He is a healthy robust little 12 month old!!! All is good with his development, growth etc etc.
We has to go back at the end of summer for us to come up with his management plan for winter and his wheeze. Dr is quite confident that now it is much warmer the wheeze will stay away but if it does rear its ugly head we are to see him sooner. He did say odds are pointing that it is asthma but wants to reassess in march, also to keep an eye on his milestones to make sure he is still reaching them. Also wants to hold off on the flixotide for the time being, give his body a chance to see what it is going to do on its own (keeping in mind he isn’t quite 11 months corrected yet)
And no bloods. He looks quite good and the Dr is quite sure that his iron levels should be ok, checked in his eyelids to see if they are pale or nice and pink. They are nice and pink.
So it is a relief for the time being. I am really worried about next winter. He said it will be one of 2 cases. A) he will have outgrown it and have a trouble free winter or B)The sh!t will hit the fan and he will needs lots of support to get through it
Great, i was hoping that there would be an in between!
Where do I even begin to start, how can I put my feelings into words. Truly I don’t think I can
What an adventure, a journey like no other. It has been a year of highs and lows, thankfully the highs greatly outnumber the lows.
Here we are 12 months on, you would never think that Ethan was born early or faced the hurdles he did just a short time ago.
Having Ethan has given me a whole new perspective on things, a new understanding on life I guess you could say. I am ever grateful for each and every moment I have with him, with all our children. They truly are a blessing, even when they are driving me insane with fighting/complaining/whinging.
Now we start a whole new year, a whole year that will be full of more firsts, joy, triumph and I am sure there will be some more lows. What family doesn’t have low points!
I know I want to write more but the words just aren’t coming to me, I just want to snuggle up to him and give him a great big kiss. I wish that I could go back and make everything ok, there is no way I could change anything but nor would I want to change one little thing about him. But I am sure people know what I mean. It still hurts that I didn’t get to cuddle my newborn when he was born, that I didn’t get to see him until the day after he was born, that my first cuddle was snuck in on day 4 and it was for a grand total of just 5 minutes.
But that is all in the past, and whilst I know I will never get over it (yes you know who you are out there who tell Mums like myself to get over it!!) but the memories will be overshadowed by all the good things that happen. While they will still be our memories of when Ethan was born they wont hurt so much, the wounds will heal and while there will still be that scar the pain will have gone away a little bit more.
Now for some birthday photos of our little champion
Dear God, as you look down upon us,
We know that you might have to squint.
We’re located here in the NICU:
It’s the nursery that we rent.
There are many alarms and sirens,
Connected to condos and flats.
The nurses tape our booties on,
And dress us in funny hats.
We have a lot in common;
All of us were in a hurry.
For many different reasons,
Our storks came a little early.
Some of us don’t know why,
We bursted out from our bubbles.
We entered into this world,
Never meaning to cause any troubles.
Mummy and Daddy are worried sick
About the odds that we must beat.
Please God, help them to realize,
That seeing us grow is a treat.
Breath by breath, we’ll learn to breathe.
Ounce by ounce we’ll tip the scale.
We’re like a boat in the ocean,
That knows not sink- only sail.
For we are living miracles,
Mummy and Daddy must simply believe,
That you have angels watching over us;
From the time we arrive, till the time we leave.
Just copying my entry from this day last year, Halloween 2007. I guess it fits that we were scared out of our minds that this was all really happening!
7.30am tomorrow we have to be at periop for the c/s and our little mans arrival.
It appears my specialist basically said for him to be born, no talk at all about a transfusion today!
All consented and had my talk with the anesthetist, am having a spinal which I am so glad about. I was dreading them saying no I have to be knocked out.
Second steroid is done, bloods are done and sent to the blood bank for blood for Ethan.
NICU have made a special request that I have the c/s as early as possible in the morning for them to be able to get him stablised etc etc.
I just cant believe this has all happened so fast and so early.
The reality of having a prem set in to us exactly 1 year ago today.
Today was the day that i have my first lot of steroids. Although we didnt know exactly that Ethan would be born 2 days later but we knew it was a 99% chance that he would be born.
It was up to the specialist, who had been on long service leave for 12 months. I had not seen him during Ethans pregnancy but he had cared for us during each of our previous pregnancies so knew my history and my complications very well.
It was all up to him to decide, would they deliver a potentially sick 33 weeker or do an intra-uterine transfusion. Today is still clearly etched into my memory. We had to go to the shops on the way home because my bag was not packed…not at all.
As you can imagine today has been full of lots of cuddles and kisses for my little man. I am always left thinking about the what if’s. What if i hadn’t just made an appoint 2 weeks before when the Dr i seen ( the peri’s were at a conference so he was a substitute) said we will see you in 3 weeks - that would have made my next scan at 34 weeks…would that mean we wouldn’t have our little boy
For everyone out there who always says that they would love to have 2 boys….tonight has been a night of wrestling and destruction!! My poor lounge room doesn’t know what has hit it, there are toys, cars, books and blocks from one end of it to the other.
On the up side though i had 2 very tired little boys who went to bed so so so easy!
Its hard to believe that exactly 1 year ago today the journey to having a prem became a reality. It is really not as easy to deal with as i thought it would be. Why should i feel so sad, he was 33 weeks after all…so yeah a prem but not that premmie at all. He done fairly well in the NICU, 1 month isn’t that long either. He is now a robust little cheeky bugger, and though he has his *issues* he is generally a normal almost 1 year old little boy.
So why am i so sad!!! Shouldn’t i be thankful for the precious miracle we have, i should and i am but it is still not the easiest thing to deal with.
Anyway, this is my post from 1 year ago. Well it is actually a diary entry but hey still counts!
Appointment went ok today, all is good in the BP area, hr was fine too. Have to have more bloods done tomorrow at my scan, oh the joys! Although, things weren’t as great as they could have been. One of my results came back pretty high compared to last time. It has remained stable, even dropping a little bit in all my previous tests but my last one from the 4th has gone up from 6.2 to 9.2, which basically means the quantity of the antibodies has got bigger. Not good at all, am really worried about tomorrows scan. Didn’t get much sleep last night and I am sure I wont get much tonight.
To think my normal happy Monday appointment turned into this
I cant believe 11 whole months have passed already.
1 year ago today things started to take the downhill path that would eventually lead to an early arrival.
1 year ago today I was 29 weeks pregnant and having my regular scan. This scan showed excess fluid. My peri wasn’t in and the guy instantly went to thinking i must have GD. Excess fluid means GD..even if the baby itself isn’t big/is right on the 50th percentile. My peri wouldn’t be back for a week due to attending a conference overseas
1 year ago i made my booking for the glucose tolerance test (the 3 hour one!)
Still in my mind a whole year later, i still do wonder if that excess fluid was an early indicator that you were getting sick.
When will it ever end, someone please tell me that next year he wont be this sick - next year being that bit older the bugs out there wont knock him for 6!
Ethan now has his 5th (could be 6th I lost count) case of Bronchiolitis! How on earth can he get so sick!! His chest is all infected, his ears are infected, his sinus’/nose are infected. One ear, his left ear, ended up so badly infected that it burst his eardrum. No wonder the poor little man was screaming so hard, and here I was thinking it was just because he is getting his top front teeth.
I feel like a mouse running on a wheel, doing lots and lots of work but getting nowhere.
I would have never believed just a few weeks would have made such a huge difference on the health front, we have 6 kids and this little man is the one who is truly testing me. Never before have we had sickness all winter long.
Bring on summer, i was wrong we didn’t want spring!
ethanmax 
2008 
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