After Hospital
When I was getting ready to leave the hospital, mom had to stay for a few days so she could be taught the basic safety procedures, in case of any thing going wrong. I was due for my inoculations, but they could not give them to me until I was at the door leaving, as they are live vaccines, I would have put the other babies at risk. I did not like that much, and told the nurses so. Though a lot of the nurses were very special, and had taken care of me even when I was really sick, I think they were relived when I left, as I think after hearing me yell so loud most nights, they were looking forward to the quiet. :-)
When mom put me in the car seat, she got a bit worried, as I was so small I just peaked out from the straps in the bend of the seat, but I was happy to snooze.
When I arrived home, there were lots of people who came to see me, and mom got a bit worried about all the bacteria that they could have carried, but I guess living with the extra precautions for three months, I can blame her. She did not have to worry though, as no one dared pick me up because I was so small.
When I got to my room, I looked up and all over the walls were clowns with balloons and streamers, and I found out that my mom and dad had hand painted them on the walls a few days before I came home. It was colourful and bright and very cheery.
I had to go back to the hospital after a few days to get my eyes tested, as one of the bad side effects with premature babies is often blindness, but luckily I had no problems.
I also had a hearing test the next week, but they were not happy with the results, so they asked mom to bring me back for another one, and another one and in the end I had five. They have said there is nothing wrong with my hearing, its just that I am ignorant, and only do what I want to. (Who wants to look at a woman whispering, when there is a big flashy fire engine to look at!)?
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Shunt or No Shunt
Because of my dramatic and traumatic birth, both for mom with no pain relief and me because I was not really ready to be born, I had a lot of head trauma, and the doctors tried to explain to mom that parts of my brain had been damaged. Some had been starved of oxygen, and that I had excess fluid in my ventricles. Not being a doctor she did not really know what it meant, but my head was growing at three times the pace of my body because the fluid was not draining away.
The doctors kept measuring my head nearly every day to see what was going on. They were trying to decide whether to send me to a hospital miles and miles away to have a shunt placed in my brain. It would have meant them inserting a tube inside my brain to drain the fluid in to my tummy. Luckily, in the last couple of days before the final tests, my head slowed down so I was reprieved.
It was such a scary time for mom and dad, as they had spent so much time with me in the hospital the first time and then the thought of having to do it all again, was just overwhelming. But it turned out great after all.
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