Only 22 more sleeps!

So what's been happening this week?

Monday and Tuesday I spent in bed trying to sleep off this horrible cold that seems to be knocking people over this winter. Thijs yet again stepped up to the plate and took some leave from work to look after Noah. Noah thought it this was fantastic fun getting to play with his Dad all this extra time. What's also great is that now we can take Noah out from the IC Unit in his push chair on our own, without a nurse. It's a bit of a palaver loading up all the equipment we have to take with us, but it's worth it. Noah looks a bit amazed, he just stares, drinking in all the different sights and sounds, but he doesn't cry so that's a good thing he's not so scared of experiencing new things. He's a very brave little boy, but we knew that didn't we?!

Noah is up to 3.5 hours breathing practice, twice a day off his machines, fantastic! Tomorrow we start on 4 hours. He gets a bit tired, but this is all very hard work for a young fellow. So we make sure he has plenty of naps during the day, which he sometimes fights as he is having far too much fun playing! I've been playing the Disney compilation set he got from Sinterklaas , and he loves dancing along to the tunes.
We've been working with the follow up team, Noah had his helmet delivered. The helmet will help his head resume a normal shape instead of being flat at the back from where he's been lying in bed. You can see here that the back of his head is a bit out of shape.


However, Noah has very sensitive skin so we've had some problems getting him used to it. We had a gentleman from the follow up team come and refit his helmet so now he's all ready to start getting used to wearing it.

After his recent bout of diarrhea, he's gradually gaining back his lost weight. He's now 7620 grams. He's grown out of another set of clothes, so now I get to dress him up in all his new cool gear.
Noah has a set of physio moves he needs to do every day. One of which is lying on his stomach and seeing if he can lift his head up. Not only does he lift his head, he's doing baby push ups using his arms, and at one point he had his knee under his hips and started moving backwards down the bed! This is all positive stuff for his future, keep going Noah!

Both Thijs and I are now fully taking care of Noah, giving his medication, taking care of his sonde and canule, we're all set to bring him home. Thijs just did his exam last thursday, here he is changing Noah's canule.

It's given us a lot of confidence and sometimes even the nurses are happy with our help - as one commented to Thijs when he walked in over the weekend. It was a mad-house in the IC Unit so the nurse was relieved to have one less patient she needed to take care of. Glad we can help!

Oma and Opa were here on Friday, both are working on their certification for taking care of Noah. Both have now changed Noah's canule band, (the strap that holds in his canule, Noahs only way of breathing). As you can imagine, it's technically not difficult but emotionally it's incredibly hard. It's not quite what you imagine doing when you think about looking after your first grandchild, but they are doing a fantastic job of just getting on with things, the way they are.

Saturday we both had a fantastic day with Noah. He had a great day, smiling and charming everyone. He was even sleeping when we came in, so I had a chance to speak to some of the mums that were in the room. One of the mums asked me how come such a healthy child was on the ICU, that cheered us up for the whole day! :) We left for Den Haag on Saturday night. Before we left, we checked on Noah to change his pampers and make sure he didn't have any wind or cramps during the night. He slept all the way through his pampers change. I picked him up and threw him over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes and he let out the loudest and longest fart ever! The mums in the unit burst out laughing, I thought at Noah until I turned around and found Thijs pointing at me - the rat!! :) Can you imagine, he was still fast asleep when I put him back!! This boy could sleep through an earth quake even if it was under his bed!!

Sadly on Sunday we had to spend the day in Den Haag doing all our laundry and admin. We hoped to be back at the hospital before the day shift left for the day, but we didn't make it. Now we know we have to shuttle back and fore to do the laundry we'll organise it a bit better for the future. However it's another reason for us to get home as quickly as possible.
We've decided to move back home just before Noah comes back for his test visit on the 11th of February. We've still got a lot of organising to do before he comes home, most of it relies on the hospital arranging delivery of his equipment, so you can imagine just how relaxed and happy we are in this situation! ;). Anyway we are doing all we can, Noah has already been fitted into his carseat so he won't be to shocked by the journey.


Lilo is doing great. Apparently her tail is starting to look like an antenna whipping around her bum! She's keeping busy dragging logs around the forest, chasing down tennis balls and keeping her pack in line. Marijke woke up one morning as she was having difficulty breathing. No, not a dreadful cold but rather a 40 kilo boxer that was hogging the bed and sleeping on top of her. To top it off, there was a 17 kilo Lilo sleeping on top of the boxer!! Deep breaths Marijke!! :)

So here we are at the end of another busy week, and the start of another. Only 22 sleeps, and tomorrow I'll start the day by marking off another night on the chart hanging above Noah's bed. Thanks for all the great comments on the last post, the phone calls and Noah's card. We can't tell you how much it helps us keep going, so thanks.

The network connection is playing up at the moment, so it's a bit tricky to post and check mail but we'll try and upload some cute photo's of Noah going through his daily routine. Otherwise we'll sort it out next weekend. Have patience and please keep the comments coming.

Much love,
The Drosten juniors
xxx