Sadbh’s update – day 343 March 19th, 2012

Sadbh slept well until almost 4am, and then started to get a little bit restless. Larissa was working the night shift, and was able to take care of our princess.

Apparently, she stood up in her sleep, and later she did the baby signs for milk, all while sleeping.

She finally woke up a little after 5am, and was ready for breakfast.

She was still quite tired, but she had a coughing fit and appeared to be in quite a bit of pain.

Katie and Larissa gave Sadbh some Tylenol, and shortly thereafter, she was fast asleep.

She had us worried for a few hours after falling back to sleep, as her breaths were very shallow and her blood oxygen level was in the low 90’s, which was not normal for Sadbh.

Eventually she stabilized and everything was ok.

There was no nurse today, but Sadbh did not seem to mind since she had Nini and Granddad to play with.

Ali-Baba popped by to join in on the fun, so Sadbh ended up having a fun day with everyone.

Trach care was straight forward enough today, and Sadbh slept through the whole thing.

She had a very short nap in the evening and woke up just after I arrived home from work.

She awoke happy, but her mood quickly changed and she spent most of the evening upset.

I’m sure her two new teeth must be causing her some pain, and also being on the tail end of a cold must not be much fun either.

Sadbh’s bedtime has been getting later and later, so tonight we made a serious effort to get her to bed at a decent hour.

She made things easy for us and by 7:30 she was ready to hit the sack. It took a little coaxing to get her to sleep, but once her little head touched her pillow, she fell into a deep sleep.

New photos.

Photos from January 19.

Take care,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – day 342 March 18th, 2012

By the time Sadbh finally fell asleep last night, she had taken over the entire bed. She was sprawled out and did not look like she was going to allow anyone else join her.

It turned out to be a rough night, and Sadbh needed suctioning constantly. From 2 until 4am, she was coughing so hard, we were jumping in and out of bed every ten or twenty minutes to suction her trach. 

Fortunately though, she would fall back to sleep after each coughing fit.

The weather today was cold and damp, so Sadbh was housebound all day. It was for the best, as she needs to get over this cold as soon as possible. As does Katie.

She had a ferocious appetite for lunch, and had a lot to eat. Just as she was finishing up, she had a few big coughs, and barfed everything up. She made a nice big mess, and we had to change all her clothes. Sadbh did not seem too fazed by the ordeal, and was eager to play with her toys as soon as she had new clothes on.

It was a very lazy day for us all, and Sadbh had a lot of fun taking turns playing with everyone.

New photos.

Photos from January 18.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – day 341 March 17th, 2012 St. Patrick’s Day

Sadbh had a rough night and needed to be suctioned a number of times through out the night.

At 5am, she had enough sleep, and was determined to get out of bed. It took almost an hour of hard work to get her back to sleep, and thankfully she slept soundly until almost 8:30.

When Sadbh awoke, she realized that Katie was not in the room and she had the saddest look on her face. She was making the baby sign for milk, and was about to start crying when all of a sudden Katie walked in, and saved the day. As you could imagine, Sadbh was over the moon to see her mummy.

We had a surprise brunch treat for Granddad this morning at the restaurant atop of the Space needle.

It was a typical wet Seattle morning, however by the time we arrived at the Seattle Center, snow started to fall. When we were seated in the restaurant, you could not see a thing out of the window with the amount of snow falling.

Sadbh did not mind since she was receiving so much attention from all the wait staff. She was such a hit, and she even had our waiter playing peek-a-boo with her.

The weather started to clear halfway though brunch and Sadbh got a chance to look at the incredible view of Seattle around us.

By the time we arrived home, the excitement of the morning had gotten the better of her and it was time for trach care.

Thankfully everything went really well, and Sadbh enjoyed a nice sleep for just over an hour.

When she awoke, it was time for food and afterwards she got to wear her lovely Bavarian dress that she received from our friends the Uhl’s last August.

Little did Sadbh know, but she was about to meet Nina Uhl again.

Nini has been very gracious by volunteering to be Sadbh’s Au Pair for the next six months.

She has taken time off from her studies in Munich to come look after Sadbh after my father returns home to Ireland in a week’s time.

Sadbh had a great evening getting to know Nini and showing off all her new tricks and her new tooth that is starting to poke out.

It was very late before Sadbh got to bed tonight, and we had to work hard to get her settled in.

She seems to be over the worst of her cold, but she still has a nasty cough and needs a lot of suctioning.

Katie is now starting to come down with a cold, and we are hoping that she can kick it before it’s too late.

New photos. 

Photos from January 17.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh. 

Sadbh’s update – day 340 March 16th, 2012

By the time Sadbh fell asleep, she was tossing and turning and practically climbing the walls of her cot. We did not have a nurse, so we decided that it would be best if Sadbh slept with us for the night.

Despite running a high temperature and heart rate, Sadbh had a better than expected night.

There was plenty of tossing and turning, but she only needed to be suctioned a couple of times.

Sadbh had a much better day, and apart from a few short naps, she had plenty of fun playing with Katie, Granddad and Ali-Baba.

Trach care was also much easier today since Sadbh slept all the way though.

She did not sleep for long, and afterwards she had a hat party with Ali-Baba. It was a lot of fun, until Ali-Baba defied the rules and placed a bow on Sadbh’s head. Even Sadbh did not look impressed.

Later on in the evening, Sadbh gave us a treat by showing us how she was able to stand without any help for almost 5 seconds. She has done this a couple of times during the week, but usually only lasted a couple of seconds.

I think it’s time to really start baby proofing the house.

Sadbh’s heart rate and temperature is back to normal and she seems to be over the worse of her bug. She is still slightly congested and has a nasty cough, but she on the mend.

New photos.

Photos from January 16.

Have a great weekend.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – day 339 March 15th, 2012

Sadbh had a very rough night and thankfully we had a nurse looking after her.

Since her temperature and heart rate were so high when she went to bed, we gave her some Tylenol and it seemed to help.

Sadbh was definitely coming down with something, and Molly had to suction her trach constantly. She was awake at 1:50am and asking for Mommy.  Katie came downstairs and snuggled her back to sleep.

Sadbh then slept fairly well from 2am until after 7am. And then it was time for breakfast. Shorty afterwards, she barfed everything up.

Overall, she had a miserable day and she had a hard time keeping her food down after each feeding.

Sadbh’s schedule was totally off today, and as a result, trach care was managed much later in the day. My father and Sadbh’s nurse Kara started working on cleaning her neck, and as soon as her trach ties were removed, Sadbh woke up and got very upset.

It took a lot of effort to get her calmed down and back to sleep before they could finish the job. It was extremely stressful for both of them since Sadbh was all over the place, and her trach ties were not secure the whole time.

She started to feel a little better later in the evening, but I think we are going to be in for a long night.

New photos.

Photos from January 15.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – day 338 March 14th, 2012

Sadbh had a restless night, and kept pulling her toys close to her head. At one point, she stood up in the corner of her cot, even though she was still fast asleep.

She slept right through the entire night and did not wake until 6:20, had a quick snack and went back to sleep again until 8am.

Su-Jin was working today and Sadbh was very excited to see her.

It was a fun morning with plenty of playtime. This seemed to do the trick, because Sadbh was exhausted when it came time for trach care.

She enjoyed her bath, and loved it when Su-Jin styled her hair.

Trach care was very easy, and Sadbh slept for almost two hours.

Her temperature and heart rate was running a little higher than usual today.

At one stage, when Sadbh gave Granddad a big smile, he noticed what looked like a tooth was ready to poke through her lower gum. Su-Jin washed her hands and gave Sadbh’s gums a rub. She instantly felt a tooth, and Granddad was very excited. He’s been hoping to be the first one to find a tooth, and lucky for him, his patience paid off.

By bedtime, Sadbh’s temperature started to run a lot higher, and her heart rate was almost 50 above normal.

We are hoping that it’s a result of her teething, however it’s more than likely the onset of a cold or bug.

New photos.

Photos from January 14.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – day 337 March 13th, 2012

Sadbh had a great night sleep, and even though she was moving all over her cot, she did not require any attention or even suctioning. It made for an uneventful night for Larissa.

Sadbh finally woke up at 5:15am and she got a few minutes of playtime in with Larissa before Katie came down stairs. 

Breakfast was served, and shortly after Larissa’s shift ended, Sadbh was back to bed and in a deep sleep.

Today was the first day for our new nurse Destiny and Sadbh had a ball. Destiny works at Children’s and had looked after Sadbh when she was in recovery after being in the NICU and after receiving her trach.

Unfortunately for Destiny, and all our other nurses from Children’s, the nursing agency has some of the tightest requirements when signing up, so it took forever to be qualified to look after Sadbh.

Ali-Baba came over for her daily dose of Sadbh, and to also help Granddad with trach care.

Just as my father was securing Sadbh’s trach ties, she woke up, making it a little bit more stressful than usual to finish things off.

The sun came out later in the afternoon, so my father and the Destiny bundled Sadbh up and headed out for walk. Shortly afterwards, the weather changed and they got pounded with rain, hail and snow. Thankfully they were not far from the house, so it was a mad dash home.

Sadbh was fully of energy when I got home from work, however she had not slept much throughout the day, so after a quick feed, I changed her into her bed clothes and as soon as she was comfortable in her cot, she fell asleep.

She did great for about 20 minutes, but woke up crying hard. I unhooked all her equipment, put a nose on her trach, and rocked her to sleep in my arms. We were both so comfortable I ended up falling asleep for almost 30 minutes.

We both woke up when Katie returned home from work, and it was suddenly play time.

Sadbh had a great evening and was ready for bed with the time came.

New photos.

Photos from January 13.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.