Sadbh’s update – April 4, 2015

I checked in on Sadbh throughout the night and she did good until three in the morning. She woke up and shouted for Katie. Since we have the monitor next to the bed it frightened the two of us but thankfully she was ok and only wanted Katie to snuggle up with her.

She woke up shortly after seven she was ready for the day to start.

We did a bad job at planning our day and I caused most of the issues by spending way too much time on a DYI project in the house.

By the time I had finished we had lost out on the opportunity to get the kids out of the house and to go for a walk around the neighborhood.

Trach care also caused some stress as it took an hour and a half to coordinate a bath and get trach care done afterwards. By the time we were done we were all hungry and running on fumes.

Sadbh’s check in at the hospital was at seven and it was a mad race to get out the door in time. Sadbh was in a wonderful mood and was very excited to be going for a sleep study. I think her excitement was the promise of getting to watch any movie that she wanted.

Katie and Sadbh made it in time and soon Sadbh was kicking back in her hospital bed waiting to get hooked up to all the medical equipment.

There was a huge library of movies to choose from and Sadbh chose the movie “Tangled”, surprise, surprise.

By the time she was taped up and wired to all the equipment she was exhausted and like a zombie. It did not take long for her to fall asleep and I hope she can make it through the night with her trach cap on so the doctors can get some good data.

New photos.

Photos from April 4 2012.

Photos from April 4 2013.

Photos from April 4 2014.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie, Sadbh and Cillian

Sadbh’s update – April 3, 2015

Sadbh was very upset when I took over from Jirapa this morning. She threw a tantrum while wanting Mommy to come down. After Katie took over they had a good chat and Sadbh apologized and gave me a huge hug and a kiss.

I had a couple of meetings this morning and Sadbh was sad to see me leave. It was quite the change of mood from first thing this morning but I promised that I would play with her as soon as I got back.

She was waiting for me to keep my end of the promise and for the rest of the day we played and had a great time. She has an endless supply of energy. Even though she looks exhausted, she rarely ever slows down.

Katie brought Cillian into her work today to show him off to her colleagues. Sadbh was fine with Katie being gone as long as I kept playing with her.

I even managed to read a few books to her and was secretly hoping that she might take a nap while I read. This did not work but she was in an excellent mood so it was all good.

Katie and I managed trach care as soon as she arrived home and for a treat Sadbh got to watch Pocahontas 2 after dinner.

We do not have nursing coverage this weekend so I moved her medical equipment upstairs while she was watching the movie. Once the movie was over she wanted to play for a while longer. By now she was beyond tired so it was time to get into her pajamas, brush her teeth and head up to bed. It did not take long before she was fast asleep.

Sadbh has her sleep study at Children’s hospital tomorrow evening and she is getting very excited. We have been talking with her about what to expect and we have also been showing her photos of her friend Grace at her first sleep study. She is looking forward to going and she cannot wait to get to put all the sensors on.

New photos.

Photos from April 3 2012.

Photos from April 3 2013.

Photos from April 3 2014.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie, Sadbh and Cillian

Sadbh’s update – April 2, 2015

Sadbh woke up shortly after seven after a great night sleep. She was in an excellent mood and was ready for breakfast.

During breakfast the situation got ugly very quickly. Sadbh got extremely upset when Katie headed up stairs to get ready and she did not calm down for thirty minutes or so. She kicked, slapped, spat and even told me to go back to Cork. We worked through it and by the time she was done she was wiped out and I was able to get a huge hug from her.

The rest of the day was much better and Sadbh was excited for Michelle to come hang out.

Michelle even helped out with trach care and after we finished we headed out for a walk up to Chucks for some refreshments. Sadbh picked strawberry ice cream and this time she was a lot happier with her selection.

The rest of her evening was great and she was ready for bed when the time came.   

New photos.

Photos from April 2 2012.

Photos from April 2 2013.

Photos from April 2 2014.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie, Sadbh and Cillian

Sadbh’s update – April 1, 2015

Sadbh woke up early and wanted to hide her new art from Jirapa. For some reason or other she has grown tired of her nurses and over the past few days she has mentioned that she does not want them around any longer.

By the time Jirapa was getting ready to leave Sadbh had a change of heart and showed her all the new drawings on her wall.

Sadbh had a good day and spent most of it playing. I had to take care of a few things so Ali-Baba came by to play with the kids and to help Katie with trach care. Sadbh was over the moon when she realized that Ali-Baba was coming and she had so much fun with her while she was here.

Bedtime tonight was fun as a big thunderstorm rolled in just as Sadbh was getting ready. She was terrified but also very intrigued. I told her that there was nothing to worry about and that I would keep her protected from the storm. She seemed to be happy with this and fell asleep in seconds while wearing her trach cap.

New photos.

Photos from April 1 2012.

Photos from April 1 2013.

Photos from April 1 2014.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie, Sadbh and Cillian

Sadbh’s update – March 31, 2015

Sadbh woke up early this morning and for some reason or other she took a dislike to her nurse, Jirapa.

She wanted Mommy to come down so I stayed upstairs with Cillian while Katie took over from the nurse.

Other than that Sadbh had a fantastic day. She was in a very playful mood all day and I spent a lot of the morning and afternoon playing with her.

At one point she got to talk with Granddad and her cousin Lilly back in Cork.

In the afternoon she was starting to get tired so after trach care we read a few books in the hope that she might take a quick nap. This was not to be but she kept herself busy for the rest of the day playing with her Lego.

By bedtime she was completely wiped out but she still had enough energy to draw a bunch of pictures and wanted to hang them on her walls before going to bed. She even wrote a story and made it into a book. Only Sadbh knows how to read it but thankfully she is happy to do so.

New photos.

Photos from March 31 2012.

Photos from March 31 2013.

Photos from March 31 2014.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie, Sadbh and Cillian

Sadbh’s update – March 30, 2015

Sadbh woke up very upset at five this morning and she could not understand why her toy dogs were not in her bed. Katie snuggled up with her and eventually she calmed down and went back to sleep, for an hour.

Katie and I had an appointment in Greenlake later in the morning so it was full speed ahead as soon as we got up. Sadbh helped out by getting ready without any fuss and while we were in our meeting she was as quiet as a mouse.

Once finished we headed to the zoo for a treat for Sadbh. She was delighted and was eager to go for a ride on the carousel. I went with her to make sure that she had no issues with her trach, etc but I noticed that Sadbh was quiet and very serious during the ride. I tried to find out what was going on with her and it was only later when Katie asked did she reveal that the horse was talking to her.

After the carousel ride Sadbh and I had a game of chase around the zoo. It was so much fun and eventually both of us were out of breath.

We spent the next hour or so in the Pacific NW section of the zoo and Sadbh got very excited when she saw the bears snoozing in their enclosure.

By the time we got home Sadbh was getting tired. We tried to get trach care out of the way as quickly as possible but this took a lot longer than expected since Cillian was fussy and crying.

Sadbh wanted to go to bed early tonight but was happy snuggled up to Mommy. Katie sang lullabies to the two kids for half an hour or so and they both really enjoyed it.

When Sadbh finally went to bed she was out in no time. Jirapa is working tonight so Sadbh is back downstairs in her other bedroom.

New photos.

Photos from March 30 2012.

Photos from March 30 2013.

Photos from March 30 2014.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie, Sadbh and Cillian  

Sadbh’s update – March 29, 2015

I checked in on Sadbh every hour and thankfully she slept like a log.

She woke up shortly after seven because Cillian was crying and once she realized the time she insisted on going down to the basement to wake up her cousins.

Hayato went back to sleep but Kaito was happy to get up and play with Sadbh.

The two boys were heading back to Portland this morning with their dad so Sadbh did not waste any time playing with them both. She had a wonderful time and things only got better when Ali-Baba and Kirk stopped by for a quick visit.

Sadbh was sad to see her cousins leave and by now she was getting tired.

Regardless she refused to take a nap and spent the rest of the day playing with her toys, reading books and cuddling with her baby brother.

We managed trach care late in the day and after dinner we watched a movie in the basement.

Sadbh was completely exhausted by the time the movie ended and headed off to bed without any fuss.

New photos.

Photos from March 29 2012.

Photos from March 29 2013.

Photos from March 29 2014.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie, Sadbh and Cillian