Over the last month or so, we occasionally received a smile from Sadbh while she was awake, however her smiles were more frequent while she slept. Over the last couple of days, we have started to notice more and more smiles while she is awake.
We had to reject a second nurse today. On Wednesday Katie and I met the initial team of nurses that would rotate shifts caring for Sadbh. Something just didn't feel right with one of the nurses. On a couple of separate occasions, she rubbed both of us the wrong way. Without going into details, the agency representative picked up on this and decided to remove her from our nurse rotation.
The second nurse stopped by to meet with us today, however we both quickly came to the realization that she wasn't going to last. The first thing that stood out was that she smelt of cigarette smoke, her fingernails didn't look clean and she seemed a little bit, let me say, crazy. At one point, during our conversation, Katie heard something fall on the floor. I looked down and noticed what I thought to be a piece of jewelry or similar, so I picked it up only to discover it was the remains of a cough drop that feel out of the nurses mouth. She didn't even notice that it had fallen out of her mouth and I couldn't stop thinking that this could be a choking hazard if it happened while she was looking after Sadbh.
Not being overly protective parents, it is a requirement that everyone washes, or sanitizes their hands when coming in contact with Sadbh. This is due to the fact that she is very prone to getting sick as a result of the trach. We noticed that this new nurse had not sanitized her hands when she came in. Katie asked if she had nor not, and she explained that she had cleaned her hands in the car before coming in.
The nurses that have cared for Sadbh so far, have been excellent and very helpful. I'm hoping that the rest of the nurses on rotation are equally as good.
Sadbh had her first appointment with her pediatrician today, and it took us almost an hour to get set up with all her equipment. Shortly after arriving at the doctors office, we had to suction her trach. This was the first time we have had to do this with a group of onlookers and we managed it a lot better than I had originally thought.
Doctor Bowe examined Sadbh and was impressed with her growth and development. She continues to gain weight and measured in at 9lbs, 2oz. She has also grown two inches since she was born, measuring in at 21 inches.
After that appointment, Katie had an appointment with her OB/GYN. The doctors there were excited to meet Sadbh as they had not seen her since the day she was born and had to be rushed to the NICU.
We finally got home around 5pm and Sadbh finally got to meet our next door neighbors, Pat, Anna and Charlie.
I have to say that I was impressed with Sadbh and how she remained calm throughout the entire day.
Making Sadbh's room comfortable, yet practical considering all the equipment, has been high on the list of tasks since we got home. After a lot of rearranging of furniture, I think we have succeeded. To make space for medical supplies, I had to empty out the closet in Sadbh's room. Let me tell you, it was like walking into a very small shoe shop. I knew that Katie had a fixation with shoes, however I did not realize how big the problem was until I had to move them all into the basement. At one stage, I thought I was going to have to get some hired help to move everything.
Things are definitely starting to get more comfortable as we get settled in.
By the way, since we are no longer at Children's, I was surprised to spot Waldo around our house. Can you spot him?
Take care,
Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.
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