Failure

hey, why don't you try this!


Open Google.com

type the word Failure

Click I'm Feeling Lucky

Now what do you see? Spread the word before google fixes it!


courtesy of Angie.

Happy 3rd Birthday Zak!

3 years and 24 minutes ago, a set of eyes above a plump body of mass covered in green (that was my ob-gyne) was the first thing that Zak saw. Then he turned his head and saw a rusty oxygen tank in the corner, which was hastily covered by a nurse. A pair of hands hauled him up and dumped him on his mother's bossom. He didn't cry. He closed his eyes, his fists, because he realised that his mother was teteering on an 8-inch slab of wood that was the delivery bed. His mother was then 72 kilos. If that delivery bed was just suspended and there was an audience around it, it would have been a circus of a birth. Welcome to Surigao, Zak!

He was then taken to an adjoining room to be cleaned while his father hovered nervously. A nurse boiled some water on a large kettle, no not an electric kettle, but one which could have been unearthed from somewhere to discover the Mayan civilization, only that the inside was scrubbed with Dazz.

It was only when his 3rd birthday party finished that Zak cried. When we told him we were going home, he thought we were going back to that private hospital in Surigao to reminisce his birth and remind him how difficult indeed it was to take him out from the comfort of his mother's womb only for him to face this rusty world.

K and I could still remember clearly that day but the rest of the story could be told in his next birthday, and every birthday celebrations after that.

Unnecessary loss

My sister in Surigao gave birth last Friday, unfortunately, the baby died in utero. Apparently, the baby suffered from umbilical cord strangulation .

She had ultrasound scan only once, 2 months ago. A month ago, the baby was noted to be in a breach position, which reversed a few weeks later. How the doctor came up to this conclusion without having an ultrasound scan, I wouldn't know. Also, supposing this was true, I should think that an ultrasound scan would be the logical thing to do, to check how the baby moved that quick. The cord around the neck would have been spotted and Caesarian operation would have been done straight away. But then again, I'm not a doctor and prenatal care in the Philippines, or at least in Surigao still depends on the pregnant woman whether she would like to see a midwife/doctor or not.

So what are the common causes of stillbirths? They could be

a. Placental abruption
b. chromosomal abnormalities
c. gestational growth problems
d. environmental factors
e. genetic defects
f. bacterial infections in the mother

But umbilical cord strangulation at full term?

I don't know. I'm still checking from the philippine medical council but their website doesn't say anything about procedures in prenatal care.

I mourn for the unnecessary loss of my sister's baby. I know that whatever we do now, there's nothing that can bring the baby back to life.

It's just a difficult thing to accept at the moment.

Conversations with a 3-year-old

Me: C’mon, let’s put away these toys then we can have a bath.
Zak: Okey, boss!


******

A bath, and countless of stories later…

Me: Na-nyt. See you later…
Zak: Bye Marge!

(as in Marge Simpson!)

*******

Some photos I wasn't able to send back to Surigao

Madame Betut and 3 year old Lian. He hates me.
I know he does. He's a Drag-on!

One of them is impatiently waiting for Banana Q.

Kevin, Kim and Angelique

Lian, Zak and Henry (the green train).

Pakals

We think of the Italians when we eat pasta, the Chinese with noodles and lugaw, the Koreans with Kimchi, the Mexicans with tortillas, the US of A with burgers, the French with frog's legs (honestly?!) and the Germans with frankfurters.

But then a lot of non-british in Britain think that really, there's no variety of food here. Every town and county are saturated with Chinese and Indian take-aways and fish and chip shops. You can't go to Thailand and say, hey we have fish and chips in Britain, isn't that cool?

But what about boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes, microwaved potatoes, baked potatoes, fried potatoes, roast potatoes...

Whoever said there's no variety in British food should be repatriated!