Wednesday 7th May 3 Months old today!

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!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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)