Watch out 2013, here we come

It's hard to believe that 2013 is here already.  I feel like I have been incredibly slack, reading hardly any blogs over the last couple of months, and writing no posts of my own.

In my defense, there has been a lot of things going on over the past few months. I was struggling with the necessary change in mindset between working in a high performance sport environment, and then being at home with a child who has physical disabilities. The company that I work for was in the process of restructuring.  I decided, since I'd been there for 5 years, that it was time to look at moving on.  After numerous applications and interviews, I secured a position as financial administrator at the Cochlear Implant clinic.  I've been there for a couple of months now, it's been a steep learning curve, but I'm really enjoying it and am slowly getting my head around everything that this job entails.

We've been having problems with Reuben's behaviour over the past few months.  I was getting really bad - hitting, kicking, biting, swearing, name calling, throwing things, etc.  I was finally able to get some help to put some strategies in place to help me deal with and diffuse the behaviour and the anger.  A lot of kids in Christchurch have been having problems due to the ongoing stress from the earthquakes.  I wan't sure if that was what caused Reuben's problems, or if it was because he was a 6 year old boy, or because he had a younger brother, or if it was because he had a sibling with disabilities.  Probably a combination of all of the above in varying degrees at any one time.

I went to a session at school that was put on with clinical psychologists talking about what to do with kids that have been suffering from ongoing stress.  It was an okay session, but I was pretty down by the end of the session,  To be honest, if it was just the earthquakes I could handle that because I know that they're not going to be forever.  But it really highlighted to me that Isaac's disability was going to be ongoing, like for the rest of his life.  Not quite what I was hoping to get out of the evening.

I've been talking with various people who read my blog, and it has been really encouraging to hear some of their comments.  One couple in particular, we met at the mall one weekend.  They said that it was great how not only did we get Isaac out and about, but also that we were open with other people about the experience we were going through.  Now, any of you who are reading this at the moment who have special kiddies, will know that as a blogger you don't put everything you're going through in your posts.  But I'm pleased that I'm able to give people a bit of a glimpse into our Tutti Frutti life.

One of the additional benefits that I've received from having Isaac at Champion Centre, is the connection that I've been able to make with other mums.  I never realised how isolated I was until I hooked up with a group of champion mums (past and present) who go out to dinner and socialise once every six weeks or so.  It's great being able to share experiences and concerns with others who are on the same page and a great excuse for a night out.

What's Isaac been up to, I hear you ask.  Well, let me tell you just how fabo this little guy is! Each week at his therapy sessions he works really hard.  So hard in fact that he can hardly keep his eyes open on the two block drive from Champion centre to preschool.  The therapists and teachers all say how much of a pleasure it is to see him each week.  He has worked so hard and progressed so well, that he is moving to a different session when classes resume after the summer break.  This year he will be going fortnightly instead of weekly.  There's some down sides about that - not being with friends and teachers that we know and no computer sessions :( But on the plus side - meeting new friends, new challenges, new teachers.

We had some new front steps installed.  The rise was too deep for Isaac and he struggled to walk up them by himself.  Now, although they come out a lot further, each step isn't as deep and with that combined with the handrail that got installed at the same time, he can now walk up and down the front steps by himself.  It also means that he can go out and play with Reuben or the neighbours without the need for me to stop what I'm doing to help him down.

Mid December Isaac had an appointment with the Paediatric Neurologist.  He'd been referred by his neonatal consultant, who had also said that she'd be passing him on to the developmental paediatricians. When we met with the neurologist, he said to us that since we'd been referred to him, there wasn't much point in seeing the developmental paediatricians too.  So he would take over managing Isaac's case.  Sounds like a good plan to me.

Over the last few months, Isaac has been relying on his walker less and less.  The week before Christmas, I decided that he didn't need to take it to preschool.  Most of the time he's dump it anyway, and we'd have to go looking for it before we went home.  Going to the mall has started to be easier (and quicker) if he holds my hand, or walks independently if there aren't many people around.  Result - he hasn't touched his walker in  4 weeks!

Bye for now, I'll be back soon with more on Christmas and our summer holiday...

I'm baaaack!

No, I didn't drop off the face of the earth, I've been finding things a bit tough going recently, hence the lack of posts.  A dear friend told me a couple of weeks ago how long it had been since my last post....
Starting with the anniversary of my Dad's passing.

We've been having some behavioural issues with Reuben.  He's fine at school and his after school programme.  But at home, well that's another story.  Hitting, kicking, biting, throwing things, breaking things.  Poor wee Isaac gets terrified when Reuben gets like that.  I get bruised.  But I'm not giving in, I will continue to discipline him, and not allow him to behave with such disrespect! Mum has spoken, you have been warned!

Work has been difficult, restructuring which is going to take a total of about six months to complete, in addition to other things which I am unable to talk about here.  So I've started having a bit of a look around to see what other opportunities are around.

After I got over the flu, I've ended up with the hundred day cough which seems to be doing the rounds in Canterbury at the moment.

On a positive note, we've hit spring big time.  And I've started getting motivated to do some baking with the boys.  Been doing something each week, and because we've got a convection microwave, I don't have feel guilty about heating the whole oven just to cook/bake one thing.

I have missed international Cerebral Palsy day which was also the second anniversary of the first of the earthquakes - September 4th.  We've had over 12000 earthquakes in the last two years.  But we did just have a stretch of 10 days where there were none at all - it's a bit surreal that a statistic like that is a milestone!

Isaac has been a star.  He's making fantastic progress with his walking.  He is only using it at preschool intermittently, and occasionally at the mall.  His motor control for feeding is improving.  He now has a special raised chair that he uses at the table.  I was initially a little wary, thinking that it would create more mess, but actually it's been okay.  Balance is getting so much better and the exercises that he's doing at champion centre have lead to him being able to jump off his chair (when I hold his hands) knees bent and everything.  Yeah, I'm a proud Mama.

The next few weeks are going to be hectic. Why is it that all the apppointments end up happening within a couple of weeks of each other? Isaac has his first IP this week.  I'm kind of nervous about it, but at the same time quite excited.  He has come such a long way in such a short time.  Optometrist appointment which we've had to wait 3 months for.  Appointment with Paediatrician - I think she is going to be impressed with our little guy. OT home safety assessment, and Lifelinks assessment (my best advice for people is to get into the system as soon as you can, that way you can access as much funding, etc as possible). Add in some interviews, a couple of staff leaving lunches, pamper day, Silver Ferns test.

We were really fortunate to be able to get our house insulated with batts (under floor and ceiling). It has made such a difference and although we've past the worst of winter and headed into spring, I think that we're going to notice a difference through summer and into next winter - YAY for saving money on Pellets for the pellet burner!

If anyone knows how to do a circular or oval crop, please let me know.  It's something that I haven't had time to figure out - or maybe I don't have the correct software.  We're not allowed to put photos of champion centre staff on the net, so I've improvised.

A group a mum's from champion centre have started getting together for dinner once every month or two.  Last time was the first time that I'd been, but I figured if I don't do it now, I'll wimp out later too.  I got my friend Cushla (also a Champion Mum) to come with me.  We had a great time meeting new people and eating great food.  Some of the mum's are graduates, so they know what we're going through. It is crazy how ordinary people end up going through an extraordinary journey for their child.  

I have been amazed a the courage of parents I have met online from around the world.  There are a couple of people from the UK and Australia who are raising awareness of the newborn cooling which Isaac had at birth.  I watched a story on tv tonight about an amazing father with a child who has cerebral palsy, it was really inspiring.

Until next time, and I promise that it won't be so long

Through the Lens Thursday

It's been another of those weeks, ended up on another lot of antibiotics - this time for a throat infection.  I am so looking forward to this winter being over.  On a positive note, we're getting insulation installed in our ceiling and under floor. It will be really interesting to see how much difference it makes to the warmth of our house, and how much we save on pellets for the pellet fire.

Although I haven't been posting on a very regular basis while I've been under the weather, I have been thinking about other topics that I can blog on.  How about a regular post on things from my childhood?  "Blast from the Past" will be featuring soon.

Something else which I quite enjoy is finding new, unusual and cool fonts.  So I'm playing with the idea that I do a free font of the week.  Just need to do a bit of testing to ensure that my page will be able to support this idea - that's the old analyst programmer in me coming out.  Some fonts that I've discovered are great for scrapbooking, others for children's party invitations and some for handcrafted card inners.  I know, kind of an odd thing to like, but hey at least it's got practical applications!  Probably comes from the stamping and scrapbooking that I have done and from when I worked at the stamp shop and made suggestions on new designs for word or alphabet stamps.

Probably should remember to give you an update on the boys at some point too!

Sunshine

Shoot the sun! Easy!

Sunset requires sun, so here you are.  We have been very fortunate to witness some stunning sunsets over the past couple of weeks. I love the fact that through most of winter here in Christchurch, after a frosty start we have a stunning sunny day.  I much prefer that kind of a day to the drizzy, overcast kind, they can get a bit depressing.

On the Road

Take a photo of something on the road, you driving, other cars, paint on the road, anything!

A concrete truck, but not the normal kind of concrete truck. This truck was carrying slabs of concrete, having been removed from a deconstructed building. Over the past 23 months we have seen so many things that we would never have imagined seeing in our wonderful city. In that time, we have survived the unimaginable, but I think that everyone is looking forward to the future.  It's going to be tough, but I almost wish that we could look into the future and see 10 years into the future.

Cup

What's your favourite cup to drink from? Or a trophy cup you won?

Or a drink you had today? Shoot it and share it.

I quite like to drink my night time hot chocolate from this cup.  But what I really like is the way that the stripes look as though they vary in width depending on what angle you are looking at it from.

Last thing you bought

Was it something exciting or toilet paper? Or something more extravagant? Share it!

Don't you love it when you find a bargain? And it was actually something you were looking for! A friend had one of these apple peeler/corer/slicers and I thought that it was fantastic.  The other week on one of the one day special websites (Grabone, I think in this instance) had purchase a voucher for the Homestore and get double the value to spend in store - basically 50% off.  I jumped onto their website and found that they did indeed sell this particular item, so purchased the voucher and have just been and got my new gadget.

Calm

Earlier in the month we shot busy, now let's shoot something calm.  What's calm in your life today?

A cool little bridge, over a wee stream, surrounded by native plantings.  Peaceful and relaxing, just need to relocate it from where it is to our front yard and it would be perfect!

Toothbrush

Boring right? Make it interesting. Play with apps, to make it more interesting. Have fun!

Who needs to play with apps when you have a gorgeous model to assist with the taking of photos?  Isaac loves to brush his teeth, and is very much into routines.  Immediately after finishing breakfast he wants to go and brush his teeth before we get our bags and coats to head out the door in the morning.  At night, after dinner and some play time or cartoon watching, once Isaac is in his pajamas, he will go and do his teeth, then give Daddy a kiss goodnight and off to bed.

Outside

Take a photo of outside/outdoors or something outside of something.

So a person outside a door, a lolly/candy outside a lolly/candy jar.

Occasionally you need to bend the rules, when you find an image that is stunning.  This really speaks for itself!

A Beautiful Gift From A Beautiful Friend

Yesterday I met a friend for lunch.  We'd arranged to meet a couple of weeks ago but ended up having to postpone.  I almost put it off again as I hadn't been at work most of the week 'cos Isaac had a tummy bug, and I couldn't really afford more time out of the office.  But I just knew that I had to keep this appointment.  I am so pleased I did.

To my utter surprise (and delight) she gave me a beautiful quilt.  I had tears in my eyes when she told me the story behind the quilt. Deb is a fellow Christchurch blogger and will tell the story a whole lot better than I ever could, and her photos are gorgeous too.  Here's Deb's post.  I've just realised that the quilt has lots of the colours that I love in it, which is remarkable because Deb uses lots of bright happy colours and she often uses lots of yellows and oranges in her quilts (I don't really like yellow or orange).  Blue, red, pink, black and white, are definately my colours!

We had such a nice lunch - I really should try to get better at remembering to take photos - the cafe was so cosy and the food was delicious.  We talked and we talked.  We talked about blogging and Deb gave me a couple of helpful tips about my posts.  We talked about the earthquakes - Christchurch had another 5.2 today. Apparently we've had 41 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.0 or greater since September 4 2010. And we talked about raising a child with special needs, negotiating the corridors of the Champion Centre, and dealing with the uncertainty that it all brings.

I feel blessed to have met such a beautiful, generous friend.

So Much to Process

I feel like I might have been MIA this past week.  There has been so much going on and I've just needed to take some time to process my thoughts and feelings.

Last week Isaac started his Early Intervention program at Champion Centre.  I had a function to attend after work that same day, and decided that I would drive home a different way to normal.  I had heard that one of the main one way streets through the central city red-zone had been reopened, so thought I'd go that way to see how different things were.  Work has been crazy busy - but I'll leave it at that as I'm trying to avoid putting work related info on my blog, due to the sensitive nature of my role in the company.  My weekend was not spent doing the things that I wanted/needed to.  And then yesterday was our (I mean Isaac's) second session at Champion Centre.

I'm not quite sure what I was expecting from Isaac's therapy sessions at Champion Centre, but the first one wasn't how I imagined it to be.  Part of my wave of emotional feelings came from thinking about what could have been with Isaac.  His disabilities could have been much more severe than they have shown themselves to be to date.  I don’t want to compare him with other children with disabilities but in a way I can't help it.  I know every child is an individual who progresses at their own pace, the ones who have special needs even more-so.  I'm relieved and thankful that Isaac can eat and drink, that he is able to communicate with us and can sit up on his own.  His independent walking is improving.

Amazing how we adapt to any situation we're put in, and how quickly we pick up the phrases associated with that situation.  I'm now talking about Isaac's independent walking rather than his walking.  Who knew that I'd want to be so specific about what I was referring to when I was talking about walking?

I was also thinking about what could have been if we hadn't had the complications in Isaac's birth that lead to his Cerebral Palsy.  Phil was probably the one who started this as he was talking about what Isaac will do for a job/career when he grows up.  Whether he will get married, or if his temperament will mean that he won't get to go out with the girl he wants because he is too nice and stands back when another boy likes her.  I hadn't gotten past thinking about how he will be when he gets to school.  Will he be in a regular class, or a special needs class, or a combination?  Is the after school and holiday program that Reuben attends going to be able to accommodate Isaac?

There were a few of the activities that Isaac did really well at and that had me wondering if he really should be at Champion Centre, or whether the other parents would wonder how we'd even managed to get in.  I know that it was done through the proper channels and that he wouldn't have been accepted if he didn't meet the criteria, but still....

I was a bit emotional after I took Isaac to preschool, but needs must and I had to go to work.  After the function that I needed to attend, I drove home via Madras St, which has only recently had it's red zone cordon lifted.  It was quite surreal driving up a road I've driven hundreds if not thousands of times before, but this time there were so many cleared sites I struggled to get my bearings, even though there were street signs all the way (and I am able to read maps!).  I drove past the sites of CTV building (which had the largest death toll in the quake), a couple of churches (one of which is now an artwork site covered with white chairs of all shapes and sizes), car dealership, backpackers and other accommodation, and there are so many that I couldn't tell you what used to be there.

The cordon is reducing and there are more buildings coming down all the time.  Recently the Crowne Plaza (aka Noah's hotel) has come down, and the demo crews have started on Westpac Building (formerly Canterbury Centre - which I used to work in years ago on the 5th floor, used to be able to go up to the 13th/top floor for Friday night staff dinner and enjoy the fabulous views of the city), Radio Network House, Price Waterhouse Building and Forsyth Barr House (originally Robert Jones House - I remember my first job was as a receptionist for the company who built this building - I used to find my way around the city when I first moved here based on what cranes were where.  That was in the late 1980s before the sharemarket downturn).  Now there are so many cranes around the city it is amazing.

So I'm going to skip over the work stuff, and the weekend.  Hmmm, this is turning into rather a long post, but I guess that's what happens when you have a weeks worth of writing to catch up on!

Yesterday, going to Champion Centre wasn't as intimidating, but I still need to ask about a few things, like is it okay to ask other parents about their children's disabilities?  In NICU, that was one of the rules, basically allow other families their privacy and don't look or ask questions.

Already the therapists have picked up on a couple of things that may be issues for Isaac.  Someone mentioned about Isaac overstuffing his mouth when he eats.  I just thought that he was being a typical boy enjoying his food, apparently not.  Seems that the sensors in his mouth may not be registering that he has food in his mouth until it is so full he struggles to get it eaten.  Another one said that she wants to check on his use of his hands.  Not quite sure what that's about, I thought he was doing ok, but maybe not.  And the PT tells me that he doesn't have much core strength or leg muscles.  Here was me thinking that he did have good core strength and strong leg muscles.

I know that I wanted to get Isaac the best treatment possible, and there will be more issues arise.  But it kind of did come as a surprise that they were able to see things so quickly.  Maybe it just means that they're good at what they do.

If you've reached the end of this post, thanks for hanging in there with me!

Wordless Wednesday #1 02052012

black + white, somewhere you've been (work carpark)

1pm (could be any time any day!), circles

something that makes you sad (these buildings have been like this for over 14 months), peace

skyline (previously taken on our Christmas holiday)

We're in!!!!

It has been an agonising month of waiting to find out if Isaac has been accepted into the Champion Centre.  The first meeting of the early intervention co-ordinators was cancelled, then the next meeting wasn't held due to school holidays.  Finally they had the meeting yesterday.  The result?  Yes, he's been accepted.  Isaac will now get regular physio therapy, Early Intervention, speech language therapy, music/computer therapy and some occupational therapy through the champion centre.

This is such a great opportunity for Isaac.  We've been waiting for over two years for this.  Now that he is that little bit older, I've started noticing more things that "aren't quite right", so have been advocating to get him transferred to there.  Bring on the next stage in Isaac's journey.  Can you tell how excited I am?  This is a really BIG DEAL.  He has an assessment next week and starts the following week.  Now all I have to do is rearrange my work schedule to fit it in.

Something else that I'm going to try, is a regular Wordless Wednesday post.  I've seen this on quite a few other blogs.  Often I struggle for inspiration when taking photos, and don't take nearly as many as I should. But I'm thinking I've got a clever way to "cheat".  I'm going to use the #photoadayMay challenge list. 

This will of course end up being another moving, evolving project but I'm hoping that I will be able to commit to it.  There are quite a few people out there in the blogisphere who are using instagram for their photos, but I prefer to only publish certain photos.  You will most likely end up seeing the photos either individually or as a collage.  But then who knows just how creative I may get.

Don't you hate it when you're writing, and your mind suddenly goes blank, and you have no idea of what you were going to write next, even though it should have just flowed and followed on from what was previously written.  That has just happened.  Arrrrgh!

I thought of this on Wednesday, so I'm actually going to begin next week, and am using the last few days of April's challenge list to get started.  I'm not going to post every day.  There's way too much going on in our lives to be able to do that, and if I was to do it monthly, it wouldn't be often enough and I'd lose interest and probably wouldn't accountable to do it regularly.  You like my thinking?  Not too much to be a burden, not too little to get forgotten.

Hasn't the way we communicate and share our lives with loved ones changed so much, particularly over the last decade?  Hmmm, I can see another post coming from this, LOL.

Hoping that no news is good news

I'm still waiting for a decision around Isaac receiving treatment from the Champion Centre.  He had an assessment with his physio at preschool yesterday.  She is really pleased with the progress he has made in the past 3 weeks since he has had his walker.  I still can't believe the difference it has made to his balance.  Sometimes at home Isaac will use his walker, other times he will hold our hand and walk around (he won't let us hold both hands anymore).  He loves to practise walking, and is just so persistant.  I'm really proud of him!  And the things he says, are just sooo cute - "I made it!",  "watching?", "doing?", "going?", and he's just started saying "silly me".

(I was going to add a video of Isaac playing Reuben's guitar, but there are technical issues.  Will post another day.)

I had been starting to get quite down about Isaac's progress.  But I've been reading a lot of blogs over the last couple of weeks, and in addition to be really encouraging, it has reminded me that Isaac really is such a wonderful wee miracle.  We have been so blessed.  Something that is applicable for both what's happened with Isaac and in our city with the earthquakes - there is always someone far worse off than you.

Reuben has been enjoying the school holidays and going to the holiday program (run by the same people who do after school care), but has also enjoyed a 5 day holiday down at Nana's.  Both boys missed the other will he was away.  It's great that they get on so well together.  Isaac went out and stayed at my sister's for the night last Friday, he had a great time playing with his cousin too.  Phil and I had a nice dinner out at our local restaurant.  Then Sunday night we took Isaac to a Tactix netball game.  He had a great time, loved the thunder sticks, and was really well behaved.  Although it was a close game, the result didn't go our way.

 

If you have any suggestions for regular features on my blog, they would be much appreciated.  And if there's any questions you have, leave them as a comment - depending on the length or depth of answer required will determine whether I reply to the comment or us it as the topic of a post.

Until next time . . .

2012 Ultimate Blog Party

Sometimes it helps, just to let your hair down and meet some new friends.  In the week or so that I've been blogging for, I've visited a heap of new blogs.  This is a great chance to find new blogs from others on topics that you are the interested in.

If you've arrived at my blog through the Ultimate Blog Party, you're here at a great time!  I've only just started blogging - it's been a little over a week, so it shouldn't take long to catch up on what's going on in our family (unfortunately, the majority of my initial blog disappeared, so I've rewritten most of it, but it isn't as well written as it was originally).

Just a quick intro - I'm Tui, mum to Reuben (aged 5) and Isaac (aged 2, born with Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy Grade 3 and recently diagnosed with cerebral palsy), and married to Phil.  We live in Christchurch, New Zealand, so in addition to the challenges of raising my gorgeous boys, we've been dealing with 19 months of earthquakes (more than 10300 of them!).

How did I choose the title of my blog?  As a kid, Mum sometimes used it as my nickname.  As for the by-line, I thought that maybe I was being kind of crazy in starting to blog, it's always chaos around here (between family, work and ongoing earthquakes), and yet I'm still quite a normal, rational individual (I think I am, anyway).

Where to Start?

Where to start?  I've been contemplating writing a blog for a while now.  Finally I decided, why not?  The worst that can happen is that no-one will read it.  Who knows what is going to end up on my posts, but fit's going to make for an interesting journey.

I love my boys - all 3 of them.  You know it's weird, but I never thought that I'd be a good Mum.  With everything that we've been through over the past few years, I think that I have changed my mind!

Reuben was born in June 2006, when we were living in Napier.   My Dad, who lived in Ashburton, was diagnosed with colon cancer about a month before I got pregnant.  He passed away, when Reuben was 5 weeks old.  The really sad things is that Dad never got the  chance to meet his first grandson.

As a baby, Reuben suffered from reflux, colic, and urinary tract infections.  Not exactly plain sailing for a new mum with no family around for support.  By the time he was 6 months old, Reuben had been to 2 funerals, a wedding, a 21st and had travelled as far north as Auckland's North Shore, and as far south as Timaru.  We even took him camping in the Coromandel for our Christmas holidays.  He was a fairly well travelled little man.

In March 2007, we decided to move back to Christchurch.  Most of our family was there
I've found out that somehow the rest of my post has been deleted, arrgh! Even though it posted ok in the beginning :-(
Here's some of the rest of the story...

Having had a normal healthy pregnancy, we were completely unaware of what was about to happen when baby Isaac was born.  It was Wednesday 27 January 2010, 1 week past due date and the first that we knew that there were any problems, was during a contraction when his left foot appeared.  I have written this account merely to give you the opportunity to find out in more detail what we have been through.

I had been having middle contractions during the morning, and as my midwife was at the hospital with another client, I was seen by the locum midwife (whom I had seen a couple of times during my pregnancy) for a scheduled appointment, just after lunch and everything was fine.  Later in the afternoon, the contractions intensified, and I felt uneasy about something, so called her back.  I had text Phil, to ask him to pick Reuben up from preschool on his way home from work.  But a half hour later phoned him and said for him to come straight home.  I phoned preschool to let them know that someone would be picking Reuben up, but didn’t know who or at what time.  The midwife and Phil arrived at our place within a short time of each other.  It was at this point that Isaac’s left foot presented.

As soon as we realised that it was a foot, Phil was instructed to phone for an ambulance. The midwife called for backup from another midwife who was just around the corner.  Poor Phil, he was getting instructions from left, right and centre.  Bring gear in from midwife’s car, phone my sister to pick up Reuben, get Reuben’s car seat and back pack out for my sister, hold my hand during another contraction, etc.  The ambulance arrived, but parked on the street, and the crew carried their gear up the long driveway into the house.  When it was established that we needed to get to hospital, they were walking back to the ambulance to get the gurney to bring up and take me out, but the other midwife went out and told them to get the ambulance up the driveway pronto (or words to that effect).  I was able to walk out and climb into the ambulance between contractions.

As we were about to pull out of the driveway, the driver and midwife were discussing whether we needed to be travelling with lights and sirens (apparently, they are only allowed to travel with lights and sirens in life and death situations).  So, in peak hour traffic (5:10pm), it took 12 minutes for the ambulance to get from our home in Parklands to Christchurch Women’s Hospital (CWH) with lights and sirens.  When we arrived at the hospital there was still only one foot out, but by the time that we got up to the operating theatre, both feet were out.  This meant that they were no longer able to perform a caesarean and the baby had to be delivered naturally.

There was a myriad of people in theatre including Consultant Obstetrician and Registrar, Anaesthetist, Neonatal staff, plus Midwives.  Within 5 minutes, we got to the point where baby’s sacrum had been delivered (the lower part of the spine where the tail bone is – basically his bum was out), but he got stuck.  It is at this point that the cord would have been compressed, and we don’t know how much oxygen was flowing through.  After a large episiotomy was performed, and things were still not progressing, the decision was made for a general anaesthetic to be administered so that a forceps extraction could be done.  However, there was difficulty with the general anaesthetic, and problems intubating and getting me stabilised ready to proceed further.   Another Anaesthetist was called in to help at this time, as well as the Consultant Neonatalogist and Consultant Anaesthetist.

12 minutes later, at 5:43pm, Isaac William Brewster was born, weighing 4.140kg (9lb2oz).  He was pale and floppy and was immediately intubated.  Then he was taken to Neonatal ICU Level 3 in a critical condition, where he was put on a ventilator but also required CPR and several doses of adrenaline.

In the interim, Phil had arrived at the hospital and was waiting outside the operating theatre.  When the baby was born, Phil was told that they didn’t know how long he had to live; it may be just minutes or as much as a few hours.

Isaac was diagnosed with severe Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) grade 3 and placed on the criticool machine, where he was kept in a hypothermic state (33.5^oC compared with normal temp of 36.5 ^oC) for 72 hours in an attempt to reduce the impact of the brain damage which he suffered.  This is a new treatment protocol which has only been around for a couple of years and was researched here in NZ.  Up to 60% of babies, who suffer this level of insult, do not survive and those who do are often severely disabled, can be deaf or blind, and require wheelchair and other support, as well as full time care for feeding.

He was also placed on a brainz monitor that has 4 small probes inserted just under the skin on the head, to monitor brain activity and seizures.  A nasogastric tube was inserted for feeding, catheter and two other umbilical lines for blood pressure monitoring and fluids, plus a probe on his foot to measure oxygen saturation, pulse and heart rate.  He required medication to keep his blood pressure stable, anticonvulsants for seizures, as well as antibiotics and various nutritional inputs.

The next day (Thursday), we decided that we needed to name our wee man, as we hadn’t done so up until that point in time.  When we told Reuben that we were going to call the baby Isaac (meaning “he will laugh”), Reuben looked like he was ready to burst into tears and told us that the baby wouldn’t like that name.  So we told Reuben that he could the baby Zac, which was much more to his liking.  However, now, if anyone refers to Isaac within Reuben’s hearing, they will be “corrected”.

That night his breathing had improved to the point where the doctors extubated him and he was on nasal prong oxygen.  However after 3 hours he required reintubation and support from the ventilator.

At 48 hours, Isaac had an MRI scan to determine the distribution and severity of the brain damage.  Just transporting him there and back was a logistical hurdle - all of his tubes etc had to be put on “extension leads” because of course there can be no metal in the MRI machine, and he was kept “on ice” so that his body temperature would remain low for the two hours that he was not on the cooling machine.

When the results of the MRI came back, they showed some brain damage (focal alterations in the head of the left caudate nucleus and more posteriorly in the basal ganglia).  But brain damage can work a bit like a bruise, where all of the impact is not initially visible, and as the results weren’t as severe as anticipated, he was to be rescanned at approximately day 7.

His body was slowly warmed back to normal temperature from 72 hours.  On February 2, he was removed from the brainz monitor.  We also got our first cuddle that day, what an incredible feeling that was.  The following day, he was taken off the ventilator and breathing on his own with nasal prong oxygen.  As he did not have any gag reflex and was not swallowing, regular suctioning was required to remove secretions from his mouth.

Day by day we noticed small improvements in Isaac.  The next day he was beginning to cough to clear his mouth, but still required some suctioning.  He was feeding two hourly via the nasogastric tube.  The follow up MRI scan showed no progression of the initial impact on the brain.  So now it’s a case of wait and see what Isaac is and isn’t able to do.

Gradually Isaac’s muscle tone is improving, and he is becoming more alert.  Isaac passed his newborn hearing test, but will be followed up due to the nature of his birth.  He is feeding less often with increasing volumes.  By 13 February the nasal prong oxygen is removed and he is breathing completely on his own.  Three days later, he has begun to breastfeed.

At 3 weeks 5 days, on Mum’s birthday, Isaac is discharged from hospital!  What a milestone, and he has completely amazed the hospital staff in the process.  Although we still have a long road ahead, the long term prognosis is nowhere near as dire as initially expected.  Each milestone will be eagerly, yet apprehensively, awaited.  We continue to see improvements in him, and if you didn’t know his history, you couldn’t tell by looking at him, what a traumatic start he had to life.  Isaac really is a wee miracle.