Friday 10th August 2007

I've been very sleepy today, and I've mostly been sleeping in mummy's arms, but I've slept a bit in my cot, and I've been elevated up at more of an angle, to try and help stop my reflux. My trace from last night and yesterday showed that I am still having occasional desats whilst I am sleeping, so I'm also on another new drug to try and help, it's called domperidone. The doctors will do another sats trace on Sunday night to see if I've improved, and if all these medicines are helping. I want to be 100% well before I come home. The nice speech therapist Zoe came to see me this evening to watch me sucking. She watched me breastfeeding with mummy and said it was a long time since she'd seen a baby suck so well - aren't I clever? She talked to mummy and nurse Natalie about my bottle feeding to decide on a plan to get my bottle feeding as good as my breastfeeding. We're going to try a new position, and hopefully that will help, so I'll try that out with daddy for the first time tonight. Once I've sorted out my reflux and my bottle feeding, then I'll be able to go home. My friend Gene wasn't very well today, and has been moved back to the High Dependency Nursery - get well soon Gene.

Thursday 9th August 2007

I'm cross. I want to go home, but I'm not allowed to go yet. I'm still not quite well enough. When I'm asleep my sats keep dropping due to this reflux, and the doctors have got to get it under control before I'm allowed to go home. The good news is that everything else is still going well. My weight is particularly good. I'm putting it on at a nice and steady rate, and the last time I was weighed, I was 4lb 9oz - that's nearly twice my birthweight! I'll be weighed again tonight, and I'm sure that I'll be knocking on the door of 5lb by now. I'm feeding so well now. Mummy and daddy and my nurses have found a bottle that really suits me, which means that my feeds are much more enjoyable, as the milk doesn't all flow into my mouth too quickly. I like to have more milk than I'm supposed to - when I'm breastfeeding that's easy - I just suck for longer, but when daddy is bottle feeding me, I have to cry a bit to make sure he knows I'm still hungry! Last night I was supposed to have 60ml of milk for my feed, but I had 80ml - yum, yum. Anyway - the doctors are doing another sats trace on me today, to see if my reflux has improved with my new medication. If it has got better, then we may be able to talk about home again - Lets hope so. By the way, my friend Oscar has now come off vapotherm and is breathing by himself - well done Oscar. This means that he may be moved over onto the Special Care side soon to keep me company. Hooray! By the way I'm exactly 2 months old today.

Wednesday 8th August 2007

I have had a very settled day today, but the doctors still aren't happy with me. The consultant spoke to mummy this morning and the results of my trace showed that I was still having 'desats' which weren't associated with feeding or wriggling! The main problem is when I'm in a deep sleep and my sats drop. So the consultant has prescribed me renitadine which should stop any acid reflux in my tummy. This is what the consultant thinks is what is causing the desats. Jane my nurse and mummy watched me really carefully today and wrote down all my episodes of desaturation. They both think that I'm a lot better, as I had hardly any desats, but the renitadine may just get me totally sorted out. The consultant is also going to get a speech therapist to come down and look at how I am coordinating my sucking, breathing and swallowing, as they may be able to give mummy and daddy advice about my positioning when I'm feeding to help avoid more desats. They'll repeat my sats trace on Thursday night, and then we'll see what they say on Friday. I breastfed 3 times with mummy today, and I was very hungry and cross when my food was a few minutes late becuase mummy had to change my clothes. I think I'm getting a bit of a reputation in the Special Care Nursery for liking my food rather a lot - mummy tells me this is a family trait! It's Godmother Becky's birthday today - HAPPY BIRTHDAY BECKY - hope you liked the card I sent you.

Tuesday 7th August 2007

I had my immunisations today. I was very good and didn't cry very much. I'm so used to needles and cannulas that it wasn't a big deal. I cried more when I wanted my food from mummy. When I wake up I want my food straightaway, but mummy and daddy always change my nappy first, so I have to wait, which means I'm really eager to eat when they give me my food. This means I have a tendency to gulp my food, which is what caused me to turn blue on Saturday. The doctors need to feel confident that it's not going to happen again, so today they put me on a 24 hour trace to see what happens to my sats. Luckily my sats have been excellent today, so hopefully I will get the all clear. I have been feeding and burping well, and I am using a new teat on my bottle feeds which means the milk doesn't come out quite as quickly, and choke me! Once the doctors feel 100% happy with me, then I can go into the hospital flat with mummy and daddy - I'm hoping it won't be long now. Mummy's friend Ros came to visit me today. She thinks I'm beautiful, and brought me a fancy new outfit from Baby Gap. I don't think it will fit me for a while, but I'm looking forward to wearing it in a few months when I've grown a bit. I'll be weighed tonight, so hopefully I'll have put on a few more ounces with all the milk I've been drinking.

Monday 6th August 2007

You'll be pleased to know that when the doctors did their ward round this morning they told me and mummy that my blood cultures had all come back negative, so I have no infection. Good news! The doctors talked to mummy about my 'episode' on Saturday, and then I had a chest x-ray to make sure that I hadn't ended up with any fluid on my lungs from milk going down the wrong way! My chest was fine, and everyone decided that Saturday had just been a blip, and that I was really okay. I was taken off the sats monitor again, and put back on my apnoea mattress. I fed really well with mummy, and she gave me a lovely bath and put some nice smelling body cream on me - it felt funny, so I cried a bit! I feel good, and I am putting on weight - I am now 4lb 6oz, so hopefully I can still go home soon. I also have my immunisations tomorrow as I am nearly 2 months old. I may not add to my diary for a couple of days, as mummy and daddy may be staying at the hospital with me. See you soon!

Sunday 5th August 2007

I was still feeling out of sorts this morning and was very sleepy. I was too tired to breast feed with mummy as usual at 9am, and was very windy which made my oxygen levels drop low. Gail the nurse practitioner and Cathy my nurse helped mummy to wind me, but I felt terrible, and it was really difficult for them to sort me out. Eventually I went to sleep, but I was pale and my sats kept dropping. I fed okay at lunchtime and behaved myself for a visit from Auntie Shellie and Uncle Chris - well almost, I started to have desats just as they were leaving... But I felt a lot better this evening. I was wide awake and when daddy fed me, I asked for more, so drank a whole 11ml more than I was supposed to! I stayed awake after my feed, and played with mummy and daddy. The doctor came to see me tonight, to check me out, as I'd had such a funny day. She took me to the treatment room to take blood for testing, as she suspects that the reason I'm pale and tired is perhaps due to an infection. I hope I don't have another infection - the last one was so horrid, and it lasted ages. If I start having desats tonight, then they may put me back on antibiotics anyway - which means more cannulas , and a delay to my going home. :-(

Saturday 4th August 2007

Well, it's been a day of 2 halves today. This morning my feeding tube was removed as I managed to do all sucking feeds over night again - it's great to be finally tube free. I also had a lovely time with lots of visitors. I saw all my grandparents, plus Auntie Emma and Uncle Philip who held me for the first time, as did Granny Judy. It was lovely. But this evening I went a bit overboard with my feeding and nearly stopped breathing, because I was feeding too much without taking a breath or getting rid of my wind. I turned quite blue and gave mummy and daddy a terrible shock. The nurses have decided to put me back on my sats monitor overnight to make sure that I am okay. Once my wind had finally gone I settled down, but I am still a bit pale, so I hope I feel a bit better after a good long sleep tonight.

Friday 3rd August 2007

Mummy and I had a lovely time playing this morning. We played with this nice book that Mummy and daddy's friends Rachel and Chris bought for me. It's black and white and yellow, and has pictures of faces on it. It's good for me to look at and practise focusing, and I enjoyed looking at the pictures with mummy. I'm getting used to being wire-free. I gave Oscar my Sats monitor, so that he could get rid of his bigger monitor. Come over to Special Care soon Oscar! My friend Gene came and joined me in Special Care today and Ujjwal is also back from Intensive Care. Another pal Eva is also due to go home next week. So everyone is getting on well. It is Grandpa Meikle's 60th birthday today - HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU GRANDPA. I have a special present for him, which I will give to him tomorow when I see him. Sue told mummy I will have my first lot of immunisations next week. This is because I am nearly 2 months old. I will be immunised against lots of horrid bugs - diptheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, haemophilus influenzae type b, pneumococcal infection. Gosh that does sound like a lot, doesn't it. but don't worry, it's only 2 injections, and I'm very used to needles already, so I'm not worried, besides, Oscar has already had his immunisations, and he said it was fine.

Thursday 2nd August 2007

Look at me. I'm sleeping soundly on my apnoea mattress . The reason I'm sleeping on one of these is so that if I decide to stop breathing the nurses know about it, as an alarm goes off. Why do I need one of these when I'm hooked up to my monitor you may ask? Well, the reason is because Sue the Nurse Practitioner said that I could come off my Sats monitor today as I have been so well behaved. So I have no wires attached to me at all now, which is very strange. This is a big step, and Sue even spoke to mummy about me coming home very soon. Mummy cried a bit then, because it gave her a bit of a shock I think. She was worried about me not being monitored any more, so she spent the morning starring at me to check I was still breathing - which I was! When the nurses and doctors think I'm ready, mummy and daddy and me will get to stay in a flat at the hospital for a day or 2 to make sure we all get along fine before I'm allowed home. The flat is right next to the Special Care Unit, so they can call the nurses if I start to misbehave. I don't think it will be long now, I did 5 out of my 6 daily feeds as sucking feeds again yesterday, so nearly 100%, I'm off my sats monitor, my temperature is good, and I'm gaining weight, so no more fortified milk for me now, just the normal stuff. Needless to say mummy paid a trip to Mothercare this afternoon to get some final bits and pieces for my homecoming. I'm very excited, and hope that it won't be long now. Keep your fingers and toes crossed.

Wednesday 1st August 2007

It's the 1st August. The first day of my 'due month'. Lets hope I can go home this month. I did really well with my feeding overnight again, and only did 1 tube feed, so I'm well on the way to doing 100% sucking feeds. I now weigh 4lb 3oz, so I am gaining weight well too. Granny and Grandpa Meikle came to visit me today and I had cuddles with both of them for the first time. I am their first granddaughter, although they already have a grandson. I think they were a bit worried about holding me, as I am so little, but I behaved myself, and my machine didn't beep too many times! It's Grandpa's 60th birthday on Friday, so I must remember to send him a card....Daddy has taken another day off to spend time with me, so I have had lots of cuddles with him today.