A few days into being home haven’t been too bad.
TJ has been a lovely brother, basically he is curious about his little sister, whom we have been reminding him that he has one and now that she is finally home, it is quite interesting to see his reactions (or lack of reactions) towards her. I try to remind myself to give him some attention throughout the day, but it can get a little tricky since I’m still trying to get into a routine that gives me time to do so.
Settling into a routine takes a while, and having two kids do make it more exciting.
Some of the tasks I need to do:
- Leia’s medications which she takes at different times of the day
- Her 60 ml milk feeds (30 ml of EBM and 30 ml of Enfalac AR, the latter supposedly to keep her milk down in her stomach so as to lessen her reflux) every 3 hours
- Watch her SPO2 levels on the pulse oximeter & listen for the alarm that goes off when the level dips below 85%
- Check that the prongs on her nasal cannula are still in her nostrils
- Change the tapes on her face (Leia absolutely hates this and makes sure we know that) every couple of days
- The three-hourly pump
In between, I will hang out with TJ when he is awake and rest when he naps. So far, Leia’s been sleeping most of the time and it gives me time to rest too. I am still not comfortable letting my helper carry Leia or assist me with any of the above tasks since the only other person I trust, other than myself, is D.
So she helps me out with TJ, making sure he has his proper meals and plays with him when I am unable to do so. I feel really bad that I haven’t been able to spend much time with my son.
On the other hand, TJ seems to be taking things quite well, plays independently and doesn’t cling to me as much. Perhaps we have done 
something right with bringing up a confident and self-assured kid. I guess TJ knows we love him as much as we love Leia and even now that our time is taken up by the Feisty Fighter, TJ doesn’t feel threatened by that and neither does he act up to get our attention. Thank God for this.
Dr Ong has been coming to our place to check on Leia since her discharge and we are very grateful that he doesn’t charge us for these regular visits. I update him regularly too with calls and messages.
Anyway home is the best and a lot more normal really, than being in the hospital or shuttling to and from it. I’m tired, but happy.
Dearest Leia 