Time for another oil change!



Sleeping like a baby...



Sorry if you were waiting to hear from me last night.  I was really tired - flat out - as you could see from the photo my Dad put up on Facebook.  If you missed it, here it is.  Look at me... sleeping like a baby.

It was the end of another challenging day.  Dad is back at work (boo!) so mum came in to see me on her own yesterday morning.  I'd had a really good night and my oxygen saturation was looking fine so the doctor had decided to take me off C-PAP and put me onto something called High Flow.  I think I've worked out now that there are five steps to get through before I'm doing this breathing thing for myself: Ventilator, C-PAP, High Flow, Low Flow... erm... just me!  So you see, I am making progress!  I seem to be comfortable at step two and trying to get to step three.

So anyway, that's where I was.  Everything was looking good so it was time to take Poppy to the next step.  And they did it again!  They put me on High Flow just before Mummy arrived and you've guessed it... just as she walked in I decided that High Flow was a step too far and stopped breathing again.  This time Mum got a front row seat and saw her first live performance of 'Bagging in Action', a Poppy Lola production featuring a very small baby and host of extras!  Mummy was surprisingly calm.  It's amazing how quickly my parents seem to be getting used to these dramas.

I went back on to C-PAP and to be honest the whole thing left me feeling a bit shattered.  I've not really managed to progress much since.  I even had three more little apneas during the night (just to keep everyone on their toes!)



Early attempt at sign language!



When the doctor came to see me this morning there were lots of frowns and tuts - as if I'm not trying my best!  I raised two fingers on my left hand and five on my right in a futile attempt to remind them that I was only 25 weeks cooked when I popped out but they completely missed my signing.  I really do need to work on a better communication strategy!

The conclusion of the meeting seemed to be that it was time for another oil change, so this afternoon I was hooked up to my third bag of red blood cells.  I know it's not a good long term strategy (unless I want to be a professional cyclist!) but I tell you what, it does feel good.  As soon as it was done my oxygen levels went back up and all my energy came back.  Mum said I looked like 'Billy Beetroot' when it was done.  I took this as a compliment.

Maybe this will be the one that finally gets me going properly?  I hope so.

Mum came to see me again this afternoon and told me that Dad was in place called Zurich - I have no idea where this is.  My geography knowledge is limited to the A46 between Warwick and Coventry.  I was only two hours old but I do remember seeing a sign for Kenilworth... I wonder if Zurich is near there?  Mum said that Dad was OK at work and only had to pretend he had something in his eye twice!



Blue eyed girl!



Once again I feel I need to end on a positive note so here's a picture of another little milestone achieved.  When I was born my eyelids were still fused together but a few days ago I opened them and it turns out I am Dad's blue eyed girl! So that's nice.

I promise my next blog will be upbeat from start to finish!  In the meantime if you should think of me at any time during your day, would you do me a favour and sing 'Always look on the bright side of life' out loud... then whistle!

Thanks

Poppy Lola xxx