I devoted the whole day yesterday for Hassan. First I had to go see a surgeon to check on his tummy and he told me his hernia is so little I didn’t have to worry unless it gets bigger.

Then I took him to a consultant ENT doctor at the MTC hospital. After they tested his eardrums using a tympanometer I was reassured that his ears were fine. There was a response which means there’s nothing blocking the eardrums like wax or earfluids. I let out a huge sigh. I was even told to cut him off Cefzil but I didn’t because he’s almost done with the course and besides what if it actually improved his ears after all.

Now all this contradicts with what the other consultant ENT doctor who told us last week about my baby having earfluids and is probably hearing 30% less, in fact he got screened using a different type of tympanometer there was no response whatsoever, it came out flat. That’s why he prescribed him Cefzil in the first place.

I took the results to my dad and he thought it would be better to check his hearing to make sure everything is okay. So he did a test called BERA, which measures the hearing using low and high frequencies. It took around 30 minutes. The results were normal. But I did go to one more consultant ENT doctor who also confirmed what I’ve already been told in the morning. I’m just glad he’s fine.

Final diagnosis: “It is normal to have OME (fluid) for several weeks following treatment of an acute ear infection.” (Otitis media)

His ears probably got clogged because of the following reasons, taken from MedicinePlus:

• Colds and sinus infections
• Allergies
• Tobacco smoke or other irritants
• Infected or overgrown adenoids
• Excess mucus and saliva produced during teething

Conclusion: I learned from all of this crazy experience that …

1. I should not rush my baby to so many private clinics.
2. I should always go for 2nd opinions.
3. Anytime I suspect an ear infection I should first go to the MTC hospital they know better. 

The girls at work were drooling over the ad that was in the paper of a diamond heart necklace sold at Damas for Valentine’s day which really reminds me I need to call Swarovski to check on my key chain, I took it there around december because 5 pieces of crystals fell out. They promised to replace them for free and I’m suppose to get a call from them once it was done but still they haven’t called me back yet.

When I move my eyebrows up and down my baby blinks back to me. It’s funny how he thinks his eyes are his brows lol. The other day when I took him to his pediatrician he started to blink back to the nurse. He was hitting on her. I couldn’t stop laughing.

Update on baby:

My baby’s been on two different antibiotics, first it was Augmentin for 10 days for a recurrent ear infection but when I saw that my baby was still inserting his fingers in his ears, pulling, rubbing and tugging at them, I had to take him to an ENT doctor. He said I should start him on Cefzil because the doctor suspected otitis media, or middle ear fluids. In total he’s been on four antibiotics since December. Could it be because he’s teething? I didn’t cry but that’s not all.

I’ve been told last week by a surgeon that he has fatty hernia of linea alba in simpler words umbilical hernia which is in the same area of the belly button or navel. No wonder he’s crying so much. The surgeon said he might need surgery to repair it and I’ll know for sure tomorrow.

My baby loves rice and it’s a healthy part of his diet so I had to learn how to cook it. Cooking rice is so easy I can never mess up. I usually like feeding him brown rice but lately he prefers white. Here are some easy steps or at least this is how my mom does it:

1. Wash 3 cups of basmati rice with cold water until water comes out clear. 
2. Soak rice in water, add one tbs salt in it, leave for 30 min.
3. Drain out the water and pour some water in the pot then add the rice to it, the more water the merrier. You can also add a pinch of salt according to taste. Once it boils, see if you can break the rice into two. If you can, then remove from stove.
4. Run the rice under cold tap water and drain very well.
5. Add some oil in the same pot and put the rice back in the pot.
6. Rice will be cooked in about 30 min to an hour, the longer the better but make sure it’s on a very low heat.
7. For colour and flavour you can add saffran on top or a 1/4 cup rose water mixed with saffran, pour it all over.
8. The result, edible rice.

I’ve been waiting that long for a housemaid and I don’t know how long I can continue this. I called the damn office today and I was told indirectly that they’ve delayed me because of a new policy requiring all first time Asian expats to travel on Kuwait Airways and no other airlines. I understood that this policy has been changed now and they’ve allowed traveling to Kuwait on any other cheap airline. I don’t know what to say to that! 

I haven’t written a very long post in long time and I don’t think I will today. I read Ananyah’s definition of “the perfect man” and that made me think of my perfect man sitting on his computer desk at work lol.

I woke up at 4:30am by an anonymous phone call from a number starting with +966, it was some jerk probably calling from Saudi. He called twice even after answering him with “aloo” in the sleepiest voice ever then I passed the phone to Rami. I’m not sure what he wanted at this time and I was so sleepy to care. 

Then I couldn’t go back to sleep after the 2nd call and I experienced the nesting impulse. I got up, washed up and went downstairs to wash baby bottles. Boiled some water, prepared his bag quickly and went back upstairs to fold up some clothes I tried to do them as quickly as possible but I wasn’t able to finish. So I got dressed and left to work, got here just in time. 

I’m craving a cheese sandwich with lettuce and goat cheese.