Thursday, July 24, 2008
Pictures from the last few days
After my hospital stay and being away from the family, being back home makes me want to take more photos than usual (!) of our precious boy. Below is a little selection...
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
The biting ring beats it all
I didn't know that a biting ring can take so much out of you... The concentration required to bite the ring makes his other joys such as rolling totally impossible. Check out the video below!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Doped up
Sorry for the long wait for a new post on the blog. We do have a legitimate excuse though.
On Saturday, exactly two weeks ago, Maria had the unfortunate experience of having back spasms and ended up in hospital for 10 days.
Without any specific reason, her back went into spasm and couldn't move. At first, our friends Bronwyn, Moa & Dave tried to help us to get her up. After a few hours without any success, we realised that since we had no idea what was causing the pain and couldn't move her, we should call an ambulance. It was the first time Maria had to call for an ambulance and she was actually quite embarrassed, since she thought that people who call after an ambulance are in an acute situation where they're almost dying. But the ambulance drivers told her that people call for the weirdest reasons and sometimes they feel like they work in the taxi driving business rather than the medical industry. They said that we did the right thing since she couldn't move, we were upstairs and stuck (plus she really needed to wee!) which made her feel a bit better about it, I think.
When you first arrive at the ER, they ask if you want to go public or use your private insurance. Since she thought that she was going to spend a night there at most, she said to not bother about contacting our insurance company since the public system in Australia works fine.
But it turned out that she was unable to empty her bladder by herself and that the back just continued to spasm so she had to stay...
The first few days she was in the ER & the Obs Ward. As we all know, these departments are really busy and since she was not in a acute state, understandably she wasn't their first priority. However, even though she rang the bell and talked to the nurses and asked them to insert a catheter to empty the bladder (as they never put in a permanent one in) they just forgot about it over and over again. The bladder should not exceed 500 ml or you can do permanent damage to it. After 14 hours (!!!!), at the point where she was crying and screaming, they came to empty the bladder. 14 hours is a long time, and maybe you question why she didn't put her foot down more firmly but she was completely doped up on morphine and valium via IV. The nurse that came was quite rude as she thought Maria was just winging (the nurse probably just started her shift), but when she emptied it, it was 1300 ml in the bladder! Embarrassing for the nurse and the rest of them at the ward.... When the doctor later came by on the round, he explained that due to the damage done to the bladder, Maria had to have a permanent catheter for about 3 weeks to let it repair itself. We were NOT happy about this.
While in Obs Ward they did X-rays and a CT scan which gave hem no clues to what was wrong. Maria was then moved to the Acute Assessment Unit (to a room to share with three other ladies about 50 years older than her haha). Once there, things stopped happening and she just laid there for two days without knowing what was going on. That's when we decided to nominate our private insurance!
That same day Maria was transfer to a private hospital nearby. What a difference! Her own room with own bathroom (not that she could use it, but anyway!), a nice view, TV, phone, a fancy bed that hardly the staff knew how to operate and best of all: the most fantastic lovely friendly staff! The name of the hospital is Hollywood Private Hospital and funny enough, Maria said she actually felt like she almost was in THE Hollywood!
The testing continued with bloods, urine, ultrasound, MRI & finally a lumbar punction. They wanted to exclude that there was no damage done from the epidural she had in January at Noah's birth. Luckily, all tests came back normal and they could determine that the spasms were due to muscle and ligament issues. The doctors also reckoned that since the catheter had been in place for a while now and on the ultrasound it all looked OK, that once it was time for her to get discharged, the catheter could be removed (based on that she could wee on her own).
So on Saturday she tried and it worked! Time for celebration! Now it was all about getting the pain medication to the correct dose and get her up walking.
Being away from Noah was a great motivator to get herself out of the hospital. Since we have stairs at home, that was the biggest hurdle. But Maria slowly started with a walking frame, then without one, up and down the corridor etc. On Tuesday morning the physio came to see her and they did some work and Maria was able to to finally walk the stairs.
When the doctors came to see her on their round at lunch time on Tuesday, they couldn't believe the news. With this quick progress, they couldn't do anything else than return the good news with even better news; if Maria thought she was ready, she could go home if she wanted! If she wanted :-)?!
We packed the bags and went back home Tuesday this week. Of course, that Maria was allowed to go home was based on that she does absolutely nothing at home, including not lifting Noah.
The medication is working fine, and she now own 'pillboxes' that I bought for her (those boxes that the elderly keep at their kitchen table to keep track of all their pills....).
But the doctor's orders have now proved to be harder to follow than we expected. You all know Maria, and even though I look after Noah and the household so that she can relax, lay down and focus on herself and to recover, it is very hard for her- she want to get up and about and get on with things. Hopefully, with time, this will soon be possible!
On Saturday, exactly two weeks ago, Maria had the unfortunate experience of having back spasms and ended up in hospital for 10 days.
Without any specific reason, her back went into spasm and couldn't move. At first, our friends Bronwyn, Moa & Dave tried to help us to get her up. After a few hours without any success, we realised that since we had no idea what was causing the pain and couldn't move her, we should call an ambulance. It was the first time Maria had to call for an ambulance and she was actually quite embarrassed, since she thought that people who call after an ambulance are in an acute situation where they're almost dying. But the ambulance drivers told her that people call for the weirdest reasons and sometimes they feel like they work in the taxi driving business rather than the medical industry. They said that we did the right thing since she couldn't move, we were upstairs and stuck (plus she really needed to wee!) which made her feel a bit better about it, I think.
When you first arrive at the ER, they ask if you want to go public or use your private insurance. Since she thought that she was going to spend a night there at most, she said to not bother about contacting our insurance company since the public system in Australia works fine.
But it turned out that she was unable to empty her bladder by herself and that the back just continued to spasm so she had to stay...
The first few days she was in the ER & the Obs Ward. As we all know, these departments are really busy and since she was not in a acute state, understandably she wasn't their first priority. However, even though she rang the bell and talked to the nurses and asked them to insert a catheter to empty the bladder (as they never put in a permanent one in) they just forgot about it over and over again. The bladder should not exceed 500 ml or you can do permanent damage to it. After 14 hours (!!!!), at the point where she was crying and screaming, they came to empty the bladder. 14 hours is a long time, and maybe you question why she didn't put her foot down more firmly but she was completely doped up on morphine and valium via IV. The nurse that came was quite rude as she thought Maria was just winging (the nurse probably just started her shift), but when she emptied it, it was 1300 ml in the bladder! Embarrassing for the nurse and the rest of them at the ward.... When the doctor later came by on the round, he explained that due to the damage done to the bladder, Maria had to have a permanent catheter for about 3 weeks to let it repair itself. We were NOT happy about this.
While in Obs Ward they did X-rays and a CT scan which gave hem no clues to what was wrong. Maria was then moved to the Acute Assessment Unit (to a room to share with three other ladies about 50 years older than her haha). Once there, things stopped happening and she just laid there for two days without knowing what was going on. That's when we decided to nominate our private insurance!
That same day Maria was transfer to a private hospital nearby. What a difference! Her own room with own bathroom (not that she could use it, but anyway!), a nice view, TV, phone, a fancy bed that hardly the staff knew how to operate and best of all: the most fantastic lovely friendly staff! The name of the hospital is Hollywood Private Hospital and funny enough, Maria said she actually felt like she almost was in THE Hollywood!
The testing continued with bloods, urine, ultrasound, MRI & finally a lumbar punction. They wanted to exclude that there was no damage done from the epidural she had in January at Noah's birth. Luckily, all tests came back normal and they could determine that the spasms were due to muscle and ligament issues. The doctors also reckoned that since the catheter had been in place for a while now and on the ultrasound it all looked OK, that once it was time for her to get discharged, the catheter could be removed (based on that she could wee on her own).
So on Saturday she tried and it worked! Time for celebration! Now it was all about getting the pain medication to the correct dose and get her up walking.
Being away from Noah was a great motivator to get herself out of the hospital. Since we have stairs at home, that was the biggest hurdle. But Maria slowly started with a walking frame, then without one, up and down the corridor etc. On Tuesday morning the physio came to see her and they did some work and Maria was able to to finally walk the stairs.
When the doctors came to see her on their round at lunch time on Tuesday, they couldn't believe the news. With this quick progress, they couldn't do anything else than return the good news with even better news; if Maria thought she was ready, she could go home if she wanted! If she wanted :-)?!
We packed the bags and went back home Tuesday this week. Of course, that Maria was allowed to go home was based on that she does absolutely nothing at home, including not lifting Noah.
The medication is working fine, and she now own 'pillboxes' that I bought for her (those boxes that the elderly keep at their kitchen table to keep track of all their pills....).
But the doctor's orders have now proved to be harder to follow than we expected. You all know Maria, and even though I look after Noah and the household so that she can relax, lay down and focus on herself and to recover, it is very hard for her- she want to get up and about and get on with things. Hopefully, with time, this will soon be possible!
Friday, July 4, 2008
Shopping Spree
Currently there is a massive toy sale on at the bigger department stores in Perth so Noah and mummy headed out for some bargains today.
Shawn and I don't want Noah to own too many toys at the same time, so we had decided to get toys on sale that are for different age groups. When events like Christmas and his birthday come around, we will give him the toys that suits his age, one at a time :-).
Noah and mamma heading out
All these toys were less than 80 AUD (400 SEK)- what a bargain!
Shawn and I don't want Noah to own too many toys at the same time, so we had decided to get toys on sale that are for different age groups. When events like Christmas and his birthday come around, we will give him the toys that suits his age, one at a time :-).
Noah and mamma heading out
All these toys were less than 80 AUD (400 SEK)- what a bargain! Thursday, July 3, 2008
Truly laid back...
Just like his father, Noah loves to kick back and relax. Today at Nasim's house, Noah tried little Alex's cradle swing (like a baby hammock). He sat there very relaxed and happy watching the bigger kids play pretty much all day.
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