Sadbh’s update – January 7th 2014

Sadbh needed to be suctioned a number of times throughout the night and even before Helen arrived she coughed herself awake.

She had a decent enough night considering all the coughing and woke up bright and early just after Helen’s shift ended.

After waking up, she snuggled with Mommy for an hour or so and I suctioned her trach approximately every five minutes. Eventually we gave her a saline nebulizer and once we were done with that we brought her upstairs to the shower so she could breathe in the steam to help with her secretions.

Despite all the coughing and extra suctioning she had a fun day and was in a very good and playful mood.

Her energy ran out after her bath and she fell asleep as we got her ready for trach care. She slept for two hours before finally waking up.

She needed a lot of suctioning during and after her nap and she even helped Jenna suction at one point by applying pressure to the suction catheter.

Sadbh was still very groggy but soon we both got busy baking in the kitchen. She is a pro at beating an egg and getting all the ingredients ready. I was very impressed.

She was very energetic this evening and thankfully she wore herself out in time for bedtime.

After some snuggles with both Mommy and I, she jumped into bed and drifted off to sleep in no time.

New photos.

Photos from January 7 2012.

Photos from January 7 2013.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – January 6th 2014

Sadbh had a very good night and woke up extremely happy shortly after 8. She even declared that she was felling better.

Thankfully she was indeed over her fever and she was full of energy.

We had trach change scheduled for last week but due to Sadbh’s fever we postponed it until today. She did not want to nap so I explained to her what our plan was and she was onboard with helping out.

Everything went well until I inserted the new trach into her stoma. For some reason it hurt her and she got very irritated and struggled to break loose from her swaddle.

It created a very stressful moment as we had to secure her trach ties as quickly as possible and make sure that the trach was correctly placed in her airway.

Eventually we were able to calm Sadbh down and we were also able to make sure that her trach was ok. It was so upsetting to see Sadbh in such distress.

Later in the evening Sadbh was starting to show signs of fatigue and a runny nose and she almost fell asleep while eating.

We had a meet and greet with a new night nurse at 6:30 so it was a little hectic around the house as soon as Mommy arrived home from work. Dinner was ready but we wanted to make sure that we had all eaten before the new nurse arrived as typically these interviews can go on for an hour or longer.

The meet and great went well and we think this new nurse might work out.

 

New photos.

Photos from January 6 2012.

Photos from January 6 2013.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – January 5th 2014

Sadbh had a much better night and woke up shortly after 8. She was in a good mood and her temperature was lower than it has been since Thursday.

She had a good morning but her temperature started to rise as the day went on.

Since she has been house bound all weekend we bundled her up and went up to Capitol Hill for a quick walk. She was very happy to be out and enjoyed being in the sunshine.

Eventually a glazed look came over her face and you could tell that she had enough.

When we got home she was in a much happier mood but was running a slight temperature.

After dinner she wanted to have a bath with Mommy and this cheered her up greatly.

As soon as she was dried off we took care of trach care and not long after we finished she dropped off to sleep.

By bedtime her temperature and heart rate were normal so fingers crossed she is over this virus that she has been fighting.

Thankfully her secretions today were normal and it does not seem that she has any other discomforts.

New photos.

Photos from January 5 2012.

Photos from January 5 2013.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – January 4th 2014

Sadbh had an ok night sleep but ran a fever shortly after midnight and wanted to snuggle with Mommy. Katie and Danielle gave Sadbh some Tylenol to help bring her temperature back down and after a long snuggle Sadbh was back in bed fast asleep.

I took over from Danielle at 6 and Sadbh seemed to be very comfortable. She woke up around 8:30 and was not very happy. Her temperature was on the rise again and she insisted on another snuggle with Mommy.

She was definitely a lot more lethargic today compared to the past couple of days and at one point she just fell asleep in the armchair.

Eventually she woke up very upset and asked Katie for a cupcake. She was so wiped out and all she wanted was a cupcake.

Sadbh was so excited when I pulled up the driveway with not one but two cup cakes.

Sugar is not good for a fever but Sadbh deserved a treat and she certainly enjoyed it.

Later in the evening she had a bath with Mommy and after that we managed trach care.

Her fever started to spike again just before bedtime so we gave her some Ibuprofen, a saline nebulizer and got her ready for bed. Hopefully she will have a better night sleep tonight.

New photos.

Photos from January 4 2012.

Photos from January 4 2013.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – January 3rd 2014

Sadbh’s fever peaked shortly after 2am at 102.4 degrees. Helen had given her Tylenol at 1:20 but it seemed to take a while to take affect.

When I took over at 6 her temperature was starting to spike again so I gave her another dose of Tylenol. She had woken up and was playing hide and seek from both Helen and me. It was very funny to watch.

Thankfully she fell asleep for another couple of hours but was very sad to learn that Mommy had left for work. It took me ages to calm her down.

Caity, Sadbh’s nurse supervisor stopped by for a visit and Sadbh was happy as usual to see her.

Despite feeling under the weather Sadbh had a very good morning and got to spend it playing with her toys.

When it came to trach care she insisted on me giving her a bath and seemed to be very tired. I tried to get her to sleep but she was so giddy we just swaddled her up and got trach care finished.

Sadbh was off form for the rest of the day and did not have much of an appetite.

She did not have much energy either and was happy to watch some of her favorite shows.

Uncle Neil stopped by to give Sadbh her Christmas gift and she was delighted to find two great books after ripping apart the wrapping paper.

Bedtime could not come soon enough for Sadbh and she was out cold in no time at all.

New photos.

Photos from January 3 2012.

Photos from January 3 2013.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – January 2nd 2014

Sadbh slept really well but her heart rate started to climb around 5am.

When I took over from Helen at 6 Sadbh’s heart rate was in the low 120’s where she is usually anywhere from the low 80’s to mid 90’s.

She woke up around 7 but fell back to sleep until 8:30 and woke up upset that Mommy had already left for work.

Jenna was back to work but Sadbh did not want to see her straight away. I was able to get Sadbh into a good mood but then we noticed that she was running a low fever.

Despite this she was in a great mood all day and was soon showing Jenna all the new toys that Santa brought her.

Sadbh had a lot of energy but as soon as she had a bath she hit a wall. Her eyes were so heavy and she fell asleep only a few minutes after we started trach care.

We were able to keep her temperature down slightly by giving her Tylenol and Ibuprofen when needed but her heart rate was up in the 160’s as she napped. I discovered later that the Ibuprofen that we gave her had expired by a few months so that obviously did not help keep her heart rate and temperature reduced.

Sadbh was in a fairly good mood for the rest of the evening but had moments when she was fussy and not very happy.

She was excited to see Mommy and could not wait to get some serious snuggles in.

She could not wait to get to bed but it took almost an hour for her to fall asleep.  Just before she fell asleep she said to Mommy “when I wake up, you be here.”  Mommy told her that unfortunately, she would not be here since she had to go to work, but that it was Friday and she would be with her all day Saturday and Sunday.  Sadbh was not too pleased with this response so she came up with her own plan and said “daddy go to work, you stay here.”  Mommy told her that Daddy was going to stay home.  At that point, Sadbh came up with a new idea and she said, “I know, you stay here, daddy stay here, Jenna go to work.”  Then Mommy said “but when Jenna’s here, she is at work.”  At that point, both Sadbh and Mommy started laughing hysterically.  The more one laughed, the more the other laughed and this went on for several minutes, before the two were tired of laughing and they just sat there grinning at each other. 

Hopefully she will have a good night sleep and that she will kick whatever it is that she is fighting.

New photos.

Photos from January 2 2012.

Photos from January 2 2013.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – January 1st 2014

Despite all the fireworks throughout the neighborhood Sadbh slept soundly and woke up shortly after 8.

Helen worked late and as soon as Sadbh was awake she asked Helen to bring her to the bathroom so she could go potty.

We had a fun morning playing around the house and after trach care we loaded up the stroller and headed for a walk up to Capitol Hill.

It was quieter than usual and Sadbh was very content to ride along in the stroller waving her magic wand at all the people she passed while wishing them Happy New Year.

Sadbh has not napped in quiet some time but she did fall asleep during our walk today. She was out for an hour and a half and when she woke up she did so with a jolt. She had no idea where she was and had a very surprised look on her face.

Our walk home from downtown was a long slow affair. Sadbh insisted on walking most of the way and since she had a good nap she was in no hurry to get home.

It took ages to get Sadbh to sleep and poor Katie was exhausted when she finally did fall asleep.

New photos.

Photos from January 1 2012.

Photos from January 1 2013.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.