Rachel Thong is Born 2

Nights at home.

Rachel Thong is Born

Rachel Thong Wei Ern (汤 玮 恩)was born at 10.18am on 25 July 2011. She weighed 3.21kg at birth. Her length was 48cm and head circumference was 34.5cm. She was born naturally.

Anne all ready to give birth.

Rachel was actually originally due 21 July 2011, but didn’t seem to want to come out. So we set a date with the gynaecologist to induce labour on 25 July 2011.

Wouldn’t you know it, Anne started having contractions at midnight on 25 July 2011 but waited till 5+am before waking Scott up to send Josiah to her parents’ house & her to the hospital.

KCCY Trip to Bukit Merah Laketown Resort, May 2011

On 1st and 2nd May 2011, the KCC Youth organized a trip to Bukit Merah Laketown Resort for fun and fellowship.

Scott as new Youth Advisor was along, together with family.

After arriving and unpacking, everyone went to the PLUS stop nearby for lunch. While we were there it started raining heavily.

By the time we made it back to the hotel, the rain was down to a drizzle. So calling a vote, the youth decided to just play at the hotel swimming pools. The youth hung around the water polo area, and Josiah refused to go into the kids pool, so he joined the big pool too.

April 2011 Penang Trip

On 3 April 2011, we went to Penang for the wedding of Jonathan Chen and Yvonne Mapphy. We took the chance to meet old friends, visit around Penang, and let Josiah have fun.

After breakfast at Kayu (where the roti tiga rasa is still quite good), we stopped by a playground outside some flats in Taman Lip Sin.

Josiah had fun running about. A little trepidatious at the super tall slide, but in the end he went down a few times. When it was time to go, he stood at the top of one slide and did the ‘more’ hand motion that daddy does with him when having fun.

Josiah’s Stitches

On 25 March 2011, Josiah knocked his head on the window grill. Josiah was on the bed and Koong koong had just stepped out of the study room for a few seconds to answer the phone, and when he came back Josiah was holding his forehead in his hands.

Since no one saw what actually happened, our best guess is that he either bounced on the bed and fell onto the grill, or sat up too near the grill and banged his head.

The wound was quite long and deep and bleeding (looked like a drain in his flesh), so koong koong and poh poh quickly patched it up and took him to see a doctor.

Mummy came home just as they were leaving, and hopped into the car to the doctor. The doctor took a look and recommended that Josiah go to a plastic surgeon. On the way to Pantai Specialist, he fell asleep. The doctor recommended stitches, with general anesthetic to do it while Josiah was asleep.

(Before waking up at the hospital.)

At Pantai Specialist, Josiah woke up and looked scared and cried and needed mummy to hold him. But afterwards he played happily at the playland as if nothing was different. Yeh yeh and Hakka poh poh were there too, and everybody was scared he would get hurt further as he ran down the slide and launched himself onto the bean bag.

When it was time, mummy held him and sang to him while the mask was placed on his face, and he struggled a bit before drifting into sleep.

The operation was short, just five minutes. Thirteen stiches including the two knots at the ends. Non-dissolving stitches were used as the doctor said they would heal better. Then Josiah was left to slowly wake up.

Daddy reached the hospital from a taxi straight from LCCT just before koong koong returning did. Both went into the lift, and a just woken up Josiah was just being wheeled into it on a big hospital bed!

Josiah was pretty much back to normal almost right after – getting daddy to carry him here and there (especially to use the lift), running around on the ground floor.

At home, he didn’t really like the medicine, but after a few times, cooperated to swallow quickly. He still struggled when the head bandage had to be changed, but even that towards the end got a bit better.

The stitches came off on 1 April. The doctor wasn’t ready till way past the 3.30 appointment time, it took till 4.30 when he saw Josiah and recommended he be given oral medicine to make him sleepy – too risky to take out the stitches if he struggles.

But even after the medicine and lying on a bed and lullaby, he wouldn’t sleep by 5.30. So in the end, he was wrapped in a blanket while several people held him still – daddy holding his head tight and reassuring him – while the doctor removed the stitches. Josiah fought and cried and screamed, but towards the end didn’t struggle too fiercely.

After that, he fell asleep all the way till night, woke up a bit when taken upstairs, drank milk, and slept till morning again.

We had to put antiseptic on his wound, which had closed really nicely. He struggled at first, but after a few times just scrunched his face up and let us quickly apply it.

Just after the operation. The little bandage strips are from the hospital and didn’t last long before coming off.

You can see the extra lentgh of string at the top and slightly at the bottom.

After removing the stiches. The stitching was very well done as you can see from how well the wound closed.

2 May 2011 – Scar almost fully faded.