Not only was I born two weeks ago today but it's also three days doing all my own breathing without the aid of a ventilator... and they said it wouldn't last! Well, I said it wouldn't last too so I'm happy to report that I was wrong.
It's not all plain sailing. The oxygen levels in my blood (my 'gasses'!) are still low so I'm having to take on extra oxygen through the C-PAP machine. I'm at 60% and they're trying to get me down much lower but every time they try, my DE-SAT alarm goes off! I'll get there eventually...
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| Wow! I'm smaller than a hand!! |
Thank you.
Actually, I had a good day with my Dad today. Mum's still feeling lousy so she had to stay at home and go to the doctors. I have my fingers crossed that she can come to see me tomorrow - I'm missing her. Dad is getting pretty good at the neonatal stuff though. Today he fed me twice and changed me twice, and just to show how delighted I was I did two big shits for him! One of the reasons why I'm struggling to get oxygen into my blood is because there's lots of fluid in my lungs and in order to try to drain it away I'm being given diuretics which mean I wee and poo a lot! It's funny when Dad does my feeding or changes me. He tries to be all confident in front of the nurses and Doctors but I can tell that he's really nervous! I think my dad might be a blagger...
One big disadvantage of being disconnected from some of the tubes I had when I first arrived here... the only way they can get blood from me now (to test my gasses) is by doing a heel prick. I don't like this. It bloody well hurts and I'm not good at stopping bleeding, so today I bled all over my blanket and all over my new teddy bear which then had to go home for wash.
I heard Dad saying that he was going to bring Charlie in to meet me tomorrow. I hope he does. Two weeks old and I still haven't met my big brother. I hear he's very excited to meet me and I think Mum and Dad have hidden a present for him in my incubator so he thinks it's from me. He won't fall for it but it will make the parents happy!
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| Do I look like a Gremlin? |
I need to tell you about one of the down sides of being born this early. Put simply we're not a pretty sight us 'pre-termers'. This is partly due to the fact the we have tubes strapped to our face from day one (which, by the way, are on for so long that when they take them off our faces don't go back to the way they should be - they remain mis-shapen for a week or two), and our skin is not really ready to be exposed to the outside world so we look like gremlins! I feel I can share this with you.
Today, one of the nurses asked Dad to bring in a bottle of olive oil. I thought maybe we were going to have a Mediterranean lunch but it turns out they want him to massage it into me! Honestly! I'm now to be basted like an oven ready chicken! There is no dignity in being minus 12 weeks old.
Perhaps one day I'll be a catwalk model and we will all look back and laugh... perhaps not.
My Godson was born in the car on the side of the A1 nr Middlesbrough at 28 weeks old. He was whisked off in an ambulance leaving his mum and dad at the roadside. He survived many weeks of care in Middlesbrough and then in Harrogate. He is now a gorgeous 2 and a half year old. My closest friend went through some tough times with her husband and 2 and a half year old daughter, especially as the hospital was over an hour from home. I can only hope that your outcome will be as good as theirs. Sending you lots of love and encouragement! Elsa
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