Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012

Before we do that I want to reflect on the year gone past…

In summary it was a very up and down year…many highs, many lows, good days, bad days, an emotional rollercoaster. One of our most difficult years to date.

January

As you may have read in earlier posts, I (Tamala) welcomed 2011 by feeling sick to my stomach and just generally feeling unwell. Chris was adamant that I was pregnant, so a week into the New Year we did a pregnancy test and discovered we were expecting our second baby. At the same time I had some strange spotting, so immediately went to see our OB/GYN. It was too early to detect a heartbeat, so we were told to wait a few weeks before coming back. This follow up appointment confirmed that we were indeed expecting baby #2 in August.

Just after finding out about the baby, Lucas and I headed down to Albany for a few days, while Chris stayed home and worked. Grandma and the 2 Aunties had a ball with Lucas. But it was very hard for me to hide my morning sickness and not tell my mum!

During this month we celebrated many family birthdays, including my 24th, my first as a mummy. We also had the Australia Day public holiday where we took Lucas down to the fireworks. We expected him to hate the noises, but he LOVED itJ.

February

This month we began to tell family and friends about the new baby. Everyone was excited for us and the pregnancy began to feel much more real and it started to sink in that we would be second time parents!

Chris was able to celebrate his 25^th birthday, followed by big celebrations for Lucas’s 1^st birthday a week later. We had a party, duck cake, lolly bags and all dairy-free foods. Our little boy got spoilt big time!!

A few days before Lucas's party, we took him for allergy testing with a paediatrician/allergist. At this appointment it was confirmed that he had an allergy to 3 things: cows milk protein (which is also present in anything dairy and milk solids), raw beef and tomatoes. This confirmation changed the way we ate!! And we are still learning how to change recipes, things we can substitute and more.

March

This month was relatively quiet. My mum, myself and Lucas headed away for a weekend down to Margaret River. We had a great time visiting the Chocolate factory, the Berry Farm, shopping, going out for coffees and dinner and more.

The highlight of the month was going for our 18 week foetal anatomy scan. This scan can be done anytime between 18 and 22 weeks, but we were too excited so elected to go as early as possible. So on the morning of the scan I drank the required amount of water and we set off, uncomfortable bladder and all, with Lucas in tow.

It was very exciting seeing our baby on the screen. S/he was very active and was in a good position for the sonogapher to get the necessary measurements. She confirmed our due date, but then spent a very long time looking at the chest area. She didn’t say anything and we just assumed she was looking at the heart. She then left the room, saying she needed to consult with the doctor. We were very tense, trying to keep Lucas occupied and distracted, while we waited. After a while she returned saying that we were free to go. Thrilled that she hadn’t said anything was wrong, we headed home, put Lucas to bed and Chris went to work.

The phone call that would change our lives came a few hours later. For reasons unknown, our OB/GYN called Chris rather than me. He got the voice mail and left a message saying the scan revealed that our baby had a rare birth defect called CONGENITAL DIAPHRAGMATIC HERNIA and could we come in and see him and the end of the day. After Chris had listened to his messages, he called me with the news. I then called our doctor and spoke with him. I can distinctly remember hanging up the phone and bursting into tears! There was something wrong with our baby … like most people we had taken pregnancy for granted and expected to deliver a healthy baby. But it wasn’t to be.

I spent the afternoon with my mother-in-law, calling the family and giving them the news. We also did some research and began to realize the tough journey we had ahead of us.

That afternoon we met with our doctor who explained the birth defect and what our pregnancy would entail. In short, we were referred to King Edward Memorial Hospital, were assigned a foetal medicine specialist and would have all of our appointments and deliver the baby at KEMH.

April

We had our first meeting with our specialist. We met her team of midwives and had another scan. We also discussed our course of action. We were to have three-weekly appointments that would go down to two-weekly, then weekly ones. We would be booked in to have the baby at KEMH, and once the baby was born s/he would be taken immediately down to the NICU, then transferred to PMH for surgery once stable enough. It was a scary course of action, but at least we knew what was ahead for us.

This month we had a 5-day Easter long weekend. We spent that time with my mum, playing tourist in the Swan Valley and Mandurah. Lucas got to experience a few firsts, namely his first tastes of chocolate and ice cream sorbet (which he's never tasted due to his allergies).

A week and a half after Easter we got together with the Vander Linden clan for a family photoshoot in honour of the older Vdl’s 30^th wedding anniversary. The photographer was the same one who did all 3 of our weddings, so it was very special being able to show off our kids/grandkids. Most of the kids cooperated very well and we ended up with some nice photos.

May

We made what we thought would be our last trip down to Albany before the baby would be born. We didn’t want to take a risk travelling down later as it was critical that our baby be born at KEMH, otherwise they wouldn’t survive. We went down to celebrate my sisters’ 21^st birthday!! We also went out for dinner up in Perth for this milestone.

June

Another long weekend kicked of this month, and we attended a wedding of our friends. Then the public holiday Monday we went our niece’s birthday party.

The highlight of this month was going down to Busselton for a {long for some{ weekend. This was still part of the wedding anniversary celebrations. We stayed in a huge house with 3 living areas, 8 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. The kitchen had a wood stove and plenty of room. The dining table even fit everyone around it!!

We travelled down on the Friday and went home on the Sunday, with most of the families electing to head home again on the Monday. The Saturday we played tourist and visited the Country Life Park which was thoroughly enjoyed by all! Definitely a place to visit again in the future. We also stopped past the ice cream factory and some people went fishing. We had yummy meals of various meats, vegetables, home made pizzas, hot breakfasts and more.

July

Chris and I chose to go down to Albany for a brief visit in order to do our tax returns. We drove down Friday night, did tax on Saturday morning, had a quick coffee and made it back to Perth in time for soccer in the afternoon.

This month we also heard of 2 CDH babies being born. It was incredibly confronting and very difficult and emotional when we heard about one of these babies not surviving. It reminded us again of the 50% chance of survival our baby had and that the reality was that we weren’t sure if we would be taking bubby home or planning their funeral.

August

THE MONTH!! The month our baby was due to born, but since we were due at the end, we were unsure if this would be THE MONTH.

The middle of the month brought a new change to our house. My sister had applied for and been offered a job in Perth, so she moved up from Albany and into our spare bedroom/junk room/study.

Just a week later, we had what would be our last appointment with the specialist. We were told at this appointment that labour would be induced the following Tuesday, the 23^rd of August.

On that day, we drove to KEMH with much trepidation, excitement, anxiety and nerves. After the epi-dural was inserted, my waters broken and the drip put in, I had contractions for 7.5 hours, pushed a mere 4 times and our baby was born. There were other complications which you can read about here.

Our beautiful baby girl Tahnee Charisse Vander Linden was born weighing a healthy 7pd 9oz. She was ventilated immediately and taken down into the NICU. She stabilised extremely quickly and was transferred to PMH 15 hours after birth. After assessment at PMH her surgery was scheduled for the Friday.

Tahnee required 2 surgeries this month, was still connected to the ventilator and had yet to receive cuddles from anyone!

September

The first weekend of this month was very memorable!! We got to have our first hold of Tahnee. A majority of this month was spent at PMH. We went to the hospital every day and got to know our baby girl.

Finally, towards the end of the month we received the news we had been waiting for for 34 long days – Tahnee was coming home J!!!!!!

Within a few days of taking Tahnee home, we arranged for family photos to be taken at our house. We were rapt with the finished products.

Also in September Chris had his end of soccer season grand final day. I was at the hospital with Tahnee, so Chris took Lucas down to see the animals and watch a few games. From all reports Lucas had a fun.

October

Our first fill month with 2 kids at home…it was a bit nut!! Crazy busy, trying to figure out a routine for both kids (still working on that I think).

Since it was school holidays I spent time catching up with friends and introducing them to Tahnee. I was also able to spend time with my mum and sister, who were also on holidays.

We had a few appointments to go to for including immunisation, health nurses, audiologists and back to PMH.

On one of the weekends we attended the wedding of our friends. Chris worked with him, I went to uni with her. It was a beautiful wedding, the both looked gorgeous and the weather was great too.

We also got to present Tahnee for baptism. It was very special and we celebrated with family and friends.

Other weekend activities included an engagement party, a trip to Bunbury, birthday parties and even a public holiday.

November

The month began with a trip to the zoo. This was the first time Lucas had ever been and his favourite animals included the tigers and the sun bears. He was so exhausted afterwards the he was asleep before we had driven a 100m down the road! Tahnee was also good and spent most of the morning asleep in her bassinet on the pram.

Chris and I celebrated our 3^rd wedding anniversary. We went out for breakfast and then went to the cinema to watch a movie. It was great being able spent time together, without the kids, who were looked after by their grandparents.

We had a follow up surgical appointment at PMH this month. There were some concerns about a lump that Tahnee has on her left hand side. An ultrasound and x-ray both found that she has another hernia, this time an abdominal one. This hernia is one that we don’t nee to be too worried about, and it should go away on its own. The best thing is that it doesn’t bother Tahnee J.

December

It was with much surprise that I turned the page in the calendar and realised it was already December, the last month of 2011!!

The first weekend of the month we headed down to Albany. It was our first trip since the flying one in July to do our tax, and the first full weekend there since May, and Tahnee’s maiden voyage. It was great being able to spend time at mums and see some of the family own there.

Towards the beginning of the month, we had a stall at the Fine Food and Craft Market at our church. Here we had a hand made quilt up for auction, CDH Australia items for purchase and a gingerbread house for guessing. We had a great morning and raised some much needed funds for CDH Australia, the organization that offered so much support both during and post pregnancy (and still today!)

The third weekend of the month involved Christ travelling down to Albany in a truck with his dad. They went down to help my mum pack her house up and move up to Perth…going to take some getting used to, having her just around the corner, instead of a morning drive away! We also went out to dinner for a Christmas work function - yummy food at Sandrino's!!

The fourth weekend was Christmas and we celebrated by having dinner with Chris's parent's on the Friday, followed b Christmas light looking. Saturday was spent packing the trailer in preparation for camping. And Christmas day lunch was at my mum’s new house.

As for our celebrations for the end of 2011 – we are in a caravan park in the middle of a coastal town, with 35 (!!) family members. Hopefully we are having a great night, and are actually awake to see in the 2012 J.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

So that was our year in brief and through photo collages. We feel very blessed to have 2 children, a roof over our head and food on our table. We count ourselves lucky that we have a mortgage, can afford to heat and cool our house, have easy access to good medical staff and equipment and lots of support from family and friends. Our experiences this year taught us to appreciate what we DO have and to be content with that.

We wish all of our readers a HAPPY NEW YEAR and all the best for 2012 J…watch this space for more updates of our family, our children and their funny/naughty anecdotes.