February 22nd 2011...Going about my day. It was about 12:45pm and I was in the car driving around the corner to house sit at mum and dads and look after the puppies. When I arrived there I got a txt from mum saying they had arrived safe and sound in Christchurch. (What a morning to arrive)
I unloaded my car and brought Lucas inside. My friend Tamara arrived as we were going to have a swim and a wine and catch up before she heads to Europe.
Literally at 12:55 or so, I'm trying to deal with a screaming baby, say hello to Tammy and a phone call from my Aunty "have you heard the news???" I immediately thought someone in my family had died! But no...no one in my family...HUNDREDS of other families.
The 6.3 mangnitude Earthquake hit Christchurch at 12:51pm, a devestating depth of 5km and an epicentre in Lyttleton. OMG I had just been txting mum!!! I ran and turned on the news and couldn't believe my eyes!
The dust, the smoke, the buildings that now looked like pancakes. The devestated, petrified residents walking and running out the city, some with major injuries, crying, just in a daze and in shock. hundreds buried under rubble and masonry, some alive, and some not.
I remember from the first quake it was impossible to get through on the phones to anyone after it happened. It didnt stop me from trying though. I called mum and dad so many times! I knew though that they would be ok in my heart as they were driving from the airport. I kind of always thought how it wouldnt be so bad in a car. I was right, they just thought it was a flat tyre! a very BAD one. Then mum noticed the road looked like a wave, rolling up and down. They then thought the road was uneven lol. Little signs soon made them realise it was indeed a major quake.
I am just so so lucky and greatful that all my family and friends are safe and well and have come out of this ok. Many many others were not so lucky. It is just devastating. Words can not express how sorry and sad I feel for the city that I called my home for 8 years. It will never be the same but I believe they will get through this and will move on with life eventually. You just have to. Life is like an onion. You peel back the layers and sometimes you cry.
Christchurch is crying...actually New Zealand is crying too and all over the world. I do feel though that the support and strength coming out of this is amazing and very humbling. We are lucky to have such fantastic support and I take my hat off to those brave people who are searching, those who are digging and those who are donating, housing, and comforting everyone in need. Well done!! I am proud to be a part of this country.
So February...This is the most talked about event this month. With very good reason!
In our world up here, (although we were in the September quake) It feels so surreal watching it all on telly because this one is so much worse. We get on with our daily lives, and go to bed each night without a worry but I do remember going to bed each night in Christchurch after the quake..petrified of aftershocks and so stressed of the next 'big one'. I thought we had gotten away scott free but sure enough 6 months later it reared it's ugly face again. My heart truly goes out to everyone feeling the pain and worry down there but know that tomorrow is another day, and hold your heads up high, we are all behind you and it will be ok.
Well just a little bit on how we are doing...(hardly seems very important compared to the quake!) But we are all doing well, have been quite busy actually with playgroups and plunket etc! A few weeks ago we went up to Auckland again for Lucas's follow up appointment with the opthalmologist and also had his focus tested. Both Retinas still remain flat and relaxed. Which is great!! It was a very long day. Lucas had his focus tested also that day. The doctor was quite encouraged that Lucas had BIG smiles for him when he introduced himself :) He is getting a big boy now so he didnt need the spectulum to pry his eye lids open THANK GOD. That is horrible!!
Dr Dai also thinks he can see a few metres out but we are not sure how clear that range is. Lucas is also short sighted. The technical term is Myopia, so Lucas will need glasses at around age 3, hopefully this will give him more distance. Although these things are all positive, Lucas still has poor vision. It is clear he has sight though but not good. So many people have bad sight though and we can only remain hopeful that it will improve through stimulation, and then glasses or contacts in the future. Plus you never know what technology will help in in 10 years time right!?
OOH...Lucas is also rolling! he rolled the first time at home the day before our 2 year wedding anniversary 27th Feb :) so cool!!! I was such a proud mummy bird. He was so chuffed with himself. Now Lucas rolls everywhere lol cant stop him now. He is even moving his wee legs heaps so in another few months he could even be commando crawling! scary thought. I quite like how where I put Lucas, he stays hehe.
Can't hold them back though, even with loss of some vision Lucas has thrived in every way and is such a special amazing boy. So proud :) As I'm sure every mum is...but we are especially proud as against all odds he is here and proving everyone wrong!! just a miracle.
So anyway sorry if I'm ranting on, It makes me feel good to write all my thoughts and feelings out and sharing it with you guys.
Hope you all have a great weekend, we are having quite a full house with 2 of my besties coming to stay yay!! so exciting.
My homework for you guys is this......give your loved ones a big cuddle and tell them how much you love them, because if we have learnt anything this month it's that nothing is promised to you, life is so short and can become even shorter in a split second. Make the most of every day!!
Luv to you all xx
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Therapy...
So this one is called therapy because we have now started visual therapy with Lucas to stimulate his vision as much as humanly possible!! Without over stimulating that is :p
We have a lovely lady Jane who come over every fortnight and works with us and Lucas on new things to work on for example: She brought over a 'little room' . It's made up of 3 wooden walls and a fiberglass top. Lucas lyes inside the room on a resonance board and there are everyday itens hanging on elastic for him to touch and kick. The sounds from these items are magnified as the sounds from outside the box are muffled. This little room also has things on the walls to touch. Lucas absolutely loves the little room! So manyt things to touch and clatter (would be great for any baby actually). Basically because of his vision impairment this room teaches Lucas that if he lets go of something..it's still there. Someone who is born blind needs to be taught about their environment and that things still exist if it's all of a sudden gone. Although Lucas has some vision..this will stimulate it to look for things that he has let go.
Since starting the therapy he has developed so much! The last two weeks we have seen a change in him.
Lucas has been bringing his hands together and playing with toys in front of him instead of to the side. This is important in development and also works on a different set of muscles.
He has also been moving his head around more and looking for things to touch, has become a lot more vocal and even rolled over a few times from front to back!!! Now that is a lot of development in two weeks.
Lucas is now trying to roll from back to front...he has nearly got it but might be another few weeks. Not bad for a micro preemie thats suppossed to only be 3 months old huh?? Oh and he has begun smiling a LOT more and becoming very happy and interactive with us too. Especially mummy :) He just looooves his mummy. Then again what baby doesnt?
So thats the latest and greatest in our lives. We have started putting Lucas down for naps in his cot too so that the transition from his bassinett is easier on him. So far it's been a bit of a battle and he just wants his bassinet but he is slowly getting much better and today even went down without a fuss! I will be sad to see him move from our room to his room, but i know he will sleep better in there without any noise. Plus he is getting quite a bit bigger now so wont be too long before we have to put him in it anyway!
Lucas is still not ready for solids but i think another month we might reasess. He's also dribbling so much that we think he might be teething. I wanted to try one of those amber necklaces but John being John decided it was hippy mumo jumbo after watching a doco on 20/20 with doctors proving it does nothing and is only a fashion trend haha. We will see who wins that battle :)
Everything else is great with us, John and I even got to go on a date to the movies the other night! Wow first time in ages. Was much needed and very special :) Thanks to mum and dad!!
I have started up classes at plunket on monday mornings to meet some other mums...After 5 more weeks I am then starting a coffee group in papamoa on monday mornings and decided to volunteer with setting up etc. They needed someone and I've had a bit of cabin fever so I thought why not? Great way to meet people, especially since I've come back to Tauranga and dont know many people now.
So thats about all for now..going up to Auckland next thursday for a couple of eye apointments for Lucas. He will be getting his focus tested for the first time. That should be interesting, he may or may not get baby glasses. How cute would that be?? hehe
Hope you are all well and keeping cool in this hot weather! Nice cool rainy day for us but I wouldnt mind the sun to come back tomorrow so I can take Lucas out of the house for a walk!
Will update again soon
Jen xx
We have a lovely lady Jane who come over every fortnight and works with us and Lucas on new things to work on for example: She brought over a 'little room' . It's made up of 3 wooden walls and a fiberglass top. Lucas lyes inside the room on a resonance board and there are everyday itens hanging on elastic for him to touch and kick. The sounds from these items are magnified as the sounds from outside the box are muffled. This little room also has things on the walls to touch. Lucas absolutely loves the little room! So manyt things to touch and clatter (would be great for any baby actually). Basically because of his vision impairment this room teaches Lucas that if he lets go of something..it's still there. Someone who is born blind needs to be taught about their environment and that things still exist if it's all of a sudden gone. Although Lucas has some vision..this will stimulate it to look for things that he has let go.
Since starting the therapy he has developed so much! The last two weeks we have seen a change in him.
Lucas has been bringing his hands together and playing with toys in front of him instead of to the side. This is important in development and also works on a different set of muscles.
He has also been moving his head around more and looking for things to touch, has become a lot more vocal and even rolled over a few times from front to back!!! Now that is a lot of development in two weeks.
Lucas is now trying to roll from back to front...he has nearly got it but might be another few weeks. Not bad for a micro preemie thats suppossed to only be 3 months old huh?? Oh and he has begun smiling a LOT more and becoming very happy and interactive with us too. Especially mummy :) He just looooves his mummy. Then again what baby doesnt?
So thats the latest and greatest in our lives. We have started putting Lucas down for naps in his cot too so that the transition from his bassinett is easier on him. So far it's been a bit of a battle and he just wants his bassinet but he is slowly getting much better and today even went down without a fuss! I will be sad to see him move from our room to his room, but i know he will sleep better in there without any noise. Plus he is getting quite a bit bigger now so wont be too long before we have to put him in it anyway!
Lucas is still not ready for solids but i think another month we might reasess. He's also dribbling so much that we think he might be teething. I wanted to try one of those amber necklaces but John being John decided it was hippy mumo jumbo after watching a doco on 20/20 with doctors proving it does nothing and is only a fashion trend haha. We will see who wins that battle :)
Everything else is great with us, John and I even got to go on a date to the movies the other night! Wow first time in ages. Was much needed and very special :) Thanks to mum and dad!!
I have started up classes at plunket on monday mornings to meet some other mums...After 5 more weeks I am then starting a coffee group in papamoa on monday mornings and decided to volunteer with setting up etc. They needed someone and I've had a bit of cabin fever so I thought why not? Great way to meet people, especially since I've come back to Tauranga and dont know many people now.
So thats about all for now..going up to Auckland next thursday for a couple of eye apointments for Lucas. He will be getting his focus tested for the first time. That should be interesting, he may or may not get baby glasses. How cute would that be?? hehe
Hope you are all well and keeping cool in this hot weather! Nice cool rainy day for us but I wouldnt mind the sun to come back tomorrow so I can take Lucas out of the house for a walk!
Will update again soon
Jen xx
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
A New year...a new start
So wow! Christmas has been and gone and we are already half way through January...how did that happen?
Hope everyone had a lovely relaxing christmas and much needed time off.
Our first christmas with Lucas was fantastic! I enjoyed every moment from wrapping his pressies, to dealing with his overtiredness from such a huge day! The night before Christmas we had our bath, got Lucas ready for bed and then read him the traditional story "night before Christmas" which he loved! It was so nice, even though he wasnt old enough to realise 'santa' was coming that night, it kind of brought back all my old feelings and beliefs about Xmas too.
We had Johns parents here for that week too, so it was nice for them to spend a bit of time with Lucas as they dont live nearby and wont be seeing him too often. Christmas morning we got up and ready and made our garlic breads and salads for the day. Mum and Dad were hosting a big family one this year of 25 people so we all pitched in and brought something for lunch.
Arrived at mum and dads about 10:30ish and my sister Donelle and I immediately decided we should open presents. Donelle has always been an early riser xmas day...she used to wake me at 2am or so in the morning growing up with a torch and whispering "Jenna....Jenna santas been!!" haha. We would go out to the tree and investigate all the presents with sheer excitement! needless to say it was pretty hard to go back to sleep until 6am when were 'allowed' to open the presents.
This year we got so spoilt...actually every year we get so spoilt! Lucas got soo many presents from both our sides of the family. A lot of them very educational and easy for him to see and play with so that was great!
So in a nutshell, the family all arrived from both my parents sides and was fantastic as some of us hadnt seen each other for quite a while! Lucas and my sisters baby boy Mason were all cuddled out and my 6 year old nephew Cory is such a joy to watch opening his huuuuge amount of pressies on the day. We had far too much food so worked a bit of it off with our new game xbox xinect :)
Through the holiday period Lucas had one eye exam in Tauranga and one in Auckland before new years.
The eye exam in Tauranaga was pretty nerve wrecking for me especially as every time his opthalmologist tests his eyes he seemed to come back with something bad to say. This time before xmas was different! He came out and said His right eye (the one with the surgery) looked lovely and the left eyes retina was also flat without surgery!!! What a fantastic xmas present this was and I balled my eyes out in the car. All happy tears of course.
His eye exam before new years was much the same. It was about a week after the Tauranga one. Not much to report she said. Still looking flat, still a bit of hemorrhage in left eye but going down (like a bruise) so we were happy. No news is good news right?
We saw Lucas's first new year in at friends Mel and Ricks with a bbq and a couple of drinks and some more Kinect! A great way to socialise through dancing hehe. We had such a nice time. Home in bed by 12:30am.....haha is that sad? Not really...it's just how we like it now we have a baby. No partying til 4am anymore. Instead its getting up at 4am for feedings :) and ya know, I couldnt care less!
So that brings us to after new year...We went to Auckland yesterday (2 weeks after his last exam). Lucas was not himself in the morning. Threw up quite a considerable amount in the morning after his first feed and then a bit of diarrhea that arvo (which by the way TMI but picture us sitting in the waiting room all quite and Lucas decides it's THE perfect time to explode...farts n all) I wanted the ground to swallow me whole it was horrendous!!! hahahah
I was really nervous for this exam because it had been 2 weeks and Lucas wasnt feeling well, so didnt want anything to make him more upset. The exams if I havnt mentioned are pretty horrible for babies. So anyway Lucas was in and out pretty quickly this time! I was quite relieved.
HIs surgeon/opthalmologist brought us in and I prepared for the worst...thinking his retinas could have detatched again. It was completely opposite news. She said she thought they looked really good!! much better than expected and improvement from 2 weeks ago even. OMG!! She was surprised how well they looked and how well his eyes were looking straight and focusing etc at home. I was soooo happy, we both were on cloud nine :)
We are so proud of our wee man, he is just so incredible and he's all ours! good genes we think ;) But seriously it has been such a horrible experience that good news like this is so precious. The opthalmologist said she wont need us to come back for another 6 weeks (yay!!) and next time he will be booked in to see someone about the focus of his eyes. He might need glasses. Have you seen babies with glasses?? CUTE!!
Anyway thats about all for now. We are just loving time at home with Lucas now without all these appointments and surgeries to go to. He has started to find his voice a bit now and explore his hands, smile and laugh :)
Hope all of you are well and keeping cool in this heat! (or warm in cold overseas).
Thank you all once again for all your amazing support. We would never have gotten through with you all.
Til next time xx
Jenna, John and Lucas
Hope everyone had a lovely relaxing christmas and much needed time off.
Our first christmas with Lucas was fantastic! I enjoyed every moment from wrapping his pressies, to dealing with his overtiredness from such a huge day! The night before Christmas we had our bath, got Lucas ready for bed and then read him the traditional story "night before Christmas" which he loved! It was so nice, even though he wasnt old enough to realise 'santa' was coming that night, it kind of brought back all my old feelings and beliefs about Xmas too.
We had Johns parents here for that week too, so it was nice for them to spend a bit of time with Lucas as they dont live nearby and wont be seeing him too often. Christmas morning we got up and ready and made our garlic breads and salads for the day. Mum and Dad were hosting a big family one this year of 25 people so we all pitched in and brought something for lunch.
Arrived at mum and dads about 10:30ish and my sister Donelle and I immediately decided we should open presents. Donelle has always been an early riser xmas day...she used to wake me at 2am or so in the morning growing up with a torch and whispering "Jenna....Jenna santas been!!" haha. We would go out to the tree and investigate all the presents with sheer excitement! needless to say it was pretty hard to go back to sleep until 6am when were 'allowed' to open the presents.
This year we got so spoilt...actually every year we get so spoilt! Lucas got soo many presents from both our sides of the family. A lot of them very educational and easy for him to see and play with so that was great!
So in a nutshell, the family all arrived from both my parents sides and was fantastic as some of us hadnt seen each other for quite a while! Lucas and my sisters baby boy Mason were all cuddled out and my 6 year old nephew Cory is such a joy to watch opening his huuuuge amount of pressies on the day. We had far too much food so worked a bit of it off with our new game xbox xinect :)
Through the holiday period Lucas had one eye exam in Tauranga and one in Auckland before new years.
The eye exam in Tauranaga was pretty nerve wrecking for me especially as every time his opthalmologist tests his eyes he seemed to come back with something bad to say. This time before xmas was different! He came out and said His right eye (the one with the surgery) looked lovely and the left eyes retina was also flat without surgery!!! What a fantastic xmas present this was and I balled my eyes out in the car. All happy tears of course.
His eye exam before new years was much the same. It was about a week after the Tauranga one. Not much to report she said. Still looking flat, still a bit of hemorrhage in left eye but going down (like a bruise) so we were happy. No news is good news right?
We saw Lucas's first new year in at friends Mel and Ricks with a bbq and a couple of drinks and some more Kinect! A great way to socialise through dancing hehe. We had such a nice time. Home in bed by 12:30am.....haha is that sad? Not really...it's just how we like it now we have a baby. No partying til 4am anymore. Instead its getting up at 4am for feedings :) and ya know, I couldnt care less!
So that brings us to after new year...We went to Auckland yesterday (2 weeks after his last exam). Lucas was not himself in the morning. Threw up quite a considerable amount in the morning after his first feed and then a bit of diarrhea that arvo (which by the way TMI but picture us sitting in the waiting room all quite and Lucas decides it's THE perfect time to explode...farts n all) I wanted the ground to swallow me whole it was horrendous!!! hahahah
I was really nervous for this exam because it had been 2 weeks and Lucas wasnt feeling well, so didnt want anything to make him more upset. The exams if I havnt mentioned are pretty horrible for babies. So anyway Lucas was in and out pretty quickly this time! I was quite relieved.
HIs surgeon/opthalmologist brought us in and I prepared for the worst...thinking his retinas could have detatched again. It was completely opposite news. She said she thought they looked really good!! much better than expected and improvement from 2 weeks ago even. OMG!! She was surprised how well they looked and how well his eyes were looking straight and focusing etc at home. I was soooo happy, we both were on cloud nine :)
We are so proud of our wee man, he is just so incredible and he's all ours! good genes we think ;) But seriously it has been such a horrible experience that good news like this is so precious. The opthalmologist said she wont need us to come back for another 6 weeks (yay!!) and next time he will be booked in to see someone about the focus of his eyes. He might need glasses. Have you seen babies with glasses?? CUTE!!
Anyway thats about all for now. We are just loving time at home with Lucas now without all these appointments and surgeries to go to. He has started to find his voice a bit now and explore his hands, smile and laugh :)
Hope all of you are well and keeping cool in this heat! (or warm in cold overseas).
Thank you all once again for all your amazing support. We would never have gotten through with you all.
Til next time xx
Jenna, John and Lucas
Thursday, December 23, 2010
A very merry Christmas
Only one more sleep til Christmas!
I don't feel organized at all really, it's just been so hectic with everything going on I havnt had time to finish my Christmas shopping!! So now we will be one of those silly people at the mall on Christmas eve frantically buying the last minute bits n pieces.
While I was pregnant with Lucas, I had visions of Christmas day with our little newborn and my sisters baby together. In theory we do have a 7 week old baby but his actual age is nearly 5 months! 21 weeks to be exact, and what a ride we have had in those months.
For anyone who has never been into a neonatal intensive care unit (nicu)there are 6 rooms at Christchurch womens. Room one being the very sick, low birth weight babies round to room 2 which is kind of a less attention needed room, then rooms 3,4,5 are babies born premature that need a couple of weeks of learning to feed and just getting bigger really. These rooms are also where Lucas would have gone on his journey around on his road to home.
The room 6 is the last room where babies are getting ready for discharge.
We never made it to anything past 2 as we transferred to Tauranga to live when Lucas was 35 weeks, but we stayed in room one for 9 weeks. The experience is that of a rollercoaster ride. One day your up, the next down..and I had a few of those down down days. There were days if pure joy too, like the day I gave him his first bath at 3 weeks old, the day he graduated to a cot from the incubator, the day I got my first cuddle and even the milestones which is something parents of full term babies would never experience such as...when our baby boy didn't drop his oxygen levels in the blood for 5 minutes or when he overcame an infection, when he coped off the ventilator and started breathing on his own! Now THAT was a huge one.
Anyway I think you get the point..
So our latest news. Yesterday we took Lucas to get another eye exam. Now these exams are just horrendous! They insert a speculum underneath both lids of the eye to pry it open do the ophthalmologist can have a good look. Each visit Lucas has to receive two lots of eye drops to dilate his pupils. This takes around 40 mins to do. Then the worst part.
Some mothers worry about a wee jab in their loved ones thighs... Piece of cake for us! Lucas has had more blood tests and jabs than the average adult. It never gets any easier though and I still cry every time they squeeze blood out of his heel while hold him screaming in pain. Now that he is getting bigger and more aware it's even worse!!
I'm rambling again...so yesterday he had a horrendous blood test before the eye exam. The nurse took 3 files of blood which seemed to take a life time, while poor Lucas absolutely screamed the place down. So this was traumatic enough and then on top of that his eye test :( I was beside myself. Lucky I have a wonderful supportive husband who is calm and optimistic most of the time.
So we paced the hall while Lucas had his test. I have seen him get this done twice and before anyone judges me for not being in with him, know that it makes absolutely no difference to him as regardless he screams the whole time. It's just too hard to watch and I'm such a wreck at the time. John agrees it's much better for both of us if we leave it to the professionals then we can comfort him as soon as it's done.
The doctor came out and the nurse handed us Lucas who had his eyes closed and breathing very fast. He told us his right eye looked 'lovely' and the retina was still attached Yaaaay!! And the left eye had improved a lot too! The retina had reattached also without surgery, but there was a small bleed behind the retina which will go away on it's own!
Best Christmas present wecoild ask for :):) still have another exam in Auckland again next week and then the week after in Tauranga if all still looking good. Fingers crossed!! I burst into tears of relief...did I tell you I cry at the drop of a hat now?
So now we can relax and enjoy our big family Christmas at mum and dads. Our first one as a family of 3 :) can not wait!!!
So to all my loved ones that follow our story, have a wonderful safe and happy Christmas from the Thomsens. I will post again after Christmas.
Jenna xx
I don't feel organized at all really, it's just been so hectic with everything going on I havnt had time to finish my Christmas shopping!! So now we will be one of those silly people at the mall on Christmas eve frantically buying the last minute bits n pieces.
While I was pregnant with Lucas, I had visions of Christmas day with our little newborn and my sisters baby together. In theory we do have a 7 week old baby but his actual age is nearly 5 months! 21 weeks to be exact, and what a ride we have had in those months.
For anyone who has never been into a neonatal intensive care unit (nicu)there are 6 rooms at Christchurch womens. Room one being the very sick, low birth weight babies round to room 2 which is kind of a less attention needed room, then rooms 3,4,5 are babies born premature that need a couple of weeks of learning to feed and just getting bigger really. These rooms are also where Lucas would have gone on his journey around on his road to home.
The room 6 is the last room where babies are getting ready for discharge.
We never made it to anything past 2 as we transferred to Tauranga to live when Lucas was 35 weeks, but we stayed in room one for 9 weeks. The experience is that of a rollercoaster ride. One day your up, the next down..and I had a few of those down down days. There were days if pure joy too, like the day I gave him his first bath at 3 weeks old, the day he graduated to a cot from the incubator, the day I got my first cuddle and even the milestones which is something parents of full term babies would never experience such as...when our baby boy didn't drop his oxygen levels in the blood for 5 minutes or when he overcame an infection, when he coped off the ventilator and started breathing on his own! Now THAT was a huge one.
Anyway I think you get the point..
So our latest news. Yesterday we took Lucas to get another eye exam. Now these exams are just horrendous! They insert a speculum underneath both lids of the eye to pry it open do the ophthalmologist can have a good look. Each visit Lucas has to receive two lots of eye drops to dilate his pupils. This takes around 40 mins to do. Then the worst part.
Some mothers worry about a wee jab in their loved ones thighs... Piece of cake for us! Lucas has had more blood tests and jabs than the average adult. It never gets any easier though and I still cry every time they squeeze blood out of his heel while hold him screaming in pain. Now that he is getting bigger and more aware it's even worse!!
I'm rambling again...so yesterday he had a horrendous blood test before the eye exam. The nurse took 3 files of blood which seemed to take a life time, while poor Lucas absolutely screamed the place down. So this was traumatic enough and then on top of that his eye test :( I was beside myself. Lucky I have a wonderful supportive husband who is calm and optimistic most of the time.
So we paced the hall while Lucas had his test. I have seen him get this done twice and before anyone judges me for not being in with him, know that it makes absolutely no difference to him as regardless he screams the whole time. It's just too hard to watch and I'm such a wreck at the time. John agrees it's much better for both of us if we leave it to the professionals then we can comfort him as soon as it's done.
The doctor came out and the nurse handed us Lucas who had his eyes closed and breathing very fast. He told us his right eye looked 'lovely' and the retina was still attached Yaaaay!! And the left eye had improved a lot too! The retina had reattached also without surgery, but there was a small bleed behind the retina which will go away on it's own!
Best Christmas present wecoild ask for :):) still have another exam in Auckland again next week and then the week after in Tauranga if all still looking good. Fingers crossed!! I burst into tears of relief...did I tell you I cry at the drop of a hat now?
So now we can relax and enjoy our big family Christmas at mum and dads. Our first one as a family of 3 :) can not wait!!!
So to all my loved ones that follow our story, have a wonderful safe and happy Christmas from the Thomsens. I will post again after Christmas.
Jenna xx
Friday, December 17, 2010
Introduction...a story of how this came about!
I have decided to see what all the fuss is about with 'blogging' and seeing as I have been getting requests from friends and family to update on Lucas's progress I thought doing a blog would be easier than writing emails to everyone. Please feel free to follow us on our journey!
So here we go :) The story in a nutshell......
2004 I met my wonderful hubby John at a 'dodgy bar' in Christchurch...as ya do! we spent a wonderful 4 years getting to know each other and realised that although we were opposite in some ways, our goals and ambitions were very alike in the way that we both really wanted a family while we were young (25-27). Being head over heels in Love we got Married February 28th 2009. Best day of our lives!!
A year went by. We got ourselves set up and ready (and healthy) and found out we were having our first baby on our first wedding anniversary :):) we were so excited and amazed that we created a little person.
I had a pretty average, normal pregnancy. Typical morning sickness until about 16 weeks and then felt fantastic! continued working and never felt better. At 19 weeks we found out it was a wee boy. It was a huge relief that he was healthy and perfect and so cute!
At 24 weeks I woke up saturated after a week of fluid loss. That day sunday the 18th I went in to Christchurch womens hospital to meet my midwife there so she could check me and see what was going on. I wasnt worried at all. In fact I didnt even pay for parking because I though i would only be a little while. Little did I know I wasnt coming out until I had my baby.
Long story short, my midwife discovered I had a hind water leak (ruptured membrane) and was also (the worst part) 2 cm's dilated. I had never been so scared in my life. They told me to call my husband and get him in here asap as they thought I was going to deliver. I was whisked down to maternity ward...poked and prodded with needles, steroid injections and pills every 15 minutes to stop contractions (which i wasnt having anyway) It was awful. My heart was beating so fast.
John arrived and I broke down crying. It was a very uncomfortable, lonley night in the hospital that night...not to mention sleepless with all the women screaming in pain. It was quite disturbing to be honest.
After a few nights down in maternity they determined I wasnt going into labour but would keep me in hospital the remainder of the pregnancy. They also told us it would be sooner rather than later. Bed rest lasted a week before I spontaneously went into labour due to an infection. Poor bubs got the infection too.
I laboured for 15 hours every 4 minutes and eventually went in for a C-section. Lucas Clayton Thomsen entered this world at 10:28 on Monday 26th July 2010 weighing 2 pounds 2 oz.
Lucas got whisked up to Intensive Care while I got stitched up and sorted. Wheeled to recovery and groggy as anything. John got to go up once mum and dad arrived and see Lucas. He was handling it so well. After a few tears and a sleep we got to go up that night and see him. Lying on a warming bed with so many wires and a tube down his throat is an image I will never forget in my life. He looked so helpless and tiny. His bones were visable (no chubby baby fat yet) and his eyes stilled fused together.
When I got wheeled over to him and started talking to him. He raised his little eyebrows as if to open his eyes when he heard my voice. Just so special.
Lucas had a very hard battle the first week. I finally got hold on day 9 (see picture). It was a huge effort to get him out of the incubator with the hundreds of wires. It took about 5 nurses to do it. Was worth the wait in gold.
Lucas had many challenges to face while in hospital for 3 months. He had many infections, blood transfusions, breathing support, blood tests and more. I have never felt so bad in my life that he had to go through all this but we were strong for him and knew in our hearts he would come out the other side and be braver than ever.
When Lucas was 8 weeks old we transferred to Tauranga hospital by plane. My family live here and I used to live here while at High school. We are loving it so far!
After 3 more weeks Lucas was ready to come home. Fedding well and gaining weigh rapidly...he looked just perfect!!
Perfect except for one vital part of the body that we thought was fine....His eyes.
A week after he was home we went back to hospital for his last eye check. It was supposed to be before discharge but the only opthalmologist in Tauranga was overseas...typical!
Thinking everything was ok we went in and Lucas got his test. The doctor came back and said his eyes wern no longer fine and they have now stage 3 ROP (retinopathy of prematurity)
To cut a long story short, His eyes have a disease caused by a number of things including blood transfusions, prematurity, oxygen, medications etc. It is a blinding disease if untreated and some require treatment.
Lucas was one of the very rare cases that despite having laser treatment to stop progression of the disease, it still progressed further to stage 4B (highest stage 5). We were required to travel to Auckland and see a specialist there. She performed a long four hour surgery on both eyes, a vitrectomy in the right eye and laser and avastin injections in left aswell as a bit of cryotherapy.
It has taken Lucas a week to get back to normal after the surgery and at his last check the specialist was pleased with the results. The retina has become patially detatched and was stuck back using a gas bubble behnd the eye. I wont go into too much details but basically we are not out of the woods as it could still detatch again, but we are hopeful that it wont.
Luckily Lucas wont be completely blind and hopefully will still have useful vision although it breaks our hearts that he wont have 20/20 vision and see all the amazing details of life, he will see the world in a different way and will still live a fullfilling life regardles of his vision.
There is a lot of support out there for families with a visually impaired child which makes things a bit easier.
We believe that Lucas is here on this earth for a very special reason. We dont know what it is yet but against all odds (including a 7.1 earthquake in Christchurch) he has survived a whole lot already. More than anyone should experience in a life time!
Today he is 20 weeks old (6 weeks corrected age) and a gorgeous happy lilttle boy. We are truley blessed and so lucky to have such supportive family and friends through this difficult time in our lives. Without you all I would not cope. You lift me up from my darkest days and I know we will get through this better off and happier than ever.
When something like this happens it brings your family closer together. We look at things differently now and have learned never to judge or take for granted anything in life that we have.
So this is the first blog of our journey. There will be more to come :)
Thank ya'll for reading :) xx
Jenna, John and Lucas
So here we go :) The story in a nutshell......
2004 I met my wonderful hubby John at a 'dodgy bar' in Christchurch...as ya do! we spent a wonderful 4 years getting to know each other and realised that although we were opposite in some ways, our goals and ambitions were very alike in the way that we both really wanted a family while we were young (25-27). Being head over heels in Love we got Married February 28th 2009. Best day of our lives!!
A year went by. We got ourselves set up and ready (and healthy) and found out we were having our first baby on our first wedding anniversary :):) we were so excited and amazed that we created a little person.
I had a pretty average, normal pregnancy. Typical morning sickness until about 16 weeks and then felt fantastic! continued working and never felt better. At 19 weeks we found out it was a wee boy. It was a huge relief that he was healthy and perfect and so cute!
At 24 weeks I woke up saturated after a week of fluid loss. That day sunday the 18th I went in to Christchurch womens hospital to meet my midwife there so she could check me and see what was going on. I wasnt worried at all. In fact I didnt even pay for parking because I though i would only be a little while. Little did I know I wasnt coming out until I had my baby.
Long story short, my midwife discovered I had a hind water leak (ruptured membrane) and was also (the worst part) 2 cm's dilated. I had never been so scared in my life. They told me to call my husband and get him in here asap as they thought I was going to deliver. I was whisked down to maternity ward...poked and prodded with needles, steroid injections and pills every 15 minutes to stop contractions (which i wasnt having anyway) It was awful. My heart was beating so fast.
John arrived and I broke down crying. It was a very uncomfortable, lonley night in the hospital that night...not to mention sleepless with all the women screaming in pain. It was quite disturbing to be honest.
After a few nights down in maternity they determined I wasnt going into labour but would keep me in hospital the remainder of the pregnancy. They also told us it would be sooner rather than later. Bed rest lasted a week before I spontaneously went into labour due to an infection. Poor bubs got the infection too.
I laboured for 15 hours every 4 minutes and eventually went in for a C-section. Lucas Clayton Thomsen entered this world at 10:28 on Monday 26th July 2010 weighing 2 pounds 2 oz.
Lucas got whisked up to Intensive Care while I got stitched up and sorted. Wheeled to recovery and groggy as anything. John got to go up once mum and dad arrived and see Lucas. He was handling it so well. After a few tears and a sleep we got to go up that night and see him. Lying on a warming bed with so many wires and a tube down his throat is an image I will never forget in my life. He looked so helpless and tiny. His bones were visable (no chubby baby fat yet) and his eyes stilled fused together.
When I got wheeled over to him and started talking to him. He raised his little eyebrows as if to open his eyes when he heard my voice. Just so special.
Lucas had a very hard battle the first week. I finally got hold on day 9 (see picture). It was a huge effort to get him out of the incubator with the hundreds of wires. It took about 5 nurses to do it. Was worth the wait in gold.
Lucas had many challenges to face while in hospital for 3 months. He had many infections, blood transfusions, breathing support, blood tests and more. I have never felt so bad in my life that he had to go through all this but we were strong for him and knew in our hearts he would come out the other side and be braver than ever.
When Lucas was 8 weeks old we transferred to Tauranga hospital by plane. My family live here and I used to live here while at High school. We are loving it so far!
After 3 more weeks Lucas was ready to come home. Fedding well and gaining weigh rapidly...he looked just perfect!!
Perfect except for one vital part of the body that we thought was fine....His eyes.
A week after he was home we went back to hospital for his last eye check. It was supposed to be before discharge but the only opthalmologist in Tauranga was overseas...typical!
Thinking everything was ok we went in and Lucas got his test. The doctor came back and said his eyes wern no longer fine and they have now stage 3 ROP (retinopathy of prematurity)
To cut a long story short, His eyes have a disease caused by a number of things including blood transfusions, prematurity, oxygen, medications etc. It is a blinding disease if untreated and some require treatment.
Lucas was one of the very rare cases that despite having laser treatment to stop progression of the disease, it still progressed further to stage 4B (highest stage 5). We were required to travel to Auckland and see a specialist there. She performed a long four hour surgery on both eyes, a vitrectomy in the right eye and laser and avastin injections in left aswell as a bit of cryotherapy.
It has taken Lucas a week to get back to normal after the surgery and at his last check the specialist was pleased with the results. The retina has become patially detatched and was stuck back using a gas bubble behnd the eye. I wont go into too much details but basically we are not out of the woods as it could still detatch again, but we are hopeful that it wont.
Luckily Lucas wont be completely blind and hopefully will still have useful vision although it breaks our hearts that he wont have 20/20 vision and see all the amazing details of life, he will see the world in a different way and will still live a fullfilling life regardles of his vision.
There is a lot of support out there for families with a visually impaired child which makes things a bit easier.
We believe that Lucas is here on this earth for a very special reason. We dont know what it is yet but against all odds (including a 7.1 earthquake in Christchurch) he has survived a whole lot already. More than anyone should experience in a life time!
Today he is 20 weeks old (6 weeks corrected age) and a gorgeous happy lilttle boy. We are truley blessed and so lucky to have such supportive family and friends through this difficult time in our lives. Without you all I would not cope. You lift me up from my darkest days and I know we will get through this better off and happier than ever.
When something like this happens it brings your family closer together. We look at things differently now and have learned never to judge or take for granted anything in life that we have.
So this is the first blog of our journey. There will be more to come :)
Thank ya'll for reading :) xx
Jenna, John and Lucas
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)