Happy Family!

I've not been bloggin as I've been living in the hospital with Alistair since the last blog. Life has been challenging as his flippin little tongue as loved the roof of his mouth but we are conquering that. Over the last week he has progressed leaps and bounds with movement and breast feeding which is awesome as that is keeping us from getting home. But that last 3 days he has made incredible progress. We did step back a bit the last night and give him more rest at nights (and mom too! Oo these 2 hour stints of sleep give nice black circles under the eyes. how stunning is that. maybe i'll start a new trend!) Anyhow because of the rest he has picked up more during the days. Some times he likes to almost head butt my boob like when two wild rams go at it. Its actually quite comical. I have to continue to see things from this perspective or you go insane. Or i do anyhow. So yep today he started off with a record feed of 78ml and then the next was 58ml...Yippee for that. ...Jason came down last night after a nice trip to Cape Breton to see his sister get married. Or more like it work his butt off to help his sister get married. (He loved every minute of it by the sounds of it!) Anyhow for the first time ever Alistair and mom and dad all got to sleep in the same room together as the rooms have a double bed. So nice! Its wonderful having J here just to put his arm around me and hold Alistair in the middle of the night, change his diaper, or just chat to his wife. Flip I can't imagaine being a single mom going thru all of this.... Anyhow it looks like 2 more weeks to me is my guesstamit on the whole thing before we can head home. jason has about a months worth of work down here so we'll likely stay down here for a month after discharge as he'll start the work around then. It'll be nice as then I'll continue to be close to a pediatrician if need be who is familiar with him. I Just asked Dr Earl to take his care and he was willing which is wonderful as he's so family orientated with a lovely bedside manner. Just what this mama needs at the moment....Sandra you asked about nicknames well it seems that MacAlistair has stuck here and there with Grandma hedges and several nurses. It just comes up out of the blue. I just call him Mr Milkface or Little Man But warning no AL or Jason will let you know promptely this is not going to fly! Mind you I'm not keen on Al either!....O yes and I call him my little parasite as this kid has sucked all the fat off me. I'm now down to 175lbs which is pretty much my preprego weight. Apart from not having fries and focusing on healthy choices I havent really tried too too hard. The odd weight lifting and sit up but no intense regime. So that is a nice little treat for this mama. ...Well I had better head out back to the hosptial. Jason and I just popped back to the farm for a little break. K cheers Peps!

Transition

More big changes and developments today! First of all we got moved out of NICU to the Pediatrics Unit. I thought the rooms in the NICU were phenomenol well heck you should check out the Peds Unit here in PG! Its like a mini Hilton. The rooms are twice as large as those in the NICU. They have a double bed, personal bath and shower, closet, t.v. with a selection of movies and cartoons, sink for bathing, and a crib twice the size with iridescent lights constantly changing color above it! Plus there is a window twice the size letting in some natural light to keep me sane. All I can say is its absolutely amazing. I'll have to take some pictures tomorrow and post them up so you get a better idea. How wonderful for any family that is there long term. What a way to stay sane....Its funny the transition up to Peds is wonderful for my brain and they are definitely more focused on the reality of transitioning to life outside of the institution. Things are not quite as cookie cutter as the NICU but I'd have to say thats what a NICU needs to be. I'm looking forward to bunking in there tomorrow........The other big news is Alistair took FOUR consecutive and substantial feeds today plus had a bath. It totally blew me away as he usually can only handle one substantial feed and then takes a break or a mini feed. We've only had two substantial feeds in one day so this is big big big. I don't know if moms stress level yesterday kicked him into gear or the fact they took him off the caloric supplement they were adding to his feeds, or perhaps he was just ready for the next step. Anyhow whatever the case he's made this mama a happy camper. I'm actually on a high because of it! Bonus for me.....The blue platupus in the picture was given to Alistair by the peds unit when we arrived. Kinda cute hey!

Too many opinions!

I had a bit of a melt down in the NICU today. I came in after a good nights sleep and gave Alistair a good breast feed of 49ml. Well then the nurse came in talking about topping up with bottle feeding. Everyone has been hinting at bottle feeding. Today the nurse, then the OT, then the lactation consultant all gave me their opinion and advice on the topic still ultimately giving me the choice. But when everyone starts talking about it you start to get swayed. All this didn't just start today either its been for days. So we topped up with the bottle and he took another 50ml in miniutes....literally. That bothered me as if its that easy to feed by bottle why would he put the energy into breast feeding. Anyhow I started to realize I was going away from what I really wanted and I finally told everyone to "back off" and had a little melt down. Anyhow everyone got the hint and it is now charted not to bring that up with Julie again LOL! Sometimes this mama has to put her foot down.....So ya if I bottle fed he'd defintiely get home sooner. So why not you ask? Well with him having one half assed lung I feel if I can breast feed through the winter months he'll gain immunity that formula wouldn't and possibly prevent him from getting some nasty lung infection. Its not that I'm a hippi breast feeding chickypoo its that I passionately believe he'll have a healthier winter in the long run if mama sticks to her guns. Plus whats 2 more weeks or so in the hospital at this stage in the game? I also have no interest in having to pump avery 4 hours for 20 minutes and then bottle feed him throughout the whole winter. I just want to stick him on and be down with it!....Anyhoo this whole experience will make me a lot more empathetic with patients when I'm back nursing. Its flippin FRUSTURATING getting all these opinions. No one actually thought of starting with mine and developing a plan around that! Interesting.....Ok I know its back to the boob topic. Oops sorry pepes but I guess thats where my brain is at these days. I probably think about boobs more in 24 hours than the average man now... Bizzare!.....So apart from all that life is hunkydorry. I've had tons of visitors again which is truly great. Lots of ooooing and awing. Plus lovely little gifts ranging from sweet little outfits to homemade cards and scrummy chicken salads. So cheers people you all keep me sane within my insanity.....K heding to bed soon Cheers Julie

Visitors!

Yep today was family visitor day! My brother George drove out from Edmonton for the weekend and hung out with us in the room for 3 or so hours AND brought food! : ) Then my cousin's wife Donna and two of her kids came by, as well as my cousin Jaclyn and her husband Daine. So I really had the opportunity to show off my little man. Kinda fun and surreal to be showing off Mr Milkface to all my family. Makes it seem all the more real to be closer to home. ....They stepped up his feeds now to every 4 hours. All the slow transition to get him to reality. So two out of the three feeds we had success. I have found I have to be quick on the draw or he totally wears himself out and gets very pissy! So mom is learning. We did have a great success though. He fed his max of 60ml today so we didn't even top him up with the machine. Whoop Whoop. Sorry just can't help but talk about the breast feeding....As for me the brain got feeling much better after I stayed home and had a bit of recoup. Yesterday morning mom and I were sitting out in the family room which has huge glass windows and the birds were going crazy outside with all the saskatoon berries. Well unfortunately they kept slamming into the windows which brought me back to when I was a kid as each time they hit I ran down stairs and found these poor little feather fellas. Then I'd run up and stick them up in the bird feeders to recoup. Fortunately two of the three got their marbels back and flew off in time. Yahoo for me!...O I had another scare yesterday. The OT has given me advice on massaging Alistair for stimulation and body awareness for Alistair due to his institutionalized life. So I massaged away with some lovely oil following a guide given by the OT. Then I stuck him in his little swing for a good while. Well when I took him out his whole right shoulder was severely bruised. I was like O SHYT he has a bleeding disorder now! Well when I stepped back and thought about it for a second. I grabbed a wash cloth and yep the ink from the silly chair had transferred to his skin due to the oil! O gaud! What a nut case I am! So yes he's all good.....Mom is feeling better. I just need to remember to CHILL OUT!....

Time to Recoup

Yep I finally decided to step back and stay at home over night and recoup. I suddenly realized how mentally and physcially drained I have become when I saw someone breastfeeding and started to well up with tears. Mmm yah break time. So tonight after a unsuccess breastfeeding attempt I headed home to stay overnight. I'm so thankfull that I have such a rejuvenating place to come home to. Mom had home made macarroni and chesse for me and then I headed out back for a walk with the dogs. Just the smell of cut grass alone does wonders for the brain.....Its amazing how the brain just gets working overtime. i realized that I had been extremely concerned with the recent desat (or low O2) levels that Alistair would go thru. Well today a nurse on the verge of retirement came him while Alistair was desating and said you sometimes have to push pretty hard on his cheeks but he's likely just sticking his tongue on the top of his mouth! YES his bloomin tongue! Well this mama had gone through pre and post lung issues in her head with the possibilty of lung spasms etc and it seems that it all had to do with his flippin tongue! Ooo what a relief that was. I think that just made my armour come off as I am constantly prepared for a critical issue to appear. Anyhoo hopefully and likely thats all that it was as as soon as she did that whoop up came the sats from 82% to 94% (thats really good)...Well I forgot to bring my battery charger with me today so no new pics. Its charging now so maybe tomorrow. ......Well I'm thinking of my sis in law whose prepping for her big wedding day this Sat in Cape Breton! Hopefully the weather cooperates with that silly hurricane coming in down south! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you Bonita! Cheers Julie

WARNING! You SICK no VISIT

Yeppers this is the protective mother writing! Just figured since we've headed North we may start to see more people for visitors which is great! HOWEVER, since Alistair's system is still quite vulerable and will be for some time I just want it to be very clear that I'd appreciate you not coming by if....your not feeling well, a bad cold or flu is going about in your family, or you haven't figured out that washing your hands is the best way for you and others to stay healthy! Plus when you do come to visit even if we are home by then I will ask you to wash your hands when you come over. I just want to give our little guy the best chance to strengthen his whole system before he has to start fighting off a bunch of bugs. I know its also inevitable that he will eventually get a cold or flu but for now I'd like to keep that from happening. So yep YOU SICK NO VISIT! I'm sure this seems obvious but I'd just like people to be aware that I am very serious about this and make sure its in peoples minds when they are considering coming over. The last thing Alistair's little lungs need is to deal with pneumonia or something! So thats my BIG WARNING. So don't take offense if I ask you to wash your hands or not smother him with a ton of kisses! Cuddles are allowed but you may get asked to put a gown on (at the hospital). K thanks for understanding people. .......As for Alistair he's doing great. He is back on a tad of O2 like 2ml as he just wants to desat a bit too much. That amount of O2 is really just a wiff. He's really getting into the breast feeding thing though about 50% of the time we're succeeding now which is a bonus all around. We're starting to do tummy time to try and strengthen his core muscles, hand stimulation exercises, and visual exercises. Its fun to see all the little changes. So back again tonight for a midnight feed......I got pretty spoiled today. Mom took me out for breakfast, my friend Becca took me out for lunch, and I came home and was served supper! Mmmm The pounds may not just keep falling off if I keep this up! Anyhow it was a great day all around. ......The picture above with Alistair and his funky ear phones is him getting a hearing test in which he PASSED. His first test ever! LOL...They are still going to redo it again in 9 months due to his congenital history but that was nice to have that pass. I didn't have any doubts but I've learned to not be surprised with anything.
K well better head back into town!
Cheers Julie

A Slower Day

Alistair was definitely a bit more exhausted today then yesterday. The nurses were thinking that I should pick up the feeds today and try to be present for most of them so if he's game I'm present. Well then he decided to kabosh that idea as after the first feed at 9am he refused to wake....So he is definitely the one in charge. I'm expected a better day tomorrow as it was so slow today. This was his pattern down south. The occupational therapist (OT) was by today too. Funny enough she had four kids lived on hammond ave where I did for the first 4 yrs of my life so she remembers us. Small world. Anyhow she seems very passionate about her work and has a ton of ideas to help Alistair progress especially in light of him being sedated and paralyzed for the first couple weeks of life and just being institutionalized. its amazing what kind of road blocks this can have on a kid. For example, one small basic issue is that he tends to always turn his head to the right which could in turn cause muscles to shorten on the oppostie side. He also tends to have strong extensor muscles in his back but very week abdominal muscles causing him not to perform certain actions. So through physio etc we can help him with this. Again some more interesting learning curves ....Jason headed back North this morning which was a total bummer. However, it's so much easier to say goodbye when you know he's only 5 hours away. It was fantastic having him about. Its amazing how these tough times can either pull you apart or incredibly close. Thankfully it has done the later for us. He is really so solid and is so obviously in love with his family. LOVE IT. Times like this really make you focus on what really matters in life...For those of you up North at the hospital...Becca and her mom came to visit today. She looks great and we're going to grab a lunch tomorrow. We were going to go pick berries together but its just too far out of town for a q3h feeding regime. Anyhoo as always shes just refreshing to have about.... Well I'm heading back in again tonight. So nighty nite!
Cheers Julie