LooK at Me !!

LooK at Me !!
"l,M Walking !!!

Friday, October 31, 2008

31 October 2008

Angela went into the hospital today to see Gracyn and it was business as usual, the best behaved baby in the ward. The antibiotics have worked so far and she seems alot better today, so hopefully another step forward. My mum&dad (horsey&bobby don't ask the horsey story i,ll have to start a whole new blog just to explain) went in also for a visit. They live in Paraparaumu but have got it sorted as there is a shuttle that leaves Kenepuru Hospital on the hour to Wellington Hospital for free so the travel into town and back again is easier for them. They spent a good couple of hours with Gracyn getting all the updates from the nurses which is great and it saves Angela and i explaining every thing again and again.
Tegan is off to Uncle Craigs house tomorrow morning while Angela and i spend a couple of hours with Gracyn. I enjoy the time in the unit and give Gracyn the rundown on what has been happening at home, She is now feeding 3ml every 2 hours and tollerating it well, another possitive.
Tomorrow is another day and another day closer to bringing her home, she is 2 weeks and 2 days old today and boy has the time flown. It hardly seems real that i a have daughter but it is.

bye for now

Steve Ange Tegan&Gracyn

Thursday, October 30, 2008

30th October

They said we would have good and bad days and recieving some not so good news always knocks the stuffing out of you. Gracyn has an infection and they are not too sure where it is coming from. They have performed a lumbar puncture on her which means they remove some of the fluid from arround the spine to be tested, unfortunatly the did not get enough to test. So they will try again tomorrow meanwhile an increase of antibiotics and some close monitering overnite will happen. Because she is so active and a little wriggle bottom she has created a rash on her leg this may be where the infection may be,or possibly where the long line is inserted, we will know tomorrow.
The good news is that the nurses and doctors insure us that she is doing nothing that they hav,nt seen before. Another good sign is that she is starting to try and open her eyes, She must have known that her dad was there.
Poor Tegan may not be able to see Gracyn for 10 days as his little cousin Amber may have been exposed to chicken pox and Tegan was only just playng with her the other day. We hav,nt told him yet but it is better to be safe than sorry.
She is now 890grms so i,m only 110grms away from my bottle of "Apples" go for it my big girl i say.

till next time

Steve Ange Tegan, Gracyn

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

29th October

I have just got back from a visit with my wee Girl and she is doing very well today.Her skin has improved 100% and she is looking a lot more settled. She is now feeding 1ml every 2 hours and it may go up tomorrow to 2 ml just to fatten her up.Her lungs have also improved, another good sign. So it is steady as she goes at the moment.
i have,nt seen her for 2 days and noticed the differance immediatly in her skin colour and how much her hair has grown. She has blond hair, and more than me, but thats not hard. She must have known i was there as she gets the big wriggle on and starts thrashing about, little legs and arms everywhere, especially when i was reading the NZ Hot Rod magazine to her, instructing her that she is a Mopar or Ford Girly only.
Angela is making the trek ito town daily and seems to enjoy the hands on approch that the nurses let her do with Gracyn,s cares. Hopefully soon we will be able to have kangaroo cuddles with our girl, we are both looking forward to that.

Steve Ange,Tegan&Gracyn

the First Email

This was the first email i sent out on the 19th before i got so techinical on you all.

What a whirlwind entry to the Reid family.The past four days are just a blur for us all. Gracyn Hope Reid born Thursday 16 october 2008 at 340am weighing in at a massive 780grms (1.65lbs), 16 weeks pre-mature ,a wee girl for us.

This is how it all began,Angela awoke at the 1am thinking she was constipated, boy was she wrong. She woke me at about 2.30am and , i took one look at her pacing the foor and immediatly called he mum, Angela,s parents car was in the panel shop so i had to leave Ange and go and collect her mum, so a quick ride to Allen street to pick up Dawn was performed. We then decided to call Mary-Clare our midwife, she suggested it may be a urinery infection,but we better get to the hospital just in case.
The decision was made to get down to the hospital and quickly so off Dawn and Ange went by this time it was about 3am. I was just about to jump back into bed when the phone went, it was Dawn, You better get here quick she said, i think i replied HOLY SHIT.!! I rang Ginny (Angela,s sister, why not wake up the whole family) she came arround pretty quickly (considering she was driving a holden) to be there for Tegan in the morning. i raced to the hospital even smileing at the speed camera on high street as i made my way there. i missed the whole birth by 6 minites. And thats how it it all unfolded on the early hours of the morning on the16 October 2008.

She is a strong we girl and just could,nt wait to get into this world. A quick 3 hr labour for Ang just like Tegan was, she likes to popem out quick does our Ang just wish that Gracie was cooked a lttle longer. Ang is doing fine and came home Yesturday and hard task having to leave our wee girl behind but she is in the right place and getting the best of care.

Gracyn is in the Wellington Neo Natal Unit Wellngton Hospital, they have a strict visiting policy restricted to immediate family which is understandable due to the risk of infections etc.So most of you will have to wait to meet her when we bring her home possibly in late January, even then we will have to restrict visits due to the obvious risks involved. i know you will all understand this policy.

Thankyou all for the the support we have recieved so far it has surly overwhelmd us. we will keep you posted with regular progress reports on our wee Gracyn


Thanks Again
Steve, Angela, Tegan,Gracyn

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

28th October 2008

I,m getting the hang of this blogg thing, colour, pictures, i,m working on a programe to make Gracyn wave to you all when you logg in. Yeah Right!!.

Gracyn lasted 17 hrs on the c-pack machine then had to be resorted back to the Ventilator system. This may happen as many as six or seven times until she is strong enough to do it by herself. This is just one of those up,s and down rides we are going to get over the next few months. Her skin is breaking up a little bit but they have a process to deal with it, they seem to have a process to deal with anythng that these prem babies throw at them. She has increased her food to 2 mls every 2 hours and tollerating that well so that is a good sign.
Angela went in today and spent a few hours doing her cares, this wee mite is a robust little girl, she does not like being handled and screws her face up like a half chewed minty when getting her face washed its amazing to see the expressions on her face when this is being done.
I hav,nt been in to see Gracyn for a day but i,m sure i,ll notice the difference in her when i do get in there tomorrow nite. She has graduated in her room at the Neo Natal unit and is no longer the smallest in the class another first for my wee girl. There is no change in her lung condition today but saying that they have not scanned her either. I will know more tomorrow.

Till next post
Steve Ang, Tegan&Gracyn

Monday, October 27, 2008

27th october 2008

Hi All

We are getting hi-tech here in the Reid household and have set up this blogg page to keep everyone informed on Gracyn,s condition. What a great day we had and Graycn is improving everyday. She has now gone back on the c-pack system which means she is breathing on her own, a big step forward for my wee girl. This sytem looks like she is wearing a baseball cap with a mouthpiece connected to it forcing oxygen into her air ways. This is a much better and ,more comfortabe way to treat her, no big tubes down her throat. We will only have to hope she can manage this on her own otherwise the doctors may resort back to the ventilator system.
With her being so dependant on the ventilator is has caused a few issues with her lungs, they were not inflating correctly due to the long time on the machine, this is treatable by lying her on her left side to give her lung a rest. i am told that this can happen and is just unfortnate but she needed the ventilator to breath, a sort of catch 22 situation.
Gracyn is now feeding on Angela, Boobi juice 1ml every 4hrs and seems to be tolerating the food without any problems. i know she will be fine with the food as we Reids love our tucker. She now weighs 890grms, so i may be opening that bottle of Appeltons this week yippee!!.
Yes i got my lawns done and no Angela did not do them, funny that. We are going to try and get into a routine with our visits to Gracyn and get some sort of normality back into our lives, is there such thing NORMALITY.
i think this blogg will be a better way in keeping everyone in toutch with what is going on.

till the next update
steve,Ang Tegan, Gracyn

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Angela got home on Thursday night and not a minute too soon as the lawns need mowing and the car need cleaning after all those trips into town. AS IF THAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN!!

Well it really is not a minute too soon as the insensitive staff in Wgtn Hospital put yet another new born and mother in the same room as Ang.Well this got on my Tits big time and I was just about to put my angry face and voice on and give someone a good old blast down the phone when Ang rang back and said the doctor is letting her go home. In a way it pissed me off as I was working up to giving someone a right old seeing too, but we were happy all the same especially a wee man called Tegan he is just rapped to have his mummy home.

There is nothing better than a sleep in your own bed and this obviously works for Ang as she is just about back to normal and cracking the whip for me to get Gracyn,s room finished before she gets home. I,ve got 14to 16 weeks I think I,ll make it.

Gracyn is going well on Angela,s booby juice and gets 1ml every 4 hours, with all the time on the respirator she has developed a enlarged lung, apparently this can happen so they just nurse her on her left side to help the enlarge lung rest.She is no longer on morphine now just the occasional caffeine shot, so you can imagine a few years from now Ang and Gracyn off to Westfield for a Latte!! and still getting caffeine shots!.

We went in today to help with Gracyn,s care,s (changing her nappy, washing her face etc).The nurse was giving her a hand and said "here hold this" Angela,s first hold of Gracyn as the nurse changed her bed. This brought a tear to both of us as this is going to be many of 1st,s.
We have a few now
1st Day
1st Week
1st Feed
1st poo (ha ha Ang got to change this one)
1st Hold The list go,s on and i can remember every one of them.

Gracyn will hopefully be back on the c-pack system and breathing for herself within the next couple of days we can only wait and see.
i wish you all great long weekend and i hope it pisses down with rain then i don, feel to bad for neglecting my Chors around the house, and i,ll let Ang off from doing the lawns.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Steve Ang Tegan&Gracyn