Wednesday, August 25, 2010
OMG!
So my Princess has a way of making a day that would otherwise have been a downer for me a priceless and precious memory. Tonight, whilst standing and holding onto our lounge my super princess took 3-4 steps away from it all on her own!!! Obviously showing no effects from her bumpy start to life!
1 year ago
our precious baby girl was sick, very sick and right about now i was going through the most painful and scary procedure of my life. I thought today would be easier memory wise than the first one obviously not...it is so clear in my memory watching that CTG machine and being scared out of my mind. I have since learnt that the waves i was so fixated on watching and that were causing such a stir were considered sinusoidal - not a good sign at all. Thankfully they believed it was jstu a side effect of her drugs. Even though all worked out ok, i still get a tear when i think about it all. It was such a long night, each and everytime the midwife came in i was wondering if this would be the moment they would call for an emergency C/S? Would Allan get there in time? Would he find someone to baby sit? Would our teeny Princess be ok? Thankfully it is nothing ore than a memory but these memories take time to process and to move on from. I dont dare say anything about it on to some friends because you know...i should build a bridge
But my Princess is always up for cuddles and snuggles and today i am making the most of it.
But my Princess is always up for cuddles and snuggles and today i am making the most of it.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
6 month photos
Just a couple of Riley's 6 month photos. The light was horrible so i need to take some more this weekend - no one will ever know she was slightly over 6 months!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Happy Half Birthday
I really can not believe that 6 months has passed by already. It feels like it has gone really quickly in many ways but in other ways it feels like it has been much longer. I am sure that sounds bad but i am hoping at least some people understand what i mean by that.
We couldn't let the half birthday milestone pass without photos and a little celebration for our tiny Princess. It was Rileys first taste of cake and yep she has her Mummys taste buds and loved it, especially the ganache LOL
Riley is doing really really well, i would safely say she is doing pretty much everything she should be doing at 6 months - rather than the 4 months corrected that she is. She is growing well and brings smiles to everyone every day...so we must be doing something right ;-)
We couldn't let the half birthday milestone pass without photos and a little celebration for our tiny Princess. It was Rileys first taste of cake and yep she has her Mummys taste buds and loved it, especially the ganache LOL
Riley is doing really really well, i would safely say she is doing pretty much everything she should be doing at 6 months - rather than the 4 months corrected that she is. She is growing well and brings smiles to everyone every day...so we must be doing something right ;-)
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Another milestone reached
People dont quite understand the excitement when your baby reaches inane milestones. Well they arent inane to me, they are big to me!
Anyway, Riley has reached the 6kg mark!!! That is 3 times her lowest known weight of 2kg. It feels like it has taken forever to get to this point, the scales have edged closer and closer to that mark but never quite getting there. But today February 23/5.5 months, she done it. The scales ticked over to 6010g!
Anyway, Riley has reached the 6kg mark!!! That is 3 times her lowest known weight of 2kg. It feels like it has taken forever to get to this point, the scales have edged closer and closer to that mark but never quite getting there. But today February 23/5.5 months, she done it. The scales ticked over to 6010g!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
The day my heart sank
we got a phone call from our Dr in FMU today....man i have never been so nervous on the phone in my life.
He received a letter from the red cross, it was regarding the blood from Rileys first IUT. Mind you this IUT was in August! Anyway, he went on to tell me that the donors blood tested positive...my heart sank, as a parent i obviously went to all the really bad things that it could have been. Anyway, for some reason they failed to inform the Red Cross they had been to a malaria infected region and their blood tested positive for the antibody.
They retested the blood and it seems that it came up negative so they were saying it may have been from a past infection and the chance that it will have been transmitted were remote. He emphasized the remote part, saying that is the exact word that they had used.
Thankfully she has been well, no fevers or anything like that so it is highly unlikely that anything has been transmitted.
He is sending a copy to her paed so he can follow up in how he feels necessary. If she is going to have blood taken for anything else then throw in the malaria test but otherwise there is no point taking some blood...although as horrible as it sounds it would be nice for peace of mind.
But WOW!!! I am still a little shaky from the whole call and of course now i am going to be super paranoid of any temps she gets, no matter how little they are!
He received a letter from the red cross, it was regarding the blood from Rileys first IUT. Mind you this IUT was in August! Anyway, he went on to tell me that the donors blood tested positive...my heart sank, as a parent i obviously went to all the really bad things that it could have been. Anyway, for some reason they failed to inform the Red Cross they had been to a malaria infected region and their blood tested positive for the antibody.
They retested the blood and it seems that it came up negative so they were saying it may have been from a past infection and the chance that it will have been transmitted were remote. He emphasized the remote part, saying that is the exact word that they had used.
Thankfully she has been well, no fevers or anything like that so it is highly unlikely that anything has been transmitted.
He is sending a copy to her paed so he can follow up in how he feels necessary. If she is going to have blood taken for anything else then throw in the malaria test but otherwise there is no point taking some blood...although as horrible as it sounds it would be nice for peace of mind.
But WOW!!! I am still a little shaky from the whole call and of course now i am going to be super paranoid of any temps she gets, no matter how little they are!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Gestation - it is just a number
This is how i am feeling more and more each day. People seem to focus on the number so much that they fail to see the actual child that is the barer of that number. It seems that a baby born at 35 weeks surely isn't as sick as a baby born at 25 weeks. While that may be the case in a lot of scenarios it isn't always true and the baby that is born closer to term shouldn't be dismissed, nor should their fight be pushed aside as not as important.
Plenty of times i have heard that Riley was so close to being term, she was born at 33 weeks and honestly since when did 7 weeks early come so close to being term. That is 7 weeks she missed out on purely growing, she had to survive and do all the things that she wasn't meant to be doing. That 7 weeks puts her at risk of things that may not show up now but could very well show up in the future. Whilst we worry about all the germs and consciously stay away from places, other people don't have those worries. The likelihood of their little one ending up in hospital with a cold is quite low, for us it is a reality that we may just face this winter.
Apparently she wasn't premature enough to be considered a premmie, and people don't understand why on earth she would need steroids - she wasn't premmie she was just a bit early!
Big premmie babies don't get serious infections...this is something that bothers me as well. Why did they think and test Ethan for N.E.C if "big" babies don't get it? Why did they think Riley had sepsis if "big" babies don't get infections?
SO.....if she wasn't premmie then why did she need CPAP, why did she stop breathing right after birth and need some assistance to get her going again. Why did she not know how to feed, or maintain her temp? Why did she need to stay in hospital for 3 weeks?
I honestly do not think that people understand how hurtful it can be to parents, when you make them feel that their childs struggles aren't important. Each parent and each child suffers through different issues during their NICU journey. Sure, my child may not be as sick as someone elses but you know what, that is MY child. I can worry and be concerned about what i want and no one has the right to say that my worry isn't worthy.
So please be mindful of others when you make comments - their child may have only been in hospital for 2/3/4 weeks and not months but you know what that was hard for them, they still left without their child and they still had fears and concerns. Everyone needs to respect everyones history and understand that it is NEVER easy to leave your child, no matter what!
Plenty of times i have heard that Riley was so close to being term, she was born at 33 weeks and honestly since when did 7 weeks early come so close to being term. That is 7 weeks she missed out on purely growing, she had to survive and do all the things that she wasn't meant to be doing. That 7 weeks puts her at risk of things that may not show up now but could very well show up in the future. Whilst we worry about all the germs and consciously stay away from places, other people don't have those worries. The likelihood of their little one ending up in hospital with a cold is quite low, for us it is a reality that we may just face this winter.
Apparently she wasn't premature enough to be considered a premmie, and people don't understand why on earth she would need steroids - she wasn't premmie she was just a bit early!
Big premmie babies don't get serious infections...this is something that bothers me as well. Why did they think and test Ethan for N.E.C if "big" babies don't get it? Why did they think Riley had sepsis if "big" babies don't get infections?
SO.....if she wasn't premmie then why did she need CPAP, why did she stop breathing right after birth and need some assistance to get her going again. Why did she not know how to feed, or maintain her temp? Why did she need to stay in hospital for 3 weeks?
I honestly do not think that people understand how hurtful it can be to parents, when you make them feel that their childs struggles aren't important. Each parent and each child suffers through different issues during their NICU journey. Sure, my child may not be as sick as someone elses but you know what, that is MY child. I can worry and be concerned about what i want and no one has the right to say that my worry isn't worthy.
So please be mindful of others when you make comments - their child may have only been in hospital for 2/3/4 weeks and not months but you know what that was hard for them, they still left without their child and they still had fears and concerns. Everyone needs to respect everyones history and understand that it is NEVER easy to leave your child, no matter what!
Saturday, January 2, 2010
5kg!
At 8 days shy of being 4 months old Riley has done it, she has tipped the scales at a whopping 5kg! It is well and truly over double her birth weight, i think it is roughly 2.2 times!
Of course, in true Riley fashion she is happy about it as well!
Of course, in true Riley fashion she is happy about it as well!
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