Month: May 2009

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Thursday May 28th 2009

Eva received her first Australian passport today.  Of course she was very excited.  Andrew is already contemplating where in Europe we can fly to!

Eva has had a great day today with no crying before sleeps and eating all her chicken for the second day running.  It has been much more enjoyable today.  I think it is some success from the craniosacral therapy she has been having.

Also today we found out that Eva will start swimming next week.  She was on a waiting list for a specific hydrotherapy pool that is warm enough for her weight.  We have to catch a bus there which will just add to the adventure.  We are so pleased as Eva really loves water (as you can see in the bath video) and it will help with her development.  I can fill you in next week.

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Wednesday May 27th 2009

Eva had the last home visit from the Neonatal Community Team today. It really didn’t feel real.  Hilary visited us today and thought that Eva looked massive, in a good way of course.  Today’s weight was 4.72kg (10lb6oz), a 360g increase in 2 weeks.  This puts her just above the 2nd centile on the chart.  Eva is nearly 7 times her birth weight!  We were delighted with this as Eva hadn’t really been so keen on the chicken so I thought that she may not have replaced the calories and protein of the Infatrini.  

Now Eva can wean off of the night bottle of Infatrini.  We will start to reduce the volume from tonight and hope that she adjusts and still sleeps through.  Today was the second day she ate her chicken in full so a good day to start. Eva has been great at trying the new flavours of vegetables.  Today was spinach and peas which I eased in with some sweet potato.  Not so keen but still ate all in her  plate.  Now we can try other protein sources like lentils and white fish. I hope that she prefers the texture of those.  Also we can add some cheese to her vegetables for the protein and fats.

Eva’s teeth have really been bothering her for the past 3 days.  I can’t believe what a bad design teeth are.  Couldn’t God have planned it a little better?  As you can see in the photos Eva has a new very colourful toy, a Wozzit.  This has been a good distraction to the teeth pain.  Poor thing has just been the dribbling Queen.

Eva’s reflux has improved so much that she no longer needs Gaviscon after breast feeds but we will continue it with the bottle.  Of course she may have some bad days but it has just improved so much that she must feel better.  

We enjoyed  a surprise visit from Andrew’s Uncle Elwyn on Monday as he was in London for work for a few days.  Seeing as it was his birthday it was a great excuse for some baking.  We were delighted that Eva could meet another member of the family.  Auntie Ali (Andrew’s sister) arrives in 8 sleeps so that is very exciting.

Most importantly the weather is looking great for the next few days so Eva and I can get out and about in the sunshine (compared to today’s rain).  Also the weekend is looking great for our visit to Thame to see Jackie and Tony.

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Sunday May 24 2009

We have had two glorious days of sunshine and have made the most of it.  Today it got to 21 degrees!  As it is a long weekend we have hired a car and have been getting out and about.  Saturday we went to Cheddar to see Cheddar Gorge.  We climbed to the cliff top to have a look down into the gorge.  Sadly inside the gorge the tacky tourist attractions diminishes from it’s natural state.  Next stop was Wells to visit the beautiful St Andrew’s cathedral.  The building was just amazing and their was an orchestra and choir practicing for an evening concert which just set the scene.  

Today we visited Helen and Joel near Newport in Wales for lunch.  To our delight we had a BBQ, something Andrew wishes for often.  It was a smoky coal BBQ and the meat was delicious.  Andrew was even handed the tongs and turned the meat!  We even sat outdoors in the sunshine and got ourselves a little red.  It felt so warm that we had to retreat to the shade!  Eva enjoyed some time outside as well as being a very good girl and sleeping during our lunch.  Again it was lovely to have people say “Look how big she is!”.  Helen and Joel last saw Eva when she was 1kg and in an incubator.

We are off to see some more sights tomorrow.  Eva seems to be adaptable as long as she gets her food and can sleep on her Daddy’s chest in the sling so we are making the most of it.  Eva really is a conversation starter.  Andrew gets many smiles and questions when wearing Eva.

The rest of the week has just been normal.  Without the Community Team visiting it just passed like a normal week.  We went to Elim Tots playgroup on Tuesday and I had a cuddle of Hannah.  She is newborn and bigger than Eva.  I just couldn’t believe how big her fingers were compared to Eva.  Eva was off socialising with other babies so she didn’t get jealous.  We visited my manager from work who was delighted to have her afternoon interrupted with a cuddle from Eva.  

Exciting news from Australia this week was the birth of Felicity to Catherine and Glenn in Perth.  She weighed in healthily at 3.166kg.  Eva is bigger than a newborn now!  God bless Felicity.

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Friday May 15th 2009

Eva and I went to London today to apply for her passport.  It was quite a journey for just a 15 minute appointment with a very uninterested interviewer.  We went by train and returned by coach.  The train was good with Eva sleeping and feeding and lots of space.  The coach wasn’t so good as Eva was bored and not as interested in sleeping or feeding.  I think the other passengers were glad when we arrived especially when we were 30 minutes late.  Overall Eva was great and I was ever thankful for my sling which was where Eva safely traveled and slept today.  

Eva has enjoyed her chicken so far which is great.  I was delighted that on Thursday Eva took to her breast feed and chicken in place of her bottle of Infatrini and still had a good midday sleep.  Also more news is that Eva’s blood results for this week show that her metabolic bone disease has improved.  This means that the amount of Sodium Phosphate that Eva takes has halved.  The rest of the medications remain the same.  

Also on Thursday we had a very pleasant moment when in public someone commented “Look how big she is!”.  That someone was Iona a nurse from SCBU who was pleased to see Eva looking so well. Usually when we are out all we hear is “She’s so small”.  With her alertness and head control she is so out of character for her size so people always comment.  It was such a proud moment to think that she is big and growing.  

Eva went to her first playgroup on Thursday.  It is called Elim Tots and is at our church.  There were about 30 other children there mostly toddler/preschool.  Eva sat and looked around with only a few wimpers.  Of course it’s not really for playing but for socialising for both of us.  We want Eva to learn about other babies and children.  We’ll try again next week.

A bit of a soundtrack in the house this week has been the song Wires by British band Athlete.  We have just discovered that it is written about the lead singer whose baby was in NICU.  Listening to it has made us feel a little sad but helped us to reflect.  Eva has still spent longer in hospital than at home although it feels like she has been home so long.  One of the saddest part of the songs is about spending that first night of your life on your own.  We are both sad that Eva was alone. The song also says  “looking at you now you would never know”, which we just pray is the case for our precious little girl.

We look forward to Saturday with a visit from Kristina from Adelaide who is very excited about meeting Eva in person.  We plan a quiet day tomorrow as Eva catches up from her busy day today.

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Wednesday May 13th 2009

Today Eva had a visit from the Community Team, Hilary and our Health Visitor, Astrid.  This is the beginning of the process of the Community Team handing us over to the local health clinic.  The Health Visitor is a nurse who follows a child from day 10 of their life until they go to school.  Astrid did come and meet Eva in hospital and has been in regular contact since but hasn’t really needed to be involved.  In two weeks the Community Team will come and weigh Eva again and that will be their last visit.   Two weeks after that will be a visit from Astrid.  From then on we will weigh as Eva needs at the local clinic.  Astrid also encouraged me to attend a local children’s group.  

Eva’s weight today is 4.36kg (9lb 9oz).  Another gentle gain (120g) for a consolidating week.  Hilary spoke with the Dietician and the following plan has been decided.  Eva will drop one bottle of Infatrini per day and replace it with a breast feed and a meal including protein.  Hopefully this protein, in the form of chicken to begin with, will replace the protein in Infatrini and help Eva to keep going.  The other nighttime bottle of Infatrini with gradually be weaned down depending on her next weigh in.  This is of course great progress but as always a bit of a nervous time as we hope that Eva can maintain her weight gain.  

Eva had her 6 month birthday this week.  Of course we again can’t believe what has happened in those past 6 months.  It has been such a rollercoaster journey and now we are enjoying lots of ups.  Eva is sleeping really well at night which is just so amazing.  Her days are still variable and sometimes she has been quite grumpy with her teeth.  We notice her getting stronger every day and really enjoying chatting now.