Tuesday February 12th

Another good day! Niamh had a very stable night. This morning they changed the type of ventilation she is on and she has responded really well. The machine she was on before vibrated and made her jiggle alot poor little thing, but this one gives her breaths and is much gentler. It is called PTV (Patient Triggered Ventilation) it allows her to initiate the machine by a sensor and the little darling was initiating 40 breaths out of 50 at one stage all by herself! She no longer jiggles and looks very calm laying there.

Tony was a very proud daddy today as he got to do her 'cares'. This is done every four hours and involves wiping her tiny bottom and changing her nappy (she is just laying on one as they are ginormous lol)!, taking her temperature under her arm. Tony moved her oxygen sensor from one wrist to the other. Cleaned her tummy and chest as it had ultrasound gel on and gave her her first real feed!

We were so excited that Niamh was well enough to feed today. She has been having a solution of dextrose and saline and probably some other things I have no idea about. The solution is quite sugary and had been sending her levels through the roof until it was diluted and a balance found. She wasn't able to have any of my milk as she had all the bile in the tummy that kept coming up. That was what triggered the bowel investigation which turned out to be fine. They suctioned her today to see if anything came up, and nothing did so she had 1ml of my milk which is put in a syringe and pushed down one of her tubes. She kept it down which was fantastic so they were going to give her more in four hours. She still hasnt passed any stools which isnt good, but breast milk has a natural laxative in it so we are hoping that will get those working properly.

I will phone the NICU soon to see how she has gone this arvo.

We met a really lovely couple yesterday. Their son had been born a year ago at 23 weeks and weighed exactly the same as Niamh. Jaiden is about to turn one and is a gorgeous little boy! It was really reassuring to see him and how well he is. He had been on oxygen for the year, but the tubes had just come out and he was perfect! They gave us their phone number and even texted us today, we have met some remarkable people. This morning we went to a coffee morning for parents of early babies, and it was great to be able to talk about what we were going through and relate to each other. They were doing it really tough. They lived so far away and had had to move here into temp accomodation for the time that they need to be here! Their families are approx 6 hours drive away,maybe more and they also have another child like we do. We are so lucky we can come home every day, that definitely makes it easier. And I have the physical support of my wonderful husband.

Its been so great that Tony has been able to stay home. I think he is staying home tomorrow too to help me catch up with the housework. Today we did shopping and I managed to cook a roast chook for our lunch tomorrow and threw a pumpkin curry in the slow cooker. I also made some hummous so Bailey can have it with carrot sticks as part of his lunch box tomorrow. Two of my wonderful friends have taken my ironing and I think by the end of tomorrow I will feel on top of it all again. I dont function very well when the house is disorganised and messy, I like routine, routine routine!! :)

We are eating one of the yummy meals that our friends made tonight too! Thanks Rhys :) x

Phone update: 9pm

Niamh has done brilliantly today! She has had 3 feeds and has kept them all down, lets hope she can start to put some weight on now! She will have the line taken out of her umbilical cord tomorrow and a long line put in which will mean that it will be more comfortable for to receive blood and medication.

Phew, exhausted, but feeling mentally much stronger today. We have been given such good odds on her it would be wrong to have negative thoughts. Whilst we are very, very, aware that anything could happen at any time, we have no right not to be strong and positive for her when she herself is fighting with all her might to be with us. We love her so much already and Im really starting to miss not being with her now I have my head around the fact that she is actually here!

Off to smell my Wookie and express some milk. Oh, I still havent told you about the Wookie have I? What a strange thing it is! Imagine a hankerchief with a wad of teddy bear stuffing in the middle, the hanky is then pulled around the stuffing so that it makes a head, and a ribbon tied around its neck. I will post a pic, but maybe tomorrow. The idea of it is that I basically stuff it down my bra and it gets my smell! Niamh has her own one next to her that smells of her and every time I see her we swap so we can smell each other! This helps her to get to know me, and is supposed to help me with expressing so I can feel closer to her. Its nice to have a connection.

If you ever see me and I have a hanky sticking out of my bra, please tell me! I had a bright pink one sticking out the other day and was getting funny looks until I realised!

Oh, and an odd situation today. I was in Target (The Red Spot Boutique) buying a new maternity bra and ended up chatting with a pregnant woman there, as you do lol. She asked me when I was due and so I ended up telling her I had had the baby etc. Well, blow me down, she started crying on the spot and said she was only 19 weeks. I ended comforting her! Unbelievable! Didnt know whether to hug her or slap her! I did neither of course and made my excuses and ran!!

If you have made it this far, thankyou and goodnight xx