Tiny Clothes, for our Tiny Baby

Firstly, let me apologize for the delay with Keren’s next post here, but for various reasons, it has just been difficult to write it…sorry… but better late than never!

As Glenn mentioned in a previous post, the staff at the Causeway Trust children’s ward really did help us to settle in well, and we were reassured again that Keren was in good hands. Even though we had the family room almost adjacent, with its’ sofa bed, we stayed in the ward room with Keren, with me in the hospital bed and Glenn in a reclining chair. We could hear every beep and noise that night as the nurses periodically came in to the room to check and feed Keren, and it was comforting to be close to her, and we felt as if we got a reasonable nights sleep.

Shopping for Keren!

Because Keren was always in the incubator at this stage, she had only needed to wear wee vests (also known as singlets across the pond!) and one of the nurses suggested the next morning, that we could take some time, and go and get her some babygrows/sleepsuits as she reckoned Keren might soon get out of the incubator! This was an amazing thought, as we didn’t think we would ever get to do this, and we didn’t expect her to be with us so long.

We, understandably, had reservations about both of us leaving her for so long, but we knew we had to trust God, and leave Keren in His hands, knowing that if anything happened when we were away, it was God’s will.

Ballymena, then was the destination for the clothes shopping for wee Keren, because, although it was farther away (meaning more time away), we knew there would be a better selection of clothes for tiny babies, as Keren was just over 4lb at this stage.

Thankfully, the first shop we tried (Mothercare) had everything we needed for her, so there was no time wasted looking around. We grabbed something to eat, and headed back down.

When we arrived back at the hospital, we were told that Keren had an apnoea while we were away, this is a “temporary absence or cessation of breathing”, but they said that she had responded well when they gave her some oxygen. Although we were shocked, we could breath a sigh of relief, that she had come through it, and we knew that it was in Gods’ plan that we were elsewhere at the time.

more to follow!

June 3, 2008 | Filed Under Keren | 2 Comments

Knocklayde…with a slight difference!

Firstly, we want to say something to those of you who may be following our experiences with wee Keren. We are aware that we are quite long overdue in bringing you the next…instalment (for want of a better word), and we would like you to know that we know that one is needed soon.

It is now two years since Keren was here with us, at this time, then, she was five weeks old, and it hasn’t been easy to think about compiling a post, around this time of year, but we are working on it.

On a lighter note, my training for Kilimanjaro is still ticking away nicely! On May 3rd I had a new walking partner…Jed!

The weather was beautiful, the walkers were willing, and Knocklayde was beckoning! Now, I have taken grown men up this hill, and some have said “never again”, it can be a bit of a slog, if you are not used to it, but I thought I would give Jed a go up it! He is not long past his fifth birthday, so I thought we’ll go at his pace, stop for a break when he wants, and I was prepared to carry him, if need be. I had told him about it often enough, so he was excited about going.

What an achievement at 5 years old!
As you can see…we made it!

What is not immediately apparent from the photograph, is that Jed walked the whole way! That is up and down again! He did really well! It got quite windy on the way down, and we had a lot of fun, with Jed barely able to stay on his feet!

We had great views of Rathlin Island, and Scotland, from the top, and as we were going through Ballycastle Forest, returning to the car, we saw some wild deer, which was a great treat for Jed (and me!)

I’ll have some more hill-walking posts soon!

May 13, 2008 | Filed Under Keren, Training | 6 Comments

Keren’s week in SCBU

As we mentioned in the last post about Keren, she really seemed to be stabilizing quite well, early on in this week. Her feeds were increasing slowly, and she was able to breath better, with the oxygen being reduced to just a trickle. She was still in the incubator, but we were still able to take her out, and hold her for short times.

Jed and Kezia were still being looked after brilliantly, and we were still being supported, prayerfully, and practically, by our friends and family. It was wee Jed’s third birthday that Monday (he is nearly five now), and it was very difficult not being with him to celebrate it, but thankfully he was young enough not to miss us, at a wee party his Aunts had for him.

This memory is just coming to me now, but I remember having a routine, when I got into the car to drive to Antrim…I had to wire up my hands free headset, to my phone. I used this time to call family and friends, to keep them informed, and just to talk to someone who cared, I couldn’t have driven that thirty miles, with just my thoughts…it was so good to talk just then. I also knew it was good use of valuable time.

Mr Park, our minister, called again with Norman, one of the elders in our church, and we went to the hospital canteen for lunch, with them. This was a good time, and encouraging. We bowed our heads, and Norman prayed with us, and it was good to be reminded that we were very much in the prayers of God’s people around the country. God was still lovingly giving us a deep conviction that He was in control, and that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8 v 28

Six Days Old

On the Thursday of that week, with Keren being six days old, she was transferred to the Causeway Trust Hospital, as she was sufficiently stabilized to be out of the intensive care of the SCBU. This was brilliant news for us, as it meant we were so much closer to Jed and Kezia. Geraldine travelled down with me in the car, as Keren went down, by ambulance, accompanied by a doctor and nurse.

We were allocated two rooms, in the Children’s Ward. A side room for Keren, which had a bed in it, which we could use; and also a family room, where family and friends could visit, and we could have some privacy. We had use of kitchen facilities, which were great when we didn’t want to be too far away from Keren.

Keren seemed to have taken the journey in her stride, and all the staff thought she was so beautiful. They really made us feel at home, from the minute we arrived.

Keren 1 week old

more to follow !

February 16, 2008 | Filed Under Keren | 9 Comments

Keren, Our Wee Fighter!

At the beginning of this week in SCBU, we spoke with a geneticist from Belfast. She told us, quite plainly, that the prognosis was not good, and that babies with this condition didn’t usually leave hospital. We were slowly coming to realize the seriousness of wee Keren’s situation ourselves.

Even at this time, Keren seemed to be strengthening, and she was able to be taken off the ventilator (which was basically breathing for her) and she was managing to breath by herself, with only a small trickle of oxygen to make it a bit easier for her. She was also tolerating very small amounts of milk through her feeding tube…her first feed being only 1ml !

Wee Keren required a few sessions of phototherapy because she was a little jaundiced. Glenn says now, that he remembers it being almost comforting, to see her getting treatment that was more normal for newborns.

Phototherapy

So despite all her problems, Keren was doing very well, and staff were talking about her possibly getting transferred back to the Causeway Hospital children’s ward, which is only seven miles from home, as opposed to Antrim, which is thirty miles!

One day at a time

We still had to take one day at a time, and as each day passed, we were so thankful that she was still with us.

Keren met her Granny Owens within the next few days, and her Granny thought she was just beautiful! Her Granda Owens was unwell at that time, and so could not make the long journey. He has since gone to be with his Lord, “which is far better” (Philippians 1 v 23).

I remember thinking how great it was that Keren was with us long enough for family and friends to meet her.

More to follow!

January 16, 2008 | Filed Under Keren | 5 Comments

Holding our new baby for the First Time

The first time I got to hold Keren I was very apprehensive. The nurse was very considerate, and tried to help me relax. I tried to insist that Glenn held wee Keren first, as he had been able to be in with her for longer, but he was adamant that I was to hold her first. I was so nervous but I wanted to be able to hold her so much, just the way I had held her brother and sister, but all the wires and apparatus did not allow this.

As it was better for her not to be out of the incubator for too long, I only held her for a few minutes, and then placed her in her Daddy’s arms. (Glenn here: as Geraldine has said, working with the wires and having to keep the oxygen mask near her face, really limited the way we could hold her, but she felt so light and fragile, so lovely, and it really brought it home to me how privileged we were, and how much I loved her, already.)

Holding Keren in SCBU

Watching the Monitor

I can remember that at this early stage, I was looking at the monitor as much as I was looking at Keren, to see if the readings were as they should be. A nurse had explained what was being monitored, to help us understand what each reading meant. Although it was a bit overwhelming, to say the least, it was good to see just how closely Keren was being watched.

The SCBU was an extremely busy department in the hospital, and the staff really were wonderful. They all really did their jobs so well, looking after the babies and helping the worried families in every way they could. It was really nice to see a few familiar faces working in there, and they helped us to feel assured that they cared.

More to follow soon.

December 22, 2007 | Filed Under Keren | 2 Comments