Sadbh’s update – October 12th 2014

Sadbh was wide-awake at half past six and ready to get her day started. Harjinder was able to keep her in bed for another hour and a half.

She was not pleased to see me coming through the door as she was expecting Katie to come down wearing her glasses and her hair up in a braid. This is part of Sadbh’s favorite weekend routine.

She needed to be suctioned but refused. The more upset she got the more secretions she built up in her trach. Katie came down to help calm Sadbh down and it worked. It was very stressful for everyone and I’m not sure what Harjinder thought of the situation.

Once Sadbh had calmed down it was fairly easy to clear her airway and soon she was in a much better mood.

She spent the rest of the morning carrying out trach care and trach changes on a bunch of her dolls. She had a brilliant time.

Before her own trach care we headed down to the basement to play with her camps. She found a couple of torches and pretended that we were out in the woods at night and she had to find and cook food for dinner.

Trach care went well and as soon as we finished we headed off to meet up with Clodagh and friends for a play of Hansel and Gretel. She loved the play and had a great time exploring the displays at Molbak’s afterwards.

Since we were out in Woodinville we popped in to say hi to Neil and Denise. Sadbh was in her element as she got to play with Denise’s kids’ toys.

On the way home we were playing a CD of a band called Rubble Bucket. Sadbh fell in love with one of the songs, carousel ride,  so we had to listen to it over and over as loud as possible all the way home. It's a great song so she obvously has good taste in music.

Sadbh had a bunch of chocolate at Denise’s house and she was wired to the moon by the time we got home.                 

New photos.

Photos from October 12 2011.

Photos from October 12 2012.

Photos from October 12 2013.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh

Sadbh’s update – October 11th 2014

Sadbh woke up shortly after six. She had a dry bed so her first night sleeping without a nappy was a success. Unfortunately she had an accident on the way to the bathroom but all in all I think she did a great job not wetting her bed.

We tend to do everything as a family, especially if it involves Sadbh going anywhere in the car, as we need to have someone sitting next to her to care for her trach.

Today was a tough day for us all since there was nothing we could do to keep us all happy.

The weather was very unpredictable so after trach care we headed off to Ikea, for the second time since last Saturday, to get storage shelves for Sadbh’s toys. Unfortunately, as with last week, they had just sold out of these obviously very popular shelves. We decided to take a scenic drive on the way home but Sadbh was getting more and more restless and would not take a nap despite being very tired.

Sadbh’s evening was fun as she got to watch a movie with dinner. She really wanted to watch some old classic Christmas movies but we persuaded her to watch Free Birds instead and she loved it.

Bedtime took a little longer than expected and tonight she wanted to wear a nappy.

New photos.

Photos from October 11 2011.

Photos from October 11 2012.

Photos from October 11 2013.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh

Sadbh’s update – October 10th 2014

Sadbh had an uneventful night and woke up just as Kim was leaving.  The day started off rough as Sadbh wanted Mommy and Katie had to get ready for work.  This resulted in a very stressful morning as Sadbh needed to be suctioned and needed a nebulizer, but she did not want any of this from me and we were both very frustrated.   Eventually, things calmed down and we proceeded to have a good day.

We had a good day for the most part although Sadbh was extremely clingy. She wanted nothing more than me to play with her all day but at times it was hard as I simply do not have the energy to keep up with her.

The evening was easy and Sadbh was in a great mood.  Katie and Sadbh read “Sleeping Beauty” just before bed.

Sadbh was all ready for bed and suddenly had to go potty.  Katie took her nappy off and Sadbh declared that she didn’t want to wear a nappy tonight and that she wanted to tell me the news.  Unfortunately, I was out at a friend’s memorial, but it didn’t stop Sadbh from searching high and low around the house for me.  She even looked under blankets and in the normal places I would hide.  Instead, Katie told Sadbh that they could take a video and send it to me.  It was very cute and Sadbh is indeed sleeping tonight with out a nappy.

When Katie tired to put a nappy on Sadbh she refused to wear it claiming that she was done with nappies.

New photos.

Photos from October 10 2011.

Photos from October 10 2012.

Photos from October 10 2013.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh

Sadbh’s update – October 9th 2014

Sadbh slept very well but woke up with a lot of secretions in her trach shortly after seven. Kim tried to suction but was unable to clear her airway. When I took over I was able to clear her trach after a couple of suctions.

After breakfast Sadbh showed me her new motorcycle that she stores in her bedroom closet. She had taken the stool from the bathroom and placed it next to the humidifier compressor and pretended that it was a motorcycle. She had so much fun on it.

I had to run to a few shops today and Sadbh was happy to go along for the spin. After an hour or so she was starting to get tired and decided to take a nap. She was out for over an hour and slept despite being transferred from the car to her stroller a couple of times and she did not budge.

She woke up just after we arrived home and she was happy to see uncle Neil there waiting for us. She was hungry and ready for lunch but she was also ready to play with her toys.

We had a fun afternoon outside in the warm sun; playing ball, learning to ride her scooter and messing up all the leaves that I spent ages clearing from the driveway.

Trach care was much easier tonight and she did not put up a fight whatsoever. Bedtime took a while but she was quite tired and fell asleep shortly before nine.

New photos.

Photos from October 9 2011.

Photos from October 9 2012.

Photos from October 9 2013.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh

Sadbh’s update – October 8th 2014

Since Sadbh was up so early yesterday morning we asked Kim if she could turn out the lights and remain quiet from six am onwards so as to encourage Sadbh to go back to sleep if she woke up early. This worked this morning and despite waking up early Sadbh nodded back to sleep until shortly after seven.

When she woke up Sadbh was very confused, as she could not find anyone in her room. I was keeping an eye on Sadbh through the baby monitor and she just sat there on the side of her bed looking around the room. When I finally came into the room I found Kim hiding behind the chair trying to keep out of sight of Sadbh. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen and I explained to Kim that if Sadbh wakes up anytime after seven it was ok to chat with her and get her up.

Sadbh and I had a much better day today but it was extremely exhausting, as she wanted to play with me every minute of the day.

We got to Skype with my parents back in Cork and Sadbh got to wish her Nana a happy birthday and tell her how much she loved her. It was very sweet.

The rest of the day was fun and after playing in the garden for a while we headed back inside for some food and to read a bunch of books.

Trach care was stressful tonight as Sadbh lost her screen time privileges when it came time to get ready for bed. We usually plug Sadbh in and allow her to watch ten to twenty minutes of her favorite cartoons on the phone while we do trach care. This keeps her calm and allows us to get the job done easily. Unfortunately, since she lost her viewing privileges she got very upset and we had to wrestle with her to get her neck clean and the new polymem and trach ties on.

Once we finished up I got her laughing again and then it was time for a bedtime story from Mommy. Before she knew it she was out like a light.

New photos.

Photos from October 8 2011.

Photos from October 8 2012.

Photos from October 8 2013.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh

Sadbh’s update – October 7th 2014

Sadbh woke up shortly after six and thankfully went back to sleep for another forty minutes before finally getting up.

She was quick to ask Kim for some stories but soon needed to be suctioned. Kim tried to give her a saline nebulizer but Sadbh would not have any of it and took off running through the house. I was able to catch her and calm her down. She was in a much better mood after I suctioned her trach clear.

The rest of the morning was great and as a treat we headed up to the park in Madrona. There were a few other kids there but Sadbh was disappointed that her friend Henry was nowhere to be seen.

This did not slow her down, though, and she was off having the best time ever.

Once home it was time for a bath and then lunch, this is where the day took a turn for the worse. By now Sadbh was tired and hungry but only in the mood for snacks.

It was a tough afternoon for both of us and by the time Katie arrived home we were both wiped out.

We had plans to meet our friend Catherine for dinner tonight since she will be heading home to Ireland on Thursday so as soon as we were able to get Sadbh to eat dinner it was time for trach care. This was also a struggle since she was so tired but soon we got things done and then we were off to see Catherine.

Sadbh was well behaved during dinner and almost fell asleep on the way home. We were late so I had to text the nurse to let her know that we were running behind.

It did not take us long to get Sadbh cleaned up, into her pajamas and hooked up to her equipment. She was out like a light and as soon as we briefed Kim on how Sadbh’s day was she was quick to take over. I’m hoping that Sadbh sleeps in tomorrow morning and gets herself a good nights sleep.

New photos.

Photos from October 7 2011.

Photos from October 7 2012.

Photos from October 7 2013.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh

Sadbh’s update – October 6th 2014

Sadbh needed to be suctioned a number of times throughout the night. Other than that she had a great night sleep and was still in a deep sleep when I took over from Danielle at six.

She slept on for another hour or so. Her trach was still very goopy so I gave her a saline nebulizer to loosen things up and suctioned until her airway was clear. It took a while and Sadbh was very cooperative throughout.

Our morning was spent playing with her ponies and reading books. She really enjoys the Disney classics and loves to incorporate them into her role-playing.

When Ali-Baba arrived she brought Sadbh a gift of a bracelet that her cousin Liberty made for her. Sadbh was very excited and could not wait to wear it. Eventually it became a belt for one of her favorite ponies.

Ali-Baba and I got trach care out of the way as soon as we could and afterwards Sadbh brought Ali-Baba out to the garden to check out her pumpkins and the countless spider webs. She tried to feed one spider a worm that she found but the spider didn’t take to it.

The rest of the evening was spent playing and having fun and Sadbh really had a great time.

By bed she was completely wiped out and fell asleep in record time.

Katie had to suction just before she fell asleep and once Kim arrived we went over the procedure since Kim has not yet suctioned Sadbh since she started working with us.

New photos.

Photos from October 6 2011.

Photos from October 6 2012.

Photos from October 6 2013.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh