baby iyad on hearing aid trial

this was long overdue, terribly sorry for my busy schedule...

baby iyad had his 4th BESR to determine his hearing level....this time it was done when he was asleep (after a dose of chloral hydrate) in the wrap, not lying down on the couch as usual...the result showed that both ears responded to the sound up to 55db (previously it was 30, 70), it could be due to his current URTI at that time that affected the test..

the audiologist suggested that baby iyad to be put on hearing aid trial so that he would be stimulated well and hopefully it would help him in term of his speech development...so, we had his ear mould done which he was already awake at that time, luckily he cooperated well.. and we were to come back in the next 2 weeks to fit the ear moulds to the hearing aid..

so, we came back as scheduled and had the ear moulds fitted to his ears... it was then connected to the hearing aid device and set to 45db...baby iyad was quite stunned when he heard his own voice which was quite accentuated and amplified by the hearing aid...although all these while he could respond to sound and noise, with the hearing aid, he could hear better...

now, we tried to put him with the device as long and frequent as possible except during his sleep... he kind of adapting well to it but sometimes he would pull it off his ear and started nibbling it...

since it is conductive hearing loss, hopefully, his hearing would get better when he grows bigger, with the ear canals become larger so more sound would be able to penetrate into it...

a discriminating statement on people with Down Syndrome- we demand an apology petition

hello to our readers, i know you demand a pretty exciting updates on baby iyad, and yes, mama is too busy to write but we promise to keep our blog updated...

what we want to highlight today is, we need your support to sign a petition for a talented composer, Azmeer, who in a live TV show (TV3), made a discriminating statement that touched and hurt the people with Down Syndrome...in that show, Azmeer made a comment on one of the contestant's performance as "like a bunch of Down Syndrome idiots" or "budak-budak Tapaw (the contestant) ni bodoh-bodoh Down Syndrome"..

i did not watch the show at that particular time, if not i would be very furious and frustrated that such a talented composer with normal intelligence (but obviously with low awareness, heartless and insenstitive) had the gut to say such things! just imagine, how many hearts had been hurt by his statement..please note that these children with Down Syndrome have intelligent parents and siblings..they are doctors, engineers, accountants, clerks, teachers, homemakers, farmers, cleaners, cooks, to name some..they are smart and intelligent people in their fields..and they become more intelligent and smarter than you are as they brought up a very special child with extra chromosome that you and i do not have...so do not hurt their feelings...

this petition was started by a sweet mother who has a child with Down Syndrome, with a hope that the particular person and the TV station will apologize to the public, especially to the Down Syndrome community, hence to create awareness that disabled people are not at all difference from all of us, who claimed to be normal..

please follow the link below to sign the petition...we really appreciate your support...thank you..

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/azmeer-and-tv3-please-apologize-to-the-down/

"i am a mother of a child with a down syndrome and i'm a smart doctor with brain and my baby iyad is a smart, intelligent baby with down syndrome. who are you to say people with down syndrome stupid?? you are making a stupid statement as you did not know that people with down syndrome is smarter, intelligent and brainier than you as they never hurt other people's feelings - Dr Ezura Madiana Md Monoto and baby Ahmad Iyad Ghazi bin Asrul"

baby iyad with his normally developed siblings..they are my angels..

baby iyad was down with mild acute gastroenteritis (AGE)

at almost 9 month old, it was the first time my baby iyad had AGE...he was not that sick though but had bouts of vomiting with loose stool...he had meals of sweet potatoes with chicken the day before, that might be the cause of it..probably the sweet potatoes were already spoilt..poor baby..he had sweet potatoes before and did not have any problems with it..

it started with vomiting episodes soon after breastfeeding...it was projectile and copious in amount..he also had stomach upset and was frequently crying during his sleep at night...we applied some ointment and that settled him a bit...the following day, he started to have loose stool...yes, baby iyad had well-formed stool which was sometimes hard stool after he was started on solid food..so when he had vomiting and loose stool, there's something wrong here...he also had a low grade fever too..

so we decided that he should stop eating his food and only be fed with breast milk...so we rested his bowel from processing complex food..he got better the next day, when i decided to try feeding him on his food...that was the day when we were supposed to send atok, wan and makngah to the airport as they were leaving for umrah... initially baby iyad was well, he managed to finish his food...and  i breastfed him after bath..then he started vomiting out his food and milk and had loose stool...oh dear..it's still not resolving..so, we were unable to send the troop to the airport...

he looked quite flat and was not active as usual...and i continued breastfeeding him on demand so that he would be well hydrated and that could excuse him form hospital admission..alhamdulillah, he recuperated quite fast and i was able to feed him with fruit puree the following day and no more vomiting and loose stool since then... then i cooked him pasta with salmon, carrot and spinach and he was enjoying tit so much...

now, at the recent 9 month check up for his pneumococcal vaccination, baby iyad weighed 6.5kg.. alhamdulillah..he might be small for his age but on the Down Syndrome weight chart he's growing well...

when he was not well..we missed his smiley face...

our 9th anniversary

we celebrated our 9th anniversary early this month...alhamdulillah, thank you Allah for this wonderful marriage and blessed us with our adorable juniors...

the day before our anniversary, dear hubby and i spent a day out together, had a hefty breakfast and watched Iron Man 3 in a gold class cinema...the last time we had our movie date was a year ago...it was fun just the two of us and we were seated in a very comfortable recliner seat, side by side and was served by the movie hostess... the movie was awesome, the best of the three...

on our anniversary day, the whole troop went out early, had breakfast at the teh tarik place in the curve  and i got a homemade clay bangle from the kids...jihan made it herself from flour and baked them in the oven with the help of wan...oh, it brought tears to my eyes...

after breakfast we went into ikea for inspiration and had ice cream and the famous ikea currypuffs treat before moving on to the next agenda....

so next, we went bowling...yes all of us! we managed to get a lane with rails so that jihan would be able to hit the pins without missing it *wink* ..and the rest of us got the privileges too... imtiaz also had the chance to bowl together with papa as papa wore him in his soft-structured carrier at the back...well, i did not wear iyad though as it might tip off my balance so iyad was held by our maid and i managed to breastfeed him in between until he dozed off...

we had great, hefty lunch after that- seafood and others at bubba gump...it was a wonderful day and the kids we were exhausted by the end of the day...

we pray that Allah will keep us together for many years to come, insya allah till jannah with stronger bond and good iman, health and wealth...

minor surgery postponed

my adorable sons imitaz and iyad were supposed to undergo their ritual circumcision yesterday under general anaesthesia in PPUKM, but it was postponed as the operation theatre was still closed for elective cases as they were undergoing maintenance...

so the next available date to our convenience and also the surgeon's tentatively will be in july..hopefully all will go smoothly and be done as planned...

baby iyad was also supposed to do an examination under anaesthesia (EUA) for his eyes, to look at his eyeball's pressure and refraction...that will be postponed as well as the ophthalmologist wanted it to be done in the same setting...

more information on ritual circumcision in islam here

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7 month old baby iyad

sorry for the long hiatus..iyad's mama was extremely busy to complete her thesis and write ups for her final masters exam..please pray for her success in her viva in mid may, hopefully she will make through it so that she can concentrate more on iyad's therapy and progress once she finishes her study...

so, baby iyad had been extremely busy too...busy enjoying his food, exploring new taste and textures... he loves it when people taking his photos with iphone, readily offers his charming smile when he sees the iphone...he gets very excited when we hold our ipads and iphones and computers, he would try his best to reach for it...he loves playing and jumping around in his jumperoo...

alhamdulillah, baby iyad is still on fully breastfeeding...since he started on complementary food, he has difficulty passing out motion...well, he passed motion everyday and sometimes 2-3 times per day, but his stool was hard...sometimes, he had to push hard and cried when passing out his motion...we gave him at least a full serving of fruit like banana or papaya for his lunch or dinner and other times would be his vegetables puree...he doesn't really like to drink water..just a few sips and that's it...so far it is still manageable and hopefully it won't worsen...in the meanwhile, we are trying out best to increase the fibre intake and also the water intake during mealtimes...

March 21st was World Down Syndrome Day..it fell on thursday, on baby iyad's therapy day...so there was no class on that day as they went celebrating it at Kidzania...baby iyad did not join the celebration this year as he was still small to participate in the fun, furthermore mama had a course that she had to attend...

so, baby iyad did not go to school for 3 sessions as the following weeks was school holidays...but he still get stimulated at home...we are trying to teach him how to sit unsupported and get himself balanced while sitting up...

jihan and imtiaz are being very helpful looking after baby iyad sometimes...although most of the times they chose to do their own stuffs...

videos on baby iyad's 1st gastronomic experience