Abacus has outgrown her first piece of clothing. Yay! Another milestone. Her head is fast approaching the other end of her wee crib, and her arms are reaching further through the bars, like alice in wonderland in that house scene. And so she is quickly growing into all of her newborn clothes, it seems as though the inundation of clothes we received early on will quickly run to a trickle.
Her neck control is getting so good. We give her a lot of "tummy time" and she is lifting her head and holding it for ages looking all around. The neurodevelopmental therapist also sent us some laminated black and white flash cards and she enjoys staring at them, especially the one of the cat.
Also last night she met her cousins for the first time and seemed to have a good time. She stayed up for ages with them.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
working from home
today was my first morning of working from home. It was really nice to be able to work with Abacus starfished on her bean-bag making cute noises beside me.
The visiting neurodevelopmental therapist
Remember when you could just go to bed when you wanted and get up when you felt like it ? I vaguely do.
Yesterday Michelle, the Visiting neurodevelopmental therapist came. She didn't stay long, it was more like a formal introduction, she took a few notes about whether Abacus was attending to voices or was she observing things visually, did she makes noises? did she cry ever? (some babies don't) and so on. She said the exercises we've been doing with her are really good and just to keep doing them, especially "tummy time". Abacus pretty much slept through the whole thing so we didn't do any tests or anything. She's going to send us some black and white graphic images on flash cards to have Abacus observe. And then she left and said she would visit pretty much monthly, depending on Abacus' progress. For now she's just observing to see whether there is slow development and then we'll see what needs to be done.
She seemed really nice (too).
Yesterday Michelle, the Visiting neurodevelopmental therapist came. She didn't stay long, it was more like a formal introduction, she took a few notes about whether Abacus was attending to voices or was she observing things visually, did she makes noises? did she cry ever? (some babies don't) and so on. She said the exercises we've been doing with her are really good and just to keep doing them, especially "tummy time". Abacus pretty much slept through the whole thing so we didn't do any tests or anything. She's going to send us some black and white graphic images on flash cards to have Abacus observe. And then she left and said she would visit pretty much monthly, depending on Abacus' progress. For now she's just observing to see whether there is slow development and then we'll see what needs to be done.
She seemed really nice (too).
Saturday, July 5, 2008
the babysitter
So today we went and met with Jenna who is going to babysit abacus for a couple of hours a week while danielle is at university. My work has been really awesome in allowing me to work from home 3 mornings a week which is going to help out a lot with allowing us to work and study and have a baby.
Jenna and Warren and their 11 month old son Leo are really nice and we think we have made a good choice in a babysitter. Leo is huge next to Abacus, literally over three times the size, he was really interested in Abacus, his eyes lit up when he saw her and apparently he does have a big fascination with babies, so they should be good buddies. They all loved Abacus too and had a bit of a hold, they'd already forgotten what it is like to hold a "new born" - though Leo was about 800grams heavier than Abacus is now when he was born. This will be a good test too, they said, for juggling two kids at once. We're really happy that she will have lots of different people in her life and that we're able to find people through alternative solutions to institutions for now - not that we're anti them, there's just a lot less waiting lists and forms this way and more community.
On friday Abacus celebrated forth of july with sparklers and slept in front of a nice warm fire in a wooden laundry basket - see photos.
There was also a tense few moments today when we left her trusty pacifier at a cafe and had to double back to get it - she was pretty pissed off - but very forgiving when we reunited them.
We've been doing exercises lately to strengthen her muscles. Trisomy 21 babies are known to have lower muscle tone - which Abacus hasn't really shown, definitely not to the extent of being what they call a "floppy baby", her arms and legs are strong, but now we're working on her neck - which again is on the lower end of the spectrum but she is benefiting from her push-ups and sit ups. Tomorrow the neuro-developement team is coming to visit, that will be interesting, she will help with muscle tone too, as the problem is not her muscles but more a neural issue with the motor-cortex. But we'll know more tomorrow.
Jenna and Warren and their 11 month old son Leo are really nice and we think we have made a good choice in a babysitter. Leo is huge next to Abacus, literally over three times the size, he was really interested in Abacus, his eyes lit up when he saw her and apparently he does have a big fascination with babies, so they should be good buddies. They all loved Abacus too and had a bit of a hold, they'd already forgotten what it is like to hold a "new born" - though Leo was about 800grams heavier than Abacus is now when he was born. This will be a good test too, they said, for juggling two kids at once. We're really happy that she will have lots of different people in her life and that we're able to find people through alternative solutions to institutions for now - not that we're anti them, there's just a lot less waiting lists and forms this way and more community.
On friday Abacus celebrated forth of july with sparklers and slept in front of a nice warm fire in a wooden laundry basket - see photos.
There was also a tense few moments today when we left her trusty pacifier at a cafe and had to double back to get it - she was pretty pissed off - but very forgiving when we reunited them.
We've been doing exercises lately to strengthen her muscles. Trisomy 21 babies are known to have lower muscle tone - which Abacus hasn't really shown, definitely not to the extent of being what they call a "floppy baby", her arms and legs are strong, but now we're working on her neck - which again is on the lower end of the spectrum but she is benefiting from her push-ups and sit ups. Tomorrow the neuro-developement team is coming to visit, that will be interesting, she will help with muscle tone too, as the problem is not her muscles but more a neural issue with the motor-cortex. But we'll know more tomorrow.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
a curious incident
(I guess that last title kind of ruined the suspense)
So back when Abacus was in neonates - I went to fuel to get a coffee, which is in this tiny little corner of the hospital and reminds me of that lemon, lime and bitters commercial (kind of like this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLigxFg5Whs . except she goes to a vending machine and selects lemon, lime bitters, and the vending machine opens up and there's a posh bar inside with a smooth bartender) because there's this surrounding setting of a sterile pale walled hospital, then in this tiny corner there's this flash little takeaway cafe bar.
So anyway, I ask for a mochachino with 2 sugars. The barrister is hella european and he shakes his head with a smile and simply says "No".
And I'm like Um?
And he says - "It'll be too sweet . . . I'll put one in."
And then went to making it.
It was a truely awesome moment in my life.
And the wierd thing is - that no one else has ever seen him.
Weird.
So back when Abacus was in neonates - I went to fuel to get a coffee, which is in this tiny little corner of the hospital and reminds me of that lemon, lime and bitters commercial (kind of like this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLigxFg5Whs . except she goes to a vending machine and selects lemon, lime bitters, and the vending machine opens up and there's a posh bar inside with a smooth bartender) because there's this surrounding setting of a sterile pale walled hospital, then in this tiny corner there's this flash little takeaway cafe bar.
So anyway, I ask for a mochachino with 2 sugars. The barrister is hella european and he shakes his head with a smile and simply says "No".
And I'm like Um?
And he says - "It'll be too sweet . . . I'll put one in."
And then went to making it.
It was a truely awesome moment in my life.
And the wierd thing is - that no one else has ever seen him.
Weird.
SHE CAN HEAR!!!!
This morning we returned for our follow up audiology exam.
We had instructions to arrive at 830am and feed her and get her relaxed so that he could do all of his tests.
Unfortunately Abacus had decided to wake up early for her morning feed and so we were not really looking forward to getting up to get there by 830. But we made it.
When we got into the hospital Abacus started looking up at all the lights down the corridors and seemed really interested in where we were.
We took her back into the room where she had her photoshoot and he scrubbed down her head to put on the electrodes, which she HATED, but the solution he used smelled like maple doughnuts, which was nice. Then we had to feed her and swaddle her so that she would go to sleep. It didn't take long at all for her to nod off, she spent a bit of time trying to fight sleep off but it finally overpowered her.
And so
the doctor - who loves babies, and I'm sure must have a million - attached all the electrodes, which looked like the crown of some futuristic buddhist ruler and stuck something in her ear. The piece in the ear sends a signal, which creates a steady and controllable charge of neuro- impulses which are detected by the eletcrode crown and interpreted by computer.
The doctor had to run back and forth between us and his other patients - but we were relieved when he said "Her hearing is normal and there's absolutely nothing to worry about". Yay! Another one checked off the list.
Apparently downs kids can be more susceptible to glue ear and ear infections (glue ear is a build up of fluid behind the ear drum and can be caused from colds - and can incidentally be as common, it is in part influenced by undeveloped passage ways between the throat and ears) we just need to keep an eye on her. He also gave us some pamphlets on how to work with her in terms of speech and give her good a head start in developing skills which might be a bit harder for her to pick up.
So it was a really possitive experience.
Then we returned to the Neonates ward.
I'd forgotten the heat - and also how it effects peoples breath, which I noticed almost immediately. We were here ironically for our homecare visit - whcih we thought we may as well do in the hospital while we were there.
Danielle first borrowed a couple of books on downs syndrome from the neo nates store, where the store owner remembered us well as she loves Abacus. We had to wait a while in the waiting room where we could hear a distraught mother crying and I soon remembered the reality of the neonates ward.
Veree was very impressed by Abacus' growth and progress and skills and how she's gotten chubby and even more cute. She had to take some blood, but Abacus is used to that - it didn't flow so easilly - as she has more fat in her heel now. Haha. Hopefully it was a good enough sample - though I'm pretty sure there's not much more to find in there.
Afterwards we realised our parking permit was only good to allow us parking in the out-patients car park - but wasn't free????? What the hell? So - yes - we got another $45 fine. I'm about sick of this carpark.
Abacus was so good through all of it. So patient and content with all the prodding poking and testing.
We had instructions to arrive at 830am and feed her and get her relaxed so that he could do all of his tests.
Unfortunately Abacus had decided to wake up early for her morning feed and so we were not really looking forward to getting up to get there by 830. But we made it.
When we got into the hospital Abacus started looking up at all the lights down the corridors and seemed really interested in where we were.
We took her back into the room where she had her photoshoot and he scrubbed down her head to put on the electrodes, which she HATED, but the solution he used smelled like maple doughnuts, which was nice. Then we had to feed her and swaddle her so that she would go to sleep. It didn't take long at all for her to nod off, she spent a bit of time trying to fight sleep off but it finally overpowered her.
And so
the doctor - who loves babies, and I'm sure must have a million - attached all the electrodes, which looked like the crown of some futuristic buddhist ruler and stuck something in her ear. The piece in the ear sends a signal, which creates a steady and controllable charge of neuro- impulses which are detected by the eletcrode crown and interpreted by computer.
The doctor had to run back and forth between us and his other patients - but we were relieved when he said "Her hearing is normal and there's absolutely nothing to worry about". Yay! Another one checked off the list.
Apparently downs kids can be more susceptible to glue ear and ear infections (glue ear is a build up of fluid behind the ear drum and can be caused from colds - and can incidentally be as common, it is in part influenced by undeveloped passage ways between the throat and ears) we just need to keep an eye on her. He also gave us some pamphlets on how to work with her in terms of speech and give her good a head start in developing skills which might be a bit harder for her to pick up.
So it was a really possitive experience.
Then we returned to the Neonates ward.
I'd forgotten the heat - and also how it effects peoples breath, which I noticed almost immediately. We were here ironically for our homecare visit - whcih we thought we may as well do in the hospital while we were there.
Danielle first borrowed a couple of books on downs syndrome from the neo nates store, where the store owner remembered us well as she loves Abacus. We had to wait a while in the waiting room where we could hear a distraught mother crying and I soon remembered the reality of the neonates ward.
Veree was very impressed by Abacus' growth and progress and skills and how she's gotten chubby and even more cute. She had to take some blood, but Abacus is used to that - it didn't flow so easilly - as she has more fat in her heel now. Haha. Hopefully it was a good enough sample - though I'm pretty sure there's not much more to find in there.
Afterwards we realised our parking permit was only good to allow us parking in the out-patients car park - but wasn't free????? What the hell? So - yes - we got another $45 fine. I'm about sick of this carpark.
Abacus was so good through all of it. So patient and content with all the prodding poking and testing.
ch.ch.ch.ch.ch.changes
So firstly I just wanted to sat that Abacus is unbelievably cute. Even when she wakes up an hour early for her feed at 3am, it's hard to be annoyed, I won't say impossible - but very hard.
She's changed so much over the last couple of months. Her skin has lost that ethereal softly electrical raspberry texture and has become like real skin. She's also almost doubled in weight - today she was 2710grams, and grown about 9cm, from 40cm to, well, 49cm of course. She loves looking around, she likes looking up at lights with her wide eyes and seems very keen at observing everything around her.
Last night when I got home, she looked at me with a huge grin before burping loudly in my face and resuming a more disinterested look before turning her attention elsewhere.
She's getting good at gripping things too and being more aware of things that she can grab, like her bottle - or danielles hair.
She's pretty good at amusing herself, just lying there and looking around and making noises. But she also really likes to be held, which we might oblige too much - but we also really like holding her.
She's really good at feeding and is getting really fast at it now - which is helpful in those 3am situations. She's reasonably good at going back to sleep for hours afterwards at night, or a couple of hours in the day with a bit of time pencilled in for looking around and gurgling.
She also seems interested in foreign languages- which is probably something to do with a little thing called "novelty preference".
She also likes cafes, where her prefered drink is milk, I like how she just wakes up in random places and is completely unfazed by it. I also like how she's 2 months old but looks 2 days old, and people are wierded out by how we're so comfortable at taking her around places.
She's changed so much over the last couple of months. Her skin has lost that ethereal softly electrical raspberry texture and has become like real skin. She's also almost doubled in weight - today she was 2710grams, and grown about 9cm, from 40cm to, well, 49cm of course. She loves looking around, she likes looking up at lights with her wide eyes and seems very keen at observing everything around her.
Last night when I got home, she looked at me with a huge grin before burping loudly in my face and resuming a more disinterested look before turning her attention elsewhere.
She's getting good at gripping things too and being more aware of things that she can grab, like her bottle - or danielles hair.
She's pretty good at amusing herself, just lying there and looking around and making noises. But she also really likes to be held, which we might oblige too much - but we also really like holding her.
She's really good at feeding and is getting really fast at it now - which is helpful in those 3am situations. She's reasonably good at going back to sleep for hours afterwards at night, or a couple of hours in the day with a bit of time pencilled in for looking around and gurgling.
She also seems interested in foreign languages- which is probably something to do with a little thing called "novelty preference".
She also likes cafes, where her prefered drink is milk, I like how she just wakes up in random places and is completely unfazed by it. I also like how she's 2 months old but looks 2 days old, and people are wierded out by how we're so comfortable at taking her around places.
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