I, proud father of Kimi

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Better the Ode of Joy from Beethoven, that fits the bill for me, Alle menschen werden bruder, Gotterfunken, and all that.

I'll play that when Kimi gets the all clear. Now I want the invigorating fighting spirit of the immortal Havergal.

[SonicMan46]

Success! Success! We have found the right blood for Kimi!

Paul - just another note of encouragement in your hour(s) of need! 

Glad that Kimi is improving, gaining substantial weight, & that the blood was found!  Good luck & best to you & family!  Dave 

[springrite]

I should ask the Chinese KGB to find out this donor's identity and follow his whereabouts for the rest of his life.

[Keemun]

Glad to hear the good news, Paul.  Thanks for the updates. 

[Anne]

Thanks for keeping us posted, Paul.  Much appreciated.  Here's hoping the news will always be good.

[springrite]

A sudden and dramatic turn for the better today!

Maybe because the blood transfusion vitalised her. Maybe her digestive system finally is finally fully well. Kimi suddenly decided that she is hungry and for the past two days she took in just about as much milk as a normal baby. In fact, they run out of mother's milk (that I had delivered) and had to use formulas. She is eating, kicking, smiling and generally looking really well!

The pump will be used every three hours from now on and I will make an extra delivery of milk to the hospital everyday. This weekend I will clean the house and get ready, in case the doctor finally says: "Well, proud father of Kimi, she is ready to go home."

There is still the matter of blood infection to deal with. But all signs points to that fight being won at the moment.

I am so happy.

[lukeottevanger]

Wonderful news, Paul   

I'm just so full of admiration for you - for all three of you - and the way in which you are dealing with this impossible time.

[Harry]

A sudden and dramatic turn for the better today!

Maybe because the blood transfusion vitalised her. Maybe her digestive system finally is finally fully well. Kimi suddenly decided that she is hungry and for the past two days she took in just about as much milk as a normal baby. In fact, they run out of mother's milk (that I had delivered) and had to use formulas. She is eating, kicking, smiling and generally looking really well!

The pump will be used every three hours from now on and I will make an extra delivery of milk to the hospital everyday. This weekend I will clean the house and get ready, in case the doctor finally says: "Well, proud father of Kimi, she is ready to go home."

There is still the matter of blood infection to deal with. But all signs points to that fight being won at the moment.

I am so happy.

Absolute smashing news, I am happy too!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

[Bunny]

A sudden and dramatic turn for the better today!

Maybe because the blood transfusion vitalised her. Maybe her digestive system finally is finally fully well. Kimi suddenly decided that she is hungry and for the past two days she took in just about as much milk as a normal baby. In fact, they run out of mother's milk (that I had delivered) and had to use formulas. She is eating, kicking, smiling and generally looking really well!

The pump will be used every three hours from now on and I will make an extra delivery of milk to the hospital everyday. This weekend I will clean the house and get ready, in case the doctor finally says: "Well, proud father of Kimi, she is ready to go home."

There is still the matter of blood infection to deal with. But all signs points to that fight being won at the moment.

I am so happy.

Now that Kimi seems to have no problems sucking, if at all possible Vanessa should go to the hospital and try to breast feed.  Pumping milk is good, but it's no substitute for the real thing in establishing milk flow.  It's also important for emotional reasons as well.  Both Kimi and her mother will greatly benefit from the skin to skin contact.

Best of luck; I am so happy to know that Vanessa and Kimi are recovering from the effects of toxemia.

[springrite]

Now that Kimi seems to have no problems sucking, if at all possible Vanessa should go to the hospital and try to breast feed.  Pumping milk is good, but it's no substitute for the real thing in establishing milk flow.  It's also important for emotional reasons as well.  Both Kimi and her mother will greatly benefit from the skin to skin contact.

Best of luck; I am so happy to know that Vanessa and Kimi are recovering from the effects of toxemia.

We hope she can come home soon so breastfeeding can start. Right now no one outside of the medical team is allowed contact with Kimi.

[Bunny]

That is so difficult!  There is some very new clinical evidence that cuddling and massage reduce stress and actually are of benefit even for extremely premature infants born between 28 and 31 weeks.  However, most neonatal units do not allow contact with parents, because this is still undecided.  Hopefully, even if Kimi is not released soon, they will allow you more contact with her.  Here's a link to the BBC article I recently saw.  It refers to research done at McGill University (Canada) that you may be interested in.

[knight66]

Paul, Marvelous to read the latest news.

Mike

[Anne]

Paul,

I'm so glad everything is going so well for all of you.  Thanks for the email.

In our town and general area there is a group of women quite proficient in breast-feeding who are available to help the new mother and will come to her house.   They belong to the La Leche League.  The new mother must learn to relax so the "let-down reflex" of milk occurs.  If the new mother is uptight or nervous about the procedure, not enough milk may be produced.  Best wishes to Vanessa.

Take care!

[DavidRoss]

Great news, Paul--sounds promising, indeed! 

[(poco) Sforzando]

Paul,

I'm so glad everything is going so well for all of you.  Thanks for the email.

In our town and general area there is a group of women quite proficient in breast-feeding who are available to help the new mother and will come to her house.   They belong to the La Leche League.  The new mother must learn to relax so the "let-down reflex" of milk occurs.  If the new mother is uptight or nervous about the procedure, not enough milk may be produced.  Best wishes to Vanessa.

Take care!

But will the La Leches go all the way to China? Glad to hear things are looking so well, Springrite.

[Anne]

But will the La Leches go all the way to China? Glad to hear things are looking so well, Springrite.

They won't go to China but there may be a similar group already in China.

[springrite]

They won't go to China but there may be a similar group already in China.

You are quite right. We have hired one to live-in with us for 3 months as help.

[vandermolen]

Have been away for a few days, so just read the good news. Am very happy to hear this.

[springrite]

Kimi's recovery in the past few days has been nothing short of remarkable. She is eating well, very active, and gaining weight and strength. She is smiling a lot. Yesterday, the doctors told me that Kimi will have a blood test and liver function test on Tuesday afternoon and, should everything be OK, she can come home by Thursday! I couldn't believe it!

Today, I baked a lot of muffins, some cookies and a large brownie and brought them to the hospital as a treat for the doctors and nurses. Then, in the afternoon and early evening, I did my final two radio shows. I told National Radio that I will be unavailable for a while as I will devote most if not all of my time to Kimi for a while. They are very understanding of this and gave me their blessings.

We will do some shopping tomorrow and have a couple of cleaning ladies for the afternoon to give the house a thorough cleaning. Kimi's room will be up to hospital standard by the time Kimi comes home.

Finally, the family will be together. I have been praying for this moment for the past four weeks, as many of you have on our behalf. This day will finally be here.

I feel blessed. I feel whole.