Happy Birthday Mam
We put this quick video clips together to wish you a Very Happy 60th Birthday from the three of us. We are really sorry we are not there to celebrate it with you but we will celebrate again when you come over.
Lots of love
Ger, Caroline and Ashling
Click on the below links to view
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9ZcYbUVWK8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjJQ1elOLbA
Hello again
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Monday, December 24, 2007
Happy Christmas Everyone.
Hello there,
Happy Christmas to one and all.
Things are pretty much the same from this end. But I am delighted to say that Ashling is still making progress bit by bit every day. "Slow and steady wins the race" they say, we certainly are hoping so.
Our good friends Lavina and Tom arrived from Ireland on Saturday and it is great to have them around for Christmas. We are slighted restricted in what we can do with them as we try to stay as close to the hospital as possible, so there will be no boozy nights out but we are all older and more mature nowadays anyway!!! (or so they say). We also have my cousin, Mairead and her other half, Keith, arriving for a few days, and to top it all off, we have 2 close friends from Sydney, Sonia nd Luis arriving on the 26th so we have a very social time ahead!! Poor Ashling will be completely forgoten about...NOT!
We are heading to Caroline's sister, Siobhan's, for Christmas day/evening for dinner with some of her family so we are looking forward to that.
I hope you all have a peacful and happy christmas. All the very best for the new year and I hope Santy comes!!
Finally a quick word of thanks to you all. We cannot believe the warmth, love and support we are receiving through this blog, little did we know when we were setting it up. We have heard for friends far and near, some people we have hardly talked to since our college days. Its fantastic and great to be back in contact. I hope we can keep it up.
Merry Christmas Everyone.
Ger, Caroline and Ashling
Happy Christmas to one and all.
Things are pretty much the same from this end. But I am delighted to say that Ashling is still making progress bit by bit every day. "Slow and steady wins the race" they say, we certainly are hoping so.
Our good friends Lavina and Tom arrived from Ireland on Saturday and it is great to have them around for Christmas. We are slighted restricted in what we can do with them as we try to stay as close to the hospital as possible, so there will be no boozy nights out but we are all older and more mature nowadays anyway!!! (or so they say). We also have my cousin, Mairead and her other half, Keith, arriving for a few days, and to top it all off, we have 2 close friends from Sydney, Sonia nd Luis arriving on the 26th so we have a very social time ahead!! Poor Ashling will be completely forgoten about...NOT!
We are heading to Caroline's sister, Siobhan's, for Christmas day/evening for dinner with some of her family so we are looking forward to that.
I hope you all have a peacful and happy christmas. All the very best for the new year and I hope Santy comes!!
Finally a quick word of thanks to you all. We cannot believe the warmth, love and support we are receiving through this blog, little did we know when we were setting it up. We have heard for friends far and near, some people we have hardly talked to since our college days. Its fantastic and great to be back in contact. I hope we can keep it up.
Merry Christmas Everyone.
Ger, Caroline and Ashling
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
What exactly is wrong with Ashling?
Hmmmm - an interesting question indeed and one that MANY doctors have been pondering over for a couple of months now.
Many of you have asked me this question and the answer is - we don't know yet! We don't know what exactly is wrong with Ashling or what caused this.
Both Ashling and Ciara came into this world with stiff limbs. This is not because they were squashed in the womb. On the contrary, I had excess fluid in both sacs so they had plenty of room to move around. However, when an autopsy was done on Ciara, it showed that she also had stiff limbs, but this did not cause her death. The coroner expected to find a heart defect or a brain haemorrhage, but found neither. Unfortunately this means that we will never know why she died but it wasn't due to any obvious "event", as they put it.
As you know, in addition to having stiff limbs, Ashling's diaphragm was elevated. Again, a mystery!
What will happen over the next few months is that, depending on how Ashling develops, they will be able to diagnose her problem properly (hopefully) i.e give it a name! Then we will get some idea of her future prognosis. And we will hopefully find out the cause and look at its implications.
The only thing we know right now is that Ashling is improving everyday and it looks like she'll lead a normal enough life. Only time will tell with Ash but it looks like she has normal intellect and that her problems are mostly physical, which will hopefully be rectified with time. Whatever happened to the girls was not the result of all the drugs and alcohol that I consumed while I was pregnant (Not!). The doctors have reassured me hundreds of times that this was not my fault in any way.
Anyway, hope that this answers some of your questions - for now.
Many of you have asked me this question and the answer is - we don't know yet! We don't know what exactly is wrong with Ashling or what caused this.
Both Ashling and Ciara came into this world with stiff limbs. This is not because they were squashed in the womb. On the contrary, I had excess fluid in both sacs so they had plenty of room to move around. However, when an autopsy was done on Ciara, it showed that she also had stiff limbs, but this did not cause her death. The coroner expected to find a heart defect or a brain haemorrhage, but found neither. Unfortunately this means that we will never know why she died but it wasn't due to any obvious "event", as they put it.
As you know, in addition to having stiff limbs, Ashling's diaphragm was elevated. Again, a mystery!
What will happen over the next few months is that, depending on how Ashling develops, they will be able to diagnose her problem properly (hopefully) i.e give it a name! Then we will get some idea of her future prognosis. And we will hopefully find out the cause and look at its implications.
The only thing we know right now is that Ashling is improving everyday and it looks like she'll lead a normal enough life. Only time will tell with Ash but it looks like she has normal intellect and that her problems are mostly physical, which will hopefully be rectified with time. Whatever happened to the girls was not the result of all the drugs and alcohol that I consumed while I was pregnant (Not!). The doctors have reassured me hundreds of times that this was not my fault in any way.
Anyway, hope that this answers some of your questions - for now.
Christmas in NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit)
Well it looks like we'll be here for Christmas but it could be a lot worse. The unit has been decorated beautifully and there is a lovely Christmasy atmosphere around the place.
It seems like Ashling has turned the corner - she looks bigger and stronger everyday, and her lung capacity seems to be getter better. We are quietly confident that we will get home sometime in January, if this progress continues. Exciting stuff at this stage as we can hardly remember what it's like to have a bit of normality and live in our own home (even though Ronald McDonald House has been great).
Well, hope you all have a lovely Christmas and thanks again for all your kind words and prayers!
We'll keep this blog updated throughout the Christmas period so stay tuned! We're going to try to put a little video on it next! xxx
It seems like Ashling has turned the corner - she looks bigger and stronger everyday, and her lung capacity seems to be getter better. We are quietly confident that we will get home sometime in January, if this progress continues. Exciting stuff at this stage as we can hardly remember what it's like to have a bit of normality and live in our own home (even though Ronald McDonald House has been great).
Well, hope you all have a lovely Christmas and thanks again for all your kind words and prayers!
We'll keep this blog updated throughout the Christmas period so stay tuned! We're going to try to put a little video on it next! xxx
Friday, December 14, 2007
Thank you! Dec 14th
Once again, thanks so much for all your wonderful words, prayers, love and support that you've given the 3 of us. It has helped us more than you'll ever know. Please God we'll be home in Orewa after Christmas and I'll be able to get in touch with many of you to express our gratitude properly. In the meantime, Ashling seems to be doing a little bit better (I'm almost afraid to say it, not to mind write it). So keep up the prayers!
Best way to contact us besides this blog and our email is by texting or calling us on our mobiles:
Caroline's is 021 451424 (and remember that my phone was recently stolen so I don't have many of your numbers. Thanks to those who sent them on)
Ger's is 021 986837
Lots of love Always, Car, Ger and Ashling x
Best way to contact us besides this blog and our email is by texting or calling us on our mobiles:
Caroline's is 021 451424 (and remember that my phone was recently stolen so I don't have many of your numbers. Thanks to those who sent them on)
Ger's is 021 986837
Lots of love Always, Car, Ger and Ashling x
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Recovery from surgery and her leg casts.
Sorry it's been a while but we haven't had a lot to report. Ashling is very content these days but her breathing doesn't seem to be making much progress. It seems that she progressed too quickly after the surgery and then crashed. It now looks like it may take a while for her lung to inflate and grow into the space that has been provided by the surgery. We also just found out that she has a broken rib from the surgery so that has compromised her further. The good thing is that she is growing nicely, which is a big positive and the doctors are telling us that in time her breathing will improve as she gets stronger.
As you can see from the pictures she is sporting two white casts on her legs. They go up to the top of her thigh . The idea of them is to help flatten and straighten her feet and knees. They are on for six weeks and will be replaced once a week. This is her second week of them and she doesn't seem to mind having them too much. They are quite heavy so she's lucky that she has a sedentry lifestyle!
As you can see from the pictures she is sporting two white casts on her legs. They go up to the top of her thigh . The idea of them is to help flatten and straighten her feet and knees. They are on for six weeks and will be replaced once a week. This is her second week of them and she doesn't seem to mind having them too much. They are quite heavy so she's lucky that she has a sedentry lifestyle!
Monday, December 3, 2007
How to use this site
For those of you who are a bit confused, here's a quick bit of info....
If you want to go back to the beginning to read our first entry (first blog), you need to go to the archive under the photos, click on the arrow beside "2007" . Then you should see the first entry - "Blog Creation" at the bottom of the page and you can follow the sequence of events reading from the bottom to the top, where the most recent entry is.
If you'd like to leave a comment, you can chose to leave it under any one of the blogs. You just need to click on "comments" and then put your name in the username box and then write your comment. After you've entered a comment, it doesn't appear immediately, it comes to us and we have to check it before it's published. It should be up by the next day.
As Ger wrote in one of the blogs, we don't have any return contact details for some of you who have been in touch. If you get a chance please leave your number or an email address with your comment so that we can get back to you in time.
If you have any problems using this site please let us know, as chances are that other people are having the same problems. You could write to Ger at ger_collins@hotmail.com if you don't want to out it on the site.
Cheers, Car
If you want to go back to the beginning to read our first entry (first blog), you need to go to the archive under the photos, click on the arrow beside "2007" . Then you should see the first entry - "Blog Creation" at the bottom of the page and you can follow the sequence of events reading from the bottom to the top, where the most recent entry is.
If you'd like to leave a comment, you can chose to leave it under any one of the blogs. You just need to click on "comments" and then put your name in the username box and then write your comment. After you've entered a comment, it doesn't appear immediately, it comes to us and we have to check it before it's published. It should be up by the next day.
As Ger wrote in one of the blogs, we don't have any return contact details for some of you who have been in touch. If you get a chance please leave your number or an email address with your comment so that we can get back to you in time.
If you have any problems using this site please let us know, as chances are that other people are having the same problems. You could write to Ger at ger_collins@hotmail.com if you don't want to out it on the site.
Cheers, Car
Dec 3rd - No news really
Ash is doing alright but no major change over the weekend. She's still on oxygen support but she is very comfortable. She's getting her foot and leg casts tomorrow as they had to put it off last week cause she wasn't up to it. The casts will stay on for about 6 weeks, but they'll be redone weekly as babies grow so quickly. Thank God or she'd have very smelly feet!
Othewise she's well, getting very alert now and starting to suck her thumb a little bit (ok I admit...I do force it in her mouth a wee bit)
No more for now. Hope you've all done your Christmas shopping. It could be Easter time for all we know!
Othewise she's well, getting very alert now and starting to suck her thumb a little bit (ok I admit...I do force it in her mouth a wee bit)
No more for now. Hope you've all done your Christmas shopping. It could be Easter time for all we know!
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Nov 28th
Hello everyone,
This really is a rollercoaster little journey that Ashling is having. Just when we thought she was on the mend, she had a bit of a set back on Tuesday. She was going so well we were moved to a lesser intensive ward but she started to breathe heavier and seemed to be working very hard. First impressions of an X-ray suggested that her operation hadn't been successful but later that was ruled out. It now looks like part of her lung has collapsed which sounds very bad but hopefully it isn't. It's maybe just fluid in her lung or it's maybe just over worked and has shutdown for a few days. The frustrating thing is that there doesn't seem to be any consise answers and only time will tell. She has improved but is still not back to where she was on Monday.
Thank you to everyone for your comments, they are a breath of fresh air and we love reading all the kind words and prayers of support for Ashling and ourselves. We have a good chat every night about the different comments. We were just saying that it would be great if you left an email address as we have no way of getting back to some of you. It has been fantastic to hear from some people who we haven't talked to in a long time.
PS: What's this "Gerard" about???!!!! I thought my mother was the only person that called me Gerard and that was only when I was in trouble. hehe
This really is a rollercoaster little journey that Ashling is having. Just when we thought she was on the mend, she had a bit of a set back on Tuesday. She was going so well we were moved to a lesser intensive ward but she started to breathe heavier and seemed to be working very hard. First impressions of an X-ray suggested that her operation hadn't been successful but later that was ruled out. It now looks like part of her lung has collapsed which sounds very bad but hopefully it isn't. It's maybe just fluid in her lung or it's maybe just over worked and has shutdown for a few days. The frustrating thing is that there doesn't seem to be any consise answers and only time will tell. She has improved but is still not back to where she was on Monday.
Thank you to everyone for your comments, they are a breath of fresh air and we love reading all the kind words and prayers of support for Ashling and ourselves. We have a good chat every night about the different comments. We were just saying that it would be great if you left an email address as we have no way of getting back to some of you. It has been fantastic to hear from some people who we haven't talked to in a long time.
PS: What's this "Gerard" about???!!!! I thought my mother was the only person that called me Gerard and that was only when I was in trouble. hehe
Monday, November 26, 2007
Nov 26th - Ashling's Recovery
She's doing great! She still requires some help with her lungs, i.e. a small amount of extra oxygen, but besides that, she's very comfortable. In the last 2 days, I've started breastfeeding her every second feed, and she gets tube fed the other feeds. She's managing really well, though she gets very tired from time to time. We're working it up slowly, taking into account that she still has a compromised lung and she's recovering from major surgery. Considering everything though, she's very comfortable and her wound is healing really well. She's even started smiling!
Tomorrow we have an appointment with the Orthapedic team who are going to make a plan to start helping Ashling to move her limbs more. It's all happening!
Getting home for Christmas is getting more likely every day! Yipee!
Tomorrow we have an appointment with the Orthapedic team who are going to make a plan to start helping Ashling to move her limbs more. It's all happening!
Getting home for Christmas is getting more likely every day! Yipee!
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Caroline's Mobile Phone - stolen
Lowest of the low - my phone was stolen from the Mother's Lounge at the hospital yesterday morning. So if anyone has been trying to contact me in the past 2 days, sorry! I am going to organise a new phone tomorrow and I'll let you know the details asap.
Unfortunately, I hadn't recorded friends' numbers so it's going to be really hard for a while, trying to get up to date with your numbers again. Talk about bad timing for this to happen!
Update: (Nov 26th)
Got a new phone but kept the same number 021 451424 BUT I don't have many of your numbers. so PLEASE text me your number whenever you get a chance. Thanks!
Unfortunately, I hadn't recorded friends' numbers so it's going to be really hard for a while, trying to get up to date with your numbers again. Talk about bad timing for this to happen!
Update: (Nov 26th)
Got a new phone but kept the same number 021 451424 BUT I don't have many of your numbers. so PLEASE text me your number whenever you get a chance. Thanks!
Tues, 20th November
Thanks for all the lovely comments guys. Ashling will be very pleased with her popularity when she's able to read about the first month of her life!
Well the tubes are all out, Thank God! She is now chest drain, morphine and ventilator free, and her wound from the surgery is healing nicely. She is still on some pain relief and is using an oxygen support system. But they will hopefully be able to wean her off that over the next couple of weeks. Looking at her chest x-rays, it seems like her lung has started to inflate but it will take a wee while for her to be able to breathe properly on her own. She is exhausted after the whole ordeal of the last few days. So we are not allowed to take her out of her cot much but at least we can take her out at least once a day now. Not being able to cuddle her since her surgery last Wednesday was very hard! We were suffering major withdrawal symptoms!!!
Well the tubes are all out, Thank God! She is now chest drain, morphine and ventilator free, and her wound from the surgery is healing nicely. She is still on some pain relief and is using an oxygen support system. But they will hopefully be able to wean her off that over the next couple of weeks. Looking at her chest x-rays, it seems like her lung has started to inflate but it will take a wee while for her to be able to breathe properly on her own. She is exhausted after the whole ordeal of the last few days. So we are not allowed to take her out of her cot much but at least we can take her out at least once a day now. Not being able to cuddle her since her surgery last Wednesday was very hard! We were suffering major withdrawal symptoms!!!
Friday, November 16, 2007
Post Operation Friday 16th November
Well no real news yet regarding the success of Ashling's operation as she is still recovering and using a ventilator to help her breathe. Once the doctors can remove her chest drain from the surgery, they will be able to take her off morphine and this will improve her breathing, and make her less dependant on the ventilator. Then we will know whether or not her lung capacity has improved. But looking at her chest x-rays, it looks like the surgeons did an excellent job and we would be very surprised if her breathing doesn't improve.
Yesterday Mam and I were with her and we got a few frights because she was full of mucus and throwing up occassionally. Because she has a tube down her month and in her nose, her cry is a silent one so it was quite easy for her distress to go unnoticed by the nurses. So Nanna decided that a 24 hr vigil would have to be arranged. Thanks to those of you who got roped in last night to sit and watch our munchkin, Auntie Siobhan, Rohan and Lorraine. This made it possible for Ger and I to get a bit of shut-eye. The help was fantastic!
Hopefully, by the end of the weekend, Ashling will be well on her way to breathing on her own or with a little help only. Can't wait to see the Drs take all the blooming tubes out!
Yesterday Mam and I were with her and we got a few frights because she was full of mucus and throwing up occassionally. Because she has a tube down her month and in her nose, her cry is a silent one so it was quite easy for her distress to go unnoticed by the nurses. So Nanna decided that a 24 hr vigil would have to be arranged. Thanks to those of you who got roped in last night to sit and watch our munchkin, Auntie Siobhan, Rohan and Lorraine. This made it possible for Ger and I to get a bit of shut-eye. The help was fantastic!
Hopefully, by the end of the weekend, Ashling will be well on her way to breathing on her own or with a little help only. Can't wait to see the Drs take all the blooming tubes out!
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Ashlings Operation
Hi Everyone,
Just a quick note to say Ashling's operation went well. It sounds like they had a difficult time finding a vein to give her drugs to knock her out and ruptured an archery before finding one. They were then unable to do the key hole surgery for some reason and had to revert to the classic way of open surgery(really know what I'm talking about here, can you tell!!!). The wound is about 2 1/2 inches long. She is now a bit puffed up on morphine but an x-ray indicates that all is well with her lung which is great news. Caroline will no doubt give a more detailed version soon.
Thanks for all the comments, it's great to receive such love and sincerity from you all. We have wonderful friends.
Just a quick note to say Ashling's operation went well. It sounds like they had a difficult time finding a vein to give her drugs to knock her out and ruptured an archery before finding one. They were then unable to do the key hole surgery for some reason and had to revert to the classic way of open surgery(really know what I'm talking about here, can you tell!!!). The wound is about 2 1/2 inches long. She is now a bit puffed up on morphine but an x-ray indicates that all is well with her lung which is great news. Caroline will no doubt give a more detailed version soon.
Thanks for all the comments, it's great to receive such love and sincerity from you all. We have wonderful friends.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Ciara's Funeral and an update on Ashling
Car here. Just looked at this website properly for the first time. Obviously, Ger set it up! He's a bit of a legend!
Well it's been a very emotional few days but we have had some closure on Ciara's death through having a funeral service for her. Because the autopsy results came back without any obvious cause of death, which was very hard to deal with, having a small funeral for her on Sunday at our home in Orewa was the best way for us to say goodbye. It was absolutely beautiful. Fr Peter, our fantastic local Priest, said the mass at our house so it was very intimate and personal.
Ashling is doing ok. Unfortunately, she seemed to sense that there was something sad happening on Sunday and she took a couple of steps back while we were gone from the hospital. By the time we got back about 6 hours later, they had put her on increased oxygen supply and had done lots more tests and X-rays because she wasn't a happy camper! We ended up having a big night at the hospital so it was a very emotional day. The doctors now think that she's a bit exhausted from working off a lung and a half, which is pretty much what's she been doing. So the surgery tomorrow should hopefully make a big difference to her. Basically they will be flattening her diaphragm, giving her squashed lung a change to inflate and moving her liver and bowel back down. It will take her a few days to recover and we probably won't see any improvement for a couple of weeks. Hopefully we'll be able to go home then and we can work on her limb problems from home. We really want to have her home for Christmas!!!! I can't imagine how spoilt she's going to be!
So that's the latest. I just want to say sorry for the poor contact over the past fortnight. It's been a complete rollercoaster, mostly plummeting downwards! But hopefully things will get better from here. We have received heaps of texts and messages that we haven't had time to reply to. Please don't feel that we are ignoring you, or that your love and prayers have gone unnoticed but things have been too overwhelming to try to keep up contact with anyone outside of the family, even with all of our families to be honest. But at least with this blog, you'll be able to check what's happening when you want to. Please feel free to add comments here. It will be a lovely thing for us to print and give to Ashling in time, to see how many people loved her before they even met her!
Finally, thank you to everyone who has sent us beautiful flowers, they have really lifted our spirits. However, at this stage because we are staying in temporary accomodation we would prefer that if you really insist on doing something of this nature, you could..........make a wee donation to the ronaldmcdonaldfoundation (as they have been fantastic to us) or to twinlossnewzealand (for the same reasons), or you can drop us in a dinner to the Ronald McDonald House, or just wait a while and get to hold Ashling and give her some cuddles! God knows she deserves them! But continued prayers and positive energy being sent to Ashling, Ger and I is perfectly sufficient, and has definitely helped us get through the hardest period of our lives! Thank you all for that.
We will add some more photos over the next few days. Lots n lots of love, Car and Ger xoxoxo
Well it's been a very emotional few days but we have had some closure on Ciara's death through having a funeral service for her. Because the autopsy results came back without any obvious cause of death, which was very hard to deal with, having a small funeral for her on Sunday at our home in Orewa was the best way for us to say goodbye. It was absolutely beautiful. Fr Peter, our fantastic local Priest, said the mass at our house so it was very intimate and personal.
Ashling is doing ok. Unfortunately, she seemed to sense that there was something sad happening on Sunday and she took a couple of steps back while we were gone from the hospital. By the time we got back about 6 hours later, they had put her on increased oxygen supply and had done lots more tests and X-rays because she wasn't a happy camper! We ended up having a big night at the hospital so it was a very emotional day. The doctors now think that she's a bit exhausted from working off a lung and a half, which is pretty much what's she been doing. So the surgery tomorrow should hopefully make a big difference to her. Basically they will be flattening her diaphragm, giving her squashed lung a change to inflate and moving her liver and bowel back down. It will take her a few days to recover and we probably won't see any improvement for a couple of weeks. Hopefully we'll be able to go home then and we can work on her limb problems from home. We really want to have her home for Christmas!!!! I can't imagine how spoilt she's going to be!
So that's the latest. I just want to say sorry for the poor contact over the past fortnight. It's been a complete rollercoaster, mostly plummeting downwards! But hopefully things will get better from here. We have received heaps of texts and messages that we haven't had time to reply to. Please don't feel that we are ignoring you, or that your love and prayers have gone unnoticed but things have been too overwhelming to try to keep up contact with anyone outside of the family, even with all of our families to be honest. But at least with this blog, you'll be able to check what's happening when you want to. Please feel free to add comments here. It will be a lovely thing for us to print and give to Ashling in time, to see how many people loved her before they even met her!
Finally, thank you to everyone who has sent us beautiful flowers, they have really lifted our spirits. However, at this stage because we are staying in temporary accomodation we would prefer that if you really insist on doing something of this nature, you could..........make a wee donation to the ronaldmcdonaldfoundation (as they have been fantastic to us) or to twinlossnewzealand (for the same reasons), or you can drop us in a dinner to the Ronald McDonald House, or just wait a while and get to hold Ashling and give her some cuddles! God knows she deserves them! But continued prayers and positive energy being sent to Ashling, Ger and I is perfectly sufficient, and has definitely helped us get through the hardest period of our lives! Thank you all for that.
We will add some more photos over the next few days. Lots n lots of love, Car and Ger xoxoxo
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
MRI result Normal
Hello again,
Just a quick update to say our little girl Ashling is doing great.
Yesterday she had an MRI which was the last of a line of intensive testing.
The results of the MRI were NORMAL which is fantastic news and a huge relief for us. It means that her brain bits are all in the right place and as far as they can tell she will have normal intellect. It is not definitive and only time will tell any different. For now we are taking this as very positive news and it is a huge step towards a better life for our sweetheart.
The surgeons visited her yesterday and are talking about operating on her diaphram/lung next Wednesday to relieve the pressure of her liver sitting on top of her right lung.
Caroline is doing great, has a spring back in her step and with the aid of Granma is attending to Ashling's every need. I have returned to work and will hopefully take more time off when she gets to go home, hopefully in the not so distant furture.
Just a quick update to say our little girl Ashling is doing great.
Yesterday she had an MRI which was the last of a line of intensive testing.
The results of the MRI were NORMAL which is fantastic news and a huge relief for us. It means that her brain bits are all in the right place and as far as they can tell she will have normal intellect. It is not definitive and only time will tell any different. For now we are taking this as very positive news and it is a huge step towards a better life for our sweetheart.
The surgeons visited her yesterday and are talking about operating on her diaphram/lung next Wednesday to relieve the pressure of her liver sitting on top of her right lung.
Caroline is doing great, has a spring back in her step and with the aid of Granma is attending to Ashling's every need. I have returned to work and will hopefully take more time off when she gets to go home, hopefully in the not so distant furture.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Our whereabouts
Since being discharged on Saturday, Caroline and I are now staying at the Ronald McDonald house which is fantastic for us as it is only minutes away from the hospital. Ashling will be there for a couple of weeks until either she is strong enough to go home with oxygen or she has an operation to fix her lung. She is in fantastic hands and is being treated like royalty.
She has had extensive tests over the past 8 days and we have been pretty flat out spending time by her bedside or accompanying her for her tests. The doctors still don't have any conclusive results regarding her condition but no news is good news at this stage.
She seems to be very comfortable and we see postive changes in her every day. Fingers crossed that she will continue to get stronger day by day.
She has had extensive tests over the past 8 days and we have been pretty flat out spending time by her bedside or accompanying her for her tests. The doctors still don't have any conclusive results regarding her condition but no news is good news at this stage.
She seems to be very comfortable and we see postive changes in her every day. Fingers crossed that she will continue to get stronger day by day.
The Birth of our twins, Ashling and Ciara
Below is an email that we sent out but we didn't have everybody's email address so many of you might not have received it.
Dear friends and Family.
We are finally getting around to writing a quick mail to thank you all for your kind thoughts and loving support. The texts and emails of good wishes from everyone have been phenomenal. We are sorry for the lack of contact and information that we have given you but we have found it tough going over the past week and it has been too emotional to put down in words.
As many of you know we came in to Auckland Women’s Hospital last Thursday morning to be induced. On Saturday morning at 2am the doctors decided to do an emergency C-Section because Ashlings’s heart rate kept dipping and they didn’t think she’d last the stress of a natural birth. It was all really scary and Car and I found the C- section quite overwhelming. Little Ashling was born first and was whisked away to do whatever they do with newborns before she was taken to NICU (Newborn Intensive Care Unit).
Next our second twin, our little angel Ciara, (who had passed away at 7 months) was born and she was tiny altogether. Finally they removed the placentas, which were fused together. All in all it took about 10 minutes and another 20 or so to sew up my brave and beautiful wife back together.
I know you are all wondering how our little Ashling is getting on so we will try to explain what we know.
The text that was sent to some of you said that she had a few problems, that was for the want of a better word and the lack of information that we had at the time. We don’t have much more information but her symptoms are that she doesn’t move some of her joints very well. She lacks movement in her hands and fingers, and her arms and legs don’t extend fully. Also her diaphragm didn’t develop properly so her lung is squashed, making it difficult for her to breathe properly, and her liver and bowel are displaced on that side.
She is a strong little thing and is breathing quite well with her good lung although she still requires the aid of oxygen. Although she is in intensive care she is quite a content baby and doesn’t seem to be struggling in any way, which is a great thing.
She has undergone some extensive tests this week and we are meeting with the doctors to discuss the initial results tomorrow or Monday.
We got to spend some time with our little daughter Ciara on Saturday and again briefly on Sunday before she was taken to Wellington for an Autopsy. This was very special and emotional for us both, passing away at week 29 she was remarkably real like but a tiny wee thing. The midwives had dressed her in a lovely outfit and put her in a little basket. We got to hold her, said some prayers with her and it is time we will cherish forever.
Caroline is recovering well from the c-section but is trying to be too strong and has been over doing it the past few days paying the price yesterday by getting sick and exhausted. She has finally got some rest and is now recovering well. She is getting around a lot better today.
The staff here in the hospital, the consultants, doctors, midwifes and nurses are fantastic, most of them can’t do enough for us and are so compassionate and friendly. Many of them have gone well beyond the call of duty, it is has just been great.
That’s about all the information that we have at this time but we will send another mail when we have some more news on Ashling. Thanks again for all your prayers and thoughts.
Lots of love,
Dear friends and Family.
We are finally getting around to writing a quick mail to thank you all for your kind thoughts and loving support. The texts and emails of good wishes from everyone have been phenomenal. We are sorry for the lack of contact and information that we have given you but we have found it tough going over the past week and it has been too emotional to put down in words.
As many of you know we came in to Auckland Women’s Hospital last Thursday morning to be induced. On Saturday morning at 2am the doctors decided to do an emergency C-Section because Ashlings’s heart rate kept dipping and they didn’t think she’d last the stress of a natural birth. It was all really scary and Car and I found the C- section quite overwhelming. Little Ashling was born first and was whisked away to do whatever they do with newborns before she was taken to NICU (Newborn Intensive Care Unit).
Next our second twin, our little angel Ciara, (who had passed away at 7 months) was born and she was tiny altogether. Finally they removed the placentas, which were fused together. All in all it took about 10 minutes and another 20 or so to sew up my brave and beautiful wife back together.
I know you are all wondering how our little Ashling is getting on so we will try to explain what we know.
The text that was sent to some of you said that she had a few problems, that was for the want of a better word and the lack of information that we had at the time. We don’t have much more information but her symptoms are that she doesn’t move some of her joints very well. She lacks movement in her hands and fingers, and her arms and legs don’t extend fully. Also her diaphragm didn’t develop properly so her lung is squashed, making it difficult for her to breathe properly, and her liver and bowel are displaced on that side.
She is a strong little thing and is breathing quite well with her good lung although she still requires the aid of oxygen. Although she is in intensive care she is quite a content baby and doesn’t seem to be struggling in any way, which is a great thing.
She has undergone some extensive tests this week and we are meeting with the doctors to discuss the initial results tomorrow or Monday.
We got to spend some time with our little daughter Ciara on Saturday and again briefly on Sunday before she was taken to Wellington for an Autopsy. This was very special and emotional for us both, passing away at week 29 she was remarkably real like but a tiny wee thing. The midwives had dressed her in a lovely outfit and put her in a little basket. We got to hold her, said some prayers with her and it is time we will cherish forever.
Caroline is recovering well from the c-section but is trying to be too strong and has been over doing it the past few days paying the price yesterday by getting sick and exhausted. She has finally got some rest and is now recovering well. She is getting around a lot better today.
The staff here in the hospital, the consultants, doctors, midwifes and nurses are fantastic, most of them can’t do enough for us and are so compassionate and friendly. Many of them have gone well beyond the call of duty, it is has just been great.
That’s about all the information that we have at this time but we will send another mail when we have some more news on Ashling. Thanks again for all your prayers and thoughts.
Lots of love,
Blogg Creation
Hi there,
We have been inundated with good wishes and prayers for our little Ashling and are finding it impossible to get back to everyone. We decided to create this blogg in the hope that we can get back to as many people as possible. We will post an update as often as we feel we have something to update.
Thanks to everyone for your mails, phone calls, texts and flowers that you have sent. We really appreciate them.
Regards
Ger, Caroline and Ashling.
We have been inundated with good wishes and prayers for our little Ashling and are finding it impossible to get back to everyone. We decided to create this blogg in the hope that we can get back to as many people as possible. We will post an update as often as we feel we have something to update.
Thanks to everyone for your mails, phone calls, texts and flowers that you have sent. We really appreciate them.
Regards
Ger, Caroline and Ashling.
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