31 May 2011

Praise God! We brought Charlene to kkh for her appointment on MRT! Charlene slept through and only woke up when we reached Novena...

27 May 11

27 May 11

Charlene slept late last night again, and we had a hard time getting her to sleep in the morning.  Dez had to take leave today to meet the reno contractors, so I was left with a sleeping Charlene... decided to do my work. 

We received a furniture show-room pamphlet and decided to give it a try. We brought the sleeping Charlene on  the MRT train (and she slept through the journey)  and went to Marseling. Have to take a taxi to reach Homzi Furniture which is located near Woodlands checkpoint.

The show-room is fairly large and have a wide range of dining tables and sofas. We were particularly impressed by a dining table set that meets all our requirements...small, compact and extendable. The sales person was also very patient and gave us a lot of constructive comments. In the end, we bought a dining table set, a tv console and a leather sofa. Still below our budget, so not too bad.

26 May 11

26 May 11

The mover delivered the boxes, and we can finally start packing! Yeah! 1 small step towards moving towards our new home.

Charlene slept through the class today. Her bio clock has changed (again) and she has been waking up at 3am. Dez and I had been getting less sleep bec of the naughty girl-girl.

We told the physiotherapist that the exercise tapes worked... so this time he decided to put more tapes on Charlene, to help increase her muscle tone for the sholuder. This seems the most difficutl part to target, bec Charlene had very little control over her shoulder. If she can improves this, then she is 1 step away from improving her head control.

Lord Jesus, we pray that You bless Charlene with improved muscle control, and that by Your stripes, Charlene will be heal and meet all the developmental milestones of a typical kid.

Charlene and her lycra suit, which helps to improve her muscle tone. The green suit reminds me of Rock Lee, an anime character =)

22 May 11

22 May 11

Our 4th baptism class today, which Rev Ngiam tutored us on the history of Christianity. We learnt a lot of new things today, and the class participated actively asking various tough questions.

Rev Ngiam adopts on a moderate view on things, answering tough questions in a manner that is respectful of other religions.

We pray that God bless us the wisdom to do what is stated in 1 Peter 3:15.

1 Peter 3:15. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. 

After the baptism class, June, Wanfen, Shiyun and Joanna came to visit us. We had prep Charlene to welcome the jie-jies with a big wide smile... and she did! =) Charlene was smiling happily to them, and responding with cute sounds. Needless to say, they were happy to see Charlene being so active and happy. Looks like only Aud do not have the luck to see Charlene smiling... haha.

17 May 11

17 May 11

17 May was a public holiday, and we decided to bring Charlene back to my parents' place. Considered an outing for Charlene. Charlene was more responsive than the previous visit and made some coo-ing sounds. 

The other purpose of the visit was to collect the bath-room accessories that my aunt has bought for us. After the house visit, we swung by to our new place to store them. Feeling a need to maximise time, we decided to hop down to Sembawang lighting house to purchase the wall lights. 

We decided to split up cos it looked like it was raining.  Dez made his way to the lighting house, whereas I brought Charlene to the shopping centre to change her nappy. Charlene was quite upset about the wet diaper and kept kicking in the cot. As the escalator was slightly inclined downwards, Charlene was almost falling out of the pram. I had to do some gymnastics to hold on to her and the pram at the same time... attracted stares from the other shoppers.

After Dez bought the lights, we shopped around Giant for curtains. It was tough deciding the curtains to buy. Either the colour don't match our color theme or it was too thin and cna't keep out sunlight. In the end, we didnt buy any.

Just as we are about to leave, Lin yen messaged me to say that Starbucks having offer for their frappe at half price! Dez excitedly went to queue for a extra-coffee, caramel frappe. 

All in all, a good and busy day today. 

A year back, we won't imagine this to be possible... going on a shopping trip with Charlene. Things has improved a lot since her discharge... and we thank God for His blessings upon our family. Praise the Lord!

16 May 2011

Charlene has a routine eye checkup today. She is awake and alert. The first optometrist requested that I made Charlene sit upright. But my dear gal immediately went into 'meditation mode'. I told the optometrist that putting her back in the pram is better. And true enough, Charlene opened her eyes and was listening attentively to the tv (which was playing Hi-5).
Eye drops were then dripped to dilate her eyes. The eyedrops must be stingy and uncomfortable. Charlene was pretty upset. She made a lot of sounds and was kicking angrily even when she was carried. She refused to cooperate with the second optometrist. The guy asked if he could tape her eyes. He did but it didn't really help, Charlene refused to open her eyes. After much effort, the vision check was finally done. In the doctor's room, Charlene was smiling happily. Maybe she thinks that the doc is playing with her. Anyway, Charlene is a little far-sighted. The doc still can't tell if she can see. Her tear ducts are not blocked. But it is due to other reasons that she will continue to have eye discharges forming into crust everyday.

12 May 2011

12 May 2011

Thank you Lord Jesus!

Charlene was awake since 2am and by right, should be sleeping. But she didn't. She looked super tired but she did very well in all of her exercises!

Charlene's physiotherapist in school said that Charlene's trunk muscles have developed and Charlene is making bit by bit progress. She wants me to do more to train up Charlene's shoulder muscles. We have been using our bed which is no good for her exercises as it is too soft. A gym mat would be good. But even then, the floor must be clean in the first place.

I know that even if I say that I have 1001 things to do, it seems to be still my responsibility to ensure a clean environment. I know that I should not expect help from others because I am her mother. If the people staying under the same roof refuse to show their love, what more do we expect from our materialistic society?

At the same time, her occupational therapist was pleased with her performance today. He said that she seems to be developing some muscle tone. So, it is from no tone to low tone. Still some progress. So, even though those 'compress muscle' exercises seem insignificant, it looked like they are taking effect. I need to preserve in them!

Dear brothers and sisters, let's pray for a breakthrough in Charlene's condition, that she will continue to develop and acquire cognitive functions like normal children, so that through her healing, God's name may be glorified!