Life

I made a list of the things that I would really like to do with my life, things that make me happy and what my utmost important goals are. To write them somewhere, I figured I would blog them. It is my short list.

What I want to do with my life, from most important to sometime in this lifetime. 

•be a great partner (maybe wife someday)

•be a good mother

•be creative

•be a successful photographer 

•become a childbirth educator/ doula

•play the piano

•travel 

baby likes - singing Sundays

I take my inspiration from little Hector this week. These are songs he likes; when fussy he will calm down listing to these.

Cigarettes and chocolate milk- Rufus wainwright

My favourite things- John Coltrane 

The great exhale- the Great Lake swimmers

Sleep dreaming- singing Sundays

This week, getting back to my musical posts, I am celebrating (for lack of a better word, as I am taking the positive approach. Laughable) our lack of sleep as parents.
The newborn stage does not last forever, but does it ever feel never ending. Days of no showers, pj attire, and coffee; with children tearing apart the house. It's honestly a blast and days of survival all at the same time.

I know I will look back when I'm older and not only miss it, but long for it. 

Well, back to the music!

No sleep- Sam Roberts band
Just dropped in- Kenny rodgers and the first edition
No sleep till Brooklyn- Beastie Boys

cuteness.

This was the cuteness that visited the day after Hector was born. Candy sponsored by Nanny haha

Inviting.

It's strange how much I love my kitchen. I love the colours, the warmth it always seems to have. I even love the kid hand prints and smears all over the windows and the tiny toys that always seem to occupy the windowsill.

I love my kitchen and all it's little imperfections.

Yes, we do need more chairs. Two, to be precise. 

Hector's recovery.

After surgery, they tell you that once he starts coming off of things, they start coming off really fast. This was no lie! He was intubated and had many lines and tubes the day after surgery.

Two days after surgery he was extubated, chest tube out, as well as off a lot of his meds.

By the afternoon he was allowed to breastfeed again! I was so happy and shocked that I could have cried.

He fed so well over the next 12 hours that the next morning we were sent to the Med Surg floor. They told me that besides breathing issues, feeding issues are the main reason that babies stay in ICU and hospital for a while. 

Hector was feeding like a champ. He took a little while (understandably) to sleep well again, as he was uncomfortable, but he did so well.

5 days post op we were sent home on no more than a diuretic and Tylenol. We didn't tell many people we were home until later in the week. Trying to get used to being a family of five with a newborn who needs special care is tough, but we are learning everyday. We have been home for almost two weeks now and have found a little bit of a groove. 

It's still worrisome sometimes because Hector is very susceptible to infections and can not be around anyone who is sick or has been around sick people. They sent us home with a list of recommendations, one being staying out of public places for 4-6 weeks. So the whole process has been a little isolating, but I am counting down the days until little Hector is considered fully healed (which happens to coincide nicely with his 2 month vaccinations) and we can go do things with his brothers, and he can meet the people who were rooting for him.

The outpouring of love and support for this little man and our family has been incredible. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.

Surgery day.

This was one of the hardest days I have had in my life so far. Not to sound over dramatic, but it was brutal.

My heart raced, I was nauseated, my mind was going a mile a minute. For the whole 8 hours.

The worst part was that we had a misunderstanding on the time and were expecting him out of the OR hours before  he came out. This, of course, caused needless tears and more stress and anxiety until we found out it would be hours more. Then we were able to settle into more waiting.

Our day, although stressful, was a positive one. We knew he was in great hands, we knew the surgery was a must, we knew that he had gone into this a very healthy baby boy. He had amazing chances, and all odds seemed in his favour. The surgeon came out to talk to us, he told us the surgery was very successful and they expected a full recovery. Hector did wonderfully. 

After the hours and hours of waiting we were allowed to go see him, It was supper time. We had passed him to the OR nurse at 8 in the morning. He was hooked up to more wires, lines, and tubes, then space on his little body. Having worked in the hospital setting for years, this didn't scare me as much as I thought. Although, it being my own child allowed the silent tears to make their way down my cheeks.

He had a bunch of episodes of SVT throughout the evening, the Dr's told us that it wasn't surprising. His little heart was very irritated from surgery, but we should expect that he would be fine from there on out. They try non-medical intervention to bring the heart rate down first, holding a bag of ice on my baby's face was the last thing I was wanting to see, but amazingly it worked.

It was the longest day I have experienced, I am so very grateful that we are past it.