A Happy Children’s Day (not!)
The recent Children’s Day turned out to be a not very happy one for us at home when RACHEL had a bout of bad cough and some difficulties in breathing. That gave us a scare as the hopital wanted to admit her. This is what happened…
Thinking that it would be a good rest for me and that we could take a much needed one, we were glad when the holiday came. But at night, RACHEL was coughing quite badly and we sent her to NUH’s Children’s Emergency Department to have a look by the doctor.
It turned out that they gave her some treatment on the spot - letting RACHEL breathe in some medication via a gas mask. Our princess was, of course, not receptive to it and cried big time whenever the mask was to be put in front of her face for the medication to be administered.
It went on for a few times (the mask-thing) and when the doctor checked on her again, found that she was breathing very fast and there was a ‘wheezing’ sound in her lungs when she breathed. He recommended that we admit her for the night, possibly longer if she was not going to be well enough soon.
At this point, like any parent would normally, I was very reluctant to let her stay. Though I wanted my girl to recover, I could just anticipate the tantrum she would be throwing and that it would take a struggle for her to get settled down. As parents, we would need to be by her side (though only one is needed) and I could just see the inconvenience as YEN is pregnant and needs rest; I could ill-afford to take leave as the examinations are nearing.
While we were waiting for them to settle the administrative portion of admitting her, we played with RACHEL, who was by then more settled into the place (of course she was oblivious of her impending admission), and started to play with us. She somehow just didn’t feel tired at three in the morning though she did not sleep at all on the way to the hospital.
Luckily for us, her running around and playing with us actually improved her condition that when the doctor listened to her, her breathing seemed fine and there was no more ‘wheezing’ sound in her lungs. The doctor then cancelled the instruction for admission and told us that we could go, giving RACHEL a review in a week. It was nearing half-an-hour past four when we reached home, and RACHEL fell asleep only at five-plus…
