Happy days are here again :)

In my last post, I wrote about spending an anxious Hari Raya. But I'm very happy to share with you that it's all over - Happy days are here again! To recap, a few days before Raya, Arif had a routine cranial ultrasound and the doctors believed that saw a subdural effusion (collection of liquid) on the outer layers of his brain. Since learning that my 3-month old preemie baby could possibly have hydrocephalus or worse meningitis, I became numb and just went through the motions on autopilot.

On the 3rd day of Hari Raya, we brought him back to the   hospital, where Arif and I spent the night. Beginning 4.00 am the next day, I was meant to stop feeding him to prepare him for his MRI scan at 8.00 am. However, since I was breastfeeding and Arif often feeds a little at a time, I wasn't prepared to let my son cry bloody murder from hunger. I chose to ignore the doctor's orders and followed my gut instinct. I fed him for as much as I could until about 15 minutes before the MRI. 

Seeing him go through the entire MRI process was rather unnerving. I fought back tears as my son was loaded into this scary-looking machine. The scan took about an hour, but the wait afterwards was just the worse. My husband had to go home as he wasn't feeling so well, so I waited alone for the doctors to come and tell me the results. I didn't hear a word until about 5.45 pm, when the doctors did their evening rounds. I could hear them discussing my son's case on the other side of the curtain, and waited in agony. I wasn't sure if the results were back yet and quite possibly I would have to spend another night at the hospital agonising over what could be.

Finally, the senior doctor pulled back the curtain and asked if I've heard the results. I said, "No." She smiled and said everything is fine with Arif, the MRI didn't find anything wring with him at all. I was so relieved and happy, but at the time I was mostly in shock.

The senior doctor was very kind and she said she understands exactly how I feel. She instructed the other doctors to discharge Arif right away so that we could go home. She seemed disappointed that I had to wait so long for the MRI results, she looked around at the other doctors in disapproval and lectured them for a bit. Anyway, that evening we went home and that weekend we took Arif out :) I am so happy that my son is well. This is the beginning of wonderful times ahead for my family.

PS: The MRI did confirm that Arif has a cyst in his brain, which is a scar left behind by the Grade II intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) that he suffered at birth. However, this is nothing to worry about, according to the doctors, as the bleed has healed. Usually, Grade II IVHs don't cause long-term effects to a baby's development.