Jack and Katrina's Place

Happy New year to all our friends and whanau. Christmas 2007 will be a memorable one for us as it was the first (and hopefully last) Christmas we've ever spent at the after hours medical service followed by admission to the childrens ward at Wellington Hospital and a 5 day stay there. Poor Guy had several days of vomiting in the week leading up to Christmas, which although unusual for him, didn't seem too concerning, however by Christmas morning he was very upset and vomiting after every meal. Thinking it was a bad stomach bug and worried about him dehydrating, we went down to the after hours medical centre. They referred us to the Accident and Emergency department, where after several long, tedious and tense hours, the hospital Paediatrician examined Guy and admitted him to hospital. Examining his tummy produced howls of pain and an X-ray revealed his little bowel was completely blocked up. However the week of being off his food and vomiting whatever went down had left him very tired and verging on dehydration, hence the trip to hospital.

To administer the 'unblockeriser' he had a nasal gastric tube inserted, which was unpleasant but once in he was very good and left it alone. It took 5 days for things to get going and in the first couple of days he was very quiet and needed a lot of cuddling. Here is a photo of him, looking tired and pale but being very brave.

On the fourth day we knew he was coming right when, while sitting on Daddy's knee for a story, the lunch trolley rolled down the corridor. When the Nurse asked Jack if Guy would like any lunch, no sooner had she got the word 'lunch' out than Guy slid off my knee and ran into the kitchen saying 'I need a sandwich!' Since then his appetite and irrepressable personality have fully returned (along with the prolific 'unblocking'!), although it was a tense and scary few days there for us all.

We are now home and were feeling completely exhausted until Margaret (Jack's Mum) came to our rescue. She has kept us fed and watered and entertained Guy so that we felt like we managed to get a brief break over the Christmas period. Jack is back at work after only a few days at home after we'd left hospital, so roll on our February holiday!