First feed and First Diaper Change

Today is a good day. The day started off with M getting to hold little miss C for an hour and with her passing another bowel moment. Of course leave it to M to not be around for the first opportunity to change a diaper with more then just pee in it. After all that practice he was doing just for the occasion. Oh well, I got to change her which made me feel more like a normal parent then a parent with a child in the hospital.
More good news from the doctors. First no sign of jaundince, and second they gave the go ahead to start Ceilidh on her first feed. This is what I have been working hard for doing my pumping and freezing. And as my reward I got to feed her, her very first feed. I know it seems so simple but these midlestones again make me feel like a normal parent. At first she didn't really know what to do with the bottle. She just lay there in my arms with said bottle in her mouth but no sucking. But after maybe 10 minutes she finally decided to give it a shot and consumed a whole 6 cc. And so far so good it is still in her.

Right now she is getting an abdominal ultarsound to see how things are settling in her tummy after all this surgery. So I am taking this quick break to post an update. Hopefully, things are settling in fine and we can continue with the recovery. More holding and feeding I hope. Still we are taking it one day at a time. I will try to post a picture of her next feeding.

Day 4 post surgery

I was released from the hospital yesterday. I must say the pain isn't as bad as I thought it would be but I am still taking Advil to help me out. However, I have the best motivation in the world to try to heal as fast as possible. The nurses were really great in helping me get out of my room and off to see Ceilidh that Saturday before her surgery. It was really important for me to be there before they took her away to fix the Omphalocele. And now that I am released from the General I don't have to keep doing the back and forth. I can spend all my time at CHEO just being with her. Just know that I am doing well in my recovery, my feet may be swollen, which is funny since they never were swollen during pregnancy, but I am mobile. But enough about me lets talk about about Ceilidh.

Everyone learning about Miss C. Omphaloceles aren't that common.

Shortly after birth. She has a bag covering her Omphalocele to keep it moist and protected.

In her isolate ready for transport but not before I get to meet her for the first time.

Our first meeting.

Post eviction

Post surgery with M by her side.

Here is the update since Saturday. Sunday was a rough day for Ceilidh they tried to remove her ventilation tube but that didn't go so well so back in it went. This is partly due to some of the pain meds she was on which can make breathing difficult. She really was not a happy camper on Sunday, which of course was very upsetting for us. It is hard to see her grimace through the pain, it just breaks your heart every time. They later decided to change the pain meds to Morphine. She has since been much more stable and content.

Today they finally removed the ventilation tube and this time success! This also meant that we could hold her. Only I got to hold her when she was born. Before the CHEO transportation team came to wisk her away in her little cadillac. They gave me a chance to hold her and we had her baptised by Father John. So holding her again today for us was pretty monumental. She is doing so much better then we could have ever hoped for. But we still won't know yet when we will be able to take her home. For now she is reaching those mildstones she should be ie passing bowel moments and breathing on her own. Tomorrow they will try to feed her my milk through her feeding tube and see how she tolerates this. The next step will be feeding her without the tube. Till then I will continue to pump.  She truly is a tough nut and already we can see she has a strong personality. Each day with her is very special to us.

I have finally included some pictures.Mostly of the day she was born and one post surgery with M. We will continue to keep you all posted till she can come home with us.

April Fools Day vs Eviction Day

So in the end we turned out to be the fools. Thursday was to be my last appointment before my scheduled surgery on April 7th. I remember asking if there would be anything special about the last appointment. The doctor said it would be the same old, same old...ultrasound and clinic. My friends laughed and said what did I expect balloons.
Well it was special. They saw some fluid around the belly during the ultrasound and the doctor asked what I thought of delivering the baby this week. In hind side I thought it strange that both the ultrasound technician and Dr. asked if I had eaten breakfast already they knew something was going to potentially happen soon. If I hadn't  breakfast I would have had the surgery that day. As it was I had to convince M. that this wasn't an early April fools joke. My last day of work was also suppose to be April fools. I am the fool.
In the end we were scheduled for April 1st at 8:30am. We were bumped a few hours by the only people who could bump us, a set of triplets. Go figure anything can happen on April fools day.

But at 10:55 am weighing at an awesome 6 pounds 11 ounces, and measuring at 51 cm Ceilidh Mary Smith greated us. Full of spunk and with hair. M went off with her while I was being finished up with my "tummy tuck".

Of course everyone had to see her as she isn't a common case. But she has doing great since. So great that just today she had her surgery to repair the Omphalocele or her own "tummy tuck". Just finished talking to the Doctor while typing this. Amazing person he is, he was able to repair the Omphalocele in one surgery. She is such a trooper and of course looks too cute. We have been through a lot and still have things ahead of us but we couldn't be more happier with the way things have turned out thus far. 
Thank you to all our family and friends for all the support. Thank you to the General and CHEO for delivering her safely and taking care of her thus far. Pictures to come when I get home. For now we are chilling at the hospital. Basking in the newes of our little family.

Ps Ceilidh is Galeic for kitchen party. Anyone who went to McGill with M or I will know the significance. It is pronouced Kaylee. Mary is after both our mothers. Mine Maria-Teresa and M's Reine-Marie.

xo D.

36 Weeks...are we done yet?

I am at 36 weeks and feeling like I am done and ready for the next part. Don't get me wrong I want the Wee one to spend as much time as needed in my uterus, which it has hijacked, but I find that in the last two weeks my energy has just drained. It's amazing how quickly you go from feeling good and loving the pregnancy bit to feeling like I will never get more then two hours of sleep (and maybe I won't) and how every task gets difficult. Putting on my socks is difficult, I often have to get M to help out on this daily task. And being in Ottawa it is still not warm enough for flip flops. The commuting is starting to get to me as well. The drive in the morning is fine but I always feel like the drive home I just can't get comfy. Must remind my self only two more weeks of work.
However, despite all my energy woes the nursery is coming along very well.. Now that we finally got rid of the old computer desk in that room I no longer walk in thinking this was our office. This is now the Wee's room. I have also finished my sewing projects and we have been busy purchasing the things that we have put off till now.

Of course many things in the nursery came from the generosity of family and friends. Everyone has been very supportive and loving through out all this. I know we still have many things to deal with once the baby makes its arrival but having an amazing support group makes me feel like we are in great hands. It won't be that much longer now.
I will keep everyone posted.
D.

St. Patty's day...I am as big as a pot of gold.

Gone are the days of green beer, but I still got to wear green. And the funniest thought I had is that today I have a bit of Irish in me. Literally, the Wee one has some Irish roots thanks to M, and it is currently squatting in my belly. I can't wait for it to be around next St. Patty's day when I will deck it out all in green. My Wee little leprechaun. Till then here is a picture of us in green and pictures of the crib as it comes along.
D.

What's 3lbs difference

Today we are at Week 33! Only 5 more weeks of work...and we also received the date for the C-section. Although, for all those people in the pool just know that the baby can still come at any time and yes they can move up the date. Heck I am sure if I drive up and down Carling Avenue closer to my due date one of those bumps is sure to send me into labour. Till then I will let you know the date closer to the time, or just ask either one us.
Yesterday, I had my regular round of appointments. The Wee one is head down which is where it was two weeks ago and if I wasn't having a C section this would really be important for eviction date. In terms of weight, two weeks ago it weighed in at 3 lbs 3 oz. This week there seemed to be some debate as to what the baby weighed. I know what you are thinking, how is it up for debate? Well it's not like they weigh me and all the weight gain is then attributed to the baby, they estimate by running certain measurements through a computer program. To estimate the babies weight they take a measurement of the babies head, femur (thigh bone), and the babies tummy. The problem here is the baby's Omphalocele gets in the way of a "normal" measurement. One of our first ultrasounds the technician tried to include the Omphalocele in the measurement and the computer program couldn't estimate the weight. Subsequently, most technicians don't include the Omphalocele. This time around this technician tried and it put the weight at 6lbs 9oz. That's an increase of 3lbs...trust me that's a lot for two weeks when the baby is suppose to gain the most weight towards the end of pregnancy. I know I have been having a lot of Cream Soda Slushies but not 3 lbs worth. At worst the child should come out pink, maybe I should switch flavours. At this rate I am looking at a 21 lb baby when I deliver. I know that it's coming out by C section but that's a turkey.
Needless to say, I suggested that the technician take another measurement of the baby without the Omphalocole, the weight was then 3 lbs 13 oz. Much more in line with the weight it was gaining previously.
The adventures of my appointments. Well that's the update for now. I hope to start taking pictures of the nursery soon as it is coming together.

Countdown to eviction...E-8 weeks

Things are beginning to really sink in! Dalia and I have 8 weeks to go and our pack of two will become three. It all became a little more real following the baby shower on February 6th. It was nice to see everybody who attended and I am sure that the gifts we received will come in very handy....only if I knew what most things were used for? Nevertheless I have focused my efforts to getting the crib done. Right now the crib is basically a bunch of puzzle pieces in various states of incompleteness.



Nevertheless here is a couple of pictures of what is done so far. Believe it or not, its half done. In the unlikely event that the crib does not get completed I do have a back up plan. I am sure that the wee Smith will be more than happy in a dresser drawer.