This is the way we brush our teeth.....

Some months ago, Caleb's teeth were found to have black stains on them (like that of a smoker's) and he was brought to the dentist at KKH. Dentist said it is nothing to be worried about, just some oral bacteria reaction which discolorize the teeth. Caleb's teeth was polished and mummy was surprised the 2 1/2yr old was not afraid! He was lying on mummy on the dentist chair and seemed to enjoy the cleansing and polishing.

Dentist suggested for Caleb to use toothpaste with slight floride but said discolorization may come back. This problem will go away as the child grows.

Since then, Daddy has been wanting to get Caleb a POWERFUL toothbrush, although that may or may not help with his teeth condition and finally, toothbrush is here!!

But mummy will still get the boy to learn how to brush teeth with a normal 'manual' toothbrush.

Sickie Trio

Mummy is down with runny nose and sore throat.

Caleb's nose is bad. like a running tap. Has mild temperature so mum suspects he has sore throat as well.

Caden seems to be recovering from runny nose but occasionally still see his nose wet and choked.

The cheer is returning

Caden has more smiles today and his playful self is returning. Still not as bubbly as before ops but daddy mummy are confident things should be back to normal very soon.

O, during examination of his palate yesterday, we found that his top tooth is popping! Perhaps *sing* all he wants for christmas is his two front teeth...! ;p

One week after Palate repair ops

Had a review with the plastic surgeon and the team of nurses today, all are well with palate, thank God! Stictches behind are slightly dirty but not too big a concern, just need to take note on flushing, mummy got tips from nurses today. Will have another review with surgeon in 3 weeks but next week going back clinic to let nurses check on wound cleanliness.

Caden took 300ml in one of his feeds today, boy, he must be farmished! The rest of the feeds avgs at 200ml. He is still on diluted milk, that is, 75% concentration from the norm. It is ok for him to be on full feed but cleansing must be very thorough as the thicker the milk, the more residue on stitches.

Thankful and appreciative for Caleb who is very sensible and understanding during this period of time. Mummy will try to spend more time with Caleb so he may be stimulated more for his learning development.

After Ops Day 6

Today, Caden manged to take all feeds without aid. He was sucking from normal bottles. On average, he was taking about 200ml of diluted milk/juice per feed. Mummy is elated with his progress!

He will be at the clinic for 1 week post ops review on Tuesday. Hope all will be well.

The not so good update for the day is, he is having runny nose, all choked up. Given him a dose of med and saline nose drop.

Thanks to all prayer warriors out there who have been keeping Caden in prayer and cheers to the little fighter!

After Ops Day 5: Breakthrough

A breakthrough at last....Praise God! Caden's taking fluid from squeezable bottle finally!

Today, Caden's feeding got worse. Before 630pm, he only consumed a total of 180ml of fluid and those are by force. Each feeding was like a war, with 3 people coordinating and strategizing on how to pin down the crying baby, get ready syringes of milk fast enough to minimize break of feeding momentum and one for feeding. By the end of each feed, all were exhausted and Caden will head straight back to bed after having just gotten up before milk feed.

Everyone was very worried because Caden was very letargic, sleeps a lot, which is unusual of the baby. No wet diaper and the very one time he urinated, urine has a very strong smell - concentrated due to lack of fluid. These are some signs of dehydration although there are many other signs not displayed. Caden was not dehydrated but if this continues, he may, that was why force feed was given.

Mummy decided to let him play with bottle teat (without bottle attached) again at 6ish pm, hoping that he will get familiar with it once again and surprisingly he started playing with it with his tongue and chewed from left to right. This means his palate is not so painful after all! Slowly, mum slipped the squeezable bottle in (attached with another similar teat) and he started chopping on it. mum assisted by squeezing on the bottle for greater milk flow before the little guy got irritated as his suction is not so strong at the moment. About 140ml of milk/juice mixture was consumed in about 10mins, good job!! Another 160ml was taken at about 9pm. So today, his total fluid intake was about 480ml, woohooo.....!!!

Prayer request:
- Caleb is having slight runny nose. Please pray for recovery and no passing this on to others in the house.
- Caden is quite chesty after feed and nose sounds congested. As there is still gap between palate and nasal bone (temporary), some fluid may have gone up the channel. Please pray fluid will not get into ears.
- Please pray that Caden will continue with his feeding well.

Pictures pictures

Playing with new palate

Just me....

What the two brothers have in common?

Nappy for sleep!!!

After Ops Day 4

Milk, Juice or Mix of both? What does Caden really wants?

Mummy at wits end so all fluids were prepared at different temperature to see what the little gem preferred but seemed he wanted none although his hunger was obvious. Why?

Estimated total fluid consumed in the day - 250 ml. Better than the previous days. However as the day goes, he seemed to reject drinking more although hungry. He pursed his lips so tight even grandma has trouble opening his mouth.x

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Is he having a sore throat, mouth ulcer or is his palate still hurting? Caden will drink eagerly initially but after a couple of sips, he suddenly stopped and closed his mouth so tight as if a sore point is hit. He is letargic most times and slept a lot, which is unusual of the baby. This worried mummy as these may be signs for dehydration. She has to 'force' fluid down his throat although the experiences were not pleasant.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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It's going to be Day 5, when will Caden accept bottle feeding again?xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

One of the conversations in the day.......

Mummy>Caleb: Caleb, look at didi (little brother), is he happy or sad?xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

*Caleb took a look at Caden, paused before replying*

Caleb>Mummy: Sad.

After Ops Day 3

Much of the after ops mucus and phlegm is clearing and Caden is not choking on them in his sleep as much now although he is still 'snoring'. Feeding continued to be so-so but there was attempt to bite on the sippy cup teat at clinic review this morning. He is feeding at about 4-5 hour interval in the day. The best he did was about 90ml of fluid and that was quite by 'force' becos mummy thinks he may dehydrating seeing him getting more letargic. The ret of the feeding,he only took 10-20ml of fluid.

Nurse exmined his palate cleanliness today and commented it is clean....well it is quite obvious becos he is not drinking much milk. Nurse taught mummy how to flush palate with syringe and water should there be milk or medicne stains on stitches, identified by white obvious patches.

As for ear update, daddy and mummy are too upset to comment. They are thinking what are next steps regarding ear treatment. Will update then. Meanwhile, prayer request for ear is that his hearing or ears are not affected by the unnecessary procedures done by the ENT 'goon(s)', which included an incision made on ear membrane.

After Ops Day 2: At Home

Caden is not taking feed very well as yet, which is expected. Before ops, he was on 180ml every 3 to 4 hourly. Now, either he does not drink or the most he took was 80ml (diluted) and this was only 1 epidsde.

Milk feed needs to be diluted - half strength. To enhance taste, juice is added. If he rejects milk, juice, for time being is fine as well. Options for feed - by Syringe, squeezable bottle or sippy cup with a super soft teat. Caden so far is taking through syringe best. After feed, his mouth needs to be flushed with clear water to prevent milk powder/medcine sediments from sticking onto the stitches.

This one week is crucial. Much of recovery should take place by end of the week if all are progressing well. Palate must not be damaged or else there it will be a long tedious treatment process and results will not be perfect.

Both Caden's arms are on bounded with 'guard' made of spectula - prevent bending of arms to put fingers into his mouth to damage palate. When sleeping in the night, arms are additionally pinned down, with limited movement in case the arm guards fall out as mummy and daddy will be sleeping too.

Prayer requests:
- Pray against dehydration as he is not taking in mch fluid and also not passing urine much
- Pray the palate will not be damaged and there is no chance for Caden to put his fingers into his mouth.
- Pray his mild temperature will go away
- Pray he will progress with milk/juice feed on bottle
- Pray against infection and that his mouth/stitches are cleaned well after each feeding.

Caden Braving the Last Storm

Caden is now at the high dependency ward and mummy is staying overnight with him becos he knows how to recognize and search for her already. Overall he seems fine although uncomfortable with 2 splints on both hands and naturally the pain that comes with it.

Operation took about 3 hours - palate repair took 1 hour and the rest was for ear treatment and hearing test. It seems that no grommet was inserted, according to his case notes but we are going to ask the ENT doctor tomorrow about details.

When he was just out of OT, he was more drowsy than he was with the previous surgeries and oxygen intake wasn't stable and good. Was at recovery room for about an hour before sending him to ward. As he was more awake from sedation, his oxygen intake resumes to normal level at about 98%-100%, which is good.

He is on glucose and drip today. Glucose and medicine by syringe, which he is taking well. Boy he loves the sweet glucose and all the more when it's made in cold cold water. Very soothing to his palate wound. Tomorrow trying him on diluted milk and nurse teaching us how to flush (cleanse) his wound after feed.

Nurse said the coming 1 week is crucial - if anythg were to happen to the palate wound eg. got a tear/hole or wound breakdown, it would have been this week. If cross this week and nothing happens, most likely all will be fine and he will be on road to recovery.

Please pray:
- smooth and speedy recovery

- his nose is congested with mucus and seems to have more when drinking fluid, please pray for mucus to clear and there is no leakage of palate or breakage of wound
- no break down/infection of wound
- no pain
- good feeding, that he will be able to coordinte well on his sucking and swallowing and breathing

- no milk stain or dirt on stitches
- good oxygen intake
- good health and protection on whole family's health during this period of time

Will update on ear once we get more details of it.

Ohh....if feeding is good, Caden gets to go home by tomorrow (Wed) evening. Please pray that this will be so as his sleep is very disturbed in the ward due to noise and light.

Caden's update

Caden's ops is postponed from Nov 3 to Nov 17. In this ops, surgeries will be done to repair the cleft palate as well as inserting a grommet in both ears. Grommet is to drain off fluid in his middle ear.

Please pray for:
- good health before and after ops for whole family
- feeding to be easy and that his pain is bearable. blood mix with milk is not a good taste.
- no infection of stitches on palate after ops
- smooth operation as 2 surgeries will be performed.

Will update more after ops if there are more prayer requests. =)