We spent the second week of February doing some things we shan't be able to do so easily once Paddy is born, we spent a week getting in a visit to a newly
opened resort complex in Manila (City of Dreams) where we stayed in the Hyatt
Hotel. Kat was also able to attend a pharma company sponsored event taking in
lunch followed by a tour of Intramuros with Carlos Celdran (an infamous yet
popular comedian/social commentator and tour guide). We followed this by
attending the Philippine Infectious Diseases convention in Ortigas, which
included a drive across Manila on a Tuesday morning and making me watch
"50 Shades of Grey" since we had a spare afternoon before the
convention.
After Kat has attended the convention we headed home via Asian
Hospital where we had a scheduled Bio-Physical Scan for Paddy, this took a bit
longer than anticipated as Paddy wasn't too keen on moving about as much as he
should, but after a little while he moved enough to keep Dra Niza happy. She
did however ask us to return for a follow up scan and consult on the Monday, as
we started the 37th week.
This is pretty much when it all went wrong, or at least all of our
expectations were upended and we had to respond accordingly. On the Sunday
morning, Kat told me that Paddy didn't seem to be moving quite as much as
previously, but we chose to wait until after lunch before we got worried since
this would allow her to have something to eat and raise her blood sugar. As the
afternoon wore on it was clear that Kat wasn't happy with his lack of movement,
I suggested that we might want to go to Asian Hospital ER to have him checked out, she agreed.
Upon arrival at the ER, Kat was triaged and we were moved up to
the Genesis Centre, which is the birthing / neonatal facility for observation.
She was hooked up to a Non-Stress Test machine and the on duty OB took a look
at the trace, seeing quite quickly that there was a lack of movement in the
baby and his heart rate was OK but also not changing when he did move (getting
faster or slower). She called Dra Niza who requested admission for further
observation and to be kept informed about the ongoing monitoring. Even before
we had a room organised, the trace indicated that Paddy may be in difficulty
and Dra Niza decided that we need to prepare for an emergency cesarean section
later that evening. This all passed Kat and I in something of a daze since it
moved so quickly, I had to double check that they were planning the CS that
night.
Waiting for the CS, I hadn't shaved for a few days |
Here he comes, ass first!! |
First chance exam in delivery room |
Dra Colasito examines him some more |
His nameplate |
Kat's first visit with Paddy |
The day of the surgery was all a bit of a blur, we had several
forms to sign and a chat from the surgeon to explain what he planned to do
after the diagnostic tests had provided him with the information he needed,
although as he said, it all depended on what they found when they got in there,
he also took us through the alternative plan if needed.....
A few hours later we were called down to the OR Suite to see him
again, the surgery had been a success and plan B had not been used, everything
was as hoped. Paddy should have a full recovery and lead a normal life, we saw
him back to the NICU before getting back to the room for a much needed night's
sleep.
On the Wednesday we went to visit Paddy for a while, he was much
more relaxed than before as he was now able to breath more easily (although
intubated and with a chest drain in place) and could swallow for the first
time. This was also the day Kat was to be discharged, several doctors popped in
throughout the day giving us updates on Paddy and also prepping Kat for going
home, Dra Niza checked her dressing and when I looked at the wound site, I was
amazed at the tidy sutures and almost invisible incision, this didn’t mean that
Kat could be overly active, we were warned that she would take several weeks to
fully recover and shouldn’t drive her car for at least 3 weeks.
The next few days were spent visiting with Paddy, his progress was
agonisingly slow, or at least that is how it seemed to me, but he was visibly
getting better, his breathing was much less laboured and he seemed brighter
when he opened his eyes. There was only one slight problem, he is not allowed
to be fed, instead he was getting his nutrition through IV, this meant that he
felt hungry pretty much all of the time, and that made him very grumpy. Some
tubes were removed (he was extubated on Monday), we had to consent to a central line being inserted by a cut
down procedure, this would reduce the needles stuck in him to get IV access as
this line is more permanent and doesn’t need to be transferred from site to site and to avoid
infection.
At the time of writing this on Monday March 2nd, we received the news that Paddy's paediatrician is hoping to allow him to feed through his oral - gastric (OG) tube once the surgeon agrees and they are hoping to remove the chest drain around the same time.
I also learned that my application for permanent residency has been approved and all I need to do now is to visit the Bureau of Immigration to have my passport stamped and to get my new ACR-I card, which I am planning on doing later in the week.
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