The day went quite well and the weather was fantastic. Sadbh got to sunbathe in the shade, out in our back yard. She really enjoys being outdoors and loves looking at the trees, plants and sky. It's very calming for her and as a result, very relaxing for us.
We are also finding that she likes to be naked and when given the opportunity, she wiggles and kicks and smiles in delight.
Eventually, we had to change out her trach and this took some coordination and planning. Since this is a very serious procedure, we have to make sure that she is in the middle of a very deep sleep and that she should not wake up during. To achieve this, similar to regular trach care, we feed her, then give her approximately an hour of full on play time, get her extremely tired, then bathe her so she is very relaxed. We then swaddle her like a burrito and lay her out on the changing table so she can fall to sleep.
We also blow oxygen over her trach so it help keep her saturation level topped up and once her heart rate drops to the low 120's, we get to work.
This was the third trach change out for me and I have to admit, I thought it would be easier this time, but it was just as difficult as the first. Everything went well, but it's tough on the nerves and both Katie and my stress levels were through the roof.
As soon as we were done, we went for a nice long walk around Capitol Hill and stopped off for dinner up on 15th.
Shortly after we got settled in, Sadbh woke up and got very upset. We needed to give her a suction, however the nose was stuck quite tightly on the new trach. The more we had to work it, the more upset she got. Eventually it all worked out but it was a tense moment.
We started chatting to a group of people sitting next to us in the restaurant and it turns out that one of the guys served his residency under Dr. Inglis, Sadbh's ENT specialist. He had nothing but fantastic things to say abour Dr. Inglis and even gave us some valuable facts on his music interests. Everyone doted over Sadbh and raised their glasses to her health and the speedy recovery of her vocal cords. It was a nice moment for both Katie and I, and we were delighted to be out and about with our little girl.
On our way home, we decided to walk by the Capitol Hill block party, to give Sadbh her first taste of live music. It was a mob scene and for the most part, stressed mummy out more than it did Sadbh.
A quick retreat home and off to bed for an exhausted little girl.
Since she is a lot more active now, and able to move her head from side to side, she is starting to lose a lot of her hair. It's funny though, she's starting to look more and more like daddy every day now that she's going bald and getting a chubby belly.
All the best,
Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.
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