After the Flu Comes the Phlegm

The past week was quite hectic, with work; Evans down with stomach flu and then cough with phlegm. I really had to learn how to compartmentalize the different issues happening so that I can better contain the stress and not react to it too adversely. I think it helps a lot when there were not too many comments/advice how we should "treat" Evans. Basically my help is my mom.

As the main care giver and because she is my mom, I took her feedback seriously and we started to worry how come Evans kept having recurring stomachache, despite the Colimix given by the GP. Though the less worrying part was he did not have anymore diarrhea, we still brought him to his PD. I took urgent childcare leave on Weds morning. Interestingly it was also the day when the sky showed a unique blue shade across the sky because of the eclipse. It was pretty nice, on our way to the PD. Thankfully, being there early also meant that we did not have to wait for long. Our PD is very popular. It was a relief for us after the visit. Doctor Cecilia Lee gave us probiotics and anti-diarrhea powder for Evans. Those are definitely easier to feed than the GP's Colimix which Evans complaint it as "spicy" and very bitter.

Easy to feed powder

Evans also took a urine test, just to make sure everything was ok. The visit was not cheap. It costs us $75. I guess that's the price for a specialist? But I rather have medicine that works and they do. Could see that he doesn't have much stomachache recurrence. And probiotics is supposed to be good for building his gut. Or maybe he is just recovering on his own... I don't know but I am just glad he doesn't have to be awaken by stomachache and diarrhea!

Waiting for my mama at the market

But just a few days later, we noticed he developed some thick phlegm and cough. As usual, he couldn't cough it out so it kind of disturbed his sleep a little. Started on Thursday and on Saturday morning, we decided to just visit the PD again. This time, it was a long wait, with so many babies and kids around. We really waited like more than 2 hours for our consultation and medication. I was tired because I did not really sleep very well the night before. Not too sure if it wa

s my hormone or what, I had very random and unrelated dreams being put together in a series. They made me sleep and wake and sleep and wake again. When Evans woke me up at 8.30am, I was thinking "Eh, I thought you have woken up earlier?", then I realized that was my dream. I was confused. Anyway, this time, Doctor gave us antibiotics and cough/phlegm mixture. And I am just glad that Evans is still as happy and cheerful.

Self entertainment is needed to distract ourselves from the long wait

Medicine that seems to work

The happy little boy who is all ready to sing for us

Evans has not been drinking milk for the past week! And we replaced his milk diet with bread (plain, sugared, or jam). He loves them. Not too sure if it is the probiotics but his appetite grew, asking for more servings. Many told me he is very skinny, especially since the stomach flu, we forbid him to eat oily stuff. The nurse at the PD clinic advised that when he is ready for milk, try to feed him using cup, instead of milk bottle to minimize the air sucked in. We will try that, and see how it works for him. He seems open to the idea for now.

Being a working (pregnant) mom has a lot of challenges. The challenges will be never ending, once you become a mom. I should probably reflect on this and write something on this experience, just for my personal reflection.

Be totally well soon boy boy and you will get to eat your favourite food!!!!!

A New Work Station

I have moved today!

Thanks to a few of my colleagues... XL for helping me to sort out the "rubbish" in my old boxes and Kelvin who helped me to move the bulky items to my new space. And today, officially, I have moved!

It was very nice of Chloe to give me this flower arrangement last week. Felt like a "housewarming" gift. Haha!

Beautiful flowers for my new work station from my new boss :)

The move was warranted because of the re-organization in the department. With a few colleagues leaving to join the newly formed department, we could not function status quo. I believe in this re-org and I definitely welcome this, as compared to the last 2 years working under a different leader. Also, I am looking forward to Bo's return to join the department. I think it will be a compatible blend.

Initially I was a little reluctant about this move because it was simply "too troublesome" for me to sort out my stuff and "find time" to do housekeeping. It turned out to be pretty simple when I "think big start small". And with my helpful colleagues, things got simpler. Another most important thought that came into my mind to make me embrace this change was "Not seeing it as what I have lost but seeing it as what I still have". I say this because my original workspace has a lot more privacy and it seems like I have more space around me. Thinking back, I think the concern is trivial and what I need to learn is to shut off the "noise" as I do not really have much "quiet corner" now. The consolation is I am seated with the people I like. :)

After note: I got used to my new work station really quickly and it is a good beginning! :)

Chir Chir Chicken

My very first time to Chir Chir Chicken. Have heard my colleagues raved about how delicious the chicken is... nicer than any fried chicken you know.

With 4 other colleagues we went to the branch at Somerset 313. Not very crowded for lunch and rather noisy in the restaurant with the chattering and loud korean pop. We kind of had to talk a bit louder.

We ordered 2 different chicken; roasted garlicy and crispy original. Woah I am impressed with its tenderness and not overpowering marinate. Really, the meat is soft yet the skin retains the crunch. I particularly like the crispy chicken better, simple but the tenderness and delicious smell win my heart.

Each of us spent $14. Might be a little overpriced for just chicken if you compared with kfc, etc. But really its taste is great and somehow didn't feel too sinful after that. It might be the lemon water... lol

Thumbs up.

The Attack of the Stomach Flu

This post is supposed to be one that shares about the school excursion with Evans to the Changi Beach but... it is a wet blanket on us when Evans suddenly developed fever and stomachache yesterday.

Yesterday evening after work, I went Four Leaves to get a load of mini breads for Evans's excursion. Hubby also got some juices and snacks. When I reached my parents' place, I wasn't greeted by Evans's usual cheerful self. Instead he told me that he had stomachache since afternoon. And mama was trying to look for his paracetamol as he had a slight fever too. It felt dreadful as we were all looking forward to today's outing, especially so for Evans. And he had paid for the excursion with his angpao money.

I was still bearing a slight hope that he might feel better over the night and be fit enough to go. Through the night he couldn't sleep well as he didn't feel good with the temperature and stomachache was acting again. Mama and I took turns to towel him and we diligently fed him paracetamol. At 4am, his stomachache woke him and he started having diarrhoea. And it came back on again in the morning 7am when he was still concerned missing the bus for the excursion. He was really keen to go.

Though fever seemed to have gone down, I couldn't let him go because it was too risky. What if his diarrhoea leaked again, what if his stomachache came back? He wouldn't have enjoyed the day. I got to explain to him a few times while he sat on the potty, trying to clear his diarrhoea. He was very disappointed that he cried, and kept saying that he felt better and he wanted to go because he had paid money. I felt really sad too but it was really for the better. He needed the rest. Disappointed, of course even for me and hubby but it was really a Hobson's choice.

We took him to see Dr Tan, the nice GP and got some medication. Dr Tan explained that it was stomach flu, affecting the digestive system. He could hear some wind in the stomach. He said it was virus from the environment, couldn't tell from who or how. When I consulted Dr Tan on the use of Ibuprofen and paracetamol, his reply was differentfrom what I heard usually. He said both are different medicines so it's ok to feed both at the same time when the fever gets high like reaching 38.5. And he said it's no point to wait for fever to reach 38.5 before feeding ibuprofen. We could just give ibuprofen first if there is sign of rising temperature. Point heard but we are not too comfortable with that as many said not advisable to feed the 2 together but I didn't want to question further.

Hopefully Evans would feel much better really soon.

Annual Lohei with Colleagues

Everytime when we set the theme (for dress code) for our CNY dinner, there will be SOMEONE who fails the criteria and ends up giving the rest a treat for tea/coffee/refreshments after dinner. Apparently Mr Kok seems to be a recalcitrant. Today we had our good laugh and a good treat from Mr Kok all because what he was wearing just could not fit in what we called "Cheerful, Vibrant Colours".

After my external meeting, I met up with Bo and Yeo earlier at the PS Café along Seng Poh Road. Quite a nice little café with cosy lightings. Many were enjoying their little chats with wines/coffees/pizzas. It was 5 plus to 6pm, quite surprised to see this many people enjoying themselves in the café.

A good pre-dinner catch-up with my ex-bosses

It felt quite amazing to be back with these 2 guys who used to be my bosses. I guess I am quite lucky to have worked under them before. Those days in WSN weren't the best but I think these 2 have made it a bit more bearable. Had quite a nice catch-up with them before we adjourned to Por Kee Eating House for our reunion dinner. But after Miss Ang's arrival, our wait for the rest felt   r e a l l y ... .. draaaagggyyy.

Waiting very patiently

And finally when the rest came, all of us "attacked" Mr Kok for failing to meet the theme. While he tried to defend for himself, saying his shirt was tailor made for this event (which was not true), no one accepted his argument. So it was set. The coffee treat later would be on him! Haha!

Anyway, before that, let me show you our dinner first:

Lohei, always start our dinner with auspicious CNY wishing for all

The yusheng comes with the freshness of the vegetables and well-balanced between the sweet and sour. A great appetizer to start our don't know how many course dinner. Ah Yeo ordered the dishes and good choices. I particularly loved the pork ribs, tofu, roasted chicken and stir fry potato leaves. With rice, it was indeed satisfying.

We always order most of the dishes again and again because they are good!



look at the odd one out

Full and happy

While most said they were full, all of us never reject treat from friends, especially when the friend "deserved" some punishment. Of all places, we went back to the PS café! Poor Mr Kok, the cakes and beverages were not cheap but of course, he graciously picked up the bill.

There is always room for desserts

I think we were the nosiest table in the café. I forgot what we were talking about but I recalled laughing to my max with tears in my eyes. Things really got more hilarious when we got out of office and probably it was the CNY mood too.

Just want to say THANK YOU , MR KOK!!!

祝这般好友， 万事顺利，笑口常开！

Day 3 of CNY and Not Working!

What a great feeling that I did not have to return work today! Got to see Evans getting ready for school in his CNY outfit and greatest smile. When you feel good, you naturally feel better from the flu... and I did!

Little cheeky Evans

Ready for school to celebrate CNY

Good thing is my bro was also on leave. Actually he was the one who tempted me to take leave today. Bro and I went to MacDonald's for breakfast and chitchat. It has been quite a long while since we did this. Evans was delighted to see my bro and I there to fetch him. Could be one of his favourite days when we were both on leave. He has been asking us when we could be on leave to accompany him.

He was very happy to see me and my bro fetching him from school.

Besides avoiding the blues, this break from work allowed me to really recover from the one week's flu. Felt a lot better after the nap and plainly doing nothing much. What a relief!

Day 2 of CNY

Evans with Jerm in similar outfits again

Day 2 of CNY was not any less busy. And the stupid flu was still bothersome but I could still manage without medication. Technically bro bought this CNY outfit for Evans and the design was not bad just that he bought him the yellow/gold one earlier which after he tried it on, we decided yellow was not Evans' colour. LOL!

As of the past years, we would visit the Wenzhou clan association with the purpose of watching the lion and dragon dance. Really was for the kids. But we did not want to be there so early because traditionally the lion dance troupe would be late. So we went to hubby's bro's house for visiting and lunch. Stayed there till around 2 plus then we headed to the clan association.

The boys are having a lot of fun with hubby.

Upon reaching the clan association, it was sort of their annual meeting. Personally I really felt it was a little painful because it was very draggy. And my flu wasn't making me feel any better, seated in the midst of the chatter while the meeting was going on; the members were reporting their committee updates through a mike but we were not able to hear very clearly too. I had to distract Evans with the videos in my hp because he was too, getting restless.

Luckily the lion dance finally came after lots of anticipation. And it was quite a long performance. While hubby entertained Evans, I tried to take a rest somewhere, just standing at one end, trying to breathe freely with my congested nose. Really wished to have a bed for me to lie down that moment.

When the dragon dance ended, we finally made our way back to my parents' place, where I could finally rest. Evans was also knocked out pretty quickly after his milk. It was a tiring day but thankfully it was still considered a cooling weather, as compared to the past CNY's hot and sunny day! Considered myself lucky, if not I might have felt very much worse.

At my parents', we had another round of steamboat!!! I felt really contented and happy. Something about steamboat that made me feel festive. YUM! And we also topped the dinner up with Yusheng from Putien. Another delicacy, one of the better ones I have tried.

It feels so good to be on leave tomorrow! I really need the rest, besides I do not want to feel the "Back to work after holiday" blues, which I believed many are feeling it now.