GCMN - Surgery Round 5

Apologies first of all for the lack of blog posts, life has been busy.

Apologies also for the crappy phone pics. Despite me packing 3 laptops, a tablet, & chargers, 2 phones, 4 suitcases, 2 back packs, a satchel & clothes for 3 days............... I forgot to pack our camera.



Thursday last week was a busy one. Mr C had to be at the new Royal Children's Hospital for pre-Op check in at 12 so we had all bags packed and ready the night before. Mamma Bear's parents were watching Mr B, Mr T & the 3 Girls and Miss M was coming with MB and I to the hospital.



We made excellent time and had the children at the inlaws by 9:30 leaving us plenty of time to switch from the bus to the mirage and headed into the city. After arriving about an hour early, Mr C was fasting so we had to hold off on brunch instead MB snuck off for a salad roll before we explored the new hospital. I have to say so many things are improved about the new RCH. Parking is ample, its reasonably easy to find your way around, there are plenty of activities for children from large touch screen computer games to a 2 story aquarium, playgrounds icecream shops and much more.



As midday approached we headed up to pre-op and signed in. There used to be multiple waiting rooms on the one floor for surgery there is now one large waiting room, the seating wasn't very well thought out and with 30 odd families crammed in it felt very loud and busy. C was content playing with a couple of transformers I had bought earlier and when they became less exciting he played games on my tablet.



The nurse saw us first weighing him and asking the usual questions before the anaesthesiologist saw us, it was the same doc from C's last op and was very friendly. We were 3rd in line so we were given a pager so we could go for a walk but as we were about to leave it was suggested we should hang around as it would be sooner than expected.



By About 2:30 we were being called in. We changed C into his theatre gown and were greeted by Tony Pennington (his surgeon) along with the anaesthesiologist and one of the plastics registrars. It was discussed and agreed that along with further serial excision of C's Cheek, temple and eyebrow they would also remove the dog ear in his crown from the last op (which was making his hair stand on end). 

Pre-Op Thumbs Up

MB took some snaps before saying goodbye and I headed down the corridor towards theatre. Some gas and anaesthetic and pretty soon C was snoozing so I kissed him and left.

Most times when C is under we grab a bite to eat and hang around the waiting area but because this time MB had arranged to stay and Ronald McDonald House we walked down the road and checked her in and chilled out for all of about 10 minutes before heading back.



We timed it well because we were only waiting what seemed like about 10 minutes before the doc came out and gave us the feedback that all went well. Within another 10 minutes we were by C's bedside in recovery. Some times they have used full dressings on his head other times they have left the sutures exposed, this time they had dressed his temple, eyebrow and cheek and had left the sutures exposed up through his scalp to his crown. He was super groggy coming out of the GA and also on morphine. He was trying to eat an icypole but was clumsily missing his mouth. We were able to start talking to him and soon we were on our way up to the ward.

Recovering on the ward

 The new rooms are really nice, spacious, with seating for a few people plus a chase style couch doubles as a bed for parents. Each room has its own bathroom with dozens of chanels on TV including games and other activities. We kicked back and waited for the drugs to wear off. As soon as he was lucid C wanted food so we started with Jelly and a drink followed by some yoghurt which he brought up pretty quickly.

We left him happily watching TV so I could walk MB to Ronald Mac house and on my return C was already looking for more food. Its hard watching the little ones go all day without food then as soon as they can eat again they go too fast and end up bringing it all up. He did so again with the second serving of food and drink. We decided to leave it til morning so we sat up and watched several episodes of mythbusters on his Laptop while MB and I emailed one another.



I ended up falling asleep at about 1am and slept comfortably although I was woken pretty regularly by some machine in the corridor beeping. I got up around 4:30 and decided to stay up. By 7 C was awake and looking for food. He ate a bowl of corn flakes followed by a bowl of rice bubbles then a bowl of wheat bix, and more importantly kept it all down so I was hopeful we could go home that morning.

Our youngest son and youngest daughter

After a surgical review and some visits by random channel 7 celebrities (of which we had no idea who they were) we had the all clear and headed home.
 

After checking out we played games

Today is 5 days on and we have a Gp Appt to redress the temple/cheek/eyebrow area and a plastics review (and assuming sutures removed) next Monday. C has been propper spoilt (as always) and has truely impressed me yet again with his strength and courage.

Happy New Year

We took a chill out down at the river






Goals for this year a simple
1) Rock the new house out
2) Get fitter
3) Ride motorcycles more

More Pics

All gathered round








Our complete little family

Zing

We'd been playing the waiting game for a week or two. You know.... when you know someone is ready to pop, you have that "any day now feeling" our family had been there with MB for a few weeks leading up to last Friday.

I was woken to a loud moan from our en suite, I lept out of bed and found MB singing her way through a contraction. When it resided I asked if we were in business, she said we were.

It was GAME ON.

Between contractions MB gradually made herself a little nest beside our bed that I had moved aside allowing more room.

Miss H was soon awoken by the sounds of birth song coming from our bathroom, I raced downstairs and woke Mr B gave him a USB key full of movies and told home to sit in the lounge with Miss H.
MB asked me to call her mother to come over and watch the children, up until this date she wasn't sure who she wanted to have in her birth space apart from yours truly. The children have all been present at the past three home birth but for this our final MB had been feeling more like it would just be the two of us. I set her up with plenty of towls and a glass of ice for her to crunch on between contractions.

A few more contractions had passed and from outside the en-suite I heard her waters broke, I knew by her sounds deepening that it wasn't far away. There isn't a lot for me to do while MB births her giant babies. I speak only when spoken to I don't touch her I just wait, she becomes almost hypnotised and her eyes glaze over, totally in the zone focusing only on what she has to do.

As the pains got closer and her sounds deepened to open roars she moved to beside the bed and got on all fours. I say beside her having the occasional peak downstairs in search of any action.


What seemed like perhaps not even 3 of four contractions later I could see something crowning, it looked wrinkled and at first I panicked thinking it was the placenta but kept quite and watched in awe.

As the head began to crown I could see the squished face, black hair and quite a bit of vernix.

Once the head was out there was a pause that seemed to last ages, MB calmed herself regained composure and as I watched bubs turned for the final push I held my hand out carefully making sure I didn't touch MB or the baby.

Out plopped the messiest baby I had ever seen, vernix everywhere, both eyes were plugged solid with it, it was thick down my forearms. I glanced down to see the sex just as MB asked "Is it a boy or a girl" I began to cry and laugh at the same time and replied "Its a GIRL!!!!"

Within minutes I helped pass bubs through to MB so she could rest on the floor, we both stared in awe at this beautiful mess that had just came into the world.

Within minutes Mr B came in to tell us MB's mum had arrived so I told him to tell her she had another grand daughter and to wake his brothers and sisters. We announced Miss M to her siblings.

All the children gathered round in semi-shock at this strange looking thing that their parents were crying with joy over. MB passed the placenta so I handled it into a bowl and gave it & the ball of vernix to MB's mum so I could help MB onto the bed and get some rest.
Weighing the squishy bub
Back to mamma bare
My queen
Nanna cut the cord, not something most mums get to do, she was stoked to be part of this special day.

It was all too much for miss H who was the first child to rise and the first to crash, she doesn't have day time naps, on this day she had 2 2.5 hour snoozes, too much hard work I think.
I can't recall all the measurements but she was a 5 kilo bub, 11 pounds in the old speak. She was hands down the filthiest (in a good way) baby I have ever seen. within a few hours nskin to skin with mum all the vernix was soaked in to reveal beautiful olive skin.

While they all look the same to me at birth MB thinks she is very similar to Mr B our eldest in looks and feeding.

I have more pics of the whole fam having a hold, stay tuned for those

Home Ed Camp (Slightly Pic Intensive)

How does one some up camp fest 2011??

Firstly you may want to peruse my previous postings on last years camp to get an idea of the sorts of things we got up to. This is the 4th year the awesome camp has been run, we missed year 1 because Miss P was born and year 2 because of Mr C's first round of tissue expansion.

After arriving dead on time for the camps commencement last year we decided to arrive a few days early this year. With Camp starting at midday on the Tuesday we arrived around dinner time on the Saturday prior to soak up some sun and chill before switching things to overdrive. The first thing that greated us was a full lake Hume, last year the water was barely visible but with this last 12 months and the drought breaking rain we were extatic to see water withing 100 metres of our cabin door step.

After settling in and unpacking le boos we decided to hit the pool. This also served as an opportunity to catch up with other home ed families we already knew from regular catchups or last years campfest. I made up a spag bowl for the whole fam and MB went and checking in with Jenni (one of the awesome organisers). Our first night was somewhat rowdy as the children all had excess energy so we stayed up watching movies til we all passed out.

Friends were reunited

The mouse that roared
Green hair washed out pretty quick
Chillin'
Grrrrr
Lounging about
Day 1 Sunday started at midday (yes we all slept in) after doing up a batch of porridge, toast and various cereals for the whole fam we headed straight for the pool and spent the majority of the afternoon there. We were invited to a pub meal with some of the other families but as we had already taken meat out to do a BBQ. Instead we teamed up with another family who also have 6 children and did a bit of a BBQ smorgasbord, I made up a batch of rissoles using 4 different kinds of sausage mince which surprisingly turned out fantastic, we also fried up potato "chips" that MB had hand cut earlier. After chatting for ages and cleaning up we ended up at the pool again. The evening included a sleep over whereby miss L swapped with our friends son (aged between B & T). Sunday was Also MB's birthday however the cakes I had planned to bake were a little difficult to cook in our oven that wouldn't light so we settled for a candle in a rissole, only I forgot candles so.... year..... MB was still happy :) Our Home Ed Friends from Adelaide handled out dozens of glow sticks so the evening was spent watching the children from afar in an extra terrestrial light show.

Day 2 Monday Started slightly earlier than the previous had with us all up by 10AM, to be honest I tried to recall what we did this day and for the life of me cannot remember, no doubt it involved swimming, and an attempt at fishing, I was amazed to see the boys catch a small fish on a hook with no bait. MB and got to spend some time chilling by the pool chatting with friends while the children all socialised with their mates. We ended the day with another impromptu BBQ with 4 adults and 12 children, fun was had by all.

Day 3 Tuesday First official Day of Campfest. With the camp officially starting at midday and a compliant stove agreeing to behave I spent the morning making a giant batch of sausage rolls (for lunch and snacks over the comming days). As the day progressed more and more families arrived and we started to get an idea of just how big this year was going to be. We all filled out info sheets and placed them on a central board and made introductions.

They did the ropes challenge






Day 4 Wednesday Campfest Day 2 Our first full day of camp started with activities, we completed the low ropes cousre first followed by a hike to the top of one of the nearby hills, this was somewhat of a challenge for me as I was left to carry Miss P & Mr C up. Once at the top we were all allowed to paint our names on a water tank. The night Saw the Trivia night and I have to say as somewhat of a trivia boffin I found at least three quarters of the questions a little on the difficult side. Inspired by this Mr B went on to organise a Kids Trivia" More on that later.

After walking up the hill we painted our names on the water tower
Miss P had the easy ride down
Stopping to pose of course
T waited for us so he could take turns piggy backing his little sister
Miss H was very content to watch from the pram

Electronics (Making an electric motor)

C was very impressed with Air hockey
He and I swam the most hands down
His swimming improved so much in the first few days
Linesbaby
One of our friends injured herself and had to spend a night in at Albury so we joined our tables for dinner, 10 kids with 2 adults
Mmmmm a mouthful of sand


Day 5 Thursday Campfest Day 3 Our second full day of camp started off with more low ropes followed by boomerang throwing. As dinner arrived Mr B who had been somewhat dismayed by the level of difficulty of the Wednesday trivia went on to organise a kids trivia night. He recruited some friends to sign up teams, he rallied prizes for every team he recruiter myself and one of the other dads to jot down some questions. He then went on to run the whole night s the quizz master, I scored and despite the "adults" table winning by a narrow margin they were promptly disqualified (which brought emense cheers from the kids). I was so proud of B, to see a ten year old step up, organise the whole thing from scratch including prizes then go on to read all the questions it was amazing. It brought tears to my eyes. They also abseiled again.

B Off the tower
C was a little nervous

Boomerang throwing (DUCK!!)
The kids found some great climing trees and swinging ropes
More ropes
B helping his little sister
Everyone chipping in to help the little ones
Its MY platform!

Face plant smiles
I helped with some of the meals
Chess masters
Before noticing mum with the camera
After
MB helped out with an impromptu swing display
Miss H was clearly Bored
I have a bit of a confession.................... I love to bead
B running the kids trivia night
Day 6 Archery



Too cool for school
Day 7 Obstacle Course
War paint





End of day 7 talent show, miss L and one of her friends did a dance
Miss H getting down with her boogy

Slightly sun burnt, Very tired
Disco
yeah it was hard getting a shot without shaking the camera as I cracked up laughing

Learnings:
- Diversity is awesome, we had so many families from the country, the city, from diferent countries, different nationalities, different religions it all added up to a brilliant group, parents and children alike.
- You cant beat socialisation, most non home ed peeps say "what about socialisation?" as soon as you tell them you home school. The best part about a socialising amongst other home schooled children is that they all get alone (more or less) there aren't the cliques or the other negative factors you find in a school playground.
- Footwear. Our biggest challenge was that the activities scheduled each day required closed toe footwear but with the amount of swimming our children where doing thongs were there preference so there was more than one occasion where we had to go searching for a pair of Miss P or Mr C's thongs. It was also just as chaotic finding socks for each child as they would take their shoes off to go swimming and leave them everywhere. Next year there will be one pair of closed toe sandals for each child to avoid constant swapping and lost socks. On a positive I wore my trusty Merrels and never pulled up sore despite hours on my feet.
- I Said it last year and we never got around to doing it but Walkie Talkies are a must for next year.

- Its hard work wrangling a large family spread over a place as big as camp fest, next year we may look at inviting MB's parents

- Cool down. With Camp finishing on the Sunday and me returning to work monday I'm pretty tired now, next year I think we shall take 3 days either side.

Awesome things I saw:
One of the highlights for me was hearing my 9 year old son Mr T and his mate (also 9) discussing creation theory vs evolution theory then digressing to covering greek mythology and how certain things crossed over to the bible. EG. Hercules was a demi-god who had a father who was a god and a mother who was mortal, does that make Jesus a demi god?"

Thats my memory dump of camp, there are heaps of parts i've missed, if you want to know more I suggest you sign up for 2012

We stopped at the Etamogah pub on the drive home, it was kind of lame

The look on MB's face tells what the condition of the place was like

Maids day off?
Le Boos


Well earned kips on the drive home