hamsters can also fall sick and die.

When I first got my pair of hamster, it never occured to me that some of the hamsters may fall sick, get injured, etc… After all, I was so in love with them after seeing them at the pet shop all clean, fat chubby and adorable. But when my pair started to have babies (and they really had lots of them), I realised that some of them will die early, some of them will not be chubby, some may have problems with their eyes, etc… The point is, hamsters are not that easy to care for after all.

Previously, when the hamsters died, I would use a hammer, a chisel and a screwdriver to dig up a grave… That’s because we don’t have any gardening tools such as spade or even a cangkul (hoe). Being kinda late already and feeling tired and sleepy (I try to go to bed by 10pm these days), I thought it would be easier to call a few friends and just borrow a hoe from one of them…

Tried the first one. He threw away his hoe a few months back. Actually, I remember my family used to have a hoe, a rake and a few spades… I guess after we cemented the porch, there was no need for the gardening tools anymore and my parents probably threw them away after that.

Called the second friend. She said her parents threw away the hoe as well…

Tried the third friend. He said he don’t have one.

Hmmm… It makes me wonder… How many of us actually still do gardening these days? Does anyone still have trees and plants outside their house? Have we gone so high-tech that we have no place for trees and other greens anymore?

It was a rather uneventful week.

I was back to work on Monday after a long Chinese New Year weekend. My Waja is still trying to maintain its record run. It clocked-in its February visit on Tuesday after spending a night at my office’s basement carpark on Monday. In fact, my car outdid itself and had two visits for January (the last week of January for a tyre change). I can’t wait for March!

Parliament was dissolved on Wednesday. Valentine’s day was celebrated at home… Home cooked food is always the best… Tasty and full of love. I took Friday off and spent sometime with my wife and in-laws. Went to check on my new place in Setia Alam. Looks like my house is almost ready…

The house is almost ready now. VP expected in April 2008

A mini playground… A half basketball court… We can’t wait to move in

Managed to also visit Dean over the weekend. What else…?!? Oh ya…

I had a few friends over at my parent’s place during Chinese New Year. I wasted no time introducing them to Wii…

This is the result… Fun, fun and more fun!

I am just glad nothing like this happened…

My dad, Mrs Tai and I were on our way to SS2 to have our dinner this evening when we saw this incident. We were turning into the SS2 area from the LDP when we saw a kitten that had been ran over by a car. It was still alive as we could see its leg saw still moving (not just twitching). I don’t know why but lately when I come across such a scene, I feel really upset.

We noticed that the cars were avoiding the kitten but how long more can the poor kitten’s luck last? I decided to stop my car at the nearby residential area and move the kitten to the roadside. As the traffic is very heavy at this area (this is the junction with traffic lights that turns into Chow Yang/ SS2 just after Taman Megah), I had to make a big turn. I finally managed to find a spot to park my car. It was near the petrol station located next to the junction.

My dad and Mrs Tai waited in the car while I walked back to the traffic lights. As I reached the place where the kitten was, my heart sank… The kitten had been run over a few more times and was dead by the time I arrived.

But this got me thinking… Would it have been better this way for the kitten (probably dying immediately after being run over by another vehicle)? After all, if I had moved the kitten to the roadside, it would probably just suffer for a few more hours before dying. I am quite sure there’s no way the kitten would have survived.

After dinner, I called Eu Jin and asked him about this. After all, his sister is a vet and would be in a better position to advise what to do. He could not really give me an answer but he did say that taking it to the vet and getting the vet to put the kitten down will cost me money. And it’s not cheap…

So, I’m now wondering… What is the ‘best’ thing to do in such incident?