Wednesday, December 31, 2008

30th December 2008

Okay now I feel like the worst mother in the world today. This is the first time ever that I haven’t been in to see my little girl. I know it’s fine and the hospital don’t mind but I do. I feel really really bad.
I took my kids over to my sisters house today and they played ps2 and Xbox all day. It was good for Cassius as it felt like he was being included in something instead of just staying at home. By the time we got home and I cooked tea it was too late to go in. Plus with Cassius being sore I don’t like to leave him.
Tomorrow we are going to be in early afternoon so we can get a cuddle with her and give her lots of kisses.

Monday, December 29, 2008

29th December 2008

My girl weighs 1120gms today. She lost 40gms overnight. That’s okay though as they are still trying to get her feeds right. They have put the catheter back in to her distal stoma (1 of her holes in her gut) and are pumping her number 2’s back down there so it can come out her bottom. They are still trying to get her bowel moving properly and it is taking quite a while to get it right.
She had an x ray today so we are still waiting to see what the doctors say about her limbs and bones. She had an iv drip in her hand which looked very sore which is probably the reason why she was in a shitty mood. My daughter Nimeesha was replacing the steri gel by the wash basin. She pretty much knows where everything is in the place just like us. We have kinda become part of the furniture now. It is going to be really sad when we actually get to take our baby home. The neonatal unit has become our life and the nurses are like a second family to us.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

28th December 2008

Yay I finally got a cuddle today. Our baby is at 1160gms our little fatty. She was a bit smelly today so I gave her a bit of a sponge wash and put some vitamin k on her. While I was holding her I rubbed some alpha keri oil on her hands, arms and chest. She quite enjoyed that. The nurses said it’s good for us to do that so she can relax and it’s good for the parents and babies to bond. A couple of the nurses that haven’t seen her for a while came in to have a look at her. The couldn’t believe how much she has grown. People don’t understand where we have come from and just how little and fragile she was when she was born. If you pick up a normal ball point pen and look at that, that is exactly how small she was. We still have such a long road ahead of us and we are definitely not out of the danger zone with her. They are still sorting out her bowel and we have to make sure her heart is okay. There is also some concern noted about her having an x-ray due to short limbs. We will wait and see what the doctors say about that.

27th December 2008

We were hoping we would see our daughter a bit more today. Me, Antz and Nimeesha went in to the hospital. Nimeesha wanted to see where her big brother was. He had another x-ray to make sure the cast was on right and keeping his leg still. His cast went right up to his groin and it is bent at the knee. He was a bit sore last night so he had some codeine. We had to wait for the doctor to give us the okay to leave and sign a script for him. Nimeesha found the ps2 and ended up playing Dora, we went for a walk up to Newtown with Nimeesha and got us all some lunch and found the coin save shop. We got some Ben 10 colouring pencils and felts etc for Cassius and a Ben 10 toy as we know he is going to be so bored. He is a kid that is always outside on a bike or skateboard or with a rugby league ball. They told us he will be in a cast for about 12 weeks, so he will go back to school with it on.
We all took turns at seeing Trinity- Storm again and then we asked if we could take Cassius to see her. We found a little wheelchair and then took him up there. It wasn’t even visiting time for everyone only the parents but we were all allowed in. Cassius got sore so Mum and Nimeesha took him back to the kids ward and we stayed with baby a bit longer. We didn’t get her out for a hold because we weren’t sure when Cassius would be ready to go home. We said goodbye to baby and left the hospital with Cassius at about 5.30pm.

26th December 2008

Boxing day. Now I know why they call it boxing day. You have so many boxes from toys lying around your house!! We did a quick clean up of the house and shipped all the other kids off to Antz’s dad’s house so they could go to the beach. We picked up my mum and then headed off to Wellington Hospital with our son Cassius. Antz carried him into the A & E department and we pretty much saw the nurse straight away. Mum went up to see baby while me and Antz waited with Cass. I took Cass in for an x ray and Antz went up to see baby. Mum came back and then we went in to see the doctor. Yep it was broken. He had a spiral fracture in his tibia. My poor son!! The nurse who saw us said that her son had a broken leg for 3 days before she went and got it checked. She said because there isn’t much muscle or tissue around that part so it doesn’t swell so it’s really hard to tell. Anyway we got him up to get it plastered and Antz met us there. They gave him the gas to suck on so it wouldn’t hurt. They and to admit him for the night to keep an eye on him to make sure he wasn’t too sore and that it didn’t swell. Mum said she would stay in with him so that was good. He hadn’t eaten all day so we went and got him some good old McDonalds for dinner which he had 1 bite out of his burger and that was him. We went and saw our daughter again before we left and said Mum will come and visit her before she goes to bed outside of normal visiting hours, they let us do that which was nice.

25th December 2008

Christmas Day, what a bloody headache!! Our day started at 7am, the boys were awake first and we had to wake Nimeesha the little princess up. You could hear the boys when they went downstairs trying to be quiet but we could hear them. Once we got up the kids started to open their presents. It took them forever to go through their stocking so we told them to ditch it and open their presents. They got so much I don’t even know where to begin. We were thinking of opening up our own toy store. They got presents from heaps of people and
we want to thank everybody who has helped us out with gifts, money, babysitting and everything else I can’t even mention. It means so much to us, we still have a long road ahead of us and we thank everybody.
By the time we did our rounds and got into the hospital it was about 4pm. We took our kids in with us and they were quite happy to help their little sister open up her presents. The neonatal unit gave all of the babies a stocking with a Christmas duvet and a little teddy bear and lollies. We get to eat the lollies of course. She has got quite a big collection of gifts now I don’t know where I am going to keep everything.
I had a very nice cuddle with her today after our visitors had left. Her papa Nooroa and her big brother Nooroa, big sister Elaine, cousins Alisha and Shanice all visited today. The girls got told off because they opened up her doors and were touching her. Her papa and myself had already told them not to but they didn’t listen.
After we finished in town we went back to Antz’s nanas house for another feed. The kids did their normal play outside on the front lawn with the rugby league ball. They were playing for about half an hour when Cassius and his brother Devante fell on the ground. Cassius screamed straight away that his leg was broken. Everybody laughed at him except for me. We ended up bringing him home where one of our friends had a look at his leg. We iced it and gave him some pain relief and kept it elevated on the pillow. By this time it was about 9 or 10pm, she said to us if we were concerned to take him to Wellington but if it was broken they couldn’t do anything until tomorrow. So we put him to bed with some pain relief and waited to see how he was in the morning.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

24th December 2008

Christmas Eve!! Oh my gosh the shops are absolutely madness! We dropped the kids off at their grandparents in Tawa, we had to do a little bit of shopping as we haven’t had time. We went to Johnsonville which wasn’t as busy as Porirua. After Jville we went into town to look around the shops and have some lunch. We managed to come across a walking stick which we brought for our good mate Adrian. He is having an operation soon so we thought it might come in handy.
Our daughter was playing up and making her machines go up and down when we got there. She seems to do it when we ignore her or talk about her to the nurses. Naughty girl.
When we left to pick our kids up at their grandparents they had just opened up some presents, they were very spoilt. I can’t even remember what they got. Our house was soon becoming a toy shop.

23rd December 2008

Baby was doing really well today. I didn’t have a hold as I was going to the dentist and didn’t want to miss the appointment. Her feeds at the moment are 3ml per hour over 3 hours, so that’s 9mls all together with 1 hour rest in between feeds. They are just monitoring how much is coming out into her stoma bag. She has got a catheter in one of the stoma holes to push her motions back down into her bowel so it will eventually come out her bottom. Sounds nice ay!! This needs to be monitored over the next few days.

22nd December 2008

Trinity had her 2nd eye test today. That was all normal for her age but she will be having more. Her eyes were rather sore so she didn’t open them up while we were there.
Her little friend baby Gracyn was making the move as we got there to the Hutt hospital. It was quite sad to see her leave as we have come to know her family quite well. It is good to find somebody that can relate to what we are going through, we will definitely be staying in touch with them.

21st December 2008

Well we took another cake in today. This was because she was 1100gm. We said we wouldn’t believe she got to 1kg until she hit 1100gm. Today she was exactly that. We made a chocolate cake with jam and cream in the middle and chocolate icing with raspberries and blueberries on top.
Aunty Freda and Uncle Steve came to visit today and they gave her a pink stocking which had an angel necklace inside. Very nice, she’s a spoilt little girl. They also gave her a pink porcelain plate and cup set.
Daddy had a hold today and both of them fell asleep on the chair. Very funny. But that’s what he normally does with his kids anyway when they are babies.

20th December 2008

Wow only 5 days until Christmas!! MMMMMM Christmas food!!
Today we took in a bag of fruit for the nurses, strawberries, cherries, apricots, bananas etc.
What a surprise we got when we got to the hospital. Our little girl is in a different room! She has been moved from Room B to Room C. She is in the big girls room now. It’s actually quite quiet and dark in that room. She does have quite a bit of space so it makes it better visiting when we have the kids in there. But it feels kinda out of the way and we can’t see who’s coming and going now. I think the nurses put us there because it’s the naughty corner!! They said we’ve been there for far too long.

19th December 2008

My baby girl is officially 7 weeks old (49 days) but if you go by the day she was born she is 7 weeks old tomorrow (Saturday).
Baby went over to the fluoroscopy department again today to have another contrast study done. Her bowels are still a bit blocked up so they are trying to figure out how to get everything out. We were hoping it all would’ve been fixed by now.
It was daddy’s turn for a cuddle today, just an ordinary one and not a kangaroo cuddle. He enjoyed holding her that way as well.
We took in a banana cake today (her official 1kg cake). The nurses are quick to rush off for a break when you mention there is cake in the staff room.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

18th December 2008

Trinity weighs 1010gms today, she lost 40gms from yesterday.
No cuddle for me today as it was Daddy’s turn. He held her in his arms instead of a kangaroo cuddle as well. She was opening her eyes and trying to look at us. Apparently she can make out shapes and light and dark, so she can’t quite focus properly on us.
I’ve been a good mummy today and expressing every 3 hours. I need to do this for the next 48 hours to bring my milk supply back up. I’ve just been in the can’t be bothered mode so I wasn’t keeping up with it. Now I’m paying for it because I don’t have much milk anymore. She is still stocked up in her freezer though so it’s not a big drama for the next couple of days. I have a massive tooth abscess. I went to the dentist at the hospital today. They have given me antibiotics which I have to take for the next 5 days. After they’ve finished I have to go back and get my tooth pulled out. I could have a root canal but I’m not going to bother. The tooth is dead so I’d rather it just be pulled. So I haven’t been getting much sleep and im not eating much, that’s not helping my milk and the stress of Christmas can all get a bit much when you have a baby in the neonates and no $ to get things for the other kids. That’s my moan for the day anyway. As long as my baby is doing okay that’s all that matters.

17th December 2008

Another cuddle for me today, this time it wasn’t a kangaroo cuddle, I just held her in my arms. This was quite nice because I could look at her face and talk to her, oh and I got to kiss her. Near the end of my cuddle I had noticed that her feeding tube had come out, the little monkey has worked out how to get it out of her mouth.
She weighed 1050gms today, still keeping above 1kg.

16th December 2008

My little girl is doing exceptionally well. I had my first cuddle with her today since her operation. She is so snuggly and is more awake when we get her out.
They took the drip out of her arm today. It looked quite sore so I’m glad it’s out. They also took out her arterial line from her foot. This is good in a way, but it just means that they have to keep doing heel pricks if they want blood from her.
She is still sitting over 1000gms so I guess a cake will need to be made for the nurses.

Monday, December 15, 2008

15th December 2008

Her weight today was still the same, 1000gms. She had her eye test this morning so her eyes were a bit sore. The test needs to be repeated in a couple of weeks, the eyes were okay, nothing unusual for a prem baby.
She was back onto cpap today which she is tolerating really well. She is back on feeds again, which she is having 3ml continuously over 3 hours, then 1 hour rest then feed again. This is to get her tummy used to having food again.
Her morphine is completely turned off, so she is handling the pain really really well. The big thing I noticed was that she was on her back and she had been for 2 hours. Before the operation she used to hate being on her back, this is a big improvement for her.
The surgeon has done an excellent job and I can’t thank her and her team enough for what they have done for my little girl.

14th December 2008

Trinity-Storm lost 40gms today making her an even 1000gms, still doesn’t count towards a cake though!! Her morphine was down even more today to 0.10ml instead of 0.20ml. They need to get it down so that she can be extubate back onto cpap again. If all goes well she will be back on cpap some time tomorrow. She is also due for her eye test tomorrow.
We took all the kids in for a visit today but we took them to Te Papa Tongarewa first to see the colossal squid. Here we were thinking it was a giant squid but there is a difference between the 2. The giant squid is longer, the colossal is heavier. The size of the eye ball was bigger than baby!
She didn’t open her eyes as much today she kept putting her hand over her eye, basically telling us to get out. Typical, she is going to be worse than her big sister Nimeesha.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

13th December 2008

Wow what a great day today. My daughter sure is a trooper. She looked great, she was a fantastic colour, she was very alert and could hear us. Her morphine has been turned down and she is tolerating the pain really really well. She has been lying on her back all day, which is great because she used to hate it. Her breathing has improved from what we can see. Her chest isn’t going fast anymore it’s just going up and down nice and slow, which to us seems like she can breathe better. The biggest thing for us today was when she opened her eyes. This is the first time she has opened her eyes and looked around. She had them open for about 15 minutes. Normally she would just open them a little bit and then close them again, today she had them fully open and was looking everywhere.
Her weight today was 1040gms, now this doesn’t actually count because that’s an increase of 140gms overnight. So sorry nurses no cake for you just yet!! There is bound to be an increase in weight over the next few days because she is going to get all swollen again from her surgery. At least this time we are a bit more prepared for it.

12th December 2008

What a great night last night’s prize giving was. There were a few special guests there, like the chairman of New Zealand Rugby League Ray Haffenden, Melbourne Storm Coach Craig Bellamy and a few life members of NZRL, however the most important guest of all was “THE RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD CUP” Who would’ve ever guessed that poor old Wellington Rugby League would get to have that at their prize giving. Anyway enough bragging.
My little girl had her surgery today. By the time she got over to theatre it was just after 2pm. Antz met her surgeon Toni Wilson, I’d already met her. We discovered she was a rugby league supporter so we knew she was in excellent hands. We were told it would take about 3 or more hours so we went down to Courtenay Central had lunch and then looked around the shops in town. At around 4pm we decided we should go back, then my cellphone rang, I did a bit of a panic, it was her surgeon and they had finished and she was back on the ward already. She
looked quite alert and was moving around when we talked to her. She has a drain in her chest to drain any excess blood or fluid that may be around the area they operated on. The cut is very small so the scar will be very minimal when she gets older. It will be interesting to see how much of an improvement she makes after the surgery has worn off.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

11th December 2008

Well I forgot to check my daughter’s weight today, woopsy bad mother, don’t tell CYFS on me… I managed to get a cuddle in which was for a couple of hours so that was nice. I talked to the surgeon, Toni, and signed the consent form. Baby will have her surgery some time in the afternoon so hopefully we might get another quick cuddle in. There are a few risks involved with the surgery but we just need to be hopeful. From talking to other parents that have had the same thing done with their baby, it has all been positive and the baby makes a drastic improvement, so that’s something to look forward to. The surgery is going to take about 4 hours, so we are in for a very very long day tomorrow. We are going to try and get a cake baked tonight to keep all the nurses happy. Our cakes have become a bit famous in the unit. Oh and they did say that once she hits 1kg that will be 5 cakes. Now I don’t know about that, that might be pushing it a bit. We will try.
No visit for Daddy tonight though as we are going to Wellington Rugby League prize giving at the Petone workingman’s club. MMMM fooooodddd!! Well it will be good to get out and socialise with some other adults for once. The nurses at the neonates don’t count as adults, just joking guys!! Corinne was going to tape up my mouth today as she said I’m a naughty mother!! Hahahaha watch out parents, she’s really the naughty one.
I will let you all know how her surgery goes but if I don’t get a chance to post on the blog, be patient and I will try and get it done on Saturday or Sunday.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

10th December 2008

My big girl is now 910gms - nearly at 1kg!! I think it might take a little while to get there because of her surgery.
When we arrived to see her today, Gracyn’s mum (Ang) had put some photos that she had taken of Trinity and Antz with tinsel around them. Thanks Ang, the photos are awesome. It makes it all seem a little bit more like Christmas.
Daddy got a cuddle today, hopefully I get 1 in tomorrow because of her surgery Friday we won’t get one for a while.
I’ve run into a few people over the week and they all ask me if baby is home yet, well I kinda get annoyed with the question and I want to ask them if they are stupid!! I know they don’t understand how little and fragile she is. We may be there for 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, who knows!! We won’t know how long until we get there. She is the only one that is going to determine the length of time. Because she is smaller than most babies born that early (nearly half the size) she is going to take a bit longer to do things. But she is a fighter so we will get there one day.
If I don’t update the blog it’s because I am limited for time so please be patient.

9th December 2008

My bubba girl weighed 880gms today - a big weight gain of 50gms.
No cuddles for me again today, well I wasn’t going to be there for long enough. I’ve been trying to sort out our travel allowance from the ministry of health - what a fricken nightmare. It will be Easter by the time they sort it out.
I met the surgeon today that will be doing her operation - what a lovely lady. She said that baby will most likely go over to theatre to have it done and not in the neonates. It will be done on Friday but we don’t know what time. I have to meet her on Thursday morning to go over what will happen and give my consent.

8th December 2008

Baby weighed 830gms today - same as yesterday.
She was rather unsettled today as she had her echo scan done which took a long time, after that she had physic and a heel prick to check her bloods, so as you can imagine she wasn’t a happy chappy.
As she was unsettled and having a lot of things done I didn’t get to have a cuddle with her. I was kinda upset as well because she had a nurse that has never worked with her before and I was trying to tell her what she liked and what she didn’t like but I’m just a mum so I know nothing apparently! I wasn’t even allowed to touch her so I just left and went home rather annoyed.
When Daddy went in he was rather annoyed too until “Uncle Darcy” turned up and sorted everything out and made us all feel happy again.

7th December 2008

830gms today - gain of 10gms.
Trinity-Storm had a big cuddle with Daddy today - it was about 2 - 3 hours!! So I sat in the corner with my laptop trying to sort out all of her photos to print out.
The kids were all with Adrian and Brenda at the beach so we weren’t in a hurry to leave and get back home.
Baby was going to have her formal echo scan for her heart done tomorrow so I was going to try and get in there for that. It’s a bit hard when you can’t get exact times for things.
When we left we met up with Adrian, Brenda and the kids at the lagoon. We decided we would go there and use the free bbq’s instead of our own. While we were there we ran into Antz’s cousin Doug and his wife Selina. As they are both doctors we didn’t have to explain all of the medical terms to them.

6th November 2008

820gms today - weight gain of 60gms.
Baby looked well today - we didn’t have a cuddle tonight because we had to get back for Christmas in the park. We couldn’t miss the carols and fireworks otherwise the kids will never forgive us.
Miss Nimeesha came with us for a visit - her brothers were with their cousin JJ for his birthday. She did her usual when we got there, run around like she owned the place, following one of the nurses around asking what she was writing, what was that medicine for, what’s that baby’s name, who is that milk for, blah blah blah…
She’s going to know just about as much as us when we finally leave the place.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

5th December 2008

760gms today -weight loss of 50gms. Baby was having physic done when we arrived so she was desaturating and complaining about being touched. Some of her weight loss could hopefully be the fluid from her lungs.
My milk supply is starting to diminish. I better go and see the lactation consultant and ask if I can get some medication to boost it back up. I know I don’t express as often as I should, it’s really hard to try and do it every few hours when I’m in and out all of the time.
The cardiographer was supposed to do another echo scan of baby’s heart but he didn’t come. He needs to check the PDA duct and assess for surgery. But it’s more than likely she will have it done.

4th December 2008

I had another cuddle today - I’m starting to get the hang of these and so is she. They are rather relaxing and she settles down quite quickly and gets herself comfortable. I must admit I’ve nearly fallen asleep a few times!
Today she weighs 810gms so still the same as yesterday. I was told today that she has a bit of fluid or water in her lungs. She has been started on some medication to try and flush this out.
Because of the open duct in her heart it can restrict quite a lot of things which is probably causing her lung problem.

3rd December 2008

Baby had an echo scan done for her heart today. It showed her PDA duct was still open. She will need an operation to tie it up and close it. This is apparently quite common for premature babies and is a routine operation. They may be able to do the operation in the neonatal unit as it’s less hassle and easier for baby.
I had another cuddle with my girl today. Daddy didn’t have a shower (POO!!) after work so he didn’t want to make her smell him. Hahahaha more cuddles for me.

2nd December 2008

Day 32 already - time has gone quickly although it seems like we’ve been at the neonates forever.
Baby weighs 850gms today - weight gain of 40gms.
I didn’t get to have a cuddle with her today, I would have run out of time before I had to get the tamafreakies from school.
She is doing well today and just needs to keep sleeping so she can grow and come home.

1st December 2008

Well we are finally into our Christmas month and I haven’t even thought about shopping for the kids. We seem to run out of time to do a lot of things lately, including updating her journal. People we have run into don’t want to ask how baby is because they think something has happened to her. We hardly get a spare 5 minutes to ourselves. I’m at the hospital during the day and Antz is going in after work. So as you can tell our time is very strained and I will be glad when the holidays begin so I don’t have to fit in visits around school hours.
Anyway my daughter has reached 800gms today - my little chubba girl!!
I visited her today on my own and I got another cuddle, yay for Mummy. Daddy and big sister Nimeesha visited after work and big sister got to hold up the syringe for her feed. She talked about it non-stop when she got home.

30th November 2008

Yay today we got to have a sleep in for once. We went in to see baby in the afternoon after dropping the kids off at Kilbirnie pool with Rachel and Julia.
No cuddles with baby today. She is growing heaps and looks really well at the moment. She is a nice healthy colour. We are out of the so called danger zone now as we have reached 1 month old. Well there are always things that can happen and it’s good to get this far with only minor set backs.

29th November 2008

Another good visit today. Daddy got a cuddle this time. Baby kept slipping down his chest. Well he doesn’t have any bumps for baby to nest into.
Antz’s aunty from Rotorua was down visiting so we took her in to meet baby.
Today is my son Devante’s birthday. He is 11 years old today. It is also my nephew Jacob’s birthday and he is 14. Tomorrow is my nephew Noah’s 5th birthday, but today was his birthday party. Nimeesha stayed at his house last night and Devante ditched us this morning and went with Caleb and Ethan. Cassius did his usual and went to flag and then went off to waka ama.
I felt sorry for my son because I haven’t had time to go and get his birthday present. He was supposed to go to his dad’s for the weekend but he is in the Hutt hospital having an operation. I’ll just wait and see what he gets from everybody else and then get him something. He didn’t completely miss out though because they lit 1 of the cakes for him and Jacob when they were at Noah’s birthday.

28th November 2008

Wow what a great visit we had today. I got my very first cuddle today. It’s what they call a kangaroo cuddle. You hold baby on your skin so they can feel your warmth and they get used to your smells etc. I almost cried I was so happy. She was so tiny that you could hardly see her. She was so cute though, she could smell my milk so her little mouth as sucking away. I got to hold her for about 1 and a half hours. I didn’t want to put her back in.
Her feeds are slowly going up, they are going up by 1ml every 12 hours. She’s going to be a little fatty in no time.
Oh and we heard her cry properly for the first time. It was so cute. The nurse said she is
rather loud for her size. Gee I wonder who she takes after.
Apparently her and Gracie are the noisiest in the room. Won’t be
long and they’ll be wanting to kick her across the hall to the
other rooms.

27th November 2008

My little girl is tolerating CPAP quite well. She was a bit unsettled today though so Corinne has put her back onto morphine. Her nana and GanGan are visiting her today. We have told everybody that if they want to see her they have to check with us first. The nurses will turn people away unless we say it’s okay. We can’t have too many visitors at once and we need her visits spread out. People have to realise she gets very tired and she’s not a little dolly for them to play with. We need her to grow and for her to grow she needs sleep. So don’t be offended if we turn you away.

26th November 2008

Today was a good day. Baby weighed 760gm. I made sure I got in there nice and early so I could spend a lot of time with her.
She came off the ventilator today and went onto CPAP!! It was quite good to watch it, I thought it would be scary but it wasn’t. She coped really well with the whole thing and seemed to settle down quite quickly.
She looked like such a big girl now. Hopefully it won’t be long and we can have a cuddle with her.