9 M O N T H S of Dash

I am terrible and I haven't written down a single thing noting Dash's development in MONTHS. So now I am back to writing about my clever baby! Are you so excited!? I will go back in time and publish months 6, 7 and 8 too but with a sprinkle of creativity because I can't even remember last week. 

Dash at nine months old is still a ham. He loves attention, he loves being silly, he loves getting scared and tickled and sung to and wrestled with and chased. He'll scream bloody murder in his cot and then I'll pick him up and he'll start laughing. 

When he's sad or hurting or particularly cranky he will cry and he cries mmuuummm.. Maaammmaaaa! but get him to say Mama on the regular? not a chance. Dada however... It's his favourite word. 

Dash crawls. He crawls fast and hard and for as long as he can. My Dad came over the other day (Poppy is still favourite) and he was standing at the door putting his shoes on ready to leave. Dash was playing on the floor in my office and decided to investigate Poppy. He saw that open door and his Poppy walking away and he ran as fast as he could. And by ran I mean crawled but really, really fast. 

Dash inherited some crappy genes, its true. But he also inherited the European genes I have been cursed with. We love food. and by love I mean we will eat and eat and eat and then go to be with no regrets, just dreams of more food. His Doctors can't believe the amount and variety of the food he eats. 

We started feeding him with the philosophy that we would give him whatever we ate. No specially made baby food and as little cutlery as possible. Dash has accepted everything I have put in front of him, he has an exceptional gag reflex and a determined spirit. So much so that he will now happily eat an entire sausage for lunch, with some tomatoes and scrambled eggs on the side. 

I think I will write a whole separate post about food cause I could talk baby diets all dang day. 

Dash's fave toys are the singing bear/puppy thing, the singing/flashing/moving tonka trucks, the talking/singing/light up controller, the songs on the activity centre.... do you detect a theme? I'm considering ear plugs. 

We've recently started watching ABC kids in the morning. His face when he hears the Thomas the Tank engine song. I can't even. We went to Westmead yesterday (again another post for another day) and he tried his nebuliser for the first time. The nurses warned me that we wouldn't be able to get the strap over his head because he would scream. We went to put it on him and he made no complaints. He made it through the entire ten minute treatment quite calmly, even smiling! It's not because we have a super baby, it's because Nick played the Thomas the Tank engine theme song on Youtube for him. 8 times in a row. 

Dashie cruises furniture, interacts with strangers (because surely, the world revolves around him!) aaaaaalmost weighs 10kg, is very into giving kisses (with teeth), usually has avocado somewhere on his face or head (see above) and obviously has taken over our lives. In the best most wonderful way you could imagine. 

Monthly baby brag over. 

How to prepare for your baby's blood test

A how-to post! This is actually not a how-to post because nothing on earth can prepare you for your baby getting a blood test. Babies should not have their blood tested. Ever. 

Last Thursday we had to take Dashiell in to get his second blood test. His first blood test was done when he was three weeks old by the most capable nurse I ever did see. She was calm and steady and used the tiniest of butterfly needles to swiftly jab our little baby. 

His second blood test was the most horrendous thing I've ever seen and I will never forget the experience for as long as I live. When we arrived at pathology we met with a few nurses. Within three seconds I secretly wished that there were more nurses behind the counter because these people just didn't seem capable. They told us we could only get it done when two nurses were available, one to hold baby down, one to take blood. We were also told that 'a fair amount of blood' was needed and that I should 'feed him really well' beforehand. 

Alarm bells. 

The blood test went a little something like - nurse pins down baby, baby screams, Mum tries frantically to distract baby, second nurse jabs baby with larger needle, needle misses vein, baby screams louder, nurse fishes around under baby's skin to try and find vein, baby thrashes around and screams a scream no mother ever wants to hear, Mum sees vein about to collapse, yells at Nurse to stop, ten minutes pass by, only half the amount of blood is collected, baby takes 30 minutes to calm down, Mum is never the same. 

SO!

If your baby needs a blood test, first of all, I am sorry. There's no way it will be a pleasant experience. Second of all, now that I have been through this horror; here are a few tips. 

• Trust your Mum instinct. If you don't feel like you're in capable hands, turn around and go home. Find another pathology lab, a different nurse and make sure you feel comfortable with the people taking your baby's blood. 
• Dress your baby really warm and cozy. Apparently it's easier to take blood when baby is super warm. 
• Feed them right before hand but have some milk/your boobies ready to go for after because this might be one of those times when only milk can calm them.
• Stay calm. Which, you know, is ridiculous for me to say seeing as though I shook like a leaf for hours after but it is important that baby knows the world isn't ending. The bigger picture is that the blood test is needed and they won't remember a thing an hour later. 
• Be confident and feel comfortable telling the nurse it's time to stop. If it isn't going to plan and you feel like something is off, don't be afraid to call it off. I'm one of those people who listens to doctors and nurses and mostly does whatever they recommend. However! If they're pushing you to keep going but you know your baby has had enough, just call it how it is and hightail it out of there. 
• Don't make any other plans for the day and get it done in the morning. We made the mistake of getting it done in the afternoon after a morning of shopping. Don't make that mistake! Make sure you and baby are as relaxed and well rested as possible and then go ahead and spend the rest of the day cuddling and smooching and nursing and watching netflix. 

I don't think I have any more wisdom to offer... Except maybe to just be the best parent you can be. If you can't stand to hold your baby down and have to step out of the room, don't feel guilty. If you can't stand to watch the needle, don't feel guilty about that either. Just do your best and your baby will love you anyway. 

Good luck! smooch your babies! Pictures of Dash in a sink cause I can!

Fat CF babies are the best CF babies

We had clinic on Monday. 

The three monthly event where we spend 5 hours+ in the paeds department, in a lovely little room with DD on the door for baby Dash Dew. We catch up with seven different doctors and specialists and review progress, adjust medications, ask questions, order tests etc. etc. 

I sit with my note pad and enormous folder that contains Dash's story. A collection of medical history, referrals, test results, likes and dislikes to name a few. I ask all the questions I've written down over the past few weeks, sip my coffee and scoff down a sandwich between sessions. I bounce the baby, get him weighed and measured, let the doctors listen to his chest and put him to sleep when he's had enough. 

The first time we went through this Dash was two weeks and four days old. Nick and I were slammed with information and saw so many different people, all claiming to help our son and us in different ways. 

I don't remember everything from that day, it was so overwhelming. I do however remember one little comment made by our paediatrician in the most light hearted way. 

He said fat CF babies are the best CF babies. 

I took that to heart.

I'm that Mum who congratulates their baby when they plop on the scales. I'm the Mum who whips their boobs out anywhere, in front of anyone, at any time. I'm the Mum who really, actually seriously, likes getting up at 2 or 3 or 4am to feed the baby. I'm the Mum with 5,000 photos of the baby, taken in the armchair where we feed. I'm the Mum who wants to fist bump other Mums for feeding their babies, whatever way they can. 

Feeding baby Dash and fattening him up is my number one priority in life. On Monday, every single doctor and specialist was impressed with Dash's weight and growth and I couldn't be prouder. He's growing fat rolls and he's sitting just under the 85th percentile for weight and height and it's all thanks to a bit of medicine and my boobies. 

We're winning over here and it feels so dang good!

The Fourth Annual Santa Speedo Shuffle

Disclaimer: this post contains photos that may or may not be offensive... I don't mind looking at my Husband and our mates in speedos one little bit but you might so I suggest doing the old quick scroll. 

The Fourth Annual Santa Speedo Shuffle was a roaring success. We raised over $105,000 as a community for the Cystic Fibrosis Association ACT and Nick's team raised over $14,500. Which won them second place and lit a fire in all of our bellies to come up with the goods next year. 

As the santas took to the start line, sleet started falling from the sky, hitting their bare red skin like needles. The wind was ridiculously rude whipping them from all sides and the sun was a bitch showing up for a second here and there but mostly staying put behind clouds. Apparently it was the first time the event had seen bad weather... 

Dash was so impressed he started crying uncontrollably, so badly in fact that the only thing that would calm him was a feed. So there we were, at the start line, facing 70+ santas and I had to whip my nipples out. Guess it's only fair considering every one else's attire. Anyway that explains the unimpressed look on my face up there.

You might ask what on earth I was doing with a 10 week old baby in the freezing cold. Well, people with Cystic Fibrosis can't mingle. To me that is one of the most devastating things about the illness because it can be so isolating. Being outdoors around other people with the illness reduces the risk of cross contamination so outside we stayed and no colds or bugs were caught. Thank goodness.

This year the number of Dash supporters was outrageous. He had three teams representing him full of 20 friends and family. He had the above turkeys working the start and finish line water station in his honour. He had his grandparents, uncle, our friends parents, nicks work colleagues and even his uncle's dog cheering on the Santa's on his behalf. He was also represented by Spongebob Squarepants and a lone Minion. 

To say Nick and I were overwhelmed by the amount of love and support we were shown is an understatement. We are so incredibly thankful to everyone who showed up for us and for the association, to everyone who donated and to everyone that wished us well. 

Yes we are running again next year. Yes there will be more of us. Yes we will have matching team Dash shirts. I even plan on running with Dash in the pram! Maybe actually shuffling/walking...

The medication routine

First of all! Look at this kid. What a ham. 

I bought this impossibly cute jumpsuit in Paris, on a day when I chose to stroll around the shops of St Germain instead of going to the catacombs. Obviously shopping beats bones but also morning sickness and caves full of stinky of bones? No thank you. 

Second of all! I've decided to document our medication routine because I know that in a year or two or ten or when at some stage this routine looks so super easy, I will appreciate it. 

Every morning Dash and I hop out of bed and head to the kitchen. I plop him on this makeshift mat on the kitchen bench and listen to him cooing while I make a coffee and some breakfast cause lord knows I need it. I bribe the dogs out of bed with promises of breakfast and Dash's coos might start sounding like 'heeeyyyy' a funny little cry he reserves only for when he is getting hungry and thinking his mother is ignoring him. 

Once the dogs are fed and the coffee is made, I start pulling out his medications from the fridge, his spoon and container and syringes off the boon grass drying rack (hallelujah emoji) and the creon and salt from his lunch box. 

First we have the pentavite. Just .45ml of this multivitamin makes an enormous difference to our boy. Then we have .5ml of liquid vitamin E which is impossible to buy in any shops and therefore is a massive pain in the ass to find. But thank goodness for online supplement stores. Then we finish with 1.5ml of a preventative antibiotic which is a sickly sweet and crazy sticky pink liquid. I give him the antibiotic last because unlike with the supplements, he doesn't scrunch up his little face when I give it to him so I assume he thinks it tastes the best. 

By this point little Dash's 'Heeeyyyy' cries are getting more serious so I start the routine we do before every single feed. A little spoonful of pureed apple (on the smallest spoon I can find - for babies aged 4 months+), half a spoonful of creon (the spoons that come with the medication are about half the size of your pinky fingernail) and a sprinkle of salt. I mix it all up and spoon feed little Dash. Once it's all gone I can finally breastfeed and enjoy my now cold coffee... hahaha. 

The creon is a pancreatic enzyme that helps Dash's digestion. Without it, the fats and nutrients in the milk Dash gets goes straight through him. It's a tricky process to do before every feed but two week old Dash took to the apple straight away and we haven't looked back since. We're all so excited for him to start solids, he's going to be offered anything and everything.

At night, after his bubble bath and before his bedtime feed, Dash gets another 1.5ml of antibiotics and of course another dose of apple and Creon. 

People sometimes politely enquire about his routine. Does he sleep through the night? When is his morning nap? The usual new baby questions... My answer is always we don't have a routine yet, I still feed on demand during the day and he's worked out his own night time routine. We do however have to tick off a few things at certain times every day and his medication is just one part of that. 

I'll blog about the other things we do to combat his CF soon, I want to make a video of some of it cause daaaaang he's cute and again, future me will love it.