Sadbh’s update – day 309 February 14th, 2012

Sadbh had an excellent night sleep, which meant that Larissa had a boring night.

Shortly after 5:30am, Sadbh woke up and it was time for breakfast. She was in a fantastic mood and could not stop pointing at everything in her room.

As soon as Katie arrived in the room, Sadbh’s eyes lit up and it was time for breakfast.

We were fortunate to have Molly looking after Sadbh again today. This also takes some of the pressure off of my father, however I think he still spends most of the time playing with Sadbh regardless.

Both Molly and my father were able to manage trach care quite easily today and Sadbh slept for over two hours afterwards.

The weather was still quite bad today, however there was a nice break in between showers this afternoon, so Sadbh, Molly and my father went for a long walk around the neighborhood for almost an hour. Thankfully they avoided the rain, and they all had a good time.

Sadbh received her first Valentine’s card today, and it went straight into her mouth. Maybe I should have gotten her an edible card.

New photos.

Photos from December 14.

Happy Valentine’s Day,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – day 308 February 13th, 2012

Sadbh had a restless night sleep, but thankfully Larissa was working, so she made sure that Sadbh was as comfortable as possible throughout the night.

She slept until 5am, when Katie was called down to serve breakfast. Sadbh was full of beans after breakfast, and played with Katie for a short while.

Molly, from Children’s is covering a couple of days this week, so she and my father were able to tag team caring for Sadbh.

Obviously Sadbh was having a great time as she only took a couple of short naps throughout the day.

She was 30 minutes into her second nap when I arrived home from work. She did not sleep for long, but you could tell she was exhausted tired.

We gave her a bottle, and thought she would like to play for a while, however she was very upset and wouldn’t stop crying.

It was very upsetting, so I figured that it would be best to bundle her up and cuddle her back to sleep. It took a long while, but it worked, and Sadbh fell asleep in my arms. Not long afterwards, I also fell asleep.

Both of us must have been quite tired as we slept for almost an hour.

Katie had been home for quite some time, but figured it would be best to leave both of us sleep on. When we woke up, the sleeve of my shirt and the cushion was soaking wet from Sadbh’s sweaty head.

Sadbh has been using her index finger a lot lately to point at everything and everyone.

This evening she was in Katie’s arms while I was preparing dinner. All of a sudden, Sadbh farted, and without hesitation, she pointed at me and had this accusing look on her face. It was a priceless moment.

Sadbh seemed ready when it came bedtime, however it took a long time to get her settled in and off to sleep. She was fascinated with the decorations in her room and sleep was the furthest thing from her mind.

New photos.

Photos from December 13.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – day 307 February 12th, 2012

Sunday was another fun day for Sadbh and for the rest of us.

The night started off well for Sadbh, but unfortunately when I came to bed a few hours later, I accidentally woke her up, and it was a serious effort from both Katie and I to get her back to sleep.

Once asleep, she was out for the count and did not wake up until after four. She had a quick breakfast, and it was snuggle time with us in bed for another few hours.

After trach care, she had a very short nap, so we decided to bundle her up and head downtown for a couple of hours.

Sadbh loved the hustle and bustle of the market. She was fascinated with everything from the flying fish, to the flower stalls, even the street musicians. It was a lovely day, so you can only imagine how busy it was.

Eventually the excitement got to her and despite fighting hard to stay awake, she could hardly keep her eyes open.

She had a nice long nap while we drove over to Fremont. She was still asleep when we arrived, so Katie stayed with her in the car while my father and I walked around. Unfortunately by the time Sadbh woke up, most of the stores were closed, so it was time for us to head home.

After dinner, I was showing Sadbh one of her picture books. We came to a couple of pages that had a picture of girl on one page, and a picture of a boy on the other. When I asked Sadbh to point at the girl, she got it right. I’m not sure if it was luck or not, but I was certainly very impressed.

The excitement of the day really wiped her out, so going to bed was very easy tonight.

New photos.

Photos from December 12.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – day 306 February 11th, 2012

Sadbh slept great through the night, and awoke a couple of times to be suctioned and re-swaddled.

Saturday was a busy day, so we had to call in the services of Granddad to watch over Sadbh for a few hours in the morning.

Both Katie and I had a meeting with our friend Sarah at Children’s Hospital in the morning for a few hours, and just as the meeting was ending, Granddad texted to let us know that Sadbh was starting to get tired.

Since we wanted to get trach care taken care of, we hurried home as quickly as we could.

Just as well, because when we arrived home, Sadbh was falling asleep in Granddad’s arms and he was having a tough time keeping her awake.

All three of us sprang into action and before she knew it, Sadbh was having a nice relaxing bath. Once she was done with her bath, Katie dried her off and read her one of her favorite bedtime stories.

As soon as she was swaddled, she fell into a deep sleep, allowing us to do trach care.

She slept for over an hour in her cot, and this allowed us get all her gear ready for a trip to visit her roommate from the NICU when she was in the hospital.

Both Sadbh and Kaelin shared the same due date of April 26^th, however while Kaelin’s mother, Katie was on a business trip to San Francisco in February last year, Kaelin decided to come early.

She spent almost a month in the NICU in San Francisco, while she waited for a bed to open up in Seattle.

A few weeks after she arrived in Seattle, she got a new roommate by the name of Sadbh Walsh.

We have kept in touch with Kaelin’s mother since they were discharged last May, and last week we received an invitation to join them in the celebration of Kaelin’s first birthday today.

As soon as Sadbh woke up from her nap, Granddad got her dressed up, and we loaded the car for the hour long drive to DuPont, where Kaelin lives.

Kaelin’s house was packed full of friends and family, and Sadbh was amazed with all the balloons and kids running around.

Kaelin got her very own cake and after her mother helped blow out the candle, she slowly started to grab chunks of it.  Before you knew it, she had cake all over her hands, arms and face.

Sadbh looked on and you could see that she wanted some.

After Kaelin was cleaned up, Sadbh got a chance to play with her and instantly the two girls hit it off. Obviously they could not remember that they were roommates for over a month, however there was definitely a connection between the two.

Kaelin has come a long way since she was born a year ago, and we were so happy to get the chance to help celebrate her birthday.

Sadbh slept for most of the trip home, and as soon as we arrived back at the house, it was time for her dinner, some playtime and Skyping with her cousins in Portland.      

She had a wonderful day and was exhausted tired when it came bedtime.

New photos.

Photos from December 11.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – day 305 February 10th, 2012

It was a restless night, but Sadbh slept quite well for the most part.

Katie had to get up around 2am to re-swaddle her, and after a few hours, Sadbh joined us in bed. It was a great way to wake up and even more so since it was her 10-month birthday.

Sadbh had a busy day and had a couple of visitors.

Her first visitor was the nurse supervisor from the agency to recertify her nurse care qualification.

Afterwards, Katie’s mother Peggy stopped by for a visit. Peggy is heading off to Mexico tomorrow for a week, and she wanted to get her Sadbh fix before she departed.

Her next visitor was Katie’s friend Jennifer, and she brought Sadbh a lovely pink, polka-dot tutu and a similar top. She looked fantastic in her new outfit.

Since we were scheduled to change out Sadbh’s trach this weekend, we decided to take care of this as soon as possible so we could relax for the rest of the weekend.

Katie sent me a text just before 2pm to let me know that Sadbh was getting tired, so I packed up my stuff and headed home.

Sadbh was full of energy when I arrived home, but you could tell that she was starting to wind down.

After Jennifer left, it was time to give Sadbh a nice relaxing bath and straight into trach care.

It was Katie’s turn to insert the new trach, and despite our nervousness, it was probably the easiest trach change so far. Katie did a fantastic job.

We brought Sadbh up to bed, but before she was placed in her cot, she woke up and it was time for more play. As soon as she got downstairs, she got a chance to Skype with my mother and Aunt Mary back in Cork.

Once we were done Skyping with back home, we headed out for a nice walk through the neighborhood and up to the Madrona Ale House for a bite to eat.

The restaurant was full to the brim with kids, and it was interesting to see so many kids that were running amok and with their parents not paying attention.

Sadbh was quite intrigued by all the commotion but was very happy to stay close to either Katie, my father or myself.

She had another hour or so of fun and playtime after she got home, and she even got to try out the Passy Muir Valve again.

New photos.

Photos from December 10.

Have a great weekend.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – day 304 February 9th, 2012

Sadbh had a restless night, but thanks to Larissa, she slept through the night and did not wake up until 5am.

Today was the first day all week that we had a day nurse looking after Sadbh, and this gave my father a welcome opportunity to take it easy for a change.

Sadbh discovered her tongue today and was constantly sticking it out. We never realized that her tongue was so long, she was almost able to touch her chin on numerous occasions.

She has also been making new sounds when she makes her sucking noise. Over the last couple of days, we have been hearing more air leaking through her nose and mouth, so we are cautiously optimistic that there might be some slight improvement in her vocal cords.

Since we will not have any nurses until Sunday night, we moved all of Sadbh’s equipment upstairs to our room, and we are looking forward to waking up next to our little princess in the morning.

New photos.

Photos from December 9.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – day 303 February 8th, 2012

At last, Sadbh had great night sleep, and did not wake up until 5:45am.

Larissa did a great job keeping Sadbh comfortable throughout the night and as a result, everyone got a good rest.

Later in the morning, while my father was preparing Sadbh’s lunch, he had placed Sadbh on the floor in the room adjacent to the kitchen. This is a perfect room for Sadbh as it’s probably the most baby-proofed room in the house, and you can see her from the kitchen.

My father noticed that Sadbh was playing with my camera bag and when he snuck in to see exactly what she was doing, she quickly closed the bag and turned away with a guilty look on her face.

Apparently it was a priceless moment and when my father was telling us the story over dinner tonight, Sadbh shot him a look as if he was squealing on her.

It was very funny indeed.

Peggy arrived later in the morning to help out with trach care. Sadbh only slept for 30 minutes, and once she was awake, it was time for food and some play.

Later on, Sadbh got to Skype with my mum and my brother back in Cork.

She making kissing gestures and was very excited with the reaction she received from back home.

It was another great day for Sadbh and when it came time for bed, she was exhausted.

I’m hoping that she will have another great night sleep. Thankfully, Larissa is working again tonight, so she will certainly keep Sadbh comfortable throughout the night.

New photos.

Photos from December 8.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.