28.01.09 [2-4 days old]

[2 days old] Sometimes it feels like we take a step forward, and then by the end of the day we just take that same step backwards. Amelia is doing well. She came off antibiotics on Tuesday (day 3) as they are satisfied there is no infection. She's been having blood tests that keep comming back clear. She's having 2ml milk an hour, and at the begining of each day it's fine, but by night she's either vomiting it back up, or when they asperate her tummy the feed before is still just sitting in there not being absorbed. So the cease feeding and the IV fluids go up again. Then the next day they start over and it all repeats itself. But Tuesday she apparently did a HUGE poo, which shows that her tummy may just be kicking into gear and starting to work.

[3 days old] Wednesday (day 4)
She did some bile-y vomits over night, and when they asperated her tummy the milk was still bile-y, which they said could have been a one off thing, or it could be a sign of a bowel obstruction. She had xrays to check for an obstruction, and they couldn't see one. They also said only a large one would show up on an xray.

[4 days old] Thursday (day 5)
I dropped the boys off at mums, so I could get to the hospital early to catch the peads doing their rounds. As I got there they told me they were just going to take her down for the Birium (sp) swallow test. Took about 10 minutes to get her isolette ready to leave the nursery to head down to radiology. All the computers, had to be unplugged and replugged into a transportable one. Just as they were ready to go they were told Occupational Health and Safetly won't let them move the Isolettes anymore and they had to transfer her into a transport one. Finally we were on our way. Up on the table for her Xray she looked SO TINY. They fed the dye through her nasel gastric tube and I watched the monitor as it filled her tummy. They told me the test would take about 45 minutes... maybe 1.5hours. They took three pics, and said 'right, were're done'. Asperated the dye from her tummy, flushed it out and packed her back up again. We got her back into her isolette and warmed her back up. She was COLD after her little excursion poor little darl. She slept peacefully (that's all she does really), while I waited for someone to tell me what they had seen. I knew they'd seen what they were looking for to be done within 5 minutes when they had originally said it would take at least 45. I had to wait for the doc to review it all. I headed back to mums for some lunch and to see the boys. After dinner we headed back in to get the results. I'd been stewing on it all afternoon. Had they seen an obstruction early on? They had mentioned reflux... was that all it was? Well finally we had some results. Yes it was reflux. They're starting her on feeds again tonight, and will start her on some zantac to help with the pain aswell. Also this morning when I went in I found her sucking her dummy!! Her nurse said her sucking reflex is kicking in which is fantastic. Hope it works on boobs too! There's so much milk in the freezer at hospital she pretty much has a shelf to herself. At least when she starts drinking it, they won't have to supliment with formula, so it should be more gentle on her tummy.

Some photos:

Minutes after delivery. I got to cuddle her for about 30 seconds and then she was whipped away by the pead to special care. Brett took these, while I was still 'busy' in the delivery room ;)

Preparing her isolette ready for her.

Struggling to breathe, and waiting to see if she can stay here, or has to be moved to Monash or Royal Childrens. Thankfully she picked up and didn't need to be transferred. We thought she looked so like Brett here with her beautiful big lips.

Day 2. She's 24hours old. She's not on oxygen anymore, and she's breathing well. They still don't want to add digestion to her yet as she's still working pretty hard just to breathe, so she's on IV fluids.

Sleeping peacefully. All of these pics were taken looking through the plastic of her isolette, hence the foggyness to some of them.

She can't have a bath yet, but she got a cot wash and a singlet put on! (small steps are big ones around here!)

My first cuddle... just a few minutes while her sheets were changed.

Her first feed. Not really the experience we were expecting the first feed to be like! However we were all excited aobut it, but it ended up being the next lot of hurdles she needed to jump, as by night time her feeds had been ceased and she was back on total IV fluids.

Can't wait till I can kiss those delicious toes!

Ouchies!! The IV is the one thing both Brett and I detest. Well besides the fact it's brilliant because it's keeping her alive, it takes 40 minutes to put it in, and she SCREAMS the entire time. And they resite it every 2 days. They first tried both wrists but couldn't get a vein, so it ended up in her right arm. Two days later it was in her left arm, then her foot. And it's in her wrist again now. And it makes handling her really difficult. It will be a happy happy day when she doesn't need it any more.

Her corner of the world.

I love the way they make her cot up. She looks so cozy. It's called nesting, and it's supposed to mimic being in the womb a bit more. She kind of has a bumber around her feet, so she feels some resistance there like she would if she was still on the inside. Bit hard to see in this pic, but she looks so cozy.