My Life

Isolation is one thing am looking forward to winding up. After baby gal's surgery we were advised by the surgeon to keep Samara away from public places and interactions with many people for about 8 weeks. This is because despite the top of the scar having healed, the bone structure within takes about 8 weeks to heal and hence exposing her to public would mean catching things like flus which would strain her or her being carried by many people in different postures would not be too good for her healing. Think there is the theory and the practical. When we came back, it was exciting to tell people we were back but the next hurdle was to tell them that we would love them to meet baby gal but for her health and healing process, we have to keep her home for another 6 or so weeks. Quite hard it is/was. Anyways we had a scary experience because we arrived on Friday and maybe due to the travel , change of diet and weather, baby gal started running a fever on Saturday night and early Sund...

I was reading one of the blogs I follow and this mum just hit the nail on the head on how congenital heart defects or any disease for that matter affect your relationships. I couldn't help but agree with her on so many issues. You can read more as she shares her experience, struggles and victories on http://whenlifehandsyouabrokenheart.blogspot.com/2011/02/every-heart-has-story-blog-event.html . When I read what she has had to go through, I just tell God thank you for carrying us through what baby gal had. It was such great news and brought tears to our eyes when the surgeon told us, forget about heart issues, your girl will live a normal life. I have been asking myself is this what normal life means? To see the echo scan show the four chambers and though we didn't realise it, it feels so peaceful and have this joy within. Normal means not worrying much if she sweats alot or snores at night. Baby gal didn't even go through half what heart babies go through yet it was to...

This morning, am not sure what I was doing but baby girl unleashed two new words 'stop it'. I was so tickled and shocked because seems like she has just been absorbing all the words that she hears us speak and is now generously speaking them out. That calls for us to check our manners and words. Talking of which, I have been using public transport and I have noticed so much anger and frustration among drivers on the road. Only yesterday evening did i hear the driver of the car/matatu  I was in abuse another driver  'cow/ng'ombe' for almost hitting us. Then today, in a different bus, we just had the driver daring another man in a smaller vehicle to come out and fight. We were not all sure what had caused the drama but the other guy came out but this driver just abused him again same word 'cow/ng'ombe' and I wondered is that the new word in public transport?  New or not, I think people need to address their issues in a better way..imagine a child in that b...

This morning am thankful for the many milestones baby gal has achieved. She finally stopped breastfeeding and is inhaling a whole packet of milk per day. She has gone back to sleeping in her room throughout the night. She sits at the table  for breakfast on a raised chair and takes tea and dinner she sometimes insists of feeding herself. One thing am so glad about is that she is trying to make her sentences and her singing is getting stronger by the say and she amazes us. We are thankful to God for everything. I didn't know there was such peace and joy that one can feel inside. Thank you Lord.

Who ever tells a Kenyan how to run a business in Kenya? Did you know that you need to register your business name with City Council? Did you also know that you need a permit to run the business annually? Oh well thought we had totally complied until Nairobi City Council visited us and we were circulated for other requirements like every office needs to have a fire extinguisher..now the process of getting there is you go to city council pay then walk to Tom Mboya street to the fire brigade guys pick them or arrange for their transport to your office then they certify your office is safe etc etc..however am told there are some suppliers of the fire extinguishers who can do this on your behalf..as you can  tell I haven't complied yet. Kenya Revenue Authority, your company needs a PIN Number and while registering online ensure that you apply for VAT, if you have employees Pay As you Earn (PAYE) and NSSF and NHIF. Yeah doing business here really calls for us to be educated more. We s...

Today, exactly 1 month after the surgery on October 14th, we have so much to be thankful for. I thank God that baby girl is doing great, has been on her feet, feeding well, gaining weight and one can hardly know what she had to go through. Today, we also celebrate that baby girl has stopped breastfeeding and for the first time since we came back slept a whole night in her room. Before the surgery we had her on a routine and she had moved to her real bed and was excited about it. After the surgery, there was need for reassurance and she woke up endless times at night while in hospital , just to make sure we were there and she started breastfeeding almost through out the night. When we returned she toned down on the breastfeeding and would wake up once during the night. This was very frustrating to me because it took us many steps behind but today she seems to be on her way to independence and am proud of her.Love you so much baby girl. Today, my beloved had to return to work after ...

Atrial septal defect (ASD), is a heart condition that can affect kids. Normal Heart Function To understand an ASD, it helps to know how the heart works. The heart has four chambers. The lower chambers of the heart are called the ventricles: a left ventricle and a right ventricle. The upper chambers are the atria and there are two— a left atrium and a right atrium. You may already know that your heart is a muscle that pumps blood throughout your body. In a person without a heart defect, blue blood that's low in oxygen flows first to the right atrium, then to the right ventricle, and is then pumped to the lungs to receive oxygen. The red oxygen-rich blood then returns to the left atrium, flows from there into the left ventricle, and heads out to the body through the aorta, a large blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the smaller blood vessels in the body. Between the right and left atria is a wall called the septum that...

We received our medical clearance letters from the airline allowing us to travel and I am so thrilled. I must say that once an airline knows you are travelling for medical reasons, they give you some form that needs to be filled and signed by the doctor then sent to their own doctor to clear the patient.This has to be done just one week before travel Infact I shed tears of joy because finally we could see the end. Truth is I didn't even blog after yesterday because we started packing and were doing the countdown to Thursday. I have missed home, it was great walking this journey together as a family but we look forward to healing better from home. I will share afew pictures with you of some friends we made while at the hospital.

Today is Alex’s turn to go tour the town and I baby sit samara. She is really acting up, I think she knows her dad aint here and am so worked up because I need to arrange transport for cargo to be picked yet the fone is not dialing neither sending smses. I am so mad and unfortunately with Sam acting up , I am also letting it out on her. I apologise and tell myself to relax. Its also raining heavily and I cant go to the shop that sold the line to us as they asked me to go. Anyways it stops I carry Sam there and she is heavy now at 9.6kg. They tell me it will be rectified by 2pm and am desperate anyone I ask for their fone has an excuse or state their fone has an issue. So I told my self there isn’t much I can do, so showered samara then she slept. Went down to meet wife of the Kenyan guy and its refreshing to talk to her..We come back to room and baby girl sleeps. The fone finally works and I make my necessary calls and am satisfied. Cant wait to ...

Today I left the hospital early and ventured into Chennai town. I must say, traffic here is crazy and everyone hoots and drives like crazy yet the cab guy told me  they have very   few accidents because of slow speed cars go because of high population. On the roads you have cars, motorbikes, tuk tuks , buses which have no windows and full to capacity, people hang like they used to in our buses sometimes back, and you may also get bikes.  We started with saravana and the cab guy was God sent becoz he went in with me and was able to translate for me when necessary. Think what was so frustrating was communication. I felt relived that we were done with errands and we then looked for KFC ..yes junk food but better than what we have been eating here at the hospital. We ate a chicken zinger burger with pepsi and I oreder take away fro Alex and Samara.  We headed back and believe me traffic was a lot and we got back at 6.30. I thanked...