Not about Charlotte

I told you I could talk about something else!

I played two games of netball last night and lived to tell the tale. Not as fit as I used to be, but still better than I thought. At least I could still catch and throw.

Next goal: Triathlon on December 7. This is the third one in my New Year resolution to complete three tri's this year. Wish me luck!

Charlotte Update

Yes, my life DOES revolve around her at the moment. I promise to blog about the rest of my life sans baby at some stage, when I figure out what those bits are!

Random shots from the last week or so:

Charlotte's first walk around the Neonates ward. Cordless!

Shortly afterwards she had her first bath.

First photo taken when we came home, under her snazzy bassinet quilt, lovingly made my Sam's Mum (*). Stuffed creatures courtesy of Sam's sister. Her friend makes them. Weird but cool. :)

(*) Charlotte will call her 'Dinny'. Apparently Thomas, the eldest grandkid, couldn't say 'C's or 'G's when he was small. I think it's a corruption of Granny. We call Coke 'doke' for the same reason. Interesting that he could say the K but not the C...

Home

is where the BABY is!

********

Stayed three nights in a Mother's room at Welly hospital, being woken 3-4 hourly to feed. I slept the rest of the time mostly, as did Charlotte.

We came home yesterday afternoon to a clean and tidy house, and dinner provided. Thanks Ma and Sam!

Other than during Family Nap Time (tm), which is from 1 till 3pm, we would love to see anyone who wants to pop in for a visit. Be aware you have to make your own coffee as I am under orders to rest as much as possible. Nah - I'm just lazy actually :)

I am also planning to visit UHC on Wednesday morning, so don't come then.

It's good to be home. :)

The Verdict

Charlotte comes home...

When the feeding line comes out of her foot.

Which will happen when she is on full feeds.

Which will happen when she gets the hang of breastfeeding.

Which is harder than it seems.


And the lactation consultant is on leave this week. Typical.

Finding out today

I'm about to head into town for the 9am feed. There is a meeting today at 10-11ish between all the doctors and some of the nurses to decide what happens with certain babies today; Charlotte being one of them.

Basically, when she is up to full feeds (bottle or breast - whatever) she and I move to Hutt Hospital for a day or two, then home. YAY!!!

Unfortunately, time scale for that ranges from "five more days" (overheard from a doctor) to "by the end of the week" (from the boss nurse of Neonates - to me personally).

We shall see.

Who needs a cot...

... when you have Daddy?

Charlotte took 30ml yesterday and kept it down :)

Getting there slowly

Charlotte has now graduated from an incubator to a plastic cot. She still has a tube in her foot for top-up feeds, but the oral-gastric tube came out today. It wasn't supposed to come out till Monday, but it was starting to come out and Charlotte was having trouble getting a seal on the bottle with the tube in the way.

Today she had 30ml in a bottle, but only managed half of it before she got tired of sucking and fell asleep. She's still not quite got the hang of sucking for an extended period of time, poor wee mite.

We may start breastfeeding on Monday, if she can manage this sucking business anyway.

First Cuddles!

Charlotte is now a week old. She is off the ventilator and off the morphine. The chest drain is gone, and the dressing comes off the surgery site soon. The only tubes attached are the tube down her throat (for feeding and keeping the oesophagus open) and a canula in her foot (for nutrient feeds in addition to milk).


Today I got to cuddle her and I held her while the nurse gave her 5ml of breast milk through the tube (see photo). This is the first milk she has ever had in her tummy, as my attempts at feeding on her first day actually went into her lungs. Apparently reflux is a common problem with repairs such as Charlotte's, but she kept it all down.





Much as I hate pacifiers/dummies, Charlotte has one to suck on when feeding so that she associates sucking with a full tummy. This should help the transition to breastfeeding in about 4 days when the tube comes out. The hospital has lent us an electric pump for expressing at home, which is great because the hand operated one just doesn't cut it for 5-6 milking sessions a day, especially at 3am!


I am getting through a lot of reading right now. Like one book every 2 days. I fear I will never have so much free time ever again, so I'm making the most of it!