Poor Phoebe

Just a quick update to explain our silence on the blog front. Phoebe has spent the last four days in Ward 19 at Wellington Hospital after a visit to the GP on Friday (for a slight temperature and general "not quite rightness") turned into a ride in the ambulance, a trip to the Emergency Department and treatment and observation in the ward. She was discharged this morning after being given the all clear by the doctors. It seems she has had a nasty infection, probably viral. All the tests done so far have come back negative. They narrowed it down to a particular group of viruses, the test results for which will not be back for a week or so. The doctors are happy that whatever she did have has cleared up. After being a very sick little girl on Friday and being subjected to needles, lumbar punctures and lots of poking and prodding, she started to improve on Saturday and markedly improved on Sunday. She was given antibiotics until Monday to cover the spectrum of possible infections and once the antibiotics were stopped, kept in for a further 24 hours of observation. She was looked after very well by the doctors and nurses in the children's ward (as was Mum!) and is now pretty much back to her normal self. She has been beaming and cooing this morning and is obviously much happier. Josh and I are very grateful for our wonderful GP's prompt action (it was scary how fast Phoebe went downhill) and for the GP's receptionist who entertained Iris for the 20 minutes between Mum and Phoebe being whisked off in the ambulance and Dad arriving from work. Thanks also to the family and friends who've provided cups of tea, quiet bedrooms for Iris' portacot so she could have her usual sleep, magazines and food for Sarah and moral support.

In the midst of all the drama on Friday, Iris decided not to be outdone and chose that day to start walking. She spent the afternoon with Grandmarg in Ngaio and when Grandad arrived home, she was happily walking up and down their hallway, something she continued to do until Josh arrived to pick her up later in the day. She's now taken off (even tried running a few times) and is a seasoned pro.

I'm hoping to get some photos up here (from my birthday party and some other miscellaneous ones) this weekend.

Sarah:)

The big sister's turn

Iris just gets bigger and learns something new everyday. She can point to different parts of her body - nose, ears, feet, tummy. She loves to dance and sings herself little songs when we're in the car. She tries to share her toys (and her snacks) with Phoebe. She is very proud of "Bee" and points her out to everyone she meets. She absolutely LOVES books and will happily sit in a huge pile of them, "reading".

For those of you in Wellington, a reminder that we're having a party on Saturday to celebrate Phoebe's birth (15/8/06) and Sarah's birthday (17/9/75). Mid-afternoon kick-off, potluck dinner. Call or email for address details and directions if you need them. No need to RSVP.

Phoebe update

We know it's spring because our cherry tree tells us it is! We've been enjoying the warmer weather and longer days. Phoebe continues to do well - she weighed in at 4.1kgs (9 pounds) on Tuesday at her four week check and is charming everyone with her smile. Sandy, our midwife, was very impressed at how strong she is. Phoebe's even letting us sleep for four hour stretches most nights. When she's awake, she's very alert and intrigued by everything around her. She's even pretty tolerant of Iris' sometimes boisterous attentions!