Tuesday, April 20, 2010

The past one week

The past one week has been quite eventful. Exactly a week ago, Peanut fell down the stairs. 3 steps down to be exact. it was very early in the morning when it happened. I was just coming out of the shower when I heard a loud thud. I looked into the room and discover that the mosquito netting door was opened and as I rushed to the stairs, i heard Peanut crying very loudly. I found her lying on her back, screaming her lungs out. She had woken up, and realizing that i was not around, she had come looking for me.

I shouldn't have left her alone :( . She was still deep in slumber when i woke to get ready for work. Usually when I go and shower in the morning, I will get DH to look after Peanut. However, that whole week, DH was away in Indonesia for work. I should have asked my MIL to look after her while I shower but she was still sleeping in her room. Never would i imagine that Peanut will actually woke up, climbed down the bed, pushed open the mosquito netting down and attempt to climb down the stairs. Cos usually when she wakes up and realised we're not around, she'll cry or shriek or whichever. That's why I left the wooden door half open and the mosquito netting door shut, so in case she cries, my PIL can at least hear her while i shower.

Thankfully and thank you God, she's alright. I brought her to the pediatrician that morning. The PD asked me a few crucial questions like did she faint?, (no) did she vomit? (no) has she peed since the fall? (yes) is she active? (yes). After checking all her limbs and reflexes, the pd certified her fit and healthy. *phew* She had a bruise on her forehead as a souvenir though, which went away after a day.

However, until today, I still can't get over the image of her at the stairs. It sends chills down my body every single time i think about it and it still upsets me. I'm thankful that the stairs has two turnings, so she didn't tumble all the way down the remaining flight of stairs. So, never, never assume that your child will be alright alone, even though she seems to be in a deep sleep. I have learned a very hard lesson, one that i'll never forget :( *goes and sit down in a dark corner*

A few days after the incident, Peanut got a fever and a slight runny nose. The fever hovered between 37c and 38c throughout the day. Every time she takes her pink colored medicine, her fever will go down, but a few hours later, it'll go up to around 38c again. Seeing that the medication didn't really work, my mum asked me to try the egg method. Which, i'm happy to report, is very effective! :) What is the egg method, you might ask? If you want to know, below is a step by step guide; an old wives method to bring down a fever in your child.

How to bring a fever down using a boiled egg
  1. Get an egg, which has not been refrigerated. This crucial step is very important okie! It has to be an egg in room temperature, which has never been put inside the refrigerator before. Not sure what's the science behind it, but just do it lah.
  2. Boil the egg.
  3. Peel off the shell.
  4. Wrap the egg with a handkerchief, and dab a bit of medicated oil /axe oil / parrot oil on the hankie.
  5. Undress your baby.
  6. Start with the head. Rub the egg gently from the top of the head to the chin in one sweeping motion. Rub the egg only in one direction. DO NOT go back and forth. Basically you rub as if you're throwing out the bad chi in the body away.
  7. Once you're done with the head, you do it from the shoulders to the tip of the fingers, then from shoulders to the side of the chest, and from the buttocks the to the bottom of her feet. Front and back.
  8. Then that's it! Throw the egg away. You won't want to eat a medicated egg. And who knows you might get the fever instead haha

This old wives remedy is taught by my mum who used this method on us when we were young. And weird as it sounds, it really works. Once I was done rubbing the egg on Peanut, her temperature went down steadily. From a reading of 37.4 before I rubbed the egg on her, it went down all the way to 35.8 half an hour after I rubbed the egg on her. Frankly, it was quite miraculous and you gotta see it to believe it. I should have just skip the medication (which didn't work) and work with the egg immediately. Having a sick child is just very stressful and worrying and I'm just thankful the whole ordeal is over and she's been fine ever since.

Our helper, who is Cambodian, saw me boiling the egg and when i told her what it was for, she told me they do the same thing back in Cambodia for fevers. Fancy that. Except that they don't peel the egg haha. Is this some universal, asian, folklore remedy which I'm finally privy to?? It's weird right, there were no internet, no google and all that before. How do these mothers, from vastly different countries, know how to use these methods long long time ago?? Who started this things? Who taught them? I guess we'll never, really know.





We brought Peanut out after she's well. One minute, she's happy and jolly, and the next..


..she's fast asleep. All within a span of a minute. If only I can fall asleep that easily. :)

Eating her favorite biscuit. She gets very excited every time i open a packet up.


The culprit. You can find this in many flavors in major Japanese shops selling food stuff. It's very similar to Baby Bites (it melts in your mouth so babies wont' choke on it), but Baby Bites is made in China, so no, I'm not giving my child any food made in China. *scrunches nose*.

Taurus: The baby on the packet reminds me of Amelia hehe

In one of her tantrums. She either wants to get out of the stroller / wants whatever is on the table / wants water / wants to go for a walk.

This time she wants my phone. *hi grandma!!!!*

And that's how my week went.

4 comments:

Joyce said...

Hi Gracie,

Was reading my friend Cynthia/Breanna's blog and saw Peanut's blog listed in her friend list. So dropped by la =)
Peanut is such a big darling now! and she looks like daddy!

take care!

The Peanut Momster said...

Hi Joyce!!! thanks for dropping ya hehe

ya she looks more like her dad than me. :)

Lex Mum said...

Hi dear,

dont blame yourself too much about the incident. i can understand how you feel, Alex got locked in a car just a week after he turns 1. there wasn't any spare key, we tried many ways to pry open the door even to the extend of breaking the windows but it didnt even crack.
I felt so helpless seeing Alex sweating, crying and gasping for air inside the car for more than half hour. hubby was already calling for bomba and ambulance (shakily), when my dad finally managed to break the back window..
well, i guess some years later we might look back and laugh at this incident :)

The Peanut Momster said...

Lex Mum: thanks! that must be a really scary experience. How come your windows can't break? You have the anti-shatter tint on it issit?

Luckily Alex is fine. Yeah, we will definitely laugh at this few years down the road. :)