Multiparenting Cayen & Cayson

 2 weeks ago, we were just heading out to shop. Suddenly , I felt great pain in my ankle and it was so pained I couldn't really walk. So instead of shopping, I went to see the TCM at Plaza Sing. Unfortunately my usual doctor wasn't there so I went to see a replacement doctor.  She said that it's post pregnancy related and that I had taken too much "cooling" things . I should have taken more of more things like ginger etc. It seemed to make sense as I was drinking a lot of cooling water and herbal tea the last two weeks due to late nights. So she wrapped my ankle with a medicine pack and sent me back with some oral medicine too.  However, after two weeks, the pain remains. So I went to the other TCM near my house for a second look. Her diagnosis is that I have had a sprain. So now I am doing acupuncture and she's also doing a medicine wrap as well. Let's hope things get better from here.  Healing tips thereafter : walk less, lift the legs up for better circ...

Since birth of Cayson, I've been falling sick almost every month. I even got a serious eye infection. It could be due to lack of sleep or a weakened body post the c-section. The ultimatum came in the form of a week long flu that started on first day of Chinese New Year, simply due to exposure to cold winds in my house on the eve. In that long dreary week, I basked in self pity - I could not carry baby due to fear of passing the virus.  I did not even have energy to break baby for a walk after dinner. I was so sick of being sick.  Then, I decided that something has to change. I got to take charge of my health because bad health means that one cannot enjoy anything in life, not even the company of your loved ones. And viruses can also spread to your family and kids too.  As such, I started reading extensively about what I can do to reinvent my diet and lifestyle, and also what I can do to improve the family's immunity using TCM principles overlay with western n...

Cayen has been having this nasty phlegmy cough on and off for the last few months. After trying a lot of western cough medicine in vain and also a failed attempt at paediatric massage, I decided to bring him to a Eu Yan Seng clinic that has paediatric services. After taking the medicine for two weeks and abstaining from a list of things that cause phlegm: - all fruits especially the kiwi that we have been feeding him (apparently the only acceptable fruits are the cooked ones.. Sounds yucky)  - eggs - chicken  - chocolate - biscuit - fried stuff  - bird nest  He recovered.  So we decided to stop going.  And since he has stopped coughing for a few days, we let him eat some fruits again . Unfortunately it triggered the coughing again. So I think we needed another course of medicine and so we had to go back again.  By now, he's so used to the taste of the medicine that a simple gummy bribe will suffice. And he can take the entire...

Cayen has had a persistent cough and phlegm for very long. Despite taking around 2-3 bottles of the western medicine, it didn't get better. And at night  during that period, he kept asking for extra serving of milk , which only made the phlegm worse, as he sometimes may puke the next morning.  So last month, we stopped all extra milk servings and Western medicine and switched to simply drinking pear and Chuan Bei soup every other day. The cough actually subsided to a big extent and he was no longer coughing so often. But the phelgm remains as we could hear from the occasional cough.  As such, we decided to bring him to this Chinese Tuina (massage) for kids that was supposed to be very effective. First, we took a number to see a Chinese physician and she advised against eating "cooling foods" like oranges, watermelon and mango. No bird nest too. Then massage was prescribed for three days.  Unfortunately, what we didn't expect was that Cayen was completely adverse to a...