Day 15 Postpartum. Kanga Cuddles with Daddy.

Today Cam got to have his first hold of Vinnie (who didn't seem to mind Daddy's furry covering!). I think Cam was relieved when I ducked out for a while as I was hovering near by with lots of helpful suggestions (hold his head this way Cam! etc). He is actually sitting next to me at this moment telling me I am already an over protective mother... oh dear, I am probably going to get a lot worse too.

Vinnie is doing well and has finished his course of antibiotics. His line has come out of his arm so one less tube for him to contend with. Unfortunately Mum hasn't been so lucky and am now on my third course of antibiotics for my festering wound that doesn't want to heal. The midwives at ward 96 are probably sick of me poking my head in every few days... "is this infected? can you change my dressing? do I need more stitches?". Anyway, they couldn't ignore the pus today and they thought I warranted a visit from a doctor. Geeze, who thought it would be so hard to see a doctor in a hospital!

Cam and I paid a short trip to Matakana last night to see Mum and Dad and visit our little doggies (who were very pleased to see us!). Mum indulged us with some great home cooking and we practically rolled from the dining table in to bed last night!

Vinnie was weighed today and is currently 1557g - so he has gained over 200g in 2 weeks! He is having a fortifier added to his milk each feed to help him grow... one of the nurses said yesterday that he is going to be a vigorous little boy in no time if he keeps growing at this rate!

Day 13 Postpartum. Vinnie moves up a level.

Vinnie continues to make great progress and is now on full feeds of 20ml every 2 hours and steadily gaining weight. I am now in a routine of visiting him each morning at 9am until around 1pm. Cam goes in after work to see him and I sometimes join him if I can detach myself from that darn pump! Although I am not stressing myself out about the expressing too much anymore after a good talking to from several wise women. Vinnie is now being supplemented with formula and is getting roughly 1/3 breast milk each day. Still waiting for those drugs to kick in!

We had some good news this morning from the consultant when he was making his rounds (with the team of interns that follow him around). Vinnie is progressing so well that he is going to be moved up a level within the ward once space is available. He is currently in level 3 which is for the really sick babies - one nurse to two babies. As soon as there is room he will be moving in to a level 2 room, which has one nurse to four babies. He is also due to finish his course of antibiotics tomorrow so all the lines will be coming out of his arm. Over the next couple of weeks they will be trying to wean him off the CPAP machine depending on how his breathing is going.

Vinnie and I had some extra long cuddles today (3 hours!). He is quite a little grizzler when the nurse picks him up out of the incubator but as soon as she puts him on me he stops his grizzling and promptly goes to sleep. Granny and Cam both saw Vinnie out of the incubator for the first time today and Cam will hopefully get to have a cuddle with him on Sunday... he has been so busy with work/house renovations to date... poor Daddy has been missing out.

I am feeling better each day and starting to move around much more easily... not quite ready to run a marathon yet though! It is quite frustrating not being able to drive myself anywhere but luckily I have an awesome family that are running around picking me up/dropping me off.

So, all good news to report. Will send some updates on Sunday of Daddy having his first cuddle with Vinnie :-)

Day 10 Postpartum. Packing on the grams.

Our little man is doing really well and has put on around 50g since birth. Vinnie is being fed my expressed milk each day - currently around 8ml every 2 hours although this goes up one ml every 6 hours. You can see the little green feeding tube here that goes down in to his stomach; his milk is fed through this tube via a syringe.

I am starting to feel like Daisy the milk cow... and a dried up old milking cow too! Pretty soon bubs is going to be needing more milk than I can make. Very, very frustrating. I am now taking every conceivable drug and homeopathic remedy to make the milk come in. I've also been told to chill out and relax (not sure how?) as working myself up about this is not helping.

Oh, and whoever said there was no point crying over spilt milk obviously was not facing my current dilemma. There is every reason to cry when you plunge the damn syringe the wrong way and lose the milk you have been trying so hard to express for the last 10 minutes!

Anyway, that was my pathetic little rant for the day! Vinnie is doing well which is the main thing. Mum is just a tired emotional maniac at the moment. I am going to go listen to some meditation CD's (thank you Jo!) and visualise myself as a big fat dairy cow producing a better yield of milk...

P.S. Vinnie is still on CPAP but had all his tubes taken out for a few moments while he was weighed. Snapped this pic then - isn't he gorgeous? (Cam thinks he looks just like him!)

Day 8 Postpartum. CPAP and CRAP.

Vinnie has had some big achievements the past two days - Mum and Dad are very proud. Yesterday (in the very wee hours of the morning) one of the consultants managed to get a long line (IV) in to Vinnie's arm after two previous attempts earlier on Friday. On Saturday morning Vinnie also did his first poo - a good sign that all systems are go! I had the great honour of changing his nappy... I have to admit.... the first crappy nappy I have ever changed. Not that I haven't had some opportunities to in the past but it never really appealed to me. Funny how when you have your own child this is actually quite an exciting event. Enough talk about poo... Vinnie will never forgive me when he gets older if I give this subject too much attention.

After Vinnie had his morning 'cares' (sponge bath, nappy change etc) his nurse then set up to change Vinnie from the ventilator to CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure - Oxygen). It was actually a very straight forward procedure and I was able to assist by lending an extra set of hands. He has been doing really well on CPAP since yesterday and is currently sitting on between 26-30% oxygen (21% is what you and I breathe in, therefore the goal for young Vinnie). Most preterm babies of Vinnie's age will spend 1-2 weeks on CPAP before they are ready to breathe on their own. Some babies will stay on CPAP until almost full term.

His nurse told me today that when the doctors were making their rounds this morning they were very pleased with his progress on CPAP/in general and referred to him as the 'star of the ward'. Good little man!

Today I was at the hospital from around 9am-4pm so got some quality time in with the little guy. We even had some extra long Kanga cuddles - almost 3 hours today. Now that he no longer has the long ventilator tube going through his vocal cords we can hear him when he cries (as opposed to the silent screams he was doing before). He was a bit grizzly a few times today (doesn't like 'care time' and having his nappy changed) but the nurse assured me that this is a good thing; they start to worry when babies are lethargic and don't make any noise at all. Cam arrived this afternoon in time for another nappy change (he cried for Dad too).

So, Vinnie is doing well and we are happy. I am also on the mend and getting a little more mobile (although moving very slowly still!). Cam is super busy with the house alterations/work/hospital visits/looking after the invalid! Speaking of which... I smell my dinner, better dash :-)

Day 6 Postpartum. More on Kangaroo Cuddles...

Yesterday Vinnie was allowed outside! The incubator that is. Along with all the paraphernalia... wires, tubes, breathing apparatus etc. Once they pass day 5 preterm babies are able to have some times each day with mum or dad (not both - just yet anyway) for Kangaroo cuddles, providing that they aren't too tired from a hectic day of poking and prodding.

Now, I'm not too sure what is behind the name - 'Kangaroo' cuddles. Maybe it is because they put the babies down the inside of your shirt for some skin on skin contact kind of like a little Joey in a pouch. It was really sweet though, I got to have a cuddle with him for 2 hours reclining on the Lazyboy. We both had a nice little sleep together. I didn't want to give him back at the end though - maybe they should be called Boomerang cuddles instead!

Today has been a very big day for Vinnie so no time for Kangaroo cuddles :-(

This morning the doctors attempted to a lumbar puncture on our little guy to determine whether or not he has meningitis. I don't really understand how he would have contracted this, but something to do with my membranes rupturing early and Vinnie being prone to infection from that point forward. He has been on a course of antibiotics since delivery to fight this infection and needs to stay on these drugs for 2 weeks if he has in fact got meningitis. The lumbar puncture was unsuccessful today (mainly because he is just so little) so they will attempt to do this again on Monday.

They also tested me for Listeria after the delivery to see if there was any trace, if so then Vinnie would have this also. The test results came back negative thank goodness. I had been fretting about this one as some of you may recall the amount of cheese I was eating during pregnancy (amongst other things generally not recommended in pregnancy!). Hmmm... if I ever get pregnant again (at some point in the very distant future) I will be a complete paranoid about food hygiene!

When I last saw Vinnie this afternoon he was having an intravenous tube inserted in to his arm for fluids. Providing that that went well, the plan was to then remove the line in his belly button that currently serves this purpose. Depending on how settled he was after having this done, they were then going to attempt to take him off the ventilator and insert a CPAP/oxygen (2 lines up his nostrils to support breathing). If he was a bit unsettled then they plan to do this tomorrow.

So, a busy day for Vinnie! But he is doing really well and I am encouraged by the fact that they are going to move him from the ventilator to CPAP some point soon. He has also been a little intolerant to my breast milk - for no other reason that his gut is a little underdeveloped. But they were going to reintroduce this again this afternoon and hopefully he'll be pooing some meconium (that nice green spinach coloured stuff that newborns poop) sometime soon. More on breast milk and meconium tomorrow! Depending on how sensored this entry is it might carry a warning: MRGA (Male Readers Guidance Advised)!

A little on me... I am doing well and discharged myself from hospital this afternoon (I did get the option of another night but those walls were closing in on me). My wonderful (!!!) cousin Liz has kindly offered us her apartment in Parnell so we are currently residing here while the alterations are finished. The location is just perfect - extremely close to the hospital for all the visits I will be making to NICU. My poor husband is probably wishing I stayed in hospital a bit longer (like after the weekend maybe) as he now has to cope with the invalid and all the demands I am making! Oh well... as I might have mentioned earlier... milk it while you can!

Day 4 Postpartum. Vinnie gets a sponge bath...

Cam has been writing the last few entries as I have been somewhat under the weather myself... I am back though and very happy to report that Vinnie is doing well and that I am on the road to recovery.

Just a side note... those woman that opt for an 'elective cesarean' are completely mad. I have heard that natural delivery is painful, but having a c-section is no walk in the park. Generally speaking, pregnancy and birth is extremely unglamorous! The things my mother never told me! I could almost write a novel on this subject but it really isn't fit for the readers of this particular blog. The men certainly wouldn't want to hear about it and I don't want to scare any women yet to have children. Those that have children... well, you know what I am talking about.

The first 12 hours after Vinnie entered the world were a little scary. Despite being born at a pretty reasonable gestation (29 weeks has very good odds), a great weight (over 1 kg is considered better than under 1 kg) and getting the dose of steroids (for lung development) prior to birth, our poor little man was born with chronic lung disease. As you will have seen from Cam's entries he was put on a ventilator immediately and also suffered from a collapsed lung. At around 10.30am on Sunday one of the NICU nurses came to tell me that things were not looking great and that the consultant wanted to speak with Cam and I within the hour. The midwife standing by my bed asked me if I needed any religious counselling at that moment... if I hadn't have been on such a strong drug cocktail I probably would have had a fit.

An hour later the prognosis had changed drastically and Vinnie was now responding well to the treatment and the outlook was looking good. Hallelujah! His condition has only improved since then and he seems to get better by the hour. You will have seen from the last entry that Vinnie was extremely battered and bruised on arrival. His right arm was presenting in my cervix (extremely odd) and when the contractions starting his poor little arm was crushed. Luckily nothing was broken and it is just incredible how fast these little ones heal. There is some bruising on his arm now, but most of the swelling has gone down.

Today Cam and I were shown how to bathe Vinnie and change his nappies whilst inside his incubator. It was quite a special moment as it doesn't feel like we have had much opportunity to interact with him yet. He definitely responds to the sound of our voices and our touch! Tomorrow Vinnie is going for a brain scan (standard procedure on day 5 with preterm babies) to check for brain bleeds/swelling. After this he will be allowed out of the incubator for some 'kangaroo cuddles' with mum and dad. Will report more on this later!

Thanks again to everyone for your support!

Vinnies arm

Here is a photo of Vinnies arm immediatley after being born, we were not surprised at all when the doctors thought it was broken. We were even more surprised following the x-ray that determined there were no breaks! The swelling has gone down a lot now but there is still some bruising around.

Above right - is a pic of Vinnie at day 3, he is a lot happier now and making good progress!

Life on the outside - Day 3 - Post by Vinnie

Over the last few days I have done really well - even if I do say so myself! The swelling on my arm has gone down alot and I slowly seem to be on the mend after my rough start! Mum and dad are extremely proud of me and my progress ,I am really brave just like a Tiger!

Today has been a good day, I have been taken off the oscilating ventilator - this supplies about 600 breaths per minute and has been helping me to breath for the last few days as my lungs weren't developed properly. I am now on a normal ventilator which supplies about 60 breaths per minute and I am breathing more by myself. The next move in a couple of days will be on to the C-Pap which is a breathing aid rather than a ventilator. I have also had my chest drain removed - this was put in to help with my numothorax (collapsed lung) from when I was born, it looks like it has done the job well and my lung is repaired, fingers crossed! More tubes have been taken out so I am getting to wriggle around a bit more but I am still on morphine which is keeping me subdued.

I have had lots of visitors also Granny and Poppa Bourke and John Cox and Karen Gebbie. John and Karen bought me some cool clothes that I hope to be able to wear soon and John says I have big toe like his brother Steve.......Big!

Anyway by for now I am off to chill out under my UV light with my shades on!

Day 10-11 The arrival of Baby Gee - Post from Dad

Since Tash's last post the roller coaster has continued, after Tash threw her toy's out of the sandpit I went and got some dinner for us all (mum,dad, grandma to be) from Otto Woo http://otto-woo.com/ we absolutley stuffed our pie holes it was fantastic! No sooner had we finished.... and the contractions started again! We were back to the same drill as before with Mum on the monitor, this time they were more consistent (every 4-5 minutes) more intense and lasted for another 2 1/2 hours taking us through to 22:30. At this point the consultant was called in for another examination however there was no change from earlier and we had resided ourselves to the fact that they would hold on longer and let Baby Gee cook some more. Tash had got out bed agt this stage to walk around (23:00) and when the consulant came back was told that was not a good idea and they were going to deliver........holy shish kebab batman!

With Tash back in bed we were now surrounded by a team of people filling in all the paperwork that is required for this operation. We were then taken into the recovery room where Tash was prepped for the operation (23:30) again more paperwork and more talking. At this stage I was taken to get changed so I would look like a doctor (only look) but don't be fooled I was not about to catch this baby! Around midnight we were taken through to theatre where the cocktail of drugs started for Tash, despite the seriousness there were alot of laughs to begin with - The Anethatist (Kushlin)was fantastic and made the whole event almost enjoyable - which I guess it should be (the birth of your first child).

After the epidural had kicked in the sunroof was opened, fortunately we were unable to see anything and were listening to Kushlin for the commentary. At 00:33am February 14th 2010 Baby Gee was born. He's a boy - Mum and dad were elated! Unfortunately he was wedged inside very tightly and difficult for the surgeons to get out and we were told that he may have a broken arm. At this point he was breathing (assisted) and about to be taken to NICU, I left with the baby while Tash was being sewn up.

We got to NICU a few moments later and he was transferred from the incubator to a similar machine but was able to be wired for sound....see pic. His arm definitely looked like it was broken and the radioligist was called in...surprisingly enough no breaks were detected! He is a little Battler! With all the lines in he was continually being monitored but still struggling a little to breath - even with the venitalator.

I was then asked to leave the room at which time I headed back to se how Tash was doing (02:15) She had just come through to recovery...there had been a few minor complications in surgery resulting in it taking a little longer for the sunroof to be sewn up! However , Tash was doing well although a little dazed from the anesthetics.

After 1/2 an hour in recovery tash was wheeled past NICU and into the room where Baby Gee was. We then decided on his name - Vincent (Vinnie) Rocco Gee, born on the first day of the Chinese New Year 2010- Year of the Tiger - Quite fitting for the little Battler!

Day 10. Nil by Mouth.

What a day... I am exhausted! This kid just can't seem to make up its mind whether it is ready to come out or not!

I was hooked up to the baby monitor around 10.30am this morning to measure baby gee's heartbeat (routine - twice daily) and at the same time mentioned I was having a few 'tightenings' (small contractions) and cramps/pains. After half an hour the midwife decided that one of the registrars needed to take a look at this... his visit coincided with my Mum arriving shortly after 11am.

After checking me out I was advised to give my husband a call and let him know to get here right away as it looked as though I'd be taken in for surgery within the next half hour. An IV was put in and I was told - Nil by Mouth - no more food/water from this point on... OK... it seemed as though it was all happening.

Cam turned up in a sweat shortly after then and the assisting specialist arrived to give me an internal exam to see whether my cervix was dilating (it wasn't). Bloods were taken to check for infection (clear). It was decided that I should stay on the monitor a bit longer and start timing the contractions to see if they were getting closer together/more painful. Ok then.

Seems as though they are not in such a hurry to whip the kid out (through the sun roof - as Cam says) after all. Meanwhile the midwife has a completely different opinion and from her '20 years experience I am certainly in pre-labour and this baby is going to be making an appearance shortly'. She was of the opininon I should have been taken through right away and probably wasn't doing the greatest job of keeping me calm despite best intentions.

By 4pm I was well and truly over it and even the specialist commented that 'I was about to throw my toys out of the box'. Very observant of her. To make matters much worse, while I had been suffering from 'Nil by Mouth' for the last 5 hours (that is a long time for me) Mum and Cam had been scoffing their faces with muffins that Mum brought. And then a lovely box of cupcakes arrived from Wendy and Neil (see pic) and I wasn't allowed to have any! I could have cried at this point.

The specialist could see that enough was enough and agreed that I could come off the monitor and drip and get some food/drink in to me. We are now back to square one monitoring the situation to see if the contractions get any worse (they are still present but infrequent).

So, busy day and we are all exhausted. Will keep you updated on any more developments!!!!

Day 9. Some random observations on hospital food.

Today has been an excellent day for several reasons. Firstly, baby is doing well and still inside so that is very good news. Secondly, my good friend Simon brought me in a gourmet lunch box (more on that shortly). And thirdly, I had a number of visitors to help pass the day!

Now that I am online I am quickly finding many things to do to amuse myself. Thanks to Wes for the recommendation of http://www.lamebook.com. If you have never seen this website before it is pretty darn amusing! I am also managing to make myself feel busy by updating our home renovation spreadsheet (geek!) and general budget spreadsheet (yawn!). I have told Mum that I will lend a hand with some copy writing on her website http://www.absentfriends.com. My first assignment is to write an article on a new type of cremation where your remains form part of an underwater reef... interesting!

I am feeling slightly guilty about not doing any real work...

Now, I've had a few questions about the hospital food and I'd like to report back on it. It is very repetitive, bland and the nutritional value is questionable, but it is delivered to my room regularly and on time. Although the dinner meal is delivered at around at 5pm so suddenly I feel like I'm in a rest home. Overall, the meals are kind of like something you'd expect your 80 year old gran to serve up. (Amy - I will take some photos of the hospital food and load them on to the blog at some point!) Thankfully for me I have great friends who have been indulging me with snacks, chocolates and promises of home baking!

I also had a nice surprise visit today from Simon who had packed me a gourmet lunch box including mediterranean vege wraps, mini quiche and mushroom pie, fruit salad, brownie, crispy asian noodle salad and a selection of cool beverages. How lucky am I?! If you are looking for a fantastic caterer for corporate events, weddings, private functions... right through to prepared lunches/dinners (cause ya are lazy and can't cook to save yourself!) then Simon is your man. Visit his website for menu info that will get you salivating: http://www.simonskitchen.co.nz

I am going to get very fat during my stay here. As well as all this great food everyone keeps bringing in I don't seem to be able to stop eating the hospital food (although not today - Si's lunch box was almost more than I could manage... almost). I'll be interested to see how big the baby is when they send me for an ultrasound next week to check growth. Last Thursday baby gee was weighing in at around 1.1kg.

Off to scoff some chocolate Alysha bought me... I haven't been tested for gestational diabetes yet (apparently I am at risk due to my family history - thanks Dad) so am just deluding myself for a little longer before I get a lecture from someone other than my aunt Anne (like the hospital staff).

Toodles!

Day 1-8. The emotional rollercoaster.

So, for my first blog entry I thought I would give a blow-by-blow account of what has been happening for the last eight days... this may be a little repetitive for some but I know a few people aren't sure of the full details. (I am going to try and keep the female details to a minimum so as not to gross the guys - and Karen - out too much!)

Up until very recently the pregnancy had been going really well - no morning sickness and no troubles at all (some of you are probably recalling the bragging I have been doing about this - how annoying). I was planning on working right up as late as possible (seriously, I wasn't quite sure what all this finishing work a month early for some 'me time' was all about.. what the hell would I do with myself?) and of course, the baby was going to arrive on its due date (just like Cam and I - perfect babies), it would be a natural delivery and drug free.

I have learnt a big lesson the last week... you can't plan for babies!

On the Sunday of Auckland Anniversary weekend I started getting a few tightenings (small contractions) and cramps during the day. Cam suggested a few times I call my midwife but I was sure it was just Braxton Hicks false labour pains and didn't want to seem like a nuisance. We went out for dinner that evening and between courses the cramping was getting a bit uncomfortable so I put in a call to my midwife to put my mind at ease.. I still thought I was being a drama queen! After telling her my symptoms I was advised to get my butt down to North Shore Hospital for a check up.

After a night at North Shore Hospital I was discharged the following morning, told to go home and get some bed rest for a few days and take it easy. If the symptoms got worse I was to come back in. I had a few days in bed and the symptoms pretty much went away... all seemed good until I woke up the following morning (Thursday 4th Feb) to my waters breaking! Eeeekkk!!!

What a weird sensation by the way.

At 6.45am Cam and I were frantically running around the house grabbing the hospital bag (now pre-packed after the previous weekend), putting the dogs outside and calling worried parents with the news... Cam also had the hindsight to throw a few towels on the front passenger seat... nice touch.

We arrived at North Shore Hospital where I was hooked up to a monitor to measure baby gee's heart beat and the contractions I was having, they also did a quick ultrasound to establish how much amniotic fluid I had lost when my membranes ruptured (at this point I was quickly learning the lingo). I was put on meds to stop the contractions and given some steroids to speed up baby gee's lung development. I was also started on a 10 day course of antibiotics to fight off infection (high risk after the membranes have ruptured).

Seeing as I was only 27 1/2 weeks when all this took place it was decided that I needed to be sent immediately to Auckland Hospital (via ambulance!) as they have a NICU (newborn intensive care unit) for prem babies born under 33 weeks. I arrived around 8.30am last Thursday and have been here ever since.

Initially we thought baby would be born within the first 72 hours of arriving at hospital, but the meds they gave me to stop the contractions worked and baby gee has made no more signs that he/she is ready to come out (I think it was Paul that commented that baby gee must be a girl as it can't make up its mind!). I have since learnt that after your membranes have ruptured it is possible for babies to stay inside up until 34 weeks - they are taken out at this point as they start to get a little squashed without the protective fluid around them as they grow.

So the current situation is: baby could come tonight, it could come next week, it could hold on for another six weeks. Baby Gee is also lying in the wrong position - sideways with elbow presenting in my cervix (sounds uncomfortable for both of us huh?). Geeze, this kid is going to be trouble! Definitely taking after Cam already I think. Because of baby being breeched it does mean I will be going in for a cesarean, which I was quite gutted about! As there is no fluid left around the baby, there is no opportunity to turn him/her.

On the bright side, baby is doing well and every extra day that it spends inside me is one less day it will spend in an incubator at NICU. When baby does eventually decide to come out in to the world it will be spending some time at NICU - they say to expect baby to be there until its due date (1st may). We were shown a DVD of prem babies born at NICU and I gotta say... some of them look a little 'ET' like! Cam and I always thought our baby would come out looking like a little hairy monkey (those Gee genes!) but it is probably going to be completely hairless and missing its fingernails! Poor baby...

So, to wrap up this very long first post... Mum and baby are both doing well. Not sure when baby will arrive but expect to be in hospital myself for a maximum of another 6 weeks, followed by daily visits to NICU to visit baby gee where he/she will be until term. Every 6 hours I am getting poked and prodded (temperature, pulse, blood pressure etc), and pumped full of antibiotics. The staff here are all excellent and although we felt quite anxious the first few days, are now feeling positive about the outlook.

Thank you so much to everyone for your emails, phone calls, text messages, gifts, flowers and visits! The support has been really overwhelming and I am absolutely going to milk this for as long as possible :-)