JAN 28th AM
hi all.
Oscar had his surgery yesterday morning and it all went smoothly. He's recovering well and has been smiling, so we know they didn't change him too much!
The surgeon didn't end up doing any repair to the palate yesterday as the cleft was still too wide. He gave Oscar a lovely new lip and a nose job though and will do the hard palate when he does the soft palate repair in about 6 months time.
As you can imagine, yesterday was pretty tough for us. Mostly I just felt sad about the fact that Oscar has to go through so many procedures. Of course they are all positive and will give him a normal apperance and normal speech but it does seem a bit unfair somedays, and the days he comes out of surgery all sore and grimbly-grumbly are definitely among them!
He was pretty wacked out when he came back from recovery, but after a good sleep and a feed he was looking remarkably perky. We are having to feed him via a syringe for the next couple of days so as not to disturb the sutured upper lip... Oscar barely slept on the night before surgery, so neither did I, so I have come home tonight to try to take advantage of the empty house, and B is in charge.
JAN 29th PM
On the night following surgery Oscar was pretty restless then had a good period of sleep and woke super hungry at about 4 am. It was one of those 'Oscars back' moments. He had a big feed and just sat on the bouncy chair grinning at me the whole time - yes, oblivious to the time of day, but more importantly already adjusted to the syringe feeding and someway toward being adjusting to having a closed lip.
So, Saturday night, I am home and Fi is with Oscar at Middlemore. We may be discharged tomorrow, then Monday is a public holiday, so it could end up being Tuesday... Oscar today fed via syringe and had some pureed solids via a plastic spoon, good signs but we hope to see him take to the bottle again soon (you can image that the dynamic of feeding from the bottle has changed for him considerably, but hopefully when the tenderness around the upper lip declines he will feel more comfortable trying to suck and press down on the teet)... Also looking forward to the team changing the small dressing on his lip tomorrow so it can be cleaned and we can sneak a look underneath!
Funnily enough, we reckon he looks even cuter.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
We have a date for surgery!
Oscar is scheduled for his first cleft surgery on Friday 28 January. We had a pre-admission appointment on Tuesday last week and we're all set to go for surgery this Friday! We go in on Thursday afternoon and he'll have surgery sometime on Friday.
They will be working to repair the hard palate (front of the mouth), his lip, and making his nose symmetrical. We're likely to be discharged on Saturday or Sunday. Basically once he's eating and having wet nappies they send you home.
He will have to wear arm splints for three weeks which will prevent him from being able to get his hands in his mouth while the area heals, to make sure he doesn't undo the surgeon's beautiful work. This will be an interesting time as pretty much everything gets put in his mouth these days, but they tell us that they get used to them quickly....
Then he'll have his soft palate repair sometime around 10 - 12 months of age (he was 7 months old yesterday).
We're excited and nervous now that the time has finally arrived, counting down, again. But Osacr doesn't seem worried about it all!
So we will probably be posting a bit more often and trying to keep you all up to date.
They will be working to repair the hard palate (front of the mouth), his lip, and making his nose symmetrical. We're likely to be discharged on Saturday or Sunday. Basically once he's eating and having wet nappies they send you home.
He will have to wear arm splints for three weeks which will prevent him from being able to get his hands in his mouth while the area heals, to make sure he doesn't undo the surgeon's beautiful work. This will be an interesting time as pretty much everything gets put in his mouth these days, but they tell us that they get used to them quickly....
Then he'll have his soft palate repair sometime around 10 - 12 months of age (he was 7 months old yesterday).
We're excited and nervous now that the time has finally arrived, counting down, again. But Osacr doesn't seem worried about it all!
So we will probably be posting a bit more often and trying to keep you all up to date.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
ok so this one will bring us up to date
Firstly, Happy 2011 everyone!
We are excited about this year as Oscar will turn one in it and that feels like the most exciting thing ever.
I'm sorry that we went quiet on the posts, but as the old saying goes - no news is good news!
Brennan, Oscar and I have just returned from a weeks holiday at Kaipara Flats (just out of Warkworth) where we were house sitting for our friends Craig and Amanda. It is a very beautiful and serene spot and we loved every minute of it. We had some chooks to look after and gardens to water which was fun and other than that lots of enjoying Oscar time. He is going great guns and mainly entertains himself by putting everything he can get his hands on into his mouth. He seems very keen to get moving and although it would be a stretch to say he is nearly crawling - he is making all the right motions and can turn around in circles very well! I think we have about a month to get the house ready for a baby that will be on the move.
Oscar's other new thing has been pushing his orthodontic plate out of his mouth. For the past month or so he has been able to get it out, so rather than it staying in there full time, it's out all the time and much to his displeasure it gets put in for bottle time. We are constantly paranoid that we will loose it somewhere as he can't have a bottle without it. Hopefully that wont be an issue for long though as it can't be long before we have a date for surgery. We are off to Middlemore today to see Heather the Orthodontist, so will see what she has to say.
Oscar has started on solids as well which he's doing a great job of. Funny all the things you think will be hard that turn out to be no problem at all! He seems to compensate very well for all his problems ie a mouth that doesn't close and a throat that can't swallow normally and he gets the food down without any drama.
Here are some recentish photos.
will let you know when we know about the next surgery and will also explain what happens in the first cleft repair.
Take care out there.
xx
fi
We are excited about this year as Oscar will turn one in it and that feels like the most exciting thing ever.
I'm sorry that we went quiet on the posts, but as the old saying goes - no news is good news!
Brennan, Oscar and I have just returned from a weeks holiday at Kaipara Flats (just out of Warkworth) where we were house sitting for our friends Craig and Amanda. It is a very beautiful and serene spot and we loved every minute of it. We had some chooks to look after and gardens to water which was fun and other than that lots of enjoying Oscar time. He is going great guns and mainly entertains himself by putting everything he can get his hands on into his mouth. He seems very keen to get moving and although it would be a stretch to say he is nearly crawling - he is making all the right motions and can turn around in circles very well! I think we have about a month to get the house ready for a baby that will be on the move.
Oscar's other new thing has been pushing his orthodontic plate out of his mouth. For the past month or so he has been able to get it out, so rather than it staying in there full time, it's out all the time and much to his displeasure it gets put in for bottle time. We are constantly paranoid that we will loose it somewhere as he can't have a bottle without it. Hopefully that wont be an issue for long though as it can't be long before we have a date for surgery. We are off to Middlemore today to see Heather the Orthodontist, so will see what she has to say.
Oscar has started on solids as well which he's doing a great job of. Funny all the things you think will be hard that turn out to be no problem at all! He seems to compensate very well for all his problems ie a mouth that doesn't close and a throat that can't swallow normally and he gets the food down without any drama.
Here are some recentish photos.
 |
| Oscar and Aunty Linda having playtime |
 |
| Austin helping with feeding time (the cats are two of things he wants to get his hands on - patting is not really in the vocab yet though and tends to be a bit of a fur grab! - or his feet on this occasion. Austin, for the record, puts up with it as long as it means he can be near his Mamma. |
 |
| Gramps Rigby taking Oscar for his first paddle (Cornwallis, for the record - we figure this photo is going to turn out to be one of the classics we will look at in 20 years and say 'where was that?') |
 |
| Oscar and Josef (friend from Heart Ward) having a playdate |
 |
| The Oscarnator in action |
 |
| Oscar and friends getting ready to go for a walk |
will let you know when we know about the next surgery and will also explain what happens in the first cleft repair.
Take care out there.
xx
fi
oops sorry it's taken so long....
Note - this was written ages ago - in mid November but never posted.... I promise to start writing again regularly!
It is hard to imagine what we should write in our blogs now... looking through the previous posts we are deeply reminded of how glad we are to be here, not there!
Though of course there are still matters, less significant, to report. About ten days ago we visited cardiology for Oscar's four week (give or take) post-op checkup. We have a lovely photo of Oscar with his chief cardiologist and the man who originally gave us the news, Jonathan Skinner. Great you are. Oscar had an ECG, a measure and a weigh, an O2 saturation taken, and an X-ray and Dr Skinner was happy with all his results - No Problem! So we are heading back there in another four months and in ever diminishing regularity until Oscar Noah is hopefully discharged - he'll always be a heart kid though, and, needless to say, to all you lot in the ward and in the team, we think of you all often, with love, and will continue to do so.
So without delay onto other news! We met with Oscar's plastic surgeon on Friday - he is in charge of his lip and nose repair and some other stuff. It generally happens between three and five months, of course just when we were in Starship. So we were hoping it might be in line for us this side of Christmas, but as it has turned out, the surgeon feels that we can get a better result if we wait until Jan or Feb 2011 and Mum and Dad make a concerted effort on the taping across his lip. It is fair to say that we let this task slip a little during our Starship stay and struggled with it before we were called up for the heart repair. Nonetheless, we are back on the horse now and in fact Oscar seems pretty relaxed about the tape situation now, whereas before it seem to agitate him no end.
So, comparatively, nothing really to report except some extremely healthy weight gains, visits with home care nurses who seem to come around because they want to see Oscar rather than because it is a job, and a bit of relief maybe to think that we are off the hook for a few more months to rest and enjoy our lovely son at home, before any more major interruptions!
It is hard to imagine what we should write in our blogs now... looking through the previous posts we are deeply reminded of how glad we are to be here, not there!
Though of course there are still matters, less significant, to report. About ten days ago we visited cardiology for Oscar's four week (give or take) post-op checkup. We have a lovely photo of Oscar with his chief cardiologist and the man who originally gave us the news, Jonathan Skinner. Great you are. Oscar had an ECG, a measure and a weigh, an O2 saturation taken, and an X-ray and Dr Skinner was happy with all his results - No Problem! So we are heading back there in another four months and in ever diminishing regularity until Oscar Noah is hopefully discharged - he'll always be a heart kid though, and, needless to say, to all you lot in the ward and in the team, we think of you all often, with love, and will continue to do so.
Afore-mentioned Dr Skinner (in the blue with glasses) (he really knows how to hold on to a baby!)... Mst Oscar Noah, and the unmistakeable and ever-reliable Mr Monkey Oswald Rigby (please do not note strange drawing on whiteboard! I'm sure it is a heart... valve or something)
So without delay onto other news! We met with Oscar's plastic surgeon on Friday - he is in charge of his lip and nose repair and some other stuff. It generally happens between three and five months, of course just when we were in Starship. So we were hoping it might be in line for us this side of Christmas, but as it has turned out, the surgeon feels that we can get a better result if we wait until Jan or Feb 2011 and Mum and Dad make a concerted effort on the taping across his lip. It is fair to say that we let this task slip a little during our Starship stay and struggled with it before we were called up for the heart repair. Nonetheless, we are back on the horse now and in fact Oscar seems pretty relaxed about the tape situation now, whereas before it seem to agitate him no end.
So, comparatively, nothing really to report except some extremely healthy weight gains, visits with home care nurses who seem to come around because they want to see Oscar rather than because it is a job, and a bit of relief maybe to think that we are off the hook for a few more months to rest and enjoy our lovely son at home, before any more major interruptions!
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