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A TINY DINOSAUR
the feed
A baby born at 29 weeks and a feeding tube that just won't quit.
Two Months On
It’s been two months of seeing my baby’s face every single day. A whole two months. I touch her cheeks constantly and tell her how proud...
Tube-free
For most of the past 18 months, I didn't let myself dream of a day where we got to remove Frankie's feeding tube. I couldn't bear to...
What You Don't See
You get your kid out of bed in the morning. Maybe they slept well. Maybe they didn't. But I can pretty much guarantee they didn't get...
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A Virus...Because...Hospital
We stayed in hospital over the weekend to trial a new feeding regime. Frankie had been on continuous naso-gastric feeds for a few weeks,...
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Gastric Emptying Study
As expected...the organisation of the gastric-emptying study was not organised in the slightest. In fact, it was chaos. Frankie was given...
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An MRI and...Food?
Is it possible that a day your child has a general anaesthetic and an MRI to check for brain lesions, is actually, kind of a good day? I...
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A Long Way To Go To Kink a Tube
On Christmas Day I caught up with a friend who told me he was off on a camping trip to a place we'd stumbled across years ago. There and...
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Immunisations, Blood Test & A Surgical Consult
A while ago we had an appointment with Frankie's occupational therapist and one thing in particular that she said stuck with me. "How can...
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Human Metapneumovirus, For Good Measure
Back at emergency after 9 hours at home, this time with a fever and a whole lot of screaming, we were given the full treatment. Urine...
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A Few Good Days and a Kinked Tube
When we were discharged from QCH we enjoyed three days of only one or two vomits a day and it sure was fun while it lasted. After that,...
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A Happy Baby. An Outside Baby.
I can't tell you how long it's been since we had a happy baby. Not a baby that's happy momentarily only to vomit 3 minutes later, but a...
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QCH Day 5: Waiting for a Plan
It was a day of waiting. The gastro team were meeting this morning to discuss Frankie. We knew they wouldn't arrive until after midday so...
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QCH Day 4: Tube Insertion Screw Around
Last night we dragged the cot mattress onto the floor and took turns, pacing the dark corridors, catching half an hour sleep on the...
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QCH Day 3: Gastroscopy
It was a day of counting down the hours. Frankie would be put under general anaesthetic at 4pm but, until then, we had a relatively...
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QCH Day 2: A Hospital Holiday
The day started well enough with Frankie having a little sleep in. She woke up calmly enough, with incredible bed hair, but was on the...
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QCH Day 1: An Unexpected Extended Brisbane Stay
We had an outpatient appointment scheduled at the children's hospital in Brisbane so decided to make a trip of it. An Air BnB, takeaway...
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Another Day, Another Tube and a Drip for Good Measure
Two days. The last tube lasted two days. Two! This time we called our nurse navigator who organised that, rather than slumming it at...
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Hi Ho...Back to Emergency We Go
Like old hats we presented to emergency yet again with a baby who had vomited her tube out, yet again. Everybody seemed to know us. The...
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Doing The Rounds of Emergency Departments
"What's that?" My imagination heard Frankie ask with innocence. "4 tubes coming out my mouth in 1 day nearly pushed you over the edge?...
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Hell Day: Frankie Raises The Stakes
We had thought that placing 4 new feeding tubes in 5 days had been the worst it could ever be. Frankie however saw us hovering on the...
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You Wouldn't Read About It
These trans-pyloric feeding tubes are designed to stay in for 3 months. Three months! Shitty Day Number 1 After probably 3 weeks of...
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It Was Fun While It Lasted
Well it sure was fun while it lasted. The no vomiting I mean. We had a good run. Two or three weeks where the vomiting was almost...
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Trans-Pyloric Tube Insertions- At Home
It's scary how used to pinning Frankie down while she screams I am. The crying can echo through the house and tears can pool around her...
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Trans-Pyloric Tube Insertion: Day 2
Ding! Round 2. Back at the paediatric ward for the second day in a row, we met up with the helpful doctor form yesterday plus the nurse...
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Trans-Pyloric Tube Insertion: Day 1
We didn't want a trans-pyloric tube. It would mean Frankie being attached to a feeding pump for 20 hours each day. The tube would go up...
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Hospital: Days 2 & 3: Tests, Tests, Tests!
Day 2: Blood Test Heel pricks are no biggie. Well, they are. They involve a little cut to the heel before a very thin tube is filled with...
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Her Whole Face
Today I got to see Frankie's whole face. Without the tape. Without the feeding tube. Her whole gorgeous, perfect little face. I can count...
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"The Hardest Baby" - Does She Get a Certificate For That?
We were sent home on NEDS (Neonatal Early Discharge Service) on November 12th. Frankie was 38 weeks old and still had a feeding tube....
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A Million Miles Apart
A few nights ago, Chris and I sat down, in the same room, at the same time while Chris ate dinner. And even though we weren't eating at...
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One Good Day
It was 82 days after Frankie was born that Chris and I looked at each other and said, "Today was a good day." 82 days. We had been home...
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The Perks of Special Care
While it's absolutely horrible having a baby in the Special Care Nursery, I've come to acknowledge that, if you look hard enough, there...
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