NiamhAnnabelleRoyle

Niamh is 3!

2011-02-20T17:07:00.000+10:30

Here is our beautiful girl! Niamh is such a gorgeous little girl, happy, cheeky, stubborn and she has a great sense of humour. We are so proud of how far she has come. She loves to ride her scooter and bike and run around with her brother. We went camping a few weeks ago and she and Bailey enjoyed going off on 'adventures'! We went back to visit NICU on her birthday and it was incredible to be reminded of how small she once was and how far she had come. Niamh thoroughly enjoys fairy ballet and drawing and loves playing with other children, heres to another interesting year!

Our little Princess

2009-12-10T11:44:00.003+10:30

I can't believe it's nearly Christmas again! Niamh is now 22 months old (18 corrected) and is a tough little cookie. She has to be to put up with her older brother who is not exactly gentle with her. She is starting to give it back to him though and surprised him with a smack on the face the other day. I couldn't help but giggle to myself.

Niamh is a crafty little thing, she can walk fairly well now but only when she doesn't think I'm looking! She is so independant and loves to feed herself now. Breakfast ends up everywhere and she thinks it's clever to wash her hair with it. Dinner the other night was bolognaise which was interesting! She has full on tantrums, mostly food related. She would eat all day if you let her and woe betide you if you have food and don't share! Bailey's got pretty good at the sharing thing now and he really loves her as she does him. They were just sitting in the car today smiling at each other which is gorgeous.

Niamh is getting lots of dollies and a pram this year for Christmas, she loves to walk and push things so thought she would love that. She still isn't saying very many words but definitely understands everything and will nod at you if you ask her if she is ok.

We love our little darling, as feisty and headstrong as she is, she is adorable and so cute. Can't wait for else she will bring us.

Movember (hence the Mo lol) At Adelaide Zoo November 29th 2009
Christmas Family Fun Day

Halloween! My two little Pumpkins :)

Piccie from July at the allergy specialist. Niamh has an allergy to peanuts. No. 4 on the scale for those that know about these things, so not too severe. She came out in hives after eating some peanut butter.

October 2009

2009-10-13T09:48:00.003+10:30

Niamh is doing so well! She is happily cruising furniture and has stood on her own for a few seconds at a time. She has even taken the odd step on her own, but is not yet walking independantly.

She has such a strong personality and is very happy. She is not talking yet but can say mumma, dadda and Bailey quite well. I think speech is something that will take a while to come for this little one. She loves playing with Bailey and Bailey loves her so much. He makes a creche for her in the playroom out of beanbags and toys and they read stories together and sometimes he even lets her play with his trains!

Niamhs health has been reasonable. She had bronchilitis last month but did really well and got over it pretty quickly. Last week she had gastro and she now has a rotten cold, but is happy all the time and still eats like a horse!!! Never leave food around as she will clear your plate!

Niamh loves to be tickled under the arms and will give a really cute giggle! Her voice makes lots of sing songy oohs and aahs and 'uh ohs' when she drops something!

August 2009

2009-08-06T14:50:00.003+09:30

Wow, where has the year gone?! Its certainly been busy, lots of illness in the family seems to have taken up a lot of the time. Niamh was hospitalised in June overnight for bronchilitis again and has had it 3 times so far. She is currently fighting off a cold but is doing extremely well.

Here is a video I just took of her playing the piano. She is a real explorer, she cannot walk yet, but she can climb on chairs and up slides and loves sliding back down on her knees. She is a funny little girl, very happy with lots of personality. She has started to clap now and gives us kisses.

Beautiful Girl!

2009-04-24T14:50:00.003+09:30

A lovely friend of mine took some photos of Niamh in the Botanic Gardens on Wednesday, they are amazing so I thought I would share:

Standing!

2009-04-18T15:20:00.003+09:30

Niamh decided on Good Friday that she would stand up! There has been no stopping her since :) She isn't quite cruising furniture yet, but she did move her feet a bit last night. She stands up constantly now and is grabbing at everything! She is very proud of herself and shouts at us if we move things she wants out of the way!

Niamh has bronchiolitis yet again and we ended up taking her to hospital on Easter Saturday night at midnight. She was coughing and coughing and appeared not to be able to catch her breath. She improved a lot while we were there (of course) and we were home by 3am. They gave her some ventolin which didn't seem to do too much but little miss decided she wanted to go home so was smiling and very alert :) Thats my girl!

Choccy bunnies were on the menu for Easter Sunday and Niamh loved nibbling his ears.

Mumma!

2009-04-06T19:55:00.002+09:30

Well Niamh has had a weekend of milestones. On Friday she said Mumma for the first time! I wasn't the only one to hear it too which was good!

Tonight Niamh stood up for the first time. We tried to catch it on video but she had done her piece and that was that! Bailey was in the bath and Niamh was desparately trying to see the bath toys, she is so cute and was very happy with herself.

A montage of Niamh's first year

2009-03-17T13:15:00.002+10:30

Niamh's amazing first year

I have just put this together, it was so emotional looking at all those photos and reliving the feelings that I had at the time. Im really glad to have done it though and hope you like it :)

Play the music nice and loud and enjoy! Its 12 minutes long so make yourself a cuppa!!

The Class of 2008!

2009-03-16T21:48:00.003+10:30

2008 Graduates!

Havent we done well! Its been a challenging year and there will be challenges ahead, but here we are, a year on all celebrating birthdays. It was fantastic to catch up with everyone at Bethany and Amelias first birthday. We had a great time ;)

Pony Ride

2009-03-16T15:05:00.001+10:30

Niamh went to a friends birthday party recently and had her first horse ride :)

Niamh's First Birthday

2009-03-16T14:27:00.004+10:30

What an incredible first year for an incredible baby!! We can't believe we got through it in one piece. Niamh is the perfect baby, she sleeps all night, eats like a horse and is a very happy and funny little girl. She is so loved and we are so, so proud of her coming this far.

Niamh started crawling on her first birthday which was a wonderful gift to us. She is like a puppy dog and I often lose her around the house, she is too fast for me!! She loves eating shoes, net curtains and raiding the waste paper basket for tissues (yeuch)! Even Bailey knows to put it out of reach when she is on the loose! He plays so well with her and even shares his trains with her. They are very sweet together.

We had a huge first birthday party for her. There was a bouncy castle, face painter and a balloon artist who was amazing. The theme was butterflies as these have appeared constantly throughout Niamh's life. The first name badge for her isolette which was made by Anne had a butterfly on it and they have been cropping up ever since. She received a big balloon from the balloon artist which she loved playing with. Regrettably I didnt take nearly enough photos on the day as I was too busy hosting but I have acquired some from my friends :)

Niamh's First Christmas! Finally added!!!

2009-03-16T14:01:00.004+10:30

Well, yes, I have been busy :) Have been meaning to update this for ages before it gets to her second Christmas!

Niamh had a great time, she loved playing in the mountains of wrapping paper and loved playing with Bailey and their new toys. She got thoroughly spoilt so a belated thank you to everyone :)

Here are some pics of the day, we went out for lunch this year with a friend of ours so it was nice not to have to cook for a change.

777 All the Sevens!

2008-11-22T23:50:00.002+10:30

Niamh now weighs 7kg! And is still sleeping 7-7am sometimes even a bit later! She is doing so well and is a happy little girl. Somebody stopped me today at the shops as Niamh was beaming away at her and she wanted to say hello! She gets so much attention everywhere we go, its funny. She is beautiful though ;)

Niamh is having 3 solid meals a day now as well as her milk feeds. She loves her food and opens her little mouth for more, she gets quite grumpy if I'm not quick enough! She is grabbing toys with both hands now and today passed a toy between her hands which I hadnt seen her do before. She still favours one side so we try and encourage her to look the other way. She can physically turn her head, just prefers not to.

I could swear she woke up and said "Mumma" the other day. It was pretty clear, even Anthony heard it!! Though he thought I had lost the plot when I suggested she had said "I'm Niamh" LOL!

Bailey has been getting better at playing nicely with her. He still has his moments but he does love her very much and the feeling is definitely mutual! Niamh adores him.

Progress Report

2008-11-14T08:47:00.003+10:30

Niamh is doing so well! She has been sleeping through the night (7pm-7am) for over a week now and its brilliant! She loves her food and eats lots!

Heres a photo I took on Tuesday November 11th.

Melbourne Cup Day

2008-11-04T22:44:00.002+10:30

I think Niamh enjoyed her first Melbourne Cup Day! She placed a bet on Prized Lady, but didnt win anything! I placed a bit on Mad Rush as life seems to be a constant one, but no joy there either! Should have trusted my instincts and backed the winner lol!

Hee Hee!

2008-11-03T23:46:00.000+10:30

That post makes it look like Niamh has grown up into a little boy! LoL!

Niamh is having a growth spurt!

2008-11-03T23:30:00.003+10:30

My kindy boy

Aah, brotherly love :)

STOP taking my photo dammit!

cherries, sweet cherries ;)

A lovely friend sent us a gorgeous little outfit today for Niamh, thanks Leoni, heres the pic as promised, and a few others too that I couldnt resist!Girls and their wardrobes!

Hello again, well Niamh is certainly growing lots these past few weeks. She is loving solids and has finally outgrown 0000 size clothes! She is now in 000 (or 0-3 months) but she will fast outgrow these too and is already in some 00 sleepsuits! I cant believe that after spending the last 6 months in newborn size that she is going to spend only a few weeks in 000, but there you go! Im just disappointed that I have so many clothes for her that she wont get the wear out of.

We have a friend visiting from Interstate tomorrow which will be great, she hasnt met Niamh yet ;) We also have a physio appointment again on Friday so hopefully Niamh will be co-operative and show what she can do!

I have started to plan Niamhs first birthday party, its all booked! Im in the process of sending out the invites but have a few addresses I need to find first! I know, I know, its months away, but theres a lot to organise!

A few photos

2008-10-21T17:12:00.003+10:30

Hi again, its been a while, time flies so fast! I can't keep up! This is the only month that Niamh's corrected age is half her real age (8 months old/4 corrected) From now on the difference should get even less and she should start to catch up a bit more.

We had a photo shoot with a friend today and Niamh thought it would be funny to roll every time she was on her tummy! Thats the most she has rolled in weeks, funny little chicken :)

These are not the photos from that shoot, they will be much, much better, but just a few to update you.

What a day!

2008-10-03T21:04:00.004+09:30

It started off very early with a play date at Ikea. Bailey has done so well with Toilet Training its a treat he deserves :) We then had an appointment at the hospital for Niamh with the physiotherapist. This didnt go as well as I had hoped. She was supposed to score 10 or 11 on the chart to put her in the 10th percentile (doesn't seem too much) but unfortunately only scored 7 which puts her in the 5th percentile.

I felt bad as I hadn't realised to the extent that she favours her right side. I was aware of it but not enough. Her neck muscles are a little tight on the left side so we have to work hard now to stretch them. I think I exhausted her today as she had to do lots of work after her feeds! She also seems weaker in her left arm, she holds her thumbs so we have to massage them too to get them to go outwards. She doesnt reach out and grab toys (she is four months corrected now) and doesnt put her hands on her knees. She has rolled although of course wouldn't do it yesterday when required so that went against her marks. I think she will be ok now we are on it and will work very hard to correct her where she needs it. The poor little thing will always have to work harder than everyone I think. I wonder if she will need to prove herself later in life as she will be so much smaller than her peers.

After that were her 6 months immunisations. They went fine although the nurse was a bit defensive when I asked her about the MMR which is due at 12 months. I have no objection to it but enquired as to whether or not you can get them done separately. Apparently not anymore, but she was very uppity as to my reasons for asking. I think with all the question surrounding the autism factor it was a fair question, whether or not it has been proven to cause problems. Why take the chance if it could be avoided? As it is I have decided to get the MMR two months prior to the rest of the 12 month vacs. At least then it will minimise the amount of live virus at one time.

Niamh went to her first fancy dress a few weeks ago and heres a picture I took of her with her daddy. She went as a fairy!

Rolling again

2008-09-27T21:03:00.003+09:30

Well the minute we put Niamh down tonight, she flipped onto her side! Of course I was too slow with the video camera so missed it again! She then tried to roll the other way but got too frustrated as her arms wouldn't cooperate with her :) Her bottom half of her body was completely twisted in the right direction and her legs were so high she looked like she was about to take off!

At this rate she will be crawling next week lol!

She just had a large amount of rice cereal and a nice warm bath and has zonked out :)

I had a bit of time out today with a girlfriend which was great. We went to the garden shop and bought some herb seeds! Bailey missed me, he said he loved me to the moon and back which was gorgeous. I say the same to him as my nanny used to say it to me but its the first time he has said it back. Aah bless :)

Real Food!

2008-09-27T11:15:00.003+09:30

I think I forgot to mention Niamh started solids!! (Monday 15th September) She loves them :) So far she has had rice cereal and home made apple puree. The shop bought stuff has too much citric acid in and junk, Bailey is fructose intolerant so I am hoping Niamh wont go the same way. He seems to have grown out of it now mostly though, thank goodness! Phew, that was a long sentence!

We have some video of Niamh eating so when I upload it I will post it here.

She is so cute, she still catches my breath when she smiles at me. Her eyes light up so much, its wonderful! She is still a very good baby, happy and content most of the time. She even seems to like Bailey mauling her lol! She was smiling at him today while he was waving her arms around and making her eat her fingers ;) Funny kids.

Niamh seems to be doing well on the physical front, she is sucking her hands and clasping them together. When I put her on the floor she kicks the ball on her play gym and seems to do it for pleasure rather than just reflex. She also apparently rolled yesterday so she must be ok. Its a bit later than I thought as Bailey rolled at 3 months, but I am probably being too enthusiastic :)

I learnt a new word last week: Mumnesia! I definitely have a double dose of that, its funny the things I forget! Ill be mid sentence and go blank, forget peoples names, or where I know them from. I put Baileys milk in a glass last night instead of his bedtime bottle, I could go on forever!

A general observation at the moment is that you cant buy decent tomatoes anywhere at the moment! Even at Central Market last night, they were all overripe with saggy skin or just yukky looking.

Anyway, I am rambling in a bid to avoid finishing painting the door frame. Im using gloss so you can see why Im avoiding it! Right back to it before Little Miss wakes up :)

The boys have gone to kindergym and then on to see the Qantas A380 jumbo landing! Its HUUUGE :)

Im going, Im going.......

Friday 26th September 2008

2008-09-26T23:24:00.001+09:30

Niamh rolled!!!

Shame I missed it! I put her on her tummy for tummy time, went to get a drink and by the time I came back she was on her back :) I tried to video it but she was too tired to do it again. Woohoo Niamh!!

Monday 15th September 2008

2008-09-15T09:44:00.006+09:30

Visit the hit counters

Good morning :) Not a lot to report today really, Niamh is wonderful. She still has a little rash on her face but it seems to be going away slowly. She didnt wake until 7am today and Bailey woke at 8am so I actually feel human for once!

We went to the Adelaide Show last week which was great, Bailey had a great time on the huge super slide and giant bouncy castle, that child is fearless!

We are going for a routine check to the hospital today and Bailey is excited to be going to the creche, funny boy.

I thought I would share this video of Niamh smiling, she is such a happy, content and placid baby. Bailey adores her and is constantly telling us he 'luffs' her. Sometimes he 'luffs' her to the point of mauling her, but we try and limit that! The feeling is very much mutual as well, yesterday Bailey fell and hurt his head, he was bawling and Niamh dropped her bottom lipped and howled for him! Bailey had to reassure her he was 'allwight' before she was happy again, too precious!

And just because its cute in a different way, the diving pigs at the Adelaide show:

What a week!

2008-09-05T22:06:00.003+09:30

Wow, last week was a shocker!! Bailey was going through a very interesting stage last week which was challenging to say the least. Niamh was also quite ill, I hurt my knee and was feeling about 90 and it just got worse!

On thursday night (August 28th) Niamh seemed to get worse (she had bronchiolitis again) so I took her in to see her lovely doctor (again) who wanted to admit her. I must admit it came as a bit of a shock and when they put her on oxygen again I was devastated. I hate seeing her beautiful little face covered with tape and tubes and she was most unhappy about it too. She was so miserable and I had a good cry too :(

We had a nurse on Saturday afternoon who thought we should wake Niamh up every two hours to feed her smaller amounts, this was passed onto the night staff to continue. It was a very, very long night. Poor Niamh, inbetween being woken by the nurse, the alarms beeping (or rather shrieking) every time she wiggled (I had never realised how often our little girl wiggled) and her coughing we did not get enough sleep. By 6.30am the nurse realised it was too much for her and said we should stop waking her now. It took for Niamh to be unable to feed as she was so exhausted to come to this conclusion and I was not happy. I must admit I let them know this too, I was completely frazzled and frustrated! I just wanted to take her home. Thankfully we had a really good paediatrician who could see my point and he let us go home. He is also Baileys paed which was good as he already knew us.

When we got home, Niamh had a good feed and then slept for five hours! She was worn out poor love. We bought a vaporiser on Tuesday and we are amazed at what a difference it has made, she is so much better. You can hardly hear her little chesty purr now! She has been smiling a lot this week and is so gorgeous. She is still wearing newborn/0000 clothes and now weighs 5kg! (11lbs) and is 13 weeks corrected (or 7 months) Incredible!

Wednesday 13th August

2008-08-13T23:21:00.002+09:30

Another post at last! We have been so busy lately. Niamh is doing really well and is going through a huge growth spurt!! I fed her every two hours today, she just wasn't satisfied and was chewing her tiny hands off!! At 6pm she had 200mls of milk which is unheard of, she lasted four hours and then drank another 14omls. She is just gorgeous and I will try and upload some pics tomorrow.

I took Niamh to the cinema yesterday, it was a bit risky, but my little angel slept through most of the film, woke up and silently indicatedI feed her and then slept again! Perfect! The film was good too (Children of the Silk Road).

Anyhoo, better get some shuteye before our little princess awakens for more food.

Niamhs Eyes

2008-07-28T13:02:00.002+09:30

We finally got the all clear! Thank Goodness! We don't have to go back until she is one now. Niamh is still poorly, very chesty and phlegmy. She sounds terrible poor little darling but hopefully is over the worst of it now.

Not much else to say today. We are toilet training Bailey which isn't going toooo badly, but not that great either! Hopefully it won't take too long to get there.

Saturday July 19th

2008-07-20T05:54:00.016+09:30

Heres the newspaper article Sunday Mail

and here!

Its really lovely for Niamh to be featured in the paper, and as a couple of friends said

"Two pages before Britney Spears" LOL! Niamh was on page 7 ;)

Friday 18th July

2008-07-18T20:24:00.001+09:30

Pictures at last!!

If you are in Adelaide, you may want to take a peek at this weeks Sunday Mail. Niamh was chosen to do a story on for National Premie Day next Friday 25th which is really exciting! We also did some video which will be on the internet. I will post the link when I know it :) Eek!

Another busy week of appointments next week. A routine check up with Andy on Monday followed by immunisations and hopefully the final eye check on Thursday.

Saturday 12th July

2008-07-12T19:41:00.002+09:30

First, good news!! Niamhs eyes are looking like they are developing normally! The blood vessels have started to grow through the haemorrhaging which is great. We have one final check in a fortnight and that should be the end of it. Im sure she will have to have checks in the future, but we seem to be out of the danger zone.

My endoscopy didnt show anything apart from a bit of gastritis. The doctor took a biopsy and the results should be back in a few weeks.

We have a very sick household at the moment, Im not 100%, Anthony is out with the flu and really bad toothache apperantly caused by the flu, Bailey has a cold and has been very tired today and Niamh still has a very bad chest and cough. She is doing remarkably well though and is feeding really well still.

Bailey and I chilled out at a fave local cafe of mine. Its called The Store and is a deli/cafe. I love it there. Bailey had a baby cino and a gingerbread man and I had a cappucino and we hung out together, he can be such good company now, I love taking him out. Anthony stayed in bed all day and looked after Niamh.

Better go and rescue dinner! A very british roast beef tonight complete with yorkshire puds (imported mix from Yorkshire too lol)! Sad ain't it?!! I made galaktobureko (sp.?) to go with it, I may not have spelt it right, but thanks to a greek friend of mine, I sure know how to pronounce it rofl. (Shes always laughing at my attempts)!

Wednesday 9th July 2008

2008-07-09T21:48:00.002+09:30

Its been two weeks since I last posted! That time flew past! Things are certainly busy here.

I did my good mummy duty last Thursday and hit the Annual Toy Sales! There wasnt much to be had this year but I got Bailey a giant Fire Truck and Niamh a cute doll for her pram. It was very civilized this year, no trolley rage lol, but then I was there at 7.30am :)

I went to a Growth and Development talk at the hospital yesterday (see, still can't keep away). It was interesting and has prompted me to put down some things that may be useful as we were asked for our input. One of the parents suggested a support group for after we leave the hospital. I think this is a great idea. There is premie playgroup which I have yet to go to, but I think there is room for more. Bec has been an amazing, constant support for us parents and the coffee mornings were excellent. I always really looked forward to them. She is about to have her second baby tomorrow, so a huge congratulations to her and her family. Hope it all goes really well!! xx

We had some bad news today, Niamh has bronchiolitis. She had a cold for the last couple of days, which she has dealt with before, but this morning she woke me up at 3am wheezing. She was struggling for breath and choking on phlegm which sounded horrible. I was awake for the day then and watched her while she slept to make sure she was alright. I phoned her wonderful paediatrician this morning and he saw us as soon as he could. I cannot speak highly enough of Andy, he always makes time for us and is brilliant. Info on Brochiolitis is here: http://www.rch.org.au/rchcpg/index.cfm?doc_id=9512

We have to feed little and often so she doesnt get tired or bring it back up, and let her rest. There isnt much else we can do at the moment. Her oximetry was good (96) Anything above 93 seems to be good so I hope it stays that way. I dont think I could cope if she had to be hospitalised, and especially ventilated, not after everything she has gone through. I keep telling her she will be fine and get through this so lets hope her fighting spirit is still alive and well!

I am in hospital tomorrow having an endoscopy, it never ends does it? Not looking forward to that but we need to find out what causes the pain. I had the worst attack ever, about 3 weeks ago and was bringing up bright, yellow bile and nothing else. It was terrible, Anthony wanted to take me to hospital, but ironically I was too ill. We called out a doctor instead, but of course I felt a lot better by then.

On Friday we are back at the hospital once again for Niamhs eyes. Fingers crossed this is something we can move on from at last.

Time for sleep.

Wednesday 25th June

2008-06-25T22:12:00.004+09:30

Thanks for all the comments! She is a little princess and is so adorable, we do kiss her a lot actually lol!

Well, good news on the eye front! Things are looking better,she still needs to have another test but not for two weeks now. It looks like it is settling down so fingers still crossed please :) It wasnt too bad going to Flinders today, its miles away but we had an easy ride and they saw us fairly quickly as they knew we had another appointment in the city afterwards to get too.

It was quite funny actually, Bailey knew we were going to the 'hofpital' to see a doctor for Niamh and when we went to our second appointment (which was right next to Womens and Childrens ironically) he said " Are we going to another hofpital for Niamh mummy"? Poor little darling, he has been bounced from one hospital or doctor to the next for the last five months, its just normal life for him now.

Niamh is a dream. Last night she fed at 10.30pm and then slept until 5am! Amazing! I felt great this morning and even had a lay in as Bailey woke late too!

I had another very bad attack with my stomach on Sunday, thank goodness I am seeing a specialist next week (yet another doctor lol) It knocked me out all day and I was a wreck the next day. Which reminds me, Niamh had an appointment with her wonderful paediatrician, Andy on Monday which went well. She is doing very well with the weight gain and has had her steroids reduced again to .05 of a ml. Its about 4 drops every other day.

Photos!

2008-06-24T16:55:00.003+09:30

Thursday 19th June

2008-06-19T12:46:00.002+09:30

We had a good visit with the Child Youth Nurse today. Niamh now weighs 3.4kg which is a gain of 400g in a week!! She is in the 25th percentile for growth so at least she is on the chart! :) We dont have any real concerns so it was all straight forward and the nurse said she looks great.

Wednesday 18th June

2008-06-18T22:38:00.002+09:30

Eye Exam again!

It took ages to get to the other hospital today. We had to go to Flinders which took nearly an hour. Then when we got there we got to every floor in the building as no one had any idea who we were seeing or where they were! We found it eventually as some kind soul took us there, we would never have found it otherwise! We were horribly late by this point!

We had to wait in the family room there. Its really just like the visitors room at the WCH but a bit bigger and with tea and coffee facilities. It would be great to have that kind of room at WCH as well as a visitors room for outpatients and relatives etc.

Anyway, we finally got seen and unfortunately it is still inconclusive. Niamh still has the haemorrhaging but it hasnt gotten worse, just no better either.
We have to go again next Wednesday.

Saturday 14th May

2008-06-14T10:53:00.004+09:30

Niamh's Eye Exam

Didn't go quite according to plan, there has been some haemorraging of the blood vessels so a top eye specialist was called in to give a second opinion. Laser surgery is still a possiblility at this stage, but not definite. We are going back again on Wednesday for another eye exam.

Feeling very frustrated with this and wish it was just over. We spent almost the entire day there yesterday, luckily Bailey was easily amused and very happy to be there! I think its his second home, he didnt want to go in the creche though but was happy to see everyone and chat. We visited a good friend of ours who is in the parenting unit this weekend. Im so excited for her! We went for a visit and she was so happy to be there!

It was funny trying to get out of the hospital yesterday, the doors to the wards kept opening and we saw so many of Niamhs lovely nurses we couldnt get away lol! It was great to see them and they were so happy to see Niamh, it was good to have a chat. We joked that they should keep the doors shut or we would never escape :)

Not much else to report, Niamh is doing really well. She is still very placid and feeds at predictable times (12am,4am,8am,12pm,4pm,8pm)! She only ever waivors by half an hour or so and then gets herself back on track. Shes a happy little girl and has settled in really well. Bailey really loves her, even the doctor yesterday commented on how good he is with her. He always wants to see her and if she cries for even a second he is telling us to "Go see Niamh"!

We got a call from our local Maternal Health Nurse, so we must go and see her soon.

Will update after the next eye test.

Tuesday 10th June An update at last!!

2008-06-10T21:42:00.004+09:30

Sorry for the delay! We have been really busy (unsurprisingly) having two children is pretty hectic :) Niamh is powering along though, she had her check up today with her paed which went really well. She has put on 447g in two weeks and now weighs 3.07kg! Little porker, I think its all in her cheeks :) She has a cold/viral infection in her nasal area so she is now on antibiotics. She is doing really well though and we have been using the nasal aspirator to clear her out. We havent been getting much sleep as Anthony stays up to do the midnight feed (which ends up trailing on until the early hours as she doesnt always want to settle right away) and then not long after he wheels her in at 3am, Im up clearing her nose and getting ready for the 4am feed. She goes every four hours which is fantastic, yesterday she went 5 hours while we enjoyed my birthday lunch.

Bailey is enamoured with her, he is so affectionate with her. If she cries he is quick to tell me and is genuinely concerned. He also loves to come and see her in the morning and stands on his chair to watch me change her and get her ready. He loves holding her and is pretty good with it. We watch him like a hawk though, just to make sure :) but try to do it subtlely.

Ive been pretty flat. I think everything has come to a head and it has hit me all at once. I feel burnt out and have been trying to take it easy and not get too involved in anything. I just havent had the energy or emotional capacity and have been avoiding talking to people as much as possible. Ive been very grumpy! Still, this week, so far has been better, its been great having Anthony home, Im not sure how I am going to go without him as I have come to rely on him a lot. I dont quite feel right in myself still, but hopefully I will back to 'normal' soon!

Monday 2nd June 2008

2008-06-02T11:09:00.002+09:30

Its taken a while to get back here! Niamh has had a great week. She is thriving and has put on over 200g!! She had her eyes tested on Friday morning and Im pleased to say that there was some improvement there. She needs to go back in a fortnight for hopefully what will be her last check and then she should get the all clear.

Niamh is such a placid, settled little girl. She is a delight. Her steroids (for her lungs) can make her a bit wakeful and agitated, but generally she is perfect. I almost forget she is here! We are fully breastfeeding with a formula top up which is working really well. Niamh even slept from 11pm until 4.20am last night! Bliss!

Bailey just loves her, he is very affectionate with her and after an initial, scary moment (he tipped the bassinette over whilst trying to look at her) it is all good. He is obviously very curious but thats only natural.

Ive had an abdominal ultrasound to see whats going on with me but wont get the results until Tuesday.

Apart from that, life is very busy! I will get back and put some piccies up later.

Niamh Annabelle Preemie Doll

2008-05-26T15:42:00.002+09:30

I have a wonderful friend who just sent us the perfect gift! It is a perfect miniature replica preemie doll of the exact same length, weight and head circumference of when Niamh was born! It is incredible to think she was that tiny, how quickly I have forgotten how she felt in my hands that first time. I remember being shocked that there was actually some weight to her, like that of a small paperweight, but I have little concept of her physical size now.

Thank you Mish, you are a gem!

Monday 26th May

2008-05-26T14:42:00.004+09:30

I think I have worn Niamh out lol! We had an intensive physio session at home today, she had 5 minutes tummy time, some gentle leg massage and some little 'bicycles'. I pushed against her feet so she could push back as well. She is a strong little thing. She then had a nice, warm bath and is currently fast asleep :) She has been great, it's so good not having to go to the hospital everyday, I seem to have so much more time to do things! It is lovely to be able to relax with Niamh and do normal mummy things.

Anthony took Bailey to playgroup this morning and then to a friends for lunch so I had a blissful morning to myself with my little cherub. Bailey had great fun too and made a robot which is very impressive!

Here is some video I took while in the parenting unit, Niamh is holding her own bottle lol!

Sunday 24th May Day 1 at Home!

2008-05-25T13:04:00.006+09:30

We had a great night, Niamh is still feeding four hourly although when she woke up at 3.30am she had a breastfeed and then a bottle feed which took ages! I think the teat we have isnt fast flow enough as she was obviously still hungry when I put her down but it was taking a long time for the milk to go down. All credit though, she took a blooming long time, but was still sucking away! A friend has dropped some faster flow teats around now though so the next feed should be better. This mornings feed was fine though and she is fast asleep next to me now and very content. I love having this bassinette on wheels, she comes all round the house with us and we can keep a close eye on her when Bailey is around too.

Bailey has been great with her but is quite enthusiastic about standing on a chair to peer in at her! We are keeping a careful eye on him without telling him too much to keep away from her, its a fine balance between involving him and keeping jealousy at bay and him squashing her lol! I think he has been overwhelmed with everything the last week or so, he was very teary today and upset. He was also quite hot so I gave him some panadol and put him in bed. He fell fast asleep with no protest so I hope he feels better when he wakes up.
We are going to go for a walk later and take him to a local, quiet, playground. Niamh has never been in fresh air before apart from leaving the car to the front door yesterday!

I cant believe how the coccoon on the pram swallows her up! She is so tiny :) I also have not got the hang of her girly bits and how she can subtley wee everywhere without me even realising lol! Ive had to change numerous outfits and change mat covers as I wasnt quick enough with the nappy! Little monkey x

She is so quiet and content, when she is hungry she will let us know, but she is still so sleepy at this stage. Im sure she will get more demanding as she gets older, but Im enjoying this right now :)

Thank you for all the comments you have left!! I couldnt believe there were 18 this morning!! Zoe, thank you for your comment, you made me cry!! Its been really lovely meeting you and you are a fantastic nurse, Niamh enjoyed having you look after her, thank you for everything :) All the best for a long, happy career.

Saturday May 23rd Day 108

2008-05-24T22:29:00.006+09:30

We are home!!

Everything went really, really well. Niamh is feeding brilliantly, we are breastfeeding and topping up with formula which is working very well. Friday flew by really quickly, there was some form filling to be done and appointments to be made for Niamh's follow up checks. Apart from that we concentrated on her feeding and watched some interesting videos on communicating with our baby and CPR etc. Bailey came to see us and was really lovely with Niamh, he gave her a soft toy that our friend Cheryl had bought for her. She then took him home and looked after him for the night. We had a good night with Niamh, she is feeding four hourly at the moment and although it takes a long time to feed her, it wasn't too bad. Just hope she keeps that up! I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be and it all went very well. I kept forgetting she was there! We really missed Bailey and were very conscious that he may be feeling left out so as the night had gone well we thought we would come home early. He was really pleased to see us and as soon as we got home we all went to bed for a sleep. Niamh needed a feed straight away so it took a while before I could get to sleep but we had a good rest. Bailey woke up at 7 and we played for a while before dinner and had stories after before he went to bed again. Niamh just woke again for a feed which was a bit early, but hopefully she will settle and I can get some sleep.
Im loving having both my babies under one roof, certainly makes things a lot easier!! So far so good! Bailey has been wonderful with Niamh, she bought him a coming home present of a Firemans dress up outfit and he stroked her head and told her he loved her. He is very cute with her and has gently held her already, I really hope that keeps up, makes it a lot easier. I think it helps that he has been gently introduced to her for the last few months.

It was sad to say goodbye to the staff, but we will pop in from time to time when we have our appointments to say hello. They have been so wonderful and everyone was genuinely happy to see Niamh doing so well and going home. Many of them remarked how incredible it was she was going home without oxygen and how healthy she looked, we cant believe it ourselves and we are so proud of her! Its so good to be home :)

Thursday May 22nd Day 106

2008-05-22T14:49:00.003+09:30

The end is nigh!!

We have heating!! Woohoo! About time too ;) Now Niamh will be lovely and toasty (or warm and cosy as Bailey likes to say).

Ive been flat out today, ironing, washing, packing our bags (yippee)! I set up the bassinette and now have to go out and pick up the cake and get some groceries. Its 3pm already, the day has flown by! Bailey is in Child Care thankfully, it would have been a nightmare while the installers were here as the front and back doors were open all the time.

Niamh is doing great today, still off oxygen and doing well and feeding well! I am really missing her but just wont get time to go in today now.

Better get moving!
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Phew! Thank goodness thats all done! Havent quite finished putting washing away etc but it will wait. Im so excited and nervous at the same time! I cant wait to see Niamh tomorrow. I had almost forgotten about her eye test in the morning, I really hope that is all ok too, the final hurdle! She had been feeding well today and breathing well too.

I cant believe this is finally coming to an end. I know things will be different for us and her due to her being premature and life hasnt't finished flinging these little challenges at us, but I truly believe we can get through anything together now. Niamh has astounded us with her strength, we have been very lucky to have such a robust little baby. I have met many wonderful parents who have faced far tougher challenges than we have but still manage to cope in some way.

The nurses in the NICU are very special and have been magnificent in getting Niamh to the stage she is at. She spent 11 weeks in the NICU and I met some wonderful nurses there and felt a great rapport with some of them.

Niamh flew through SCBU 1 and only spent a week there! She had her first bath there and her first bottle feed. The nurses there and in SCBU 2 have been fantastic in getting Niamh to bottle feed and get her off the gavage. She has really progressed quickly, and certainly much quicker than we ever imagined. We didnt expect to be taking her home two weeks before her due date!

I could rave all night about how perfect she is and how much we love her, but I won't lol! I would like to thank you all so much for your support, your comments, emails, texts, meals, clothes, ironing, gifts and valuable Bailey sitting!! It is all very much appreciated and I have been totally overwhelmed by how much you all care and have looked after us, both physically and emotionally.

I will let you know when we are home. xx

Wednesday 21st May Day 105

2008-05-21T14:50:00.003+09:30

Thank you everyone for your comments and support! Niamh has inspired me again, so here I am pumping! I have to admit to milk envy today, I opened the fridge at the hospital to put my milk in and there were six FULL pots from one lucky mum! I never want to hear anyone moan about oversupply ever again, it sucks seeing so much milk, it seems really unfair! Anyway, Im over it and soldiering on :) Niamh is amazing!!

She is OFF oxygen!!! Can you believe it? It's like she has always known what is required from her and just does it. She was being monitered for her oxygen saturation levels whilst feeding and didnt skip a beat, she had a good breast feed and I topped her up with 50mls of EBM which she took really well, she even left a little bit so I must have guessed her intake pretty well, she is on 75mls at the moment. The next feed she should have a bottle instead of a gavage which if she does well would be 6/6 suck feeds a day, maybe another tube we can lose now? Niamh will keep the oxygen tubes taped to her for 24 hours just in case and then they should be removed tomorrow morning hopefully!! I cant believe it, just as I was preparing myself to take her home on oxygen!

Niamh Annabelle=Super Star :) x

Anthony and I were up late last night making little thank you cards for the NICU staff, we wanted to do something personal so hopefully we have enough for each of them!

Ive also ordered a huge cake for them all, that always hits the spot lol! There is so much to do in prep for Niamh coming home, Im just washing all the sheets, clothes and the baby bjorn, then theres the ironing! Im panicking I dont have enough food as I dont want to go shopping next week at all, there seems so much to do, aarrgh! We are also having the heating installed tomorrow which will take all day.

Did I mention that I may have a stomach ulcer? Ive got tablets to see if they help and had bloods taken. I get the results next week.
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Just got back from seeing Niamh, they have taken all her tubes off including the nasal gastric which means she is now on all suck feeds! I cant believe it, we have a 'real' baby with no wires attached. I wasnt expecting to see no tubes tonight as they said 24 hours but she was doing so well ;) Here are a couple of pics of her cute little face :) xx

Tuesday 20th May Day 104

2008-05-20T22:05:00.002+09:30

Well, its been an emotional day for various reasons. I'm feeling very let down with my milk supply. I haven't come this far to give up but I can't do much about it any more, Im taking domperidone and expressing regularly. Ive hit the wall again and am so exhausted now, we have finally reached the end and I think I am going to flop over the finish line rather than jump over it!
Niamh was sick this morning, she brought up some of her feed. She has really bad nappy rash, so much so that the skin is broken. It looks really sore. She has a little red rash under her chin too, poor little thing! Niamh was given some steroids today to mature her lungs so we can start weaning her off the oxygen. She may need to come home on minimal support after all, we will wait and see.

Monday 19th May Day 103

2008-05-19T21:42:00.003+09:30

Niamh is doing really well. She was sound asleep in her nice, dark room today. She didnt want a breast feed but woofed down a bottle! Im really struggling with expressing at the mo, Im not getting much and am wondering if its worth all the effort. Niamh is on 75mls every four hours and I only get 20mls now every 3 hours. Im really in two minds about using formula, at least I will know how much she is getting and if I cant sustain her with my milk, whats the point?

Sunday 18th May Day 102

2008-05-18T11:17:00.005+09:30

Anthony has gone in to give Niamh a bottle feed today, I have to stay home and get her room ready and look after Bailey. She had a brady last night which Im worried about. I hope she is ok and we can still bring her home on time. I think I will be on tenterhooks all week!! We are also going to fit the bolt in the car to install her car seat today! So much to do around here to do to facilitate the heating installation on Thursday, plus banging nails in walls to hang her pictures up etc! Busy Busy!
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EEEEK!!!! Niamh is off the monitors!! I am really excited but petrified at the same time! She has been moved back into the side room which is also scary as she is out of the way a bit, but they must think she is ok to do that! Im so proud of my little girl, she has come such a long way. Clever little thing :) x

Saturday 17th May

2008-05-17T18:46:00.005+09:30

Niamh was so gorgeous today (well, she always is but you know what I mean)?! She looked so cute and was also very antsy!! She was obviously hungry as she was really wriggling around. She had another good feed, seems to have got the hang of that one now! We left her all settled and sound asleep.

Im so excited about her coming home!! I keep trying to get her room sorted but somehow can't get around to finishing it! There are so many things to sort out and put away, but it will be done by the end of tomorrow, Ive promised myself.

I managed to get an appointment with the doctor on Tuesday so will get checked out then.

Anthony and I are going out to dinner tonight, I can't wait!

Friday 16th May Happy 100 Days Princess!!

2008-05-16T20:15:00.006+09:30

STRAWBERRY & CHOCOLATE GATEAU

Layers of vanilla & chocolate sponge filled with light vanilla cream patisserie
(Thank you Muratti Patisserie,Prospect, Adelaide)

Wow, one hundred days! It seems like forever already! It was really lovely when we went in today, Niamh had balloons on her cot and two certificates and a beautiful cake! I have taken photos but will post them later as I have to go out now. (Photos now posted, I know they have spelt her name wrong, but the cake was delicious so who's complaining lol)! Im going to get checked out as I had a lot of pain today. It feels like gallstones which is ironic as I dont have a gallbladder lol! Should be fine :)

Niamhs eyes: Well, it seems to be good news. There appears to be slight improvement on her left eye so although she will be checked again next Friday it looks a bit better. Im still holding my breath though as its not that conclusive yet. Even if she does need surgery which hopefully is still looking unlikely she could be a day patient. The recovery time is 12 hours so it shouldnt delay us getting home.

Niamh will stop her caffeine today (the drug that helps her breathe) she should be off the monitors in 48 hours and hopefully off oxygen by mid next week. We are slowly getting there!! Just her feeding to sort out too now.

Ive been feeling really low today, dont know why, probably just exhausted and so desparate for her to come home and for her to be well.

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Back from the Womens Assessment, what a waste of time! Im neither pregnant nor recently given birth so they can't see me, I didnt realise there was a specific criteria. Not to worry though, Ill just go and see my doctor, its not too urgent.

Thanks for all your lovely comments. I have to give a big thank you to Bec at the hospital for arranging our gorgeous cake today and Niamhs certificates, thanks Bec! You are fab!

Thursday 15th May Day 99 Princess Royle!

2008-05-15T21:22:00.005+09:30

Isn't this the cutest photo you have ever seen?!! One of the nurses made the baby next to Niamh a crown today, well Niamh was playing up all morning! Her heart rate was over 200 and her breathing was really increased, we put it down to jealousy! As soon as her nurse made her one she was so happy and even cracked this beautiful smile!! I was so lucky to get it on camera as she promptly fell fast asleep after!

Niamh has been great today, we gave her a bath which really soothed her. She loves her baths just like Bailey did and was so relaxed and floaty :) She was really alert and awake today, it was lovely.

I cant believe she is 100 days old tomorrow! Its a really big milestone for her. She is having her eyes tested in the morning which I am anxious about, but fingers crossed anyway.

Wednesday 14th May

2008-05-14T16:38:00.004+09:30

Niamh has coped really well overnight after her immunisations, she had some panadol but otherwise was quite good. She was given the rotavirus immunisation today, I had no idea she was going to have it and it would have been nice to have some warning so I could have been there with her. Hopefully she will cope just as well. I hope they had the lights off for quiet time today, they dont always remember and Im so worried about her eyes being stuck under those flouros, but what can I do? I cant wait to get her home, just eleven more days!
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Niamh was just wonderful tonight. She was so alert and awake and so gorgeous! We gave her lots of cuddles and she was just staring and touching our faces. She even had a small nuzzle on me as she was really searching around :) Back again in the morning.

Tuesday 13th May

2008-05-13T21:52:00.003+09:30

Just a quickie tonight as Im tired. Niamh had her immunisations today and screamed her tiny head off! The poor thing. She is so tiny, did I mention that she is tiny? I hated her little legs being stung with the needle she was so upset. After the first one she had a horrible brady, she went quite grey and her eyes went all cloudy. She recovered quickly though and apart from that and some irregular breathing was fine. She was quite unsettled for a while but after a nice cuddle she finally relaxed and fell asleep.

Its been a full on day. The jabs were due at 9.30 but didnt happen until 12.30 which meant I had to stay later. I had planned to start getting her room organised this arvo while Bailey was in Child Care but it didnt work out that way. I ended up having to run errands and do shopping which took up the rest of the day. Oh well, the important thing is that Niamh is ok, she has been good all afternoon as well which is great. Its the start of the wind down out of here so Im glad it is progressing. Hopefully on Wednesday we may be able to start weaning her off the oxygen, fingers crossed.

They are now weighing her twice weekly so no update until the end of the week. She has also been graded onto 4 hourly feeds which is great! She fed really well today, she latches on like an expert and is really settled after!

Another friend went home today, she had been here almost as long as us and was really emotional about leaving. She described it as having a security blanket, you get very used to the routine and the fact that other people are caring for your baby. The sheer responsibility of looking after your baby (especially one going home on oxygen for 6 months like her baby)is overwhelming. Its certainly a rollercoaster ride! Another girl is going home tomorrow with her baby, she has been here for SEVEN months!! It s fantastic to hear she is going home! She has been through so much and so has her gorgeous baby.

Monday 12th May Day 96

2008-05-12T15:36:00.003+09:30

Happy Birthday Suzy! Have a great day ;)

We were told a four letter word today!.... HOME!

I can't believe it, it seems to have jumped up really quickly which sounds ridiculous but here it is. We are booked in the Parenting Unit next week (May 23rd)to see how we go on our own without monitors and hopefully no oxygen etc all being well. We go in early on Friday after Niamhs next(and hopefully final) eye test and then stay two nights and come home on Sunday May 25th. I cant wait, it will seem so strange at first though!

Niamh is getting her immunisations tomorrow morning (her two month ones lol) She doesnt seem big enough, she is so tiny. I will be there with her and give her a breast feed after. She is so good now, she hasnt had a brady with me for days and Im more confident with her too. Exciting stuff!! Who would have thought we would get this far?!! Im thrilled, clever little princess xxx

Sunday 11th May Happy Mothers Day!

2008-05-11T20:07:00.009+09:30

I had a lovely Mothers Day! I hope you all did too :) The staff at the hospital were great, they made us all a print out of a poem with some choccies attached and Niamhs little footprint, it was so lovely. We also got a bunch of flowers! It was lovely. I had lovely cuddles today and gave Niamh a little breastfeed, she was pretty tired. I also gave her a bath which she thoroughly loved! She just floated happily away, very content!

Niamhs eyes look a lot better today, much calmer!

Thank you for all your good wishes, it means a lot! And a big thankyou to my good old schoolfriend Katharine, who came down from Sydney for the weekend to help us out, Happy Mothers Day!

Saturday 10th May

2008-05-11T01:00:00.002+09:30

Poor Niamh, she was so upset when I got there today. Ive never seen her like that, her eyes were all puffy and weepy and her little eyelids were turning inside out when she cried. They were so swollen :( We got the doctor to have a look and they were looking better when he came so they will keep an eye on it. My poor darling, I was really choked up when I saw her, she broke my heart. She had a great feed though and was really settled when we held her.

Back in the morning again for a feed. She was having a good evening when I phoned so hopefully the eyes will heal quickly. I think they are still sensitive from the test yesterday.

Friday 9th May Day 93

2008-05-09T07:58:00.007+09:30

Eyes this morning!

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Hmm, eyes werent quite as great as I had hoped. They should hopefully be fine but they still want to see her next week to review her. They don't seem to have gotten any worse so fingers crossed again for next week! We didnt have a very good feed today as Niamh was too tired but she did have a good bottle feed at 8pm.

Thursday 8th May Day 92

2008-05-08T21:29:00.003+09:30

Niamh did really well again breastfeeding today. She was alert and awake and ready for it! The ladies from the Pipin trial that she is on came and measured her today, she is 42cm long and her head is 30.9cm. She is a big girl :) She has now moved back out of her room and into her original spot next to her little friend as they needed the room for islolation.

Niamh is having her eye test again tomorrow so I am going to try and get in as early as possible. Fingers crossed its ok! We also saw her doctor today who said that she would (possibly, all being well) in two weeks! It seems so quick now! On Monday, she is having her two month (!!) immunisations and then will come off the caffeine a couple of days later (Caffeine helps her breathe by stimulating the part of her brain that triggers breaths), then off the monitors and hopefully off the oxygen. That will be so scary! She had a brady today when I fed her and went quite blue for a moment, Im worried I wont notice them so much without the alarms, but then the alarms were switched off and I did notice it so I should be ok. I rubbed her chest and stimulated her and she was ok again, poor little thing. Didnt affect her eating though lol!

Thats all for now, must go to bed as I have an early start tomorrow, night all. Will post photos tomorrow as well.

Wednesday 7th May 3 Months old today!

2008-05-07T23:23:00.002+09:30

Wow, and not even 2.5kgs! Niamh was great tonight, she fed really, really well. She was so alert and very cute :) Didnt want to leave her as usual but I wrapped her up so she could still suck her fingers which she was doing very noisily! She had been wearing the same outfit that I put on her yesterday morning so I changed her clothes and wiped her face. I couldnt get a photo of her tonight as the light was off and it was dark. Anthony has been feeling really run down this week, he has a rotten cold and feels rough poor thing. Must go to bed, back in the morning!

Tuesday 6th May Day 90!!!

2008-05-07T00:33:00.003+09:30

Just got back from a night out with lovely, fellow premmie mums ;) So nice to go out with the girls and have a good laugh.

Niamh was so cute today (She always is though lol) She didnt feed well again which was a shame, but despite seeming to be so awake she was zonked after 5 minutes. There is no waking that girl once she is asleep! We tried a bottle but again just a few sucks before we gavaged her. Had to try though. I then gave her a bath which she loved and made her nice and comfy before I had to head off again.

By the time I did some shopping, got home, had lunch and expressed again, it was almost time to pick up Bailey from Childcare. The days fly by so fast, theres never enough time to do everything.

Its funny how you get through this experience, it feels like such a long time now. I almost don't remember when I didn't have to go to the hospital every day. Ive found I have to numb my mind to it all. If I dont think about it, it doesnt exist. The transistion to SCBU2 has been hard and not as great as I had hoped, but at the end of the day it is one step closer for Niamh to come home. In the scale of things its so trivial. I just can't wait to bring her home. I don't have the energy to battle anymore, I just want peace and quiet and for her to get well enough to leave.

Monday 5th May

2008-05-05T16:16:00.002+09:30

Had a better day today, Im getting used to it in there, I think I was having a rough couple of days and everything seemed blown out of proportion. I can't wait for her to come home though!

Niamh fed much better today, thank you so much for all your comments, it is much appreciated! Caroline, if only it was two days away, I'll try and be patient though, its just getting harder to wait when we are so close! She fed for 30 minutes and was so awake though. I also heard her little cry today which is very tiny and sweet!

Sunday 4th May

2008-05-04T22:00:00.002+09:30

Niamh was too tired for a breastfeed today which was really frustrating. Poor little darling was so zonked I couldnt wake her. She has been having some desats while bottle feeding so her oxygen has been put up slightly to 0.02. Hopefully that will help her until she gets a bit bigger and gets the hang of sucking and breathing at the same time. It was horrible leaving her again today, but what else can we do? I'm going in tomorrow morning for another attempt at feeding her.

Saturday 3rd May

2008-05-03T11:22:00.009+09:30

Niamh has been moved into a side room. She was good overnight and woofed down her bottle feed as usual! She is such a good girl, can't wait to see her. I knew that this would be the hardest part and wasn't wrong. Now we can pick her up at will and dont need to keep asking permision its much harder to leave her.

Forgot to mention that my milk supply seems to be increasing slightly now that I am feeding her. Its only once a day but has made a small difference which is great! Now I'm starting to see the reward for all the stress and hard work it's been.
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Just did some more research on ROP. This web page is brilliant and explains it really well. The diagram at the bottom is exactly what Niamh has on her chart. She has Stage 1 Zone 3 which is the best case scenario for having it. Next week we will see if its progressed. The problem in more pronounced in her left eye.

http://www.tsbvi.edu/Outreach/seehear/winter98/rop.htm
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Updated 9pm
Niamh is in a side room now. It gives us privacy which is great. We spent most of the visit with the lights off to give her a break. She was too tired for a feed which was a shame so we gave her a gavage feed instead. I just phoned up for an update ( Which always feels like getting blood out of a stone) and she is asleep, thankfully with the lights off and bottled well at 8pm.

Back in tomorrow for her 11am feed.

Friday 2nd May 2008

2008-05-03T10:59:00.004+09:30

Transition to SCBU 2

Niamh had her eyes tested today. Unfortunately Niamh has to have a repeat test in a week. They found a low level of ROP. Her doctor doesnt think she will need surgery but we can only wait and see.

Heres some information:

Retinopathy of Prematurity

The eyes of premature infants are especially vulnerable to injury after birth. A serious complication is called retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), which is abnormal growth of the blood vessels in an infant's eye. About 7% of babies weighing 1,250 grams (2.75 pounds) or less at birth develop ROP, and the resulting damage may range from mild (the need for glasses) to severe (blindness). The cause of ROP in premature infants is unknown. Although it was previously thought that too much oxygen was the primary problem, further research has shown that oxygen levels (either too low or too high) play only a contributing factor in the development of ROP. Premature babies receive eye exams in the NICU to check for ROP.

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On the plus side we had a great feed again today, she sucked for half an hour and just needed some small pauses to rest. She is such a fragile little thing, she had a small brady but I sat her up and rubbed her tummy and she recovered quickly. Im dreading the monitors coming off, Im worried I wont spot them in time to help her.

I was pretty stressed when I got home, it didn't help only having 3 hours sleep the night before and I took a couple of sleeping pills as I needed some sleep but was worried about having to leave her there.

I bought Niamhs cot mattress on the way home and some pretty sheets so I can get her room ready for her, I cant wait!

We were also very, very lucky to get a fantastic present from Anthony's mum and dad. It is a gorgeous Phil and Teds Dash that also has a toddler seat. Thankyou so much, we love it! Heres a picture although our one is bright red and funky! The toddler seat can also go on the front so that the back lays flat for a newborn.

Thursday 1st May

2008-05-01T23:48:00.004+09:30

I can't believe it is the first of May already!! Happy 12 weeks Niamh, 3 months old already. I really regret the way things have happened. I wish I could have just brought her straight home and had my babymoon. I guess I will have to wait until she finally gets home to celebrate her arrival. Everything has really been put on hold all this time, I feel cheated somehow.

Niamh is really well. She hasnt been moved to SCBU 2 yet as there hasnt been space and other babies have gone ahead of her but she is ready and waiting to go! I havent had time to upload the photos yet, but I will do that tomorrow afternoon.

We had another great feed today, she was amazing! After her bath and feed last night, she zonked out all night!

Have to go to bed but thought I had better check in! Night all.
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Couldn't sleep, so up expressing again. We got an update just before we went to bed, Niamh will be moved to the Fat Farm at 8am tomorrow morning! (Friday 2nd May). Im very excited!

Not sure how long Niamh will be on here for, so if you want to check out her baby of the month pic go here:
http://earlybirds.com.au/

I also just found this piece of research. I wouldn't have minded taking part in this trial lol! (Not that I had preeclampsia):

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Indulging in chocolate during pregnancy could help ward off a serious complication known as preeclampsia, new research suggests. Chocolate, especially dark chocolate, is rich in a chemical called theobromine, which stimulates the heart, relaxes smooth muscle and dilates blood vessels, and has been used to treat chest pain, high blood pressure, and hardening of the arteries, Dr. Elizabeth W. Triche of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut and colleagues write. Women who ate five or more servings of chocolate each week in their third trimester of pregnancy were 40 percent less likely to develop preeclampsia than those who ate chocolate less than once a week.

"Our results raise the possibility that chocolate consumption by pregnant women may reduce the occurrence of preeclampsia," they write. "Because of the importance of preeclampsia as a major complication of pregnancy, replication of these results in other large prospective studies with a detailed assessment of chocolate consumption is warranted."

SOURCE: Epidemiology, May 2008.

We have to say a special thankyou to Niamh's very clever Nanny! Thankyou Nanny Royle for knitting these very cute hat, booties and cardigan. They are so tiny and cute! They will fit perfectly, thankyou xxx (They arrived today)

Wednesday 30th April

2008-04-30T09:17:00.004+09:30

Niamh has been an angel overnight, she has put on another 50g and woofed down her midnight bottle feed ;)
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PM

Niamh is top of the list for the Fat Farm!! We cant believe she has only been in SCBU for 5 days!! Thought we had weeks ahead of us! Anyway, next to go as soon as there is a space ;)

We had a really successful breastfeed last night, it was great and Niamh also had her first bath given by her daddy :) She seemed to really enjoy it and relax. I took photos but will post later as I have to go the hospital again.

Tuesday 29th April

2008-04-29T23:39:00.007+09:30

Another lovely day with Niamh. She had her third successful breastfeed, this time without the shield, even managed to get a photo of it :)

Coffee morning was hard today. Its a place where parents can come and share their experiences with each other and some of the lovely people I have met are having a terrible time of it. It makes you realise how lucky you are. Niamh has given us such an easy ride, it could have been so much worse. Its been long and exhausting but she has gone from strength to strength and given us so much hope.

I was thinking today how many seasons have changed while we have been in hospital. It was a beautiful, crisp autumn day today. I took a photo of a tree with lovely leaves :) Anthony came in this afternoon and had a nice cuddle. I also managed a shot of a barefaced Niamh while she was having her tubes changed. Its so rare to see her without any tape.

Looking forward to tomorrow when Anthony gives Niamh her first bath in the evening and I will give her a feed before hand. Its looking promising for an early release too. We live within the area for N.E.D (Neonatal Early Discharge) program which is great! A midwife will visit us everyday until we can be 'discharged' Niamh now needs to do 3 suck feeds a day (she is currently on two and handling them well) and then we can hopefully go to SCBU. The minimum weight for discharge is 1800g which she is now comfortably past as well as being stable which she is, open cot and I think that was it. She is so close! I cant believe we can take home such a teeny, tiny baby, but apparently we can. Time is the only problem now. I just hope that her eye test is clear. Thats the next thing.

Monday 28th April

2008-04-28T19:06:00.006+09:30

Just a reminder of how she first was. Niamh is a week old here. 15th and 16th February 2008

Niamh weighs TWO KILOS! She looked beautiful today and was bright eyed and content. We had a lovely cuddle and she was looking at me the whole time, just gorgeous. Oxygen was at minimum and she had had a good morning. I dont have time for more at the moment and there isnt really a lot more to say but I will try and come back later with an update.

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Niamh had a bottle feed at 6pm and sucked the whole lot down! She has 26mls every two hours but only two sucking feeds a day. She copes so well with everything we throw at her ;)

Sunday 27th April

2008-04-27T13:45:00.006+09:30

Niamh is doing really well. She is regulating her body temp quite well although I did cook her this morning when she had her feed! Poor little thing, I had to strip her down while I changed her nappy and redress her in cooler clothes. Its really cold here today but its warm in SCBU. We had another good feed, but we gave her a top up gavage feed (through the NG tube) as she got quite tired. The funny thing was though, when I had changed her and wrapped her up, she was awake for ages! She was looking around and playing with Wookie :) She has the prongs back on for some oxygen but it just wafts up her nose rather than having prongs up there. Its a shame she has to have tape on her face again, but hopefully she will get stronger and not need it at all. The doctor came round this morning and was very happy with her.

I also met up with my old buddies from NIC 2, it was great to see them and really touching to hear that they had texted each other when they saw Niamh had joined their daughter and was in an open cot!

Its amazing how different I feel now that Niamh is in SCBU, I feel like a great weight has lifted off my shoulders. I actually think I was starting to lose it a little. Yup, crazier than usual, hard to imagine, I know :) I was getting very over sensitive though feeling really trapped as though we were never going to get on the home straight. Its hard to prepare yourself when you don't know whats coming up. Anyway, enough rambling, have a good Sunday. I will :)

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9.19pm

I phoned for an update, all is good and Niamh is back in air again as her oxygen sats were so high. She has slight dips but so far, so good. She is sooo close to being in air all the time. No bradys either which is great, they are not nice to watch. She had one this morning and went quite blue but recovered quickly. I must be getting used to them now as I just sat her up, whipped off her wrap and tickled her tummy to stimulate her. I held her chin up too to help her breathe. They teach us baby CPR before we go home, think Ive had a crash course already! We are looking at getting an AngelCare monitor. This is going to be a very different experience bringing Niamh home, I will absolutey be paranoid lol!

Saturday 26th April

2008-04-26T16:27:00.006+09:30

Well, Niamh has settled into SCBU nicely! We had a great, first visit this morning and Niamh had her first breastfeed! She fed for 15 minutes with only one minor desat which she sorted out herself. She was a natural! We used a nipple shield to help her latch on but she was a natural at it once she got started. 15 minutes was a phenomenal amount of time for her, we weren't sure if she would last five minutes as it is very hard for her to breathe, suck and swallow at the same time and she gets very tired. She was breathing all by herself in normal air and no oxygen was given at all. When she went back into her isolette she fell fast asleep :)

I just phoned for an update and she has now gone into an open cot and is desatting nicely. As long as her oxygen levels stay above 88 they are happy with her. They were mostly 90+ when she fed so just brilliant! I can't believe our little miracle, the doctor said yesterday that she is a 'Once in a lifetime baby" Thank God she is ours, we are so lucky. I can't imagine the pain that parents go through that haven't had it as easy as us, we are definitely one of the very lucky ones. I'm so grateful.

Its wonderful to be out of NICU2, I was starting to feel a bit claustrophobic, it really is intense this intensive care lark lol. The nurses all do a wonderful job though, they have been brilliant.

I wish we had taken a photo today, but with a very excited Bailey in tow thats not so easy. He came in when I was holding Niamh and said hello nicely, he touched her on her head really gently. I think he will be good when we come home. Anthony then had to distract him while I fed Niamh.

The fun really starts now. Niamh will initially have one breastfeed a day which I obviously need to be there for so the visits will be carefully timed and worked around and there are no more days off. Im glad I made the most of the last two Tuesdays to stay home, I knew it would ramp up soon. Im not sure how I will deal with two feeds a day, that will be interesting, wish I lived nearer the hospital. I think I will have to hang around a lot. Would be easier if she was my first. Still, I'm determined to breast feed so I will find a way.

Have to prepare for dinner guests now :) Back tomorrow afternoon. I have to be there at 9.30am for the first feed and then we are taking Bailey to the trains again.
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Ok, ok, so Im back already! I phoned for another update as Im a bit anxious now she is out in the big wide world so to speak. She is still doing well in air and was maintaining her temperature well too. I have to go and sort out clothes to take with me tomorrow, she is outgrowing things very fast now! She had a brady when she had her feed earlier but the nurse said she gave it much slower next time. I hope she's ok.
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Another update, I know, I can't stop phoning lol! Niamh has now been put back on a 'whiff' of oxygen. She was having a few bradys and desats and had to work too hard so a bit of help was needed. She is having a bottle feed at Midnight, hope it is more successful then the five minutes she did yesterday.

I have sorted out a pile of clothes to take with me tomorrow and have labeled them all. Ive run out now so am looking forward to getting the ones I ordered from our Childcare fundraiser, thanks Sarah!

Going to bed now! Night night.

Anzac Day 25th April 2008

2008-04-25T14:26:00.004+09:30

Niamh is a NICU graduate and is moving to SCBU this afternoon!!! I can't believe, it feels like it has flown by and we are definitely on the home straight now. I was feeling like we would never get out of there! Im very excited :)

I had a cuddle with her today and she had no oxygen at all, she had a brady towards the end of the cuddle because she was getting tired I think, but other than that she was great.

Anthony did her cares today and as we had to take Bailey, he took him to the playground so I could have a cuddle. Anthony is still a bit snuffly so hopefully next time he can have a cuddle.
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Niamh has now moved across and is doing well. Still the odd brady and desat so her oxygen was put up to 24% but has moved down to 22%. They were about to weigh her but we will find out tomorrow what the result was. Here are a couple of pics from today, Niamh loves her daddy! Look at that smile. We also had a friend visit today which was lovely, thank you :) Niamh smiled quite a lot then too! Cheeky girl :)

Thursday 24th April

2008-04-25T00:21:00.006+09:30

11 Weeks today!

Brain scan was NORMAL!!! Woohoo! That was fantastic news, as was the fact that she is now top of the list to go to SCBU. Just waiting for a new admission to NICU for her to be bumped along.

I had a cuddle with her today which was much needed. It had been about a week as I was worried I would pass on my lurgy. We were cuddling for about ten minutes when I realised that she had no oxygen yet her stats were perfect! Shes so amazing! She spent most of the cuddle craning her neck to look up at me. So strong :) I could gush forever about how wonderful she is but I will let her fat little buddha photos do the talking :)

Still Wednesday 23rd April, Evening

2008-04-23T23:02:00.002+09:30

Lots of news today. I found out why Niamh came early! I had an infection in the placenta which is why my mebranes ruptured. Phew, at least there was a reason and not just my body rejecting her. After all we went through to keep her in, I got an infection, makes no sense really! My doctor said that if we wanted another one I should have blood tests to check my antibodies etc and that I would need to inject heparin again and take asprin. I may also need a stitch in my cervix to see if that would help. I would expect bedrest at some point too. Not sure if we are going back for number 3 just yet though :)

The magic word has been mentioned! SCBU! Niamh is 6th on the list and it could happen at any time! The wait is due to staffing levels so whenever its a good time, off she goes! She is doing so well on the cot oxygen, its at 23% so very low. It would be great to get her off it!

Well, I must go to bed, I dont think there was anything else to say, she is off the antibiotics. The swab results indicated an infection, but she is fine. Eye test so far seems ok but a repeat in two weeks. Brain scan appears fine as we have not heard otherwise but we havent spoken to her doctor yet. Nothing on the report though so fingers crossed thats all good too.

There was another 23 weeker born yesterday or today. I really feel for her poor mother. I hope she does well :)

Well, its time for bed, night night and thank you for all the lovely comments, I love reading them and it spurs me on.xxxx

Wednesday 23rd April

2008-04-23T09:26:00.004+09:30

Niamh put on another whopping 50 grams overnight! She now weighs 1.88kg and has tripled her birthweight comfortably in 11 weeks. Can you imagine a newborn tripling its' birthweight in 11 weeks? It would be the size of a 2 year old!!

I am really hoping we wil hear those magic words soon "SCBU" :) Niamh is on oxygen cot at the moment, about 22/23% last time I heard, Air is 21% so it really is minimal. Im hoping it won't be long and she will come off that and can go into an open cot as she is. Otherwise she will need an intranasal tube which is like the optiflow tube but with the prongs snipped off. So more tape on her face!

Anyway, I will be there this afternoon and Anthony and I will go back in this evening as well.

I went to the doctors by the way and Im fine! Just run down I think, waste of time really!

Tuesday 22nd April

2008-04-22T21:50:00.004+09:30

Niamh is off Optiflow!! So far so good! She is now on minimal cot oxygen and the only tube she has is her feeding tube. I cant wait to see her beautiful little face tomorrow. Still no news on the cultures from her finger but it looks much better. Her eye test seems to be ok too which is a relief but she will still have another check up in a fortnight. Should hopefully have some brain scan results soon too.

Sorry about the short and sweet post, its good news though! I feel like Im hitting that wall again, I dont know why when all the news is positive, but after 11 weeks, Im tired and just want to bring home my baby girl. Its still about 5/6 weeks to go which in the scheme of things is not too long, but its still 5/6 weeks! Im preparing myself for about 7 weeks, that way I won't be disappointed. Im sick of it all, everything, but I can only think of our miraculous girl and take heart from her strength and fighting spririt. Shes amazing!

Monday 21st April

2008-04-21T05:50:00.003+09:30

5.52am Up early today. Had to express so I phoned for an update. Niamh was quite settled with nothing to report. Her finger wasn't mentioned as any concern at handover so I will see today when I go if it has changed at all. I have a friend coming to visit today. Im going to go to the doctors on the way as my chest feels a bit tight. I want to jump on any infection quickly if there is one.

Back later :)
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Im back! Well, Niamh isnt going in an open cot just yet. The doctors don't think she is quite ready which is fair enough, they definitely know best :) Good news on the optiflow though, it got turned down to 2. She was having a few bradys but will hopefully settle. The first 24 hours are the most important apparently. Niamh had another eye check and although Im unsure of the results they seem to be ok as far as I can tell but still needs another one in two weeks. She also had a brain scan and I will know the results in a few days. Lots has happened today hasn't it?

Niamhs finger is looking better, it definitely didn't look any worse so fingers crossed it was just a localised thing. I will put photos up tomorrow, I had a friend visit today who took a couple of lovely shots so she may let me put them up :)

Sunday 20th April

2008-04-20T22:18:00.002+09:30

Just a short post today as its late and bed is calling.

We spent most of the day trying to find Bailey a new bed. He is currently sleeping in his cot which converted into a toddler bed, but we are going to need it to change back into a cot for Niamh so hence todays mission :) Got to love Ikea solving these problems, although nothing really jumped out at us much yesterday. After looking at lots of shops today, Ikea seemed just peachy in comparison so back we went. Of course, it was just an excuse to buy more Daim bars and meatballs, but you get that :) Anyway, mission accomplished, now just to find the allen key amidst all that packing foam and cardboard :)

As for Niamh, Im not sure if she will still go in an open cot tomorrow. I found a little sore on her finger today that looked quite nasty. It looks like a blister and a bit infected at that. The doctors decided to start on her antibiotics immediately while they take a swab. The cultures take 48 hours to come back so we won't know what it is until Wednesday. I thought we were sailing through a bit too well, I just hope and pray its nothing serious and it wont set us back at all.

On the plus side her optiflow was turned down to 3 today which is great and she has been really stable on it too. The hospital had a powercut yesterday while we were there and the machines kept turning themselves off (kind of scary in an intensive care unit) the back up power was pretty slow at coming on, but in the kerfuffle, Niamhs optiflow had gone down to 0 but she was still doing really well! I cried tears of joy when we heard it had gone down today! When it goes to 2 its basically not doing anything so she is getting closer to not needing it.

Saturday 19th April

2008-04-19T23:17:00.005+09:30

What a busy day! Sorry it's taken so long to update the blog, I had a pile of washing (or was that 3 piles)? to sort out and all the usual evening routine to boot. Anthony and I aren't feeling too well either which is annoying. We are both feeling like we are about to come down with something, but nothing eventuates. We just had a nightcap of lemsip so hopefully that will help, that and some much needed sleep. Had a shocking night last night, Bailey came in and I ended up sleeping with him in the guest room. That boy does not stop talking! Even in his sleep! Ah the joys of parenthood :)

Well, our precious little miracle has today put on another hefty 70g. They also gave her a diuretic as she looked a bit puffy and she did the biggest wee ever! I think she will lose 50g overnight just due to that. I had to change every one of her sheets, even the padded 'nest' she sleeps on! Everything was saturated. Niamh also had a blood transfusion today as her haemoglobin levels were on the low side. The doctors had been holding off, but she just wasnt making enough herself. She certainly looked a lovely, healthy shade of pink today so I think it agreed with her. She looked so smiley, though I expect it was wind ;)

She is down to go into an open cot on Monday which Im sure Ive already mentioned (can you tell I'm excited)? It all depends on whether or not she can regulate her own body temperature so don't be surprised if its a few more days yet.

We spoke to our doctor today who thinks that if all keeps going well, Niamh will be coming home in 5 weeks!! Can you believe it?!! It feels like we will be doing this forever, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Now we just need to get out of the NICU lol!

One of the babies got out and moved on to SCBU yesterday, I will miss seeing her parents, they are lovely people. Hopefully I will see them around. Its funny how you bond with people and then they go and thats that. Its so true what they say about friends for a reason, a season or a lifetime. Thats not to say you might not make life long friends in this situation, but your main focus is getting through this and home and if making friends along the way, and supporting each other is something that helps, then you do it, even if they are only friends for that short period of time and then you move on.

Did I tell you about the photo shoot we did at the hospital the other week? The Hospital is putting together a new information booklet for parents in NICU/SCBU and wanted to photograph some babies to go in it. Niamh was one of the babies along with some of her friends. The photographer put the photos on a disc which I received yesterday and Ive put a couple on here. I had to read her a story which felt really embarrassing but didn't come out too badly lol! It was so nice to receive the cd as its another record of our time here.

The other thing Niamh has been part of is the Perinatal Conference in Queensland. Niamh is a 'poster' girl for a paper on hyperthermia. The new technique is to wrap babies born early or with low birth weight in plastic when they are born to maintain or increase their temperature. Niamhs picture of her wrapped in plastic moments after her being born was used to demonstrate the method.

Storyboard

2008-04-18T21:38:00.004+09:30

I just made this storyboard to give some idea as to how much Niamh has grown. She looks so tiny in that first photo and was just two days old! In the second photo she is two weeks old, and the most recent one she is 8 weeks old.

Friday 18th April

2008-04-18T20:34:00.002+09:30

What a hectic day! Anthony had a work lunch in the city today, so I dropped him off at work before going to the hospital. That way he could enjoy the drinks and catch a train home. It was quiet in the NICU today, but a good atmosphere. One of the nurses was leaving to travel and had brought in cake :) Then one of the mums brought in a huge box of cakes too :) They went down very well!

Niamh has put on another 30g and weighs a whopping 1.6kg! She is steaming ahead now, and is apparently due to go into an open cot on Monday! Our baby girl is growing up :) She looked very comfortable all wrapped up and holding her dummy. Niamh is growing out of so many of her clothes now, they all look so teeny tiny. Its incredible to think that she was wearing them and that they were huge on her!

Thursday 17th April

2008-04-17T21:19:00.002+09:30

Niamh was really good today, we had a lovely skin to skin cuddle and she was exhausted afterwards and slept most of the day. Our day hadnt really gone to plan at first. Bailey fell asleep in the car and when we got to the creche, it was full. I had to take B up with me but as he was asleep it wasn't too bad. In fact, he was as good as gold when he woke up and had a lovely visit with Niamh. He was so gentle with her and touched her head very softly. The creche phoned just in time for me to go to the information session run by one of the physios, it was good and I found it useful, it was really busy today!

Wednesday 16th April

2008-04-16T22:31:00.002+09:30

Niamh is doing really well today. Her oxygen was right down to either air or just above so she is having minimal oxygen if any. Her pressure is still at 4 on optiflow although she pulled her prongs out this evening so I think she was trying to tell us something! I tried to retape it but it was a bit wonky and I think the whole thing needs retaping again! It looks like she is going into an open cot next week! She is already being wrapped now and seems really comfy with it. My mum will especially appreciate this photo as she loved seeing Bailey wrapped like a sausage roll lol! It will be Monday week (28th) when Niamh will have her eyes checked again, lets hope they are fine. She does look at us and follow movement so heres hoping.

I can't wait for her to have her first bath! Anthony will do the honours when the time comes which will hopefully be not long after she goes into a cot.

I completely got my times mixed up today! I thought I had an appointment with my specialist at 1.40pm, but after waiting outside a locked office today for half an hour, another secretary from another specialist phoned him only to find out I should have been there yesterday! How I got it so wrong, I dont know, I even had it in my organiser for that day and time. I have to go again next week now. Seeing as I was next to the hospital, I popped in and saw Niamh for a while. Anthony worked from home today so I was able to leave Bailey asleep at home which made it much easier for me. Bailey didnt stir at all so Anthony could still work, so it was good all round :) We went up again this evening and Anthony did her cares for her.

Tuesday 15th April

2008-04-15T14:00:00.003+09:30

Niamh is doing well today, she has put on 30g overnight. Not much else has changed, she was having nappy free time when I phoned. Im not feeling too flash today, tingly throat and a bit snuffly so Im taking it easy while Bailey is in Childcare to try and prevent it turning into anything. If I get ill, I can't go and see Niamh so don't want to overdo it!

I will be back in to see her tomorrow so more photos then ;)

Monday 14th April Day 68

2008-04-14T21:07:00.005+09:30

Well, we went to see Miss Niamh today and she was just lovely. She has put on another 50g and was looking good. I got to have a nice cuddle while Bailey slept in the creche. It was such a busy day today, B had a playdate this morning and I had some errands to run on the way to the hospital. He then has swimming at 5 so it was really busy! Sorry this is so short, Im pretty tired tonight.

Sunday 13th April

2008-04-13T17:53:00.004+09:30

We had a quick visit today, Niamh was really good and has been getting rid of a lot of the built up fluid. She lost 30g overnight so they are going to look at reducing/stopping the diuretic. The doctors and nurses keep saying how great she is doing, so we are really, really happy with that :)

Saturday 12th April

2008-04-12T23:43:00.003+09:30

Niamh is great today. I will have to upload pictures tomorrow as I havent had time. Anthony got a lovely cuddle with her today which was good. She was so warm, the little monkey! They are actually talking about putting her in an open cot pretty soon as she is maintaining her temperature really well!

Not much else to report, see you tomorrow.

Friday 11th April

2008-04-11T19:19:00.005+09:30

I can hold you in the palm of my hand!

Niamh was really good today, she lost 60g overnight which hopefully was all the fluid she was hanging on to. Her optiflow pressure has been reduced to 4 as well. Her body was working too hard to move the fluid before so it couldnt be reduced so now, hopefully she will cope well with it. Once she is weaned off the optiflow (and once it is down to 2 she is more or less weaned as it doesnt go any lower) she will just be on pure oxygen. We are hoping that in a week or two she will be able to maintain her temperature enough to go into an open cot. She is doing pretty well at that though which I hadnt even noticed! Her cot temp used to be 'Queensland' i.e. a sunny 37c but now its down to 26c and she can maintain herself pretty well. I am also hoping to be able to bath her soon as well. The poor darling was a bit wiffy today, from all the humidity and lack of water near her it was inevitable. It will be nice to spruce her up though :)

I had another very nice cuddle with her today skin to skin and she slept the whole time! A bit of an arty photo today, dont look too closely though, Im still working out Photoshop lol!

I forgot to add that I went to Central Markets after the hospital today to treat Bailey to a babycino and a gingerbread man. The lady I always buy Baileys little sausages from was so lovely, we hadnt seen each other for a while as I dont get the opportunity to go there much anymore, but she said that having babies obviously agreed with me as I looked radiant! I have to admit, I wasn't feeling radiant, but she brought tears to my eyes! Very kind, or is that blind? Rofl!

Thursday 10th April

2008-04-10T20:23:00.007+09:30

Niamh is 9 weeks today! I can't believe how quick that has gone! Wow! We had a good day today. I was lucky enough to get a skin to skin cuddle with her that was really nice. She was looking up at me a couple of times and the rest of the time she slept :) I also gave her a teeny tiny micro breastfeed, just a couple of little sucks before she fell asleep again but she knew what to do.

The swab hadn't come back from her eye yet, although it looks much better so hopefully all is good. Her nails are so long, I must remember to take a nail file in tomorrow to shorten them. She has put on 60g again overnight, but she is also puffy so the doctors have given her a diuretic to move the fluid along. The lady from the PIPIN trial came today as well to take Niamh's head and length measurements. I cant't remember the exact lengths but she has grown 1cm in both places so thats great. I will get the figures and update the growth chart.

Niamh is wearing the little suit my sis bought for her, thankyou! :)

Niamh is now the official Baby of the Month for April on the Early Birds website (Thankyou Lynda)! Go to www.earlybirds.com.au and click on Earlybird Club on the left hand side to see Niamh! She was on CPAP at the time the photo was taken and just managed to get it off for a quick photo :)

We also had the education session again today, these are every Thursday and today we were provided with food! Well thats a good enough reason to go! :) It was yummy, and of course, very informative! :)

There was one interesting new mum there, last week I was very curious about her. We were asked the question "What is it like to be a NICU/SCBU mum" and she said 'Great' in a very light and airy manner, she was quite serious too, no sarcasm detected.
Tell me I'm crazy, but I couldnt think of anything worse than having a new baby in intensive care or the special care baby unit. I found out today that she has only been here a week and should be home next week so she is blissfully unaware of the trauma that comes with having one so early and being in it for the longhaul.

I was asked how I found expressing and I explained that at first I was very angry about it as I had 17 long weeks ahead of me and I was finding it very hard. Its just as mentally difficult as it is physical and I wasnt coping too well at first with not having my daughter at home with me. There are so many thoughts that you have it takes a while to accept how things are, but I think I have now. 'New Mum's' comment was a patronising 'Oh, but its sooo worth it'! Aaaah!! As if we dont know that! Anyway, we did have a good laugh about it and consoled ourselves with the fact that she was clueless and lucky to be so blissfully ignorant.

Gosh, that turned into a bit of a rant didn't it? It wasnt meant to be! Just gives you an idea of some of the things we come across here. That and lots of differing opinions on how things should be done but thats another vent!

I have uploaded lots of pics today as I didn't do many yesterday, plus some video of Niamh sucking her fingers. I love, love, love the hat she is wearing today, this was kindly crocheted by a good friend of mine who is multi talented in all sorts of crafty areas! Thank you Clair, it looks great doesn't it?! It fits her really well too.

Wednesday 9th April

2008-04-09T16:36:00.003+09:30

Niamh has been good overnight and stable this morning. She put on 10g again and has been good all day.

Anthony had a good skin to skin cuddle with Niamh tonight, they both really enjoyed it! Look at her face when Anthony is holding her, she looks so happy! She loves her daddy.

She has grazed herself somehow on her chin, and scratched her eyes so she looks in the wars! They are going to take a swab to see if there is any infection there.

Tuesday 8th April

2008-04-08T23:05:00.005+09:30

Edited to add: Thankyou Nanny Royle for the beautiful hat handknitted with love and the cute jumpsuit! Niamh is getting so big she is almost outgrowing it, but she has loved wearing it!

Sorry for the late entry! All is well, nothing has changed actually! Niamh gained 10g and that was it. She had her photo taken today which went well. She was very compliant and seemed to sleep through the whole thing. We got to have a cuddle too which was nice. Im feeling a bit detached from it all today, not sure why, I think its just because its been 9 weeks now, and it still seems such a long time to go. Im drained of so many emotions that I can't even keep track of how Im feeling. I think Im ok, just disconnected. It doesnt help when my brain fails me and I blurt things out that should stay firmly in my head, I keep calling people the wrong names and saying things that should just be thought lol!Oh well, take me as you find me I guess.

Monday 7th April

2008-04-07T20:48:00.003+09:30

Niamh has been pretty good today. She had her pressure reduced to 4 from 5 but had a few bradys which meant it had to be put up again. This relates to the pressure given to her lungs to help her breathe. She is stable now though. She also put on 30g last night which was good. Not sure how much was fluid though.

I saw a baby out shopping today who was on oxygen, I really wanted to stop the mum and chat to her but didn't want to bother her. Niamh has her little photoshoot tomorrow bless her, should be good, I get to spend the whole day with her, yippee!

Sunday 6th April

2008-04-06T15:49:00.004+09:30

How Surprised does she look?!
Niamh's eyes look really blue, just like Baileys.

We went to see Niamh this morning and she was doing well. She has put on 70g but once again is quite puffy. The doctors are going to see how she goes before giving her more diuretic so hopefully she will move the fluid herself.

Her optiflow pressure has been reduced from 5 down to 4 and she is going to be weaned off hourly feeds and put onto 2 hourly feeds.

Here is Anthony giving Niamh one of her feeds :)

Saturday 5th April

2008-04-05T12:03:00.003+10:30

Good morning,

Not much has changed with Miss Niamh today. She has put on the 10g that she lost, so back to 1300g and is stable. Anthony has taken Bailey to Kindergym today and then on the the Motor Show. They had such a good time last year they are having their annual boys day out today! Anthony is hoping to pop in and see Niamh this arvo when Bailey is hopefully asleep. I'm at home cooking, gardening and generally pottering ;)

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We all had a good day today, Anthony had a cuddle with Niamh and Bailey stayed asleep for most of the visit which was good. She was very cute :)

Friday 4th April

2008-04-04T14:52:00.007+10:30

I have good news!! Niamh had her eyes checked for the first time today and there were all fine!!! I must admit I am amazed, I was kind of expecting there to be some doubt due to her age and prematurity, but nope, all good!! Hooray! I had tears of joy in my eyes :) She will have a repeat check in two weeks so fingers crossed that one is good too.

Her feeds have gone up to 9.5ml an hour now and apart from being a bit cold from being outside the isolette for the eye test she is doing really well. She lost 10g overnight but shes allowed to do that, she does have a double chin lol!

A friend came in to visit today, thank you Philly! Look at these beautiful photos she took! Thank you so much, I love them!

Bailey also asked to come and say 'Hayoh" so I took him up briefly before we left. He was really tired and cranky but still managed to shout his usual greeting! (Hayoh, im your big bruvver). He passed out as soon as we were in the car!

Thursday 3rd April Day 57

2008-04-03T18:23:00.006+10:30

Niamh was wonderful today! She is on gravity feeds now, this means instead of a drip feed over an hour, she will have 9mls straight away directly through her tube. This way, she will get to feel what it is like to be full and empty. I gave her a dummy to suck while she did it to try and get her to associate the feeling of being full with sucking. She seemed to like sucking!

I got another cuddle which was really nice! Also went to an information session on how to care for our babies whilst in the NICU. It was really informative and it was good to hear other parents views and opinions. One of the things was looking for cues that your baby is stressed. Niamh seems pretty happy really, I havent seen her do too many stressful moves. She is always very content to be cuddled which is great. Premies don't like to be stroked though, just firm holds are good. They also like to be wrapped which is something that I think Niamh will like although judging by her behaviour and favourite positions I think she will be a houdini like her brother!

She is really starting to look like Bailey as a baby! Anthony noticed it last night and I saw a glimpse of him today around the eyes and of course the nose lol!

For those that have asked, Anthony still seems to have his ear infection, he doesn't have much hearing in his left ear and has started a second course of antibiotics.

Baileys head is ok, just quite bruised although I had to put butterfly strips on it today as he had picked off the glue and it was a bit gapey! Hmm, doesn't sound fine does it lol! He has been very cute today, we had a mini photoshoot in the park He kept jumping on me and kissing me so I took quite a few of that :)

One of our favourite nurses was looking after Niamh today, she is so lovely. She has said that she will make us a curry one day (maybe Saturday) which is so special. What a nice thing to do!

Wednesday 2nd April

2008-04-02T12:03:00.005+10:30

Well our baby girl has been good overnight, she has put on 70g again which is great but could be some fluid as she is looking a little puffy. They have given her a diuretic to see if that makes a difference and will also take some bloods today to rule out infection. I can't wait to see her tonight!

We have been asked to do a photo shoot for the new 'Fragile Beginnings' booklet. This is an information booklet given to parents in the NICU or SCBU. Its quite exciting! They also want a photo of Niamh to put up in the corridor which is great :) It will be really good to show her these things when she is older.

Bailey and I made Gingerbread men this morning, he loves them! They turned out really well :) I wanted to make crispy crackles for a change, but he was adament he wanted "Chincher bread men" lol Its nice to have a day at home trying to catch up and spending time with Bailey.

I can't believe this blog has over 9000 hits in just 7 weeks! I think I started it when Niamh was 1 week old. She is two months tomorrow too! That has flown by!

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We went to see Niamh tonight and she was so active! She has been lifting her head up and changing sides! We managed to get some on video too ;) Niamh was given a diuretic earlier to reduce the fluid and she passed 50ml of urine which is great. That should help her. Her milk has gone up to 9ml/hour! I remember when she was on 1ml! I spoke to her doctor today. The plan is to gradually reduce the amount of pressure she has on optiflow and get her off it and then hopefully graduate to SCBU! This might happen in the next couple of weeks all being well. It feels like we are starting to get somewhere now.

I noticed that her ears are starting to look more real now lol, they were paper thin and stuck to her head but in the last two days they have come away from her head and feel thicker, like proper ears!

Tuesday 1st April

2008-04-01T17:29:00.005+10:30

Niamh was really good again today, I had a lovely cuddle with her. She got quite cold though and was taking a little while to come up to temp. She also had a few desats while I held her, I think that was because she was out for almost an hour and was getting tired. She was pulling some very cute faces :) You can really see in this photo just how much she has grown, its amazing! I will go and find a comparison photo in a minute!..... Here it is, she was so tiny I had to hold her in the nest. This is dated 23rd February so she was two weeks two days old.

A good friend of mine visited today which was nice, we went for lunch too which made a nice change.

Got to go and get Bailey from childcare now. I won't have time to come on again tonight as I have a meeting to go to.

Monday 31st March

2008-03-31T08:12:00.005+10:30

Niamh has put on another 30g overnight, not sure where she is putting it all! She has had 3 bradys since 6pm last night (think it was pm and not am this morning)! Either way its not too bad as she manages to sort herself out.

She was wiggling around in the cot when I phoned and despite being put on her left side, had managed to move her head and reposition herself ;) You go girl!

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3pm Absolutely no change at all, not even a brady (hooray) Milk has gone up to 8.5ml which is good and thats it!

Look what arrived in the post today! Thanks to my cousin, Amy :) These are so cute! Love that bunny, thankyou xx

Sunday 30th March

2008-03-30T22:39:00.005+10:30

Another great day for Niamh! Not such a good one for Bailey though, he hit his head this morning whilst trying to launch himself on a bean bag at a friends and managed to cut his head quite badley. Great end to a delicious breakfast :) We took him to the nearest Medical Centre and got his head glued back together again :) He is fine though, seems to enjoy telling everyone that the nurse and doctor 'fixed' him! Bless him! We took him to the miniature railway after and he soon forgot about all about it.

Back to Niamh, our little princess is doing so well. She has had her pressures reduced down to 4 now from 6 which means less pressure going into her lungs. Milk has gone up to 8ml/hour and she put on another 10g overnight. I had such a good cuddle with her today, she had her first suckle which was wonderful. She seemed to like the taste and was sticking out her tongue for more! She is so strong already, its incredible.

Saturday 29th March

2008-03-29T11:21:00.003+10:30

Morning. What a little star our Niamh is! Despite the diuretic she was given she still put on 10g overnight! She is a little less puffy too which is good, so she must have lost some fluid. This morning she was on her tummy and was breathing in air! She needs oxygen when she is on her back, but she has only been on 24% which is brilliant (air is 21%). Can't wait to see her this arvo.

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We saw Niamh this afternoon and she looked great.She was being very cheeky and even sucked my finger when I wiped her lips :) Anthony has an ear infection so couldn't touch her today unfortunately as he was really looking forward to getting a cuddle. I refused a cuddle as I'm not sure if I am getting a cold or not and we dont want to risk any infection to her. I did her cares though and she was so good and kept looking up at me, little cutey ;)

One of our lovely friends looked after Bailey and even made us some dinner to take home with us and some yummy banana bread! You couldn't ask for anything more really could you?! It was all delish :) Thankyou!

Photos later, got to go out.

Friday 28th March Day 51

2008-03-28T16:59:00.007+10:30

I can't believe Niamh is 7 weeks old! I know it was officially yesterday, but it seems so surreal that I have had a baby. Anyway, she is doing amazingly!! She put on another 70g overnight although I think a lot of that may have been fluid as she is quite swollen again in her little bits and her hands and feet were puffy. I would expect to lose weight tonight. She has been given a diuretic again to help get rid of the fluid so hopefully that will help.

I got a really long cuddle today, she was so stable and seemed to enjoy it.It was so lovely, I couldn't stop kissing her little forehead :) I couldn't beleive how strong she is. I put her on my chest and she lifted her head right up and leaned back to look at me! Niamh fell asleep and I think I wore her out as she snuggled down once she was back in the isolette and fell asleep again.

Father Kevin came in to see Niamh and gave her a blessing which was lovely, he is such a lovely man.

Thursday 27th March

2008-03-27T21:58:00.002+10:30

7 Weeks today!

Our little princess is doing so well, she is back over a kilo again and is doing well. She was so smiley today, but of course the batteries in the camera were flat so I missed it all! Can't believe that! I will have to make up for it tomorrow.

Not much else to report really. She is so much more alert now that she isnt sedated all the time which is really nice. I washed her hair again and did some cares, oh, and the man from Twinkle Toes can and took castings of her hands and feet. Hopefully they will turn out alright, although we can do them again a bit later if not. She was so exhausted after that she fell into a deep sleep. We had to wake her to change her 3 hours later!

Will get some photos tomorrow, I have already changed the battery just to make sure!!