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.

Tuesday 31st July 2007

Daddy took a day off work to spend more time with me today. He came in this afternoon, and gave me a cuddle and then a bath, and then my 5pm feed, and he's even coming back to the hospital after his tea to give me my 9pm feed and my goodnight cuddle. Guess what? I did 5 out of 6 sucking feeds yesterday. I was supposed to have 3 tube feeds, but I only had 1. I kicked up a big stink when they tried to feed me with a tube - I want to suck! Mummy went home early to carry on getting my nursery ready today. It sounds lovely, with lots of colourful jungle animals, I can't wait to see it. We had 2 very good breastfeeds today. We're really getting the hang of it, and we don't need to top up with a tube any more. I am officially full term today - 37 weeks gestation, and just over 7 weeks old!

Monday 30th July 2007

Well, it's all about feeding and growing isn't it? Last night I was weighed, and I had put on another ounce. I am now 4lb 1oz. So I busied myself today feeding with mummy, and drank and drank until I was sick - quite literally. I haven't quite learned when to stop eating when I'm full yet - mummy thinks I get that from her! My gaviscon is helping with my wind, so I am getting less indigestion than before, and I am still having dalavit - which is a multi vitamin that I am going to have to take for a whole year, because I was born prematurely. I'm also taking phosphate and iron. Mummy says that looking at my drugs chart is like looking at the periodic table! I was also taking sodium, but my sodium levels have stabilised, so I don't need that any more. My haemoglobin levels are lovely and high now. They are supposed to be higher than 8, and now they are 13.6, so no more blood transfusions for me hopefully! I have had a lot less desaturations since my blood transfusion and since I have started taking gaviscon. I need to go for a 3 or 4 day period without any desats or 'bradys' (when my heart rate drops), before the nurses can take me off my Sats monitor. When that happens I'll be put on an aponea mattress, which will beep if I stop breathing, and then I need to come off that too in order to go home. I've got lots of hard work to do before I can go home, but I know I'll get there eventually.

Sunday 29th July 2007

Today has been very relaxing. Mummy sat with me all day, and I fed and slept and grizzled! The nurses told mummy that during the night I had been waking up an hour before my feed was due, and whinging. I did this today as well, so mummy had to hold me a lot, and let me suck my dummy. I burped well though, so I think I drank more milk with each feed today. I am being weighed tonight, but I think I have probably lost a few grams, because of breast feeding. This is because mummy and the nurses can't be sure how much I am having with each feed, so I may not be getting as much as when I'm tube fed. Also the milk I have through the tube is fortified, so when I'm tube fed I put on more weight. When I'm getting it direct from mummy, it doesn't have so many calories. I need to be putting on weight to be able to go home, so I need to make sure I drink enough every time I feed with mummy, so that I can get fatter and be allowed home. I also need to be having all my feeds as sucking feeds, so I will be working hard on that this week - I'm doing about 50% at the moment. I was taken off the 'hot cot' today, as they had turned the heat down a lot, and I had still been managing to maintain my temperature. This is something else I need to do before I am allowed home - 'maintain my temperature in a cot without a hat'. So I'm getting there with my 'go home' criteria. Daddy gave me a lovely cuddle to warm me up before he left and then wrapped me up snugly in my cot to make sure that I kept warm over night, so I don't need my heated mattress back.

Saturday 28th July 2007

Today I look a lot pinker after my transfusion yesterday. I had visits from Neil and Deborah, and I breast fed 3 times. I fooled mummy into thinking that I was full, but really I as full of wind, so I whinged all afternoon, as I was still hungry. I will have a rest and have tube feeds this evening and through the night, so I'm ready to try sucking again tomorrow. I had my first bath today. Jo the nurse showed mummy how to lower me in, and I had my first proper wash. Wow, 7 weeks old today and I've managed to avoid having a bath up to now! The bath was quite nice actually, hopefully I can have another one in a couple of days if I manage to keep going with a good temperature. My blood cultures came back nagetive again, so I had the cannula removed from my foot, as I won't need any more antibiotics. I have also started taking gaviscon today to try and improve my wind! Mummy and Jo gave me an extra 20ml of milk down my tube after my last feed to make sure I was full, and so I slept soundly, with a belly full of milk. Yummy. Hopefully now that my cannula has gone from my leg I can be winded properly, and I'll feed better tomorrow. The cannula really got in the way, so I couldn't get in the right position to be burped effectively. See you tomorrow.