Solids!

When we last saw the paediatrician (Tahnee's doctor who has been with her since birth), he said that Tahnee was a little small for her age and recommended that we start solids. Since we were going away camping a week or so later, we chose to start them once we returned, but only if Tahnee was showing the signs.

While away at camp, Tahnee slept brilliantly during the day, woke up a few times each night for her dummy but was happy to go 12 hours between feeds overnight, and had dropped down to 4 feeds during the day. Then when we got home she wanted to go back to her old routine of feeding every 2-3 hours. Knowing she was able to go longer between feeds, I made the decision to refuse to feed her more often and then we both elected to start solids.

Dinner time last Saturday night was Tahnee's first experience with solids. At first she wasn't too sure and was disinterested. However, once she had 2 mouthfuls she realised she actually liked the baby rice!! And from there we were off and running so to speak. She has now had baby rice 3 times and loved each serving :)

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.

Merry Christmas

WISHING ALL OF OUR READERS A WONDERFUL,

MERRY CHRISTMAS, 2011

HOPING YOU ALL HAVE A LOVELY DAY CELEBRATING JESUS' BIRTH 

(and a little chuckle at the comic)

p.s. a few years ago one of my nephews was being told that Christmas is Jesus' birthday and that we would all go to church. He innocently asked if Jesus would be having a party, balloons and presents :) oh the innocence of a child!!

CDH Teddy Bear

IT HAS ARRIVED!

Isn't it just adorable? :

Fun Outside

Today I had the pleasure of looking after my niece, Maddi. She is 3 and a half years old and plays very well with Lucas. And he plays well with her. He loves the attention of older children.

Once the day warmed up a bit, the 2 children were allowed to go outside and play in the splash pool. They had a ball, wetting each other, wetting the ground, watering the "plants" (weeds) and just generally splashing about. I had fun just watching them :)

But looking after 3 kids is definitely harder than looking after 2!! Poor Tahnee often had half feeds, as I needed to get up and help the other 2. And now I'm exhausted! I couldn't go for a snooze as Maddi doesn't sleep during the day very often - something I'm not used to in the slightest!! But it was a fun day, all in all.

Final PMH Appt for 2011

Today we made the trek back to Princess Margaret Hospital, this time for 2 appointments. The first was to meet with both the consulting doctor, who has been with Tahnee since she arrived on Ward 6B nearly 16 weeks ago. He saw her nearly every day while she was an in-patient. This out-patient visit was to check her development at 4 months.

The second appointment would follow the first and involve us seeing the surgeon, as a follow up on the x-ray and ultrasound she ordered at the previous visit concerning the strange lump on Tahnee's left hand side.

Chris took the day off work, and we arrived early enough at the hospital to make a quick stop past Wad 6B. We had a few photos and other things to drop off. Tahnee also got a few cuddles with some of her nurses. They still remember her and cant believe how good she looks, how big she is getting, how many smiles she gives and how settled and happy a baby she is!

Afterwards we headed down to the Out-Patient department to wait for our appointment. As we were sitting there we saw another mum with her baby walk in. Chris and I both turned to each other and said we thought we knew the lady...after thinking for a minute or two we realised her baby was in 6B at the same time as Tahnee. She recognised us too and came over for a chat. A few minutes later we saw another couple walk in who had been on the ward, and later again we saw another mum and baby we recognised!! Lots of familiar faces today :) However, we mainly know faces and not names...but we have shared many tired, stressed smiles with many parents!

Part of our appointments involve a visit to the nurses station to have Tahnee weighed and measured for length and head circumference. She is still tracking around the 50th percentile for weight, according to the chart in her purple baby book. However, she is tracking on a different percentile according to the scale the hospital uses. The main thing though, is that she is consistent, and hasn't plateaued or lost weight.

Our next stop was the doctors' office. Like the nurses on 6B he was rapt with Tahnee's development and progress. He checked her over, tested her hips and listened to her lungs and heart. We also got a chance to discuss our questions. 

Yesterday on face book I posted that Tahnee had been unsettled (highly unusual) and I couldn't work out why. She was difficult to settle down to sleep, but was happy otherwise. Then last night she had a massive #3 {poo explosion}. I thought it might of been the reason for her being unsettled. We brought it up with the doctor who said he had no answer! Most babies become unsettled at one point or another!!

Next we inquired about the lump on her left hand side. To recap, the ultrasound Tahnee had when she was an in-patient indicated that the lump was her kidney. The second ultrasound she had last month indicated that it was now part of bowel. The lump has always been palpable, and fairly prominent, especially when naked and/or crying. The surgeon believed that it could be prominent due to poor muscle tone. The doctor rang the surgeon and they discussed the results over the phone. Both agreed that the x-ray and U/S show that Tahnee has another hernia (!) - but don't worry! This type of abdominal hernia is quite common and many people have experience with these (or versions of, such as umbilical hernias). {when we began to tell people about Tahnee's condition before she was born, many people said that it wasn't that bad, as they had had a hernia in the past - those hernia's are relatively harmless and often go away on their own - whereas Tahnee's diaphragmatic hernia was life threatening, affecting many organs etc}. So, this hernia should go away on its own, without the need for medical intervention. She will still have it monitored at future appointments next year.

Meanwhile, the x-ray also gave us the opportunity to see how Tahnee's lungs were developing. Unfortunately, the x-ray was crooked, so the picture was blurry and a bit hard to read/interpret. What we/the doctor could figure out was that her left lung was still smaller than the right one, but it most likely always will be.

Since the doctor and the surgeon agreed on the diagnosis, it was deemed unnecessary to see the surgeon, so we were free to leave. After a quick stop to feed ourselves and Tahnee, we headed home :)

kissing Tahnee's owies (scar) all better

Market Stall

We had our inaugural stall at the Fine Food and Craft market last Saturday. It was a crazily, busy day that was heaps of fun!! We started with an early wake up to get ourselves plus the kids ready to be at the church by 7am. We were then involved in hanging the quilt up on the wall and setting up the stall (and feeding the baby).

The markets officially opened at 8am and the day was off! We had many people stop past the stall. They were able to read a display that told of Tahnee's Journey and hers and our experiences with CDH.

Visitors to the stall were also able to purchase CDH Australia items. We had pens, wristbands, stubby holders and coffee cups. Visitors could also order white plush teddy bears (we had ordered them but they did not arrive on time).

The quilt that mum made came up a treat!! We had many comments on it, but unfortunately we did not sell it at the markets. We are now looking for somewhere else to sell or auction it off.

Photo courtesy of one of the FF&C Market Organisers

Friends of ours also donated a gingerbread house they made from scratch and decorated themselves. Everything was edible except the tray it was on!! Visitors to the stall were invited to guess how long it took to make and decorate. Each guess incurred a small cost and the guessers also received a yummy gingerbread biscuit or candy cane. All monies from this were donated to CDH Australia. In total it took 627 minutes to make - and from all reports it was a fun filled time!! Thanks Janssen ladies :)

During the morning Lucas was looked after by various people including the Vissers, Grandma and the Aunties. He had good fun going around the stalls, playing with his cousins and being a little, cheeky monkey. Meanwhile Tahnee was fantastic and spent most of the time asleep in her pram in the corner of the room!

It was a great experience and a good day. We met lots of lovely people and spoke about Tahnee with many of them. We also had 2 other CDH families come down for a look-see :)

And like one visitor aptly said to us: "it doesn't matter how much money you raise, the important thing is that you are spreading the awareness of CDH"