Alina: our CDH story

Robbie: last scan before balloon removal

2012-01-31T11:15:00.000-08:00

We had another scan at Kings today. After our scare last week we brought our appointment forward by a few days to make sure everything is in place and Robbie doesn't have any ideas to get out anytime soon. The good news is that my fluid levels haven't increased and my cervix length is the same, 33. Robbie seems to be responding amazingly to the balloon. His LHR today was 2.3 and 3- they always measure it twice. 3 seems unlikely but even 2.3 is a great result. The consultant noticed that the balloon had slipped a bit more towards the right, which could explain why his right lung looks so big. She said that usually the balloon blocks both lungs but in this particular case it has blocked on more than the other. They will discuss it with Prof.Nicolaides and see if it's not something that they should do going forward.
We are booked for the balloon removal on Thursday, February 9th. I will be 33+5 then, same as when Alina had the balloon popped. We're keeping fingers crossed that everything goes well until then.

Hugs to all.
Ingrid, Alex & Alina

Robbie: little scare

2012-01-28T03:47:00.000-08:00

Last week we had another scan and everything seemed to be going in the right direction. Robbie's responding well to the balloon and although I have too much fluid, it's definitely not at the levels as during my first pregnancy. We were due to go back on Thursday, February 2nd, to check the fluid levels and my cervix again as well as to decide when to take the balloon out. However, yesterday i ended up on the early labour ward. I noticed that a lot of fluid was leaking and I was concerned that my waters had broken. I also felt quite tight and whilst driving to the hospital, I started having a few contractions. Luckily, Alex's mom, Suzanne, had come to take Alina to her dance class anyways, so it was one less thing to worry about.
The doctor took a swab and did a few tests. The good news is that my waters haven't broken and I wasn't in pre term labour. However, they decided to give me a dose of steroids, just in case, to help Robbie with his lung and organs development. We're due for another dose tonight and then that's it, it's just a waiting game. Alex was quite concerned so he's rescheduled the appointment at Kings for Tuesday. The worst case scenario would be for my waters to break and the balloon to still be in. So we'll see what the doctors want to do.
We decided that the best thing is for me to take it really easy. We need to make it to 34- I am 32 now- so we cannot any chances. We've done really well so far and it's not long to go but we really need to make it to the cut-off date. Alina's childcare will be split between Alex's mom, Suzanne, my mom and her pre-school. She's gotten used to having people come and go, so we're hoping it's not going to be too big of a change for her.
Well, fingers crossed, we're hoping for the best.

Lots of love from the Uk.
The Houchins

Alina Christmas pictures

2012-01-08T02:49:00.000-08:00

Robbie: 3 weeks post balloon

2012-01-05T08:29:00.000-08:00

3 weeks on and we went back to Kings for another scan. I am 29 weeks now.The balloon seems to be working, the LHR has improved to 1.7. My fluid levels are a bit high, 7.3 but still manageable and my cervix is closed and long, which means I won't be giving birth anytime soon. We have another scan scheduled in 2 weeks time and then the balloon will be removed 3 weeks later. It's weired to think that Alina was born at 35 weeks and that we're not that far away from that date. Although it's harder for me to be as positive as I was with Alina, I am determined to make it to 38 weeks. So, keeping fingers crossed that everything will go well until then.
Hugs,
Ingrid, Alex & Alina

Alina 3 years old

2011-12-23T14:25:00.000-08:00

On Monday, December 19th, Alina turned 3. I cannot believe it how quickly time has flown. We've been through so much with her and she's come so far, she's a true miracle and an inspiration for all of us.
One thing I tell everyone is that I don't understand how a child with a tiny left lung has so much energy. Her favourite things are running- loads of running- dancing and singing. She's incredibly bright and very happy. She has a lot of friends, is extremely sociable and always has a smile on her face. I don't know any child who doesn't like her and she's very popular at pre-school, which she loves attending.
Alina's very cheeky and loves telling or making jokes. It's hilarious to imagine her in the future when she'll be in school, she sees the fun in every situation and is quite mischivious, but in a sweet way. She's also incredibly kind and is very good at sharing. We always have children over and she loves it when they come to visit and she can do some cooking with them in the kitchen- which usually involves her coming up with all kinds of ideas, like putting paint in a lot of bowls or mixing all my spices together and trying to eat them. It usually ends up with me having a laughing fit because it's so funny.
Alina has become a big fan of Strictly Come Dancing and Alex is her dance partner or her "prince" at times. She especially likes the lifts and poor Alex has to try to do all those complicated moves with her- hilarious. S

We love Alina very much and couldn't imagine our lives without her. She always puts a smile on our faces and we are happy for every moment she's given us. We just hope that we'll have the same outcome with Robbie, she'll be a great big sister.
Hugs,
Ingrid & Alex Houchin

Balloon

2011-12-16T04:11:00.000-08:00

Thank you so much for all your comments and good wishes, they mean a lot to us.
Yesterday, December 15th, we had the balloon put in. The procedure went as well as we had expected, Robbie was a very good boy and made mummy and daddy very proud. I had extra fluid which they drained out. I am hoping this will help us keep the balloon in for the full 8 weeks.
The hospital has changed the procedureq a bit, they took some extra blood in case there is a problem with the baby. I was also given pethadine, which made me very ill after the effect wore off and now I am carrying around a bracelet and a big sign for my notes reading " balloon in fetal tracchea, must be punctured immediately at birth". When we were at Kings with Alina in 2009, a CDH baby was born to a family that didn't speak English very well and didn't communicate that the balloon was still in place. It was a massive blunder, the baby's ventilator had to be turned off as he was severely brain damaged. Even though it's on the back of a tragedy, it's good to see that lessons are learnt and the process is being improved.
On good thing is that it seems I have a strong placenta. Prof. Nicolaides had to really push the needle through to get in. So hopefully there won't be a pre term birth. The plan is to have the balloon removed around the February 11th mark and I have told Robbie that he needs to stay in until March 10th, which would make him 38 weeks old. Even though it's hard going through this again we don't see any reasons why Robbie wouldn't do as well as his big sister Alina. Since they both had the same readings, LHR 0.6, I am convinced that the mutation is affecting only the diaphragm and not the quality of the lung tissue.
We're staying very positive and are looking forward to celebrating Alina's 3rd birthday on Monday and a nice Christmas together.
Merry Christmas to all of you!
Lots of love from the Houchins.

2nd baby, 2nd balloon

2011-11-29T15:03:00.000-08:00

We got devastating news today that our baby's LHR is actually 0.6. All the previous readings were quite frankly a waste of time, it only counts what Prof. Nicolaides measures. So we're in for another balloon with all its complications and worries. We're booked for December 15th, 4 days before Alina's 3rd birthday. It was more difficult to make the decison today, because we know all the problems that can arise but we decided to give our baby boy a chance, same as we did for Alina. He's very active so hopefully he'll have the same fighting spirit as his sister. It's incredible though, we are the 2nd case ever at Kings of 2 babies with CDH from the same family.

Hugs to you all.
the Houchins

Scan

2011-11-10T13:12:00.000-08:00

Thank you all for your wonderful comments, they mean a lot to us.
The scan at Kings Hospital went better than we had expected. The first LHR reading was 1.7 whereas Alina's was 0.6. Also, the baby has only stomach and bowel up in the chest, whereas Alina had the liver as well. We have been booked for another scan in 3 weeks time when we'll know better whether we need the balloon again or not. I hope not and I hope the LHR will continue to stay high, i.e. above 1, which means the baby will have a better start in life. For now, there's not much we can do, we just need to sit tight and wait and hope for the best.
But from experience, we know this is just calm before the storm.
Hugs from us all,
the 3 Houchins

Pregnant with CDH baby no.2

2011-11-04T09:14:00.000-07:00

We just had our 20 week scan and got the devastating news that we were having a baby boy with CDH. We were always told that CDH was just a fluke but now we are convinced that it's genetic. How could it be otherwise!
We're going to find out more on Tuesday but it's so much harder this time around. We know what to expect- or not to expect, we know there are no certainties until the baby is born and we also have Alina to think about. Heartbroken!

2 1/2 years old

2011-07-11T07:33:00.000-07:00

I'm a bit late updating the blog this time around as we're busy, busy doing lots and lots of toddler things. Despite our expectations, Alina's a very active child. She's always on the run. Literally, running- and these days climbing- is her favourite thing to do. We were told that she will never run a marathon. I don't believe that! She's got so much energy and stamina that by the end of the day we are the ones tired, not her :0).
She's moved up a class, at nursery, from Wagtails to Robins. It suits her very well. The kids are older, are as verbally advanced as she is and there are lots of fun activities. When I picker her up today they were all dancing on, funnily enough, a Romanian song" Nu ma, nu ma vrei". They were so cute, all of them, in their summer outfits and their little hats on. It's a shame I didn't have my camera with me.
A couple of weeks ago we went to visit John & Suzanne, Alex's parents to celebrate John's birthday. Alina got to ride Teddy for the first time, which she thoroughly enjoyed. The following day, her cousin Ellie, who is a year older, with her parents joined us and the two of them had lots of fun together.
Alina's developing very well. Healthwise, she's only had a little cold this past month which went away by itself. I was a bit weary of taking her swimming as our local pool is not that warm, but she doesn't seem to mind. As a matter of fact, she loves it so we've made it a weekly activity. Her language is still amazing. Her sentence construction is that of a 4 year old and funnily enough, now she is beginning to use it to get her own way. This morning she asked to watch telly and I said no. Her reply was: "but daddy said I can watch telly". I felt like laughing, Alex was at work and she hadn't seen him at all this morning. Cheeky little one! :0).
She's also started reading. She can read most of the letters of the alphabet and is trying to read full words. Most of the time she'll read the letters and make up her own word like : "C" "A" "R".....TOM. It's really funny but also amazing that she's showing an interest in it. The first time I caugh her in bed trying to read a story from one of her baby books. With her interest in reading she's also showing an interest in writing. Instead of doodling she is actually beginning to make proper lines- looks a bit like my handwriting actually :0).
We love spending time with her. She's such a great little girl, with a very good sense of humour and always up to some mischief. She doesn't like being told what to do- just like her mom- and has a very strong sense of independence- just like hear dad. She's great to be with if you take the time to explain things to her and loves to learn about new things. She loves shopping- just like her mom, running, going to the playground,dancing, singing and playing with daddy, who is her "best friend".She has a lot of friends and is very sociable.
What can I say, she's just an amazing little girl.

Lots of hugs,

Trip to Tiger who came to tea with William

Post show fun

Mh... I wonder where the tiger is?

Run grandad, run

Haha, this is fun

Running is my favourite thing!

This is soo much fun!

At the library

Riding Teddy

Look at me!

Granny, Teddy & Alina

Miss Taylor's dance class with Evie

On the beach at Bluewater

Rainy day and muddy puddles with Max

Look at us!

Having fun with cousin Ellie

Ingrid, Alex & Alina

2 years and almost 5 months

2011-05-07T00:19:00.000-07:00

Where does time fly? I cannot believe it that Alina's almost 2 1/2. My brother had a baby recently and I started to reminisce about the times when Alina was little. We had a really hard time but looking at her now, I don't regret any of it. Alina's now a healthy and very active toddler. Her favourite things are running, dancing- non stop from morning till just before bedtime, singing- including inventing her own song- and bossing us around and eating sweeties. The first thing she tells Alex when he walks through the door in the evening is " Daddy dance! or "Sweeties". She's got an incredible memory. If you tell her something she'll catch you out by reminding you about it later. We have to be very careful what we promise her :0).
She also likes to organise races and I love her little face when she runs towards me and says "Alina is the winner!" Of course, the most fun is to say " Daddy/Mommy is the loser" :0).
I still cannot believe it that a toddler with pretty much one lung has so much energy. She will be very athletic, that's for sure. I have signed her up with a football (soccer) class. She loves kicking or throwing a ball, so I am sure she'll enjoy it. We also went swimming the other day. We hadn't been in a while because I was always worried about her catching chest infections.With the weather being so warm, we had a trip to the pool which she thoroughly enjoyed. She was a bit weary of deeper water at first but after a while, there was no stopping her.
Over Easter we went to Romania to visit my parents. Alina can understand everything in Romanian but isn't very keen on speaking it. I am not pushing her, she'll decide when it's the right time to start. The funny thing was that in Romania a few kids told her that they too wanted to learn how to speak English.
Alina was very popular in Romania. I think because she's a very carefree child; she runs around everywhere, loves to invent new games and for her everything is a laugh. She's got a great sense of humour. We were having lunch outside and I got myself an ice cream on a stick. I left part of the wrapper on. She said" Take it out" I replied, "No". Alina said again: "Take it out". I replied again "No". Then she gave me a big grin and with a mischevious look on her face she said " Leave it in". I started laughing.
When we were in Romania, Alex left a few days before us and on the plane I asked her" Do you miss daddy?" She gave me a puzzled look and said "We miss the train mummy!" What do I know, right!? :0)

A hug, Konstantin and Maximilian

2 1/4 years old and last check-up at the hospital

2011-04-06T00:03:00.000-07:00

Alina's 2 1/4 years old and doing brilliantly. She's very strong and is able to get over cold by herself. All 3 of us fell ill with a viral infection a month ago. We had to take Alina to the hospital twice because she was running very high fever. In the past, in cases like this it would've immediately developed into a chest infection. For the first time though, nothing got to her chest. Instead it was just ears and throat for which we were given antibiotics and sent home. YAY! It's a great big step forward for us.
On the 29th we had our routine check-up at Kings Hospital. First of all, we only had one appointment instead of the usual two and we saw a doctor we had never met before. The meeting was very brief, 10 minutes, and the next time we will go there will be in 1 YEAR!!!
I was extatic! When we had Alina it was hard to imagine our lives beyond the next hospital appointment. We were always in and out, always on antibiotics, always ill. Now, 2 1/4 years on, Alina's doing great and she really is just a normal child. Her favourite things to do are running and screaming- both at the same time; dancing and singing, skipping and jumping. My mother got a scooter which she loves. We go to playgroups and playgrounds and she goes to nursery twice a week. From our perspective, given everything we've been through with her, life is very good and long may it continue this way :0).

Lots of love,
The Houchins

Happy Pancacke Day

2011-03-09T13:43:00.000-08:00

2 years and 2 months old

2011-02-21T13:56:00.000-08:00

A few of our friends have asked for more updates on Alina so I thought I'd give a quick update.
Alina is 2 years and 2 months old and doing brilliantly. She celebrated her 2nd birthday in December. It was a great party, Alina had loads of fun on the Thomas the Tank bouncy castle and playing with her little friends. She ran around and screamed and laughed and looking at her you would've never thought she was that poorly little girl I gave birth to 2 years ago. A lot of our friends asked us if there is anything else Alina needs and they are amazed when we tell them that she's just another normal child. And it's true. She gets colds like anyone else and gets over them by herself. There are no more trips to the hospital and no more antibiotics. We still give her vitamins every day but apart from that, she doesn't need anything else.
Her speech is still amazing. She speaks in proper sentences now, some of which are quite complicated. She also loves to run around and has loads of energy- more than Alex and I put together. She loves to kick a ball and loves being chased, which is always accompanied by lots and lots of screaming. When people turn around to see who is making the noise I tell them : " this is my child with one lung", which is the truth. We saw her latest xray and her left lung was minuscule. But this doesn't seem to stop our daughter from being a very active and happy toddler.
We went skiing last week and of course Alina had a go. We always try to encourage her to explore the world and experience different things. Alina loved skiing, she has a natural talent and really enjoyed going very fast down the slopes and over little mogules. A few months ago she wasn't very keen on the snow but this time around it was very different. She had a great time and so did we.
There are so many things I could write about our little girl but I will leave the pictures to speak for themselves.
Lots of hugs from the Houchins.

Daddy's little princess

This is so much fun

Catch me if you can

Are we really in a cable car?!

Chase me mummy!

That's my daddy!

I like skiing

On the snowslide

And with daddy

Chocolate is my favourite!

Skiing in Gerlitzen

With Jane and Beccy

Izzy's birthday party

Those bubbles look like fun

Lounging around with my friends Jazz and Tom

That's my bed!

I loved this bit!

Having a Christmas dance with grandad.

22 months

2010-11-10T13:17:00.000-08:00

Alina's almost 23 months old actually, but we've been so busy that I haven't managed to update the blog in a while. At the moment, both Alina and myself are suffering a bit with chickenpox. Alina's a trooper! She has about 150 spots and is good as gold. She hasn't complained at all and has been in a very good mood throughout. It's only day 3 so we are keeping fingers crossed that the spots will crust over soon.

Alina's doing incredibly well. Her speech has come on and she now speaks in sentences on a regular basis. Her sentence construction is very good; she is even beginning to make a distinction between past and present tenses. She can count up to 18 in English and to 10 in Romanian. She knows all the colours and loves to improvise when she sings nursery rhymes.

Alina's favourite toy is her wooden train set which is dutifully maintained by Alex :0) She also loves to cook in her little kitchen, read books- especially Peppa Pig and Thomas the Tank engine and chase balls.

Alina's schedule is very busy. She goes to Jo Jingles, a music class, lots of playgroups and a dance class on Fridays which she loves. She's a very musical person so we'll probably continue a lot of these in the future. We've signed her up for nursery, which she'll start in a few weeks. It's quite exciting and we're sure that she'll like it because she's very sociable.
Healthwise, Alina's done very well this summer and autumn. We've had good weather, which has helped as well but she's also stronger and is able to get over colds all by herself. It's incredible to remember that last year we were in and out of hospital all the time.
Alina's such a happy and lovable child. She likes giving hugs and kisses and is very good at sharing her toys with other kids. As a matter of fact she is loved by a lot of her friends who always like to come to Alina's house. She is also extremely understanding of different situations. We've always made a point of explaining to her that if we leave we always come back. We left her with a babysitter for an afternoon and an evening and even though she had only met Eva once before, she was already looking forward to her new playpal and follwed her routine as per normal.
Alina amazes us every day and we are so blessed to have her in our lives.

Hugs from the Houchins.

I cannot hear you...!!

I love jumping in leaves with daddy

This is soo much fun

Oh no, how do I get down?

Wee!

Imi, would you like some grass?

21 months

2010-09-19T14:38:00.000-07:00

Today Alina turned 21 months old.

It's been a really good month for Alina. Healthwise, she's doing great. She had 2 colds and amazingly she got over them herself. No more last minute appointments with the GP, no more 7 day antibiotics, no more fever, nothing. Just a snorty nose, a bit of a cought and a week later we are healthy again. Admitely, whenever she catches anything, I give her a double dose of vitamins and some homepathic pills which prevent colds from developing. I am not sure if that's the cause of maybe her immune system just got stronger. Whatever it is, we are over the moon. Our next appointment at Kings is on the 28th. They were initially talking about giving her preventive antibiotics to help her through this winter but I doubt it that they are still needed.

Alina's growing up very fast. She's always been very advanced verbally but she still amazes everyone with her vocabulary. She now talks in full senteces and is very good at interacting with older kids. She says "please" and "thank you" and can explain to us an entire story or cartoon. It's great sitting and watching TV with her because she provides hilarious commentary. It looks like we might have a future broadcaster in our family.

Physically she's also doing very well. She loves to run around, loves boucy castles, trampolines and merry-go-rounds.
Alina loves playing with trains and loves Thomas the Tank. She also does a lot of role playing- now she's into feeding her little characters. She still loves to watch Peppa Pig and seems to learn a lot from it. Alex took her to the playground where she found a stick and started rubbing it on the ground saying "making fire"- just like Daddy Pig. She also tells Alex "silly daddy" when he does something funny. More recently she also started to watch Mickey Mouse and today we had Mickey, Minnie and Pluto (whom she calls Goofy) at the dinner table sharing our pasta. They got a bit messy so she had to wipe their faces. It's so lovely to see how she copies everything we do. Now I understand the importance of a well balanced and nurturing home. I can see that Alina is and will be happy child because she is loved and encouraged.
Alina is very sociable. She loves playing with other kids and especially other little girls. Some of her friends are boys but as they are growing up, their games are becoming a bit more "energetic". I decided to organise a little girls playgroup. It was sooo civilised. No throwing stuff around, no kicking and screaming, just nice cups of tea, some hide and seek and lots and lots of drawing. It was really cute seeing the 3 of them together and Alina loved it. I then realised that she's ready for nursery. Although she was due to start next July I am sure she'd love being with other kids. We are trying to arrange 2 mornings a week.
One thing with growing up is that now she know what she does and doesn't want. She tells us what she wants for breakfast and dinner and grabs our hands for us to go and play with her. Alex and I are basically her little puppets. You can hear her" daddy sit down, daddy up, daddy ball ( Alex and Alina have a favourite ball game), mamma playing, etc". It's really funny. The truth is that she's the little boss and there's nothing we can do...she's got us both wrapped around her little finger.
And how could we not love this little girl whose been through so much and has come so far! Every day with her is a new experience and we love every minute of it.

Hugs to all.
The Houchins

Feeding the ducks in Petersfield

Let's look for some more blackberries

Making sandcastles in West Wittering

I want to go in

Wearing daddy's top after a swimming attempt

Bouncing on the trampoline

Hello, can you see me!?

Having a bath with my new friend Evie

Look at Alina

Daddy's ball & Alina's ball

Feeding the horses with granny

I like Ted!

With granny on the slide

At the playground with grandad

The 4 Houchins

Weekend pictures- Godstone Fair

2010-08-30T12:43:00.000-07:00

20 months old

2010-08-22T13:59:00.000-07:00

In a rowing boat with granny

Alina is 20 months old and doing great. Since the last time I wrote, she came down with a cold which required antibiotics but this time around she recovered very quickly and hasn't been ill since. Being in good health makes such a difference, we've done so many things with her and are really enjoying time as a family. Alina's begun to run. We've bought her a golf set and she loves throwing the balls down our driveway- which is on a slope- and runs after them. She's even introduced some of her friends to her new game.
We've taken Alina swimming a few times and she absolutely loves being in the water. We have to hold her back otherwise she'd throw herself in :0).
Alina loves animals. We went on a few nature trails and she loved seeing the pigs, the sheep and the chickens. She stayed with Alex's parents for a few days and couldn't get enough of their dogs and horses- whose names she knows already. It looks like we will be getting a pet pretty soon.
Alina is a big Peppa Pig fan but recently she's discovered Thomas the Tank and Chugginton. We went away to Dorset for a few days and took her on a stream train. She thought it was amazing and loved every minute of it. Especially when the train passed a castle, some cows and tents- words which she's recently learnt. It was great to show Alina how words relate to real life objects.
We love seeing her grow up. She now is begginning to repeat entire sentences and understands everything we tell her. It makes it so much easier to communicate. One part of growing up is pushing boundaries. Alina at times is testing our patience with little tantrums but so far we've stood our ground pretty well :0). Both Alex and I are pretty headstrong so we know that this is just the beginning but it's also the fun of parenting. It really makes me laugh when she throws her toys around because something that she was trying to do didn't work out. I can only imagine what I used to be like :0).
We love Alina very much and are so happy to have her in our lives.One thing is for sure, our days are never dull :0).

Hugs from the Houchins.

Hi...yes...who is this...Alina...bye bye..

Choo choo

Wow, is this really Thomas I am on?

Do you want to see my dance moves?

I love icecream

19 months

2010-07-25T05:06:00.001-07:00

For the first time in her life Alina was healthy for 2months running. I wrote this because she caught a cold just the other day :0(. I kept thinking, one more week, and then another and another. We were just saying that we couldn't believe how well she looks and how much she's developed.
Alina's extremely active, she loves to run around and push things such as chairs or ride on toys and is becoming more and more adventurous on playgrounds. We bought her a coupe car which she truly enjoys and she's recently learnt how to push herself backwards. Funnily enough, everything kids do seems to start by going backwards- it was the same with crawling.
Alina's continuing to develop her verbal skills, she's learning how to count, she knows several colours by now and is making little sentences. What really amazes us is that she's doing role playing already and is beginning to invent songs with her favourite toys as the main characters. She especially likes it when we insert her name in nursery rhymes and asks us to repeat it over and over again.
It's actually funny how self centered toddlers are. We went shopping yesterday and she saw herself in a mirror and started spinning around and was laughing the whole time. It's a shame I didn't have a camera with me. Talking about cameras though, it's very difficult to record her these days because she just wants to look at "Anina" in the viewfinder.
We've recently taken Alina swimming. It's a bit hard because there is only one pool and it's indoors and it's a big cold. But she loves it! She might be blue and shivering and still wants to be in the water and amazingly has no fear of deep water.
A few weeks ago we went to the homeopathic hospital and Alina's now on homeopathic medicine as well. We just hope that everything we are giving her this summer will help her have an easier winter.
It's been a great summer so far. We hope that Alina continues to stay fit and healthy and that the weather remains that same :0).
Hugs to everyone.
The Houchins

Mummy's little cat

One day I'll be a Formula 1 driver

I love feeding the guinea pigs

Look at me...

At the teddy bear's picnic

Teddy bear hug

Hello Bambi!

Mhh...I can even write on my tummy

Wow, look at my masterpiece

Daddy's little farm girl

Vroom....

Daddy's so much fun!

Having a laugh with granny

18 months

2010-06-20T10:38:00.000-07:00

We've had a busy month. On May 29th we had Alina christened in Romania. During the day we had organised a kids party, which she really enjoyed. In the evening at church, we noticed that something wasn't right with her but she did put up a brave face during the service. At the reception afterwards we suspected that Alina had come down with something as she wanted to be held the whole time. Unfortunately we were right, she had caught a viral infection and was ill that evening and night and had really high fever. Luckily my parents have a paediatrician friend who was at the party and who was pulled off the dance floor by my mom to come and see Alina. After a few days and a set of antibiotcs Alina was back to her old self. We actually went to see the paediatrician again to have a full check up. She told us that Alina needs additional calcium- her fontanella is not closed yet- and also, given her background we should look into homeopathic treatment in addition to the conventional medicine. So now we are on Osteocare, vitamins and also some homeopathic pills for lung development. We're also a lot more careful, if she has a snoyty nose we'd rather keep her home for a few days. And the other day I left a playgroup because one of the kids had a terrible cough which I didn't want Alina to catch.
Alina loved returning home. She likes her toys and her friends. Admitedly, she does have a very busy social calendar and enjoys both mummy and daddy's company.

She's growing up so fast though! Alina's started putting a few words together. Today she said: " a big boat" and is making a difference between Romanian and English. The other day she held a doll and turned to Alex and said "doll" and then turned to me and said "papusa". We were astounded. She's also begun to sign. Peppa Pig is her favourite and she loves singing "North Start", one of the Peppa Pig songs. It really makes us laugh, she's is so utterly cute.

Being able to communicate has made her very independent and self confident. She has been pushed around by a few kids and also has had a few toys taken away at playgroups. Alex told me that she has a new strategy to drive kids away: she yells at them :0).

Since Alina was born we've always been told that she's small- I really hated hearing that. Now it's the first time that she looks like any other toddler. She's tall and is very confident in her walking. She's even learning to run- mainly around the table in the living room and mainly being chased by us. But it's great seeing her new found independence.

Feeding wise she's eating everything by herself using both spoon and fork. It's really nice going out now, we can actually all have a meal together. Today was Father's Day and we took daddy and uncle Mark and auntie Bianca out to a pub. Alina eat the whole children's portion and wanted some more chips( fries) from Bianca's plate. And then she had 1/2 of mummy's brownie with ice cream. She definitely has a big appetite :0).

We love our little daughter. She amazes us every day and we are looking forward to a wonderful summer with her.

Hugs from the UK.

the Houchins

With my godparents, Aura, Guenther and Ioana

I don't go anywhere without my babbas

I am having so much fun

Anyone wants a biscuit?

17 months

2010-05-19T07:59:00.000-07:00

Today Alina turned 17 months. Where does the time fly!? Our little girl is doing great, talking loads, walking everywhere and really enjoying being a toddler.

A week ago Alina came down with a stomach bug. She vomited for 2 days and didn't want to eat much for 3. It was hard to see her being so poorly. At one point we were sure she said " I feel aweful". Well, she had a lot of TLC from both mummy and daddy and got to watch loads of her favourite Peppa Pig. After the stomach bug she came down with a nasty cough. She didn't seem to be bothered by it but we still took her to the GP. He prescribed us some antibiotics and and inhaler. We've already tried the inhaler and she doesn't seem to mind it so we'll give it a good go next time.

This week was the week of good byes. Yesterday we had an audiology appointment. Back in December Alina was diagnosed with glue ear because she wasn't picking up high pitched sounds. This time around she passed the test with flying colours and amazed the doctors not just with her hearing but also with her verbal skills. Today we also had our last physiotherapy session with Roz. Because Alina's double jointed (like mother like daughter), Roz wanted to make sure that she walks correctly. As you can see from the pictures, Alina had a great time roaming around the big room and Roz was so pleased with her progress that she discharged us. So one more good bye. It was said but it also made us realise how far Alina's come and also how busy we were last year rushing from one appointment to another. For our audiology appt I had forgotten Alina's Red Book, which has every single detail about her life so far. I couldn't believe it; last year there was no way I would leave the house without it. Seeing her do well has made us more relaxed. We know that we are over the worst and are just enjoying being parents to a wonderful little girl.

All in all Alina's doing great. She is learning numbers and some letters of the alphabet. We know o and i and m. She picks up names very quickly. She can now say: Alex, Andrew, Jane, Stasiu, Izzy, Suzy,Thomas, Imi ( our local cat) and Alina. Funnily enough she cannot pronounce "l" so we ended up with Anina. She can say things like " daddy's tea, brush the teeth and is alreay making a difference between singular and plural. She now walks everywhere and has begun to run. The other night we went out to dinner with some friends and their 2 year old boy. Alina was chasing him screaming Thomas the whole time. Even though we were asked to keep it down by another diner it was lovely to see Alina have so much confidence.

We're off to Romania next Thursday for Alina's christening. We're looking forward to it and hope that Alina has a great time.

We wish everyone a great start of the summer.

Hugs from the Houchins.

Sharing toys with Stasiu
Last play with Roz Fondajames, our physiotherapist

I am a bit shy in front of the camera
See me runWatching Peppa Pig with babbaI love Izzy's jumperoo

16 months and volcanic ash

2010-05-04T13:23:00.000-07:00

Alina turned 16 months old 2 weeks ago. We would've updated the blog sooner, but we were stranded in southern Spain for 1 week. Well, even thought it was a bit of a worry for a few days because we had to find another place to stay, in the end things turned out well. The weather improved- the first week it rained a lot- and our new place was a lot better than the first one including having a mini club which Alina loved. So all is well when it ends well.

Alina's doing great. We had our 3 monthly hospital appointment and Dr. Hannam, her consultant was amazed how well she's progressing. She's walking everywhere now and verbally is extremely advanced. She's very switched on and even he commented that she's as "bright as a button". During our holiday she learnt how to drink from a straw, so we've changed her sippy cup. She seems to prefer her new one which has an integrated straw. Feeding wise, we can hardly feed her at all. She wants to do it all herself and is using the fork and spoon very well. It's hard to remember what last year was like because Alina looks and behaves like all the other kids her age. She's gained a lot of weight and is extremely active- we even forget that she has one small lung. We're looking into pre-schools which she will start next year at 2 1/2. She's very intelligent so we want to make sure that she goes to the right place where she'll continue to be challenged. When we were first considering whether to continue with the pregnancy we never even imagined that our child will do so well. We're so proud of Alina! She's a tough little cookie and a really cute one as well :0).

With nurse Nikki whom we met in Puerto Banus and who took care of me in ICU.

Beach time with mama

I love the seaPekabooClose to AfricaSunbathingHello....I love swimming...if mama is around

Wee....i love the slideDo you like my peppa pig bathing suit?

I love reading my peppa pig booksThe 3 Houchins

Lots of hugs from the UK.

1st steps

2010-04-08T09:48:00.001-07:00

Alina took her first steps today. I managed to actually catch it on the camera, which I am really happy about. We're off to Spain on Saturday, so it's great timing.
We cannot believe it how well she's doing. Verbally she is very advanced, she can say complicated words like octopus, playdough, cat shoes and unghie (nail in Romanian), though "no" seems to be her favourite at the moment :0). And now the walking...we're just amazed. As a treat daddy gave her a back rub. She enjoyed it so much that she keeps asking for more. Someone knows how to lead the good life :0).
We're off to Kings to have an ultrasound on her diaphragm. The doctors wanted to see how it's functioning especially given her patch and her reherniation. We hope that everything is fine and we'll be able to enjoy some fantastic sunshine without any worries.

Hugs from the Houchins.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-02T12:55:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter wishes of health and happiness from the Houchins.

15 months

2010-03-23T10:00:00.000-07:00

This past month has been a difficult one for us. Alina's been ill on and off pretty much the whole month. She's had several colds with fever, lots and lots of coughing. We've even had to stop giving her milk because it causes her to vomit when she's snotty. 2 nights ago she had a terrible coughin fit. It lasted for 1.5 hours and even though we tried everything it just wouldn't stop. Just when we got to the point of calling the hospital she fell asleep- thanks God. I really hate hearing her cough. I wish I could do something but at the same time I am conscious of the fact that she needs to go through all this. On the bright side she hasn't needed any more antibiotics which tells us that she's getting stronger.
Apart from the colds we've also had some teeth coming. Ouch! She's got 8 at the top and 3 at the bottom.

Feeding wise Alina's learnt how to use the spoon and fork. The fork is really her favourite and she doesn't like it when we try to help her by stabbing different foods. When I did that she complained and took the bit of pasta off and proceeded in trying herself. Right, we definitely have a determined little girl :0).

Alina's also very, very talkative. She learns new words very quickly- her newest ones are elephant, roll over, car, afara ( outside in Romanian) and she's even attempted to say hippopotamus a few times. It usually comes out as "hippo...mumble mumble....ssss" :0). She's also totally obsessed with Peppa Pig and started singing the Peppa Pig tune. It's really cute actually. Another word she's begun to use is "poo poo". She says it when she has a wee and a poo. It's great that she is beginning to know that something is happening. We got her a potty just to have around but it will be a while before we attempt the dreaded potty training :0). For now we have just taken her off the bottle which has gone down well. Well, not having milk for a week did help as well ;0).

Alina's been standing on her own for a few weeks now. She's even attempted a few tiny steps but it still afraid to make that plunge. Funnily enough, she's tried to run a few times whilst holding our hands- hilarious! We might have a new athlete in the family, who knows.

Happy Easter everyone!

Big hugs from the Houchins

Having fun with granny

I can stand on my own

I love my walker

Bunica, I want curls too

At the shopping mall with bunica..mhh...let me see those toys
Celebrating mother's day with daddy

And with mama

14 months

2010-02-21T07:27:00.000-08:00

On Friday Alina turned 14 months. We cannot believe it how quickly times flies by. She's growing up so fast, it's hard to remember how it was when she was a little baby.

Alina's very mobile. She's coasting loads and likes to walk with us. It's really cute how she grabs onto our fingers for stability. She's beginning to let go more and more, especially when she wants to clap or dance. She is so adorable moving side to side to the music..we can tell that she'll be a great dancer one day.

Alina's very vocal. She can say a lot of words, we've even lost count. Yesterday she tried to say her own name. It came out as Anja- very close. She basically copies everything we say, so we have to be very careful :0). The other day I said" hey you" to her in Romanian and she went "he you" back to me :0). And she's continuing to form short sentences like "mama papa" which means mummy food or "mama apa" which is mummy water. Needless to say we both think she's a little genius :0).

Healtwise she's been doing very well these past couple of months. Both Alex and myself have continued to be ill with all kinds of viruses but she weathered them all. Unfortunately it seems that our luck has run out. She's got a runny nose and has started coughing. So we'll be back to our GP in the next days.

We had a check-up at Kings a couple of weeks ago. Her pectus excavatum (sunken chest) hasn't improved but otherwise the Drs. were very impressed with her progress. Her xray looked good and she's put on loads of weight. That we are not surprised about as Alina LOVES food. If there is food around, she will make sure that she's in prime position to reach it :0). She's now trying to feed herself with the spoon and we have started using a little fork as well which she thinks it's very grown up. Every chance we get we have a sit down meal as a family. Alina loves those times and you can tell that she is trying to learn everything we do. It's fun to see her copy us and also to see that she's beginning to develop her own personality- very determined like mummy and daddy.

We're really enjoying this new phase in her life. It's a lot of fun seeing the world through her eyes and discovering all these little things we take for granted. Alina's great and we love having her around.

Hugs from the UK.

Discovering sand in Reigate

It's a lot of fun, isn't it

Having a muffin with bunica

Going for a walk with bunicaI might be the smallest but I am still having lots of fun

13 months

2010-01-31T03:15:00.000-08:00

Alina has had a great start of the year. Despite Alex and I being ill on and off for most of January, she hasn't caught anything. What a relief!

Alina's having a great time discovering the world around her. She walks everywhere with her walker and even started walking with daddy's help. We think it's only a matter of weeks before she is off on her own. She's also discovered the fun of climbing up the stairs so we had to install some more stairgates- we have 3 so far and one more pending. She definitely wasn't very pleased about that and neither were her friends who come to visit :0).

Alina's discovered dancing. She loves music and dances to anything that has a beat. I've been taking her to a few music classes and last time she was dancing to raegge. It really made me laugh. She has fantastic rhythm so we are definitely going to take her to more dancing classes. Before Christmas at her hearing check she was diagnosed with glue ear, which is liquid in the middle ear. I am still unsure whether that wasn't caused by her being ill because she has a very good musical ear and doesn't show any signs of not hearing high tunes. We're looking forward to her next check-up in a month's time. We hope she gets an all clear then.

Alina also loves to talk. She can say up to 30 sounds and words now in both Romanian and English. Apart from the usual words like mama, daddy, teddy, bee she can also say tractor and keys. To our amazement, she can even put two words together like "bye daddy" and "bye teddy".

Feeding wise she is also doing well. She's always loved food so we've been lucky in that department. She is trying to feed herself with the spoon and surprisingly she has great dexterity. We are very happy about this new stage as it means that we can all have a full meal together :0).

Looking back we are still amazed how well Alina has done and how much she's grown already. Yesterday we went to her cousin Ellie's 2nd birthday and we saw them play together for the first time. It's strange to think that Alina's not a baby anymore. We love spending time with her and every day brings new joys. She's such a wonderful and happy child and we are very lucky to have her.

Family photo

Riding Ellie's pony with grandpa

With auntie Lijlijana

With mamaI love the telly

Hugs from the UK.

Ingrid & Alex

1 year old

2010-01-06T08:01:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone! We hope you all had a great Christmas and a good start into 2010. We haven't updated the blog in a while as we spent the holidays with my family in Romania. Alina celebrated her 1st birthday in the UK. Despite the snow, we had a good crowd and everyone had fun. Apart from the birthday girl that is who had high fever, due to aching teeth and went to sleep in her pram. She did wake up for her birthday cake though and had a great time with her new toys once we got home.

2 days later we flew to Romania. Alina was in great spirits and jumped up and down the whole flight. 10 min before landing she crashed and fell asleep in my arms. It's quite tricky to dress sleeping baby in a snowsuit :0).

Alina loved Romania. She had a blast for Christmas and loved all the attention. She was spoiled for 2 weeks by bunicu & bunica and put on a lot of weight and grew taller. She has also got quite a few teeth- 8 by now. They are all over the place and they look so funny when she smiles.

It's interesting what a difference these 2 weeks have made. It just feels like Alina's matured a bit, she talks non stop, started pointing a different things and loves a good joke. When she was little, she wasn't ticklish at all but now...quite a different story :0). She also started walking with a bit of help. The other day she surprised me by taking her walker for a little stroll to see what's around the corner ( see video). And yesterday she climed up 5 steps. So it's all go for our little girl. It's great to see her so happy and we love this new stage in her life.

Hugs from a snowy UK.

Ingrid, Alex & Alina

Birthdays are so much fun- I love my new toys

Christmas fun

With uncle Mark

Pushing cars

First time on the slide

I love playing with other kids

Tickly cuddle with bunicu
Being spoilt by buni

Snow bunny with mummy and daddy

Almost one

2009-12-15T13:00:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

We haven't updated the blog in a while as we have all been battling a nasty flu. Alina's developed into tonsilitis no2- another quick trip to hospital but luckily no overnight stay- which of course went to her chest a few days later. We've already learnt that what Alina needs is wider spectrum antibiotics as everything she catches ends up eventually in her chest. We've finally been given a "passport" to our local hospital which means that we can bypass A&E and go straight to the pediatrics department. It's a great help and a huge time saver.

These past few months have been incredibly difficult. It's hard taking care of someone else when you are ill yourself and I always suffer when I see Alina being unwell. The doctors have told us that the first 2 winters will be hard on her and now we know what they meant. It feels like there's always something and it's hard to resist the temptation of rushing to hospital all the time. Luckily we've made some wonderful mom friends who've been incredibly supportive when I was at my lowest: Caroline and Jules, thanks a lot!

Alina's still on antibiotics and has lost quite a bit of weight but today she seemed much better and had gotten her apetite back- including for milk, which she went off for a few days. So hopefully we'll be back on the 9th percentile soon.

On a positive note, we finally have teeth!! Yayy! In true Transylvanian fashion (which is where I am from), Alina didn't get either the bottom or top teeth but the fangs. So we have a little vampire in the family :0). She's also very, very active, crawls really fast and loves being chased by Alex. After her bath- which is daddy's time- I can always hear Alina squeaking with joy as they play their hide-and-seek game.

Alina also pulls herself up in her cot and everywhere else she can and started taking small side steps along her toys and sofa. The other day she even climbed up a step but then got really scared and wouldn't move either up or down. Funnily enough she has no issues with thresholds, so I wonder if she is beginning to understand about heights?

Alina talks non-stop. She can say about 7 words in both Romanian and English like apple, water, finish, duck, daddy, mama and cat. She tells us off when we don't do what she would like us to, which is really funny. And every time she sees any of her little friends she always initiates conversations accompanied by lots and lots of smiles. Apart from also trying to feed them. Actually she tries to feed us all, most of them time stuff that she's chewed and didn't fancy finishing anymore :0).

On Saturday Alina will be 1. Wow, where has the year gone!? We have a little party planned so we'll post the pictures afterwards.

I know that I've always thanked everyone but I wanted to say a big, big THANK YOU to Alex who is the most wonderful husband and father. He's been so supportive throughout this whole time and it's obvious that he's got a very special bond with Alina. Thank you sweetie, we couldn't have done it without you!

Little Miss

2009-11-09T13:54:00.000-08:00

Alina's healthy again. Today we met some of our friends for the first time in 2 weeks. You could tell that Alina missed her playgroup. She was so happy to see everyone and kept chatting to them, smiling and clapping. Clapping seems to be her favourite thing at the moment. Every time we ask her to do something which she can't, she starts to clap. It's soo cute. And yesterday, when we were out with grandma and grandpa she started waving for the first time. It's more of a "queen like" wave, just to let us know that after all she is a little miss.

Hello! What's going on outside?

Yay, I've made it to the front door

With mummy and daddy

Am I not the cutest?

Well done everyone! Thanks for checking my blog.

Pneumonia

2009-11-02T12:32:00.001-08:00

Well, things turned out completely differentely than we had expected. We really thought that Alina was getting better but after a brief honeymoon period we had to take her to A&E. She had developed a very chesty cough and was having difficulty breathing. On top of that, she also started to have fever. An x-ray showed that she had an infection in her left lung- the small lung. The doctors diagnosed her with pneumonia. They were also concerned that she might have caught swine flu. We thought, oh no, does that mean that Alex also has it? Poor him, he had been struggling with his cold and even after 5 days he still wasn't able to shake it off.

Alina was booked into Outwood, the paediatric ward. We were given a separate cubicle and put in isolation. One might think- "great, we're getting privacy" but I tell you, it wasn't that glamorous. We were stuck in this sauna of a room, unable to open the door to get some fresh air in. Poor Alina was sweating the whole time as if she'd just run a marathon. All the staff were wearing masks, aprons and gloves- they really looked as if they had just landed out of some weird sci-fi movie. I wonder what Alina must've been thinking. Admitedly, the entire time she wanted to be held- she must've been terrified.

Alina was put on IV antibiotics. Poor little thing, after 8 months her veins still hadn't recovered so it took the doctors 2 tries to be able to put in a canula. Her saturation was around 91-92 so the nurse put an oxygen mask in front of her whilst she was sleeping to help her out a bit. The first night was really difficult for poor little Alina. Despite the antibiotics she was still coughing a lot. I really didn't want her to be suctioned- I still have nightmares about her suctioning in ICU- but in the end I had no choice. It was the right thing to do as a lot of the infected mucus came out and it helped her breathe better. The antibiotics also did the trick and in the morning she had improved significantly. She wasn't eating properly- she was just exhausted- so the nurse put her on IV fluids. When she was weighted I couldn't believe my eyes. In 1.5 weeks she had lost 500g. That is to show how fragile these little ones are.

After 2 days Alina had recovered and we were discharged this afternoon. We still don't know whether she had swine flu. It takes them 48 hours to get the results back. But thinking about it, we haven't received a call so she probably didn't have it. She is still on tamilflu for another 2 days and on some other antibiotics for 5 more days.

Alina was so happy to be back, she was all smiles the whole evening. She was trying to crawl but she's so weak that she only manages to crawl a bit and then collapses onto the carpet. But all in all she's in good spirits and loves being back amongst her toys.

So quite a scary weekend overall but it's great to see Alina feeling better. And Alex is also on the mend so hopefully we'll be back to giggles, smiles and lots of crawling soon.

Last night

2009-10-29T03:11:00.000-07:00

Thank you everyone for your comments!
What an eventful night! Alina spiked a temperature- 39 and was really suffering. She was crying a lot and was breathing like a steam train. I got totally scared and asked Alex if we shouldn't take her to hospital. As he was going through the same thing as Alina he reassured me that most probably she was just bunged up. Poor little one, she was so miserable. We took turns holding her during the night and after an unsuccessful attempt to give her some antibiotics she finally managed to sleep from 3am-7am.
This morning she was all smiles and you could tell that she was feeling better. She was clapping - that's her new found skill :0), had a good milk bottle and a healthy breakfast. Plus, we're over the diarrhea--yay! I must say, I don't know what we would've done these past days without our dryer. What a life saver!
So after 1 week it looks like both father and daughter are on the road to recovery. And mum is looking forward to the lie-in on Sunday :0).

The Houchins

ILL

2009-10-28T12:22:00.001-07:00

For the past week Alina has been very ill. It all started last Thursday, when she refused her tea and dinner. Even when I offered her her favourite biscuits, she would just hold it but not put it in her mouth. Then she started vomiting, which really made me think: " Oh, no! I hope she hasn't reherniated!" And then the diarrhea started. Poor Alina was totally miserable. A trip to the hospital confirmed that it wasn't hereniation- what a relief!
The good thing was that she only vomited 3 times and started taking solids again after a few days. It did take a lot of persuasion because she didn't want us to put the spoon in her mouth so I had to put the food on my finger and then put it in her mouth. Tricky when you are trying to feed her soup :0). The bad thing was that the diarrhea didn't stop for 5 days. She had lost so much weight and looked so pale that I had to rush back to see the doctor. As it turns out, she's got some viral infection. Her chest sounded clear but her throat was red. We were given some antibiotics just in case. But last night she was looking chirpier and her nappies were looking better, so I thought that she was over the worst.

How wrong was I! Alex caught a cold- more like a flu- 2 days ago. He's been pretty ill and even lost his voice today. Unfortunately Alina caught the bug as well. So just when we thought that we were sailing in clear waters, Alina started spiking a fever. Needless to say, today has been very difficult for her and on top of that she has also lost her voice. We've given her some antibiotics which we hope will help her. We feel so sorry for her. Poor little girl...what an awful week.

The Houchins

10 months old and crawling away

2009-10-21T13:28:00.000-07:00

On Monday Alina was 10 months old. We celebrated by going to the Tandridge Teddies playgroup where each child was having their picture taken. Even though mummy had made a mistake and gave Alina a chocolate biscuit before the photo shoot- most of which ended up on her face and clothes- Alina proceeded to give the biggest smiles ever to the photographer. Very impressive :0). I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures in a few weeks.
At the playgroup Alina watched her friends crawling around and when we came home, she decided that she had had enough of crawling backwards. She's been doing that for 1 month now and she's probably thinking that it's just gotten a bit boring. So, in the past few days she's perfected her crawling skills. We're so proud of her and at the same time we can't stop laughing. She makes the cutest noises and it definitely looks and sounds like she's making a huge effort. Mind you, she's got quite a bit of weight to carry.: 0) She's almost 7.5kg ( 16 lbs and 8 oz) and even looks chubby. The other day she was sitting next to a friend of hers who is 11 months old and they looked very similar in size.
So gone are the days when everyone was telling us how small she was- which by the way, made me utterly furious. "

Alina is doing great. She's had a runny nose for the past 2 weeks but seems to be coping very well with it. We had a check-up at Kings and even the consultant couldn't believe it, that despite her cold, her lungs sounded very clear. Our appointment lasted literally 5 minutes because he had nothing to say. And the next time we will see him again is in 4 months- YIPPEEE.

Apart from crawling Alina also likes to stand a lot and is even trying to pull herself up in her cotbed. Alex caught her licking the bars...maybe I should smear them with chocolate :0). She still doesn't have any teeth but we are amazed how good she is at chewing. She basically will have anything and luckily we love cooking, so she gets spoilt with fancy French recipes (Alex's latest hobby), some Thai and lot of Italian and Romanian. My father-in-law after hearing that she had had venison said that she will have expensive tastes and he is probably right. I am afraid we are spoiling her a bit :0).

I hope you are enjoying the video. It really made us laugh. And thanks again for all your comments and for visiting our blog.

Big hugs from the Houchins

Updates

2009-10-08T13:42:00.000-07:00

Alina's 9 1/2 months now. The other day we looked at some of the first pictures we took of her and couldn't believe it how tiny she was back then and how quickly she's grown. These 9 months have really flown by.

Alina's doing really well. She's incredibly active and even though she hasn't mastered crawling yet she is getting around everywhere and is even pulling herself up from sitting to 1/2 standing. A lot of her friends are walking so she wants to be standing all the time and especially loves standing on the windowsill, watching the cars driving by and banging with her little hand on the window. The doctors told us that Alina wouldn't be able to run marathons but seeing her- always on the move- I truly doubt it that that's true. We're convinced she's going to be the next Paula Radcliffe :0).

Alina's has had a cold these past few days but she's dealt really well with it. To be honest, this year has been peppered with colds but I think that her immune system is getting stronger and stronger as every time she seems to be able to get rid of them quicker. Apart from when she had tonsilitis we haven't had to take her to hospital and she's needed paracetamol only a few times- mostly related to teething. I feel so sorry for her, she's been teething for ages but we still don't have any teeth. They say the later they come the better- I truly hope this pain pays off in the long run. But despite being toothless Alina's able to eat anything and is very good at chewing. She loves to finger feed and gets really annoyed now when I try to spoon feed her. She's one headstrong little girl :0).

Alina said her first word to the delight of her parents and grandparents. It was "duck" and then she said "daddy" a few times. Of course Alex is extremely proud- she is already daddy's girl.

To be honest, Alina's a chatterbox. She talks and smiles to everyone and just loves interacting with her baby friends. She's getting a bit "playmat smart" as well- the other day she was fighting with a bigger girl for a book, which was hilarious to watch.

Being parents to such an amazing little girl is a wonderful feeling. We love every moment that we spend with her and her smiles and giggles are so rewarding. Alina is such a happy and sociable child, we can tell already that our house will be filled with silly games and laughter.

Thank you to everyone for your wonderful messages on our blog and for continuing to read Alina's story.

The Houchins.

Having brunch with sleepy looking daddy

My first picnic

At Wagamama with mama

Caught red handed trying some diy with my friends

Hola

2009-09-07T13:17:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful holiday in Spain. We had booked 4 days in a resort on the Costa Dorada, 130 km away from Barcelona. Our trip started really well, Alina didn't have any issues on the flight and even fell asleep on daddy's chest. When we went to pick up the car it turns out that they didn't have the baby seat we had ordered. Well, they actually were missing a total of 4 seats- 3 other families also had to wait. But in typical Spanish fashion, one of the guys nipped to the stores and came back 45 min later with 4 brand new baby seats. Alina's was even pink and was decorated with little fairies.

Our accomodation was fantastic. We had ordered a baby package which it turns out included a proper cot- not a travel one- a pram, 2 types of highchairs, a playmat and all the utensils needed for feeding a baby. We were amazed, all this for only £40. Alina settled in very quickly so we managed to enjoy sangrias on the patio every night.

Alina made a lot of little Spanish friends in the baby pool and even had a swim in the sea, which she truly enjoyed. She's also discovered that baby food is not as interesting as what mummy and daddy eat. Whenever we went out she wanted to sit in our laps and eat off our plates. Her newfound tastes are at the expense of the milk feeds though, which she doesn't seem to like as much so we have to work on that. But she's become really chunky and is looking great. Funnily enough in the UK everyone says that she is small whereas in Spain she is considered big for her age. So it's all relative. We of course think that she's doing great and really enjoyed spending time with her. And Alina, as always, was full of smiles which made it all that much more worthwhile.

What can we say..... our holiday finished too soon...we are looking forward to going away again.

The Houchins

Getting excited about our first flight

Hanging out with daddy at the beach
Giving daddy a headmassage

Visiting the Bonmont Golf Course
First swim in the Med
This is soo much fun

Growing up

2009-09-02T08:54:00.001-07:00

This past month has really flown by. I turned 33 on August 17th but to be honest we were more excited about Alina being 8 months old on August 19th. Not sure why but it really felt like we had crossed a milestone. Well, we did actually with Alina being 1 stone and getting closer and closer to the 9th percentile (her birthweight mark).

Alina is doing really well. She's sitting up unaided and is trying to move around. She hasn't gotten the hang of crawling yet so she is doing a bum hop, which is usually acompanied by an excited schreech- really funny to watch. She has has recently started finger feeding- biscuits seem to be her favourite and today we used the sippy cup for the first time.

We love this stage now. She's so much fun, is always full of smiles and is extremely curious. We have 2 fireplaces and even though I had put her playmat far away from them, I found her right by the log basket ready to start rummaging in it :0). I guess we should think about childproofing the house :0).

We're off to Spain tomorrow. It will be Alina's first time on the plane. I am a little apprehensive about it but am sure that she will do fine. This trip also makes me realise that our little girl is not a baby anymore. I cannot believe it how fast she's grown!

The other day we went to visit a friend who has a fisher price jumperoo. Alina went totally crazy in it so i decided to put her again in the door bouncer. You can see her in the video. She will probably be a gymnast one day :).

Alina in the jumperoo
Hanging out with granpa and grandma (bunicu si bunica)
Chilling out at Chartwell

Sitting up and puffing away

2009-08-04T11:37:00.000-07:00

Alina has been getting better and better at sitting up without any support. It's incredible to see how quickly those little muscles strenghten. It was only a few days ago that she even made her first attempts to sit up. Wherease before her favourite position was on her back (she still hates tummy time), now the only time she would lay on her back is when there are other babies around and she can touch their heads. She seems to have a fascination with hair at the moment :0).
Alina has also started babbling. One of the sounds she makes sounds more like "help" ;0). She's also started puffing which is hilarious. She makes these little bubbles when she does it. I wonder if she learnt it from swimming? Alex and her take swimming lessons together and one of the tricks Alex learnt for grabbing her attention is to blow bubbles. We definitely have one smart little girl :0).
I got really emotional today. Looking at her I realised how fast time flies! Despite everything that she's been through Alina is growing up like any other baby. She loves discovering the world around her and even the smallest thing makes her smile. When we embarked upon our CDH journey we never thought that we'd get to this point but we did and we are so thankful for our little blessing. Thank you to everyone for all your messages of support and your prayers so far. They mean a lot to us and we couldn't have made it without you.

Mummy and daddy Houchin

7 months and quick update

2009-07-24T06:11:00.000-07:00

We've recently come back from a week's holiday. Needless to say, mummy and daddy came back exhausted. It seems that the only one who had a blast was Alina :0). Admitedly, we were quite unlucky, the weather was just aweful- cold and rainy- and on top of that the boiler in our cottage broke down. So we had no hot water for 3.5 days and no heating for the entire period. It's no fun with a small baby, but there you go.

It's been great to be the 3 of us together though. Alina loves playing with Alex who invents all kinds of silly games for her. You can hear her calling him- more like screeching- when she wants to play. And bathtime with the two of them is a riot. It's also been great to see Alina's progress. She's 7 months now and weighs 13 lbs (6kg). Alina ist still on the slim side, although she eats a lot ( 1/2 weetabix +1/2 banana for breakfast and let's not talk about lunch and dinner). She is a ball of energy though- cannot sit still for one moment- and always has her legs up in the air. We already have visions of her being a great athlete. You will understand why when you watch the video.

Alina can sit up- with a bit of support. She actually prefers sitting now to laying down and of course, anything in her reach ends up in her mouth if she can fit it in. It's hilarious, she always chooses the biggest objects and tries to figure out how she can start chewing on them. She can spend a long time twisting the same thing in all directions seeing if she can find a solution. That of course, until she sees a new toy in front of her :0). Her newly found mobility has been really nice. She can now sit in our laps in a restaurant, has a few bits of what we eat and participates mainly by trying to grab anything on the table. We take turns to eat but we really enjoy seeing how she discovers new things all the time.

We've recently seen our physiotherapist who was extremely pleased with Alina's progress. Given that she was premature, she is actually ahead in her development. Although tummy time is still around the 4/5 months mark.

Alex mentioned today that Alina is a content little baby and he is so right. After everything that she's gone through, it's great to see her being so happy- she always smiles at everyone and loves being around people. We love her to bits and consider ourselves so lucky to have her in our lives.

Playtime with Emily and Izzy

Eating leaves at the Eden project

Please pray for Baby Alex Burnside

2009-07-09T11:41:00.000-07:00

We recently found out that Keri also had the balloon procedure at Kings hospital and is due for her 2nd op (popping the balloon) on Thursday. Please pray for Keri and baby Alex that the procedure goes well and that the little one continues to stay inside mummy for as long as possible.

The Houchins

Healthy again

2009-07-08T12:04:00.000-07:00

So we got rid of the tonsilitis thanks to some strong penicilin V. We had a routine check-up at Kings yesterday and the tonsils are back to normal. Also, her x-ray came out clearer than before, although there are still some unexplained white spots. She is still wheezy and has an ongoing cough but Dr. Hanam indicated that she probably still has a floppy trachea. If she gets any worse, he will refer her to a specialist, but she seems fine for now.
Overall, the consultant was very happy with her and with her progress so far. He did suggest that we keep her away from other babies and anyone who is sick. We've had a lot of cases of swine flu and unfortunately some were fatal. I can understand what Dr. Hanam is saying; given that Alina is still fragile, we should try to protect her more. I think it's a hard call. She loves all her friends and really enjoys being among people- her face lits up whenever anyone talks to her. And I have just recently signed her up for swimming classes, which I am sure she will like as she loves her bath. But I will probably not take her to some of the baby cafes anymore. It's difficult balancing everything because I don't want Alina to be socially isolated but I don't want her to get sick again either.
We're off on holidays on Friday. We can't wait. It will be so nice to be just the three of us and I am sure that Alex will really enjoy spending some more time with Alina. She's getting to be a daddy's girl already- apart from being pretty much a spitting image of him :0).

Yesterday we met another couple whose son was born with RCDH and is being treated at Kings. He was on CPAP and yesterday he was extubated for the 3rd time. We are praying the the little one does well and that he will get to go home soon.
We're also thinking of little Ruby and of little James. We're looking forward to seeing their first home photos.

Big hugs from the UK.

The Houchins

Tonsilitis

2009-07-03T06:03:00.000-07:00

Last night Alex and I rushed Alina to A&E because she had developed high fever and was vomiting continuously. We also noticed that her breathing was heavier than usual and she just didn't seem her usual self. Well, the news is that Alina has tonsilitis. Don't ask me how she got it..it's probably a genetic thing as I had it all the time as a child and had to have my tonsils removed. So poor Alina is on penicilin V and has had high fever the whole day today. At one point it spiked to 39.1 which gave me a bit of scare but at least she is not vomiting anymore.

As a precaution last night, they took a chest x-ray to rule out reherniation. She hasn't, which is fantastic and the xray looked so much clearer than previously. Her left lung is small- about 1/3 of her right one- but it seems to be doing a good job so far. Despite two colds and now this tonsilitis business, she hasn't needed any additional oxygen or respiratory support. That a girl!

This past week we've had some fantastic weather and we took the opportunity to spend a lot of time outdoors. We're looking forward to Alina getting better so we can continue playing with our friends.

Picking flowers with daddy and grandma

With grandpa and cousin Elle

Practising dance moves with Izzy

Picnic at Chartwell

6 Months

2009-06-21T13:22:00.000-07:00

On Friday Alina turned 6 months. We cannot believe it how fast time flies and how well our little girl is doing.

The day before her birthday we went for a lung test, which is part of on extensive research done at Kings hospital to determine whether lung volume rather than LHR is being a better indicator for the survivability of CDH babies. Alina did really well. Her lung volume is smaller than that of normal babies, which is expected given her history. Yet the lung occupancy in the thoracic area is normal as well as the responsiveness and flexibility of the lung tissue. So basically, even though Alina has a small lung she is doing really well. I asked if she could fly and the Dr. said that he wouldn't see any reason why not. So Spain, here we come :0). Actually, we decided to drive to France for our first holiday, but Spain doesn't seem that far away now.

Alina's begun to master tummy time and has even turned over a few times. I was almost in tears the first time I saw her- it's been a long road for us and a lot of work- poor Alina, she still doesn't particularly like it . She's also switched from just making baby sounds to putting some vowels together. She has said "ma" and "mam" a few times- not sure what it means yet as she always seems to say it when she wants to drink milk.

Talking about milk, we started to diversify Alina's diet about 2 months ago. She is still on the smaller side- just hovering above the bottom line of 0.9 on the growth charts, so a few months ago our dietician at Kings suggested that we start her on solids. At first she showed no interest but the moment she started teething and was trying to chew her entire hand :0), we knew that she would be ready for something else. Mashed up banana did the trick and it's been great ever since. She's already had fish and chicken and you can tell that she loves to eat. Her usual meal consists of a baby jar of home cooked food and some milk on top of that. We're on to solids 3x a day now, although teatime is always a struggle as she is never that hungry after having lunch. We both love her feeding times- she is so incredibly messy and it's hilarious seeing her trying to feed herself- most of it ends up on her head. I have to say, looking at her in her high chair I am still amazed how much she's progressed and grown. Our little baby is turning into a little girl.

Yesterday we tried her in her bouncy sling for the first time- she's so cute exploring the surface with her tiny legs. It's quite exciting watching her, I can already imagine her walking. Well, I guess we need to start crawling first, but hey, mom's can dream too :0).

Thank you for continuing to check our blog. We appreciate all your comments.

We are thinking of little James and also of 3 other CDH babies that are being cared for at Kings. We are hoping that they will continue to make good progress.

Big hugs from the Houchins.

Summer Cold

2009-06-04T00:35:00.000-07:00

In the past few weeks, we've had some fantastic weather in the UK. My parents came to visit so we were out and about most days. Alina is their first grandchild- you can imagine how much they fussed over her. My mom, who had seen Alina a few months ago couldn't believe it how well she looks and pointed out that she has stopped coughing. Since leaving the hospital Alina has had a very chesty cough, which a lot of doctors attributed to the ventilator. We were told that she will probably have it for a long time. Well, what do you know, Alina amazed us again and stopped coughing about 1 month ago.

Cu bunicu si bunica

On the developmental front she seems to be doing well. We have a physiotherapist, Roz, who sees her every 2-3 weeks and one issue we've been working on is her fear of getting off her back. She didn't even want to hear about tummy time and putting her on her sides needed a lot of persuading as well. My mom however found a good way of giving her some tummy time by putting her on my breastfeeding pillow. And she also brought a few toys that move so Alina can sit there and watch. I can tell you, it has worked wonders. So unlike previous times when I was dreading our trip to see Roz, I am looking forward to it this time.

Tummy time

Well, talking about coughing, a few days ago Alina started wheezing. I could feel the rattling in her chest and as you can imagine, the first thing on my mind was "she's reherniated again". I made an emergency appointment only to be told that she has a cold and that there is nothing really we can give her. Well, the past few days and nights have been pretty miserable for poor Alina but the good news is that she hasn't needed any oxygen support.

Well despite being under the weather, Alina is still proving to be popular...Yin and Angela came to visit...it looks like all three had a great time. Of course, we couldnt' do without the spoon to massage the aching teeth. We just wonder when they will finally decide to come out-all this pain and no growth it's definitely no fun.

With Angela

With Yin Can you see my teeth?

Teething and other updates

2009-05-13T03:40:00.000-07:00

We didn't realise that teething would be such a big deal, but it is. Poor Alina, she's trying to chew everything within her reach- the other day I saw her trying to bite her doll's nose off (and we thought that was her favourite toy :). For the moment, Alina has two upper teeth - a bit of the Transylvanian vampire blood running through her veins- but it seems that there are more coming. Ouch! We've tried everything from Bonjela to some herbal remedies but none seem to work. Even the good old Calpol doesn't seem to do the trick. So cuddles are on the daily menu and Alina is even allowed to sleep on mummy's chest during the day.

Last week we had our first family holiday. We went to Rye, by the seaside. The weather wasn't great but we did manage to go to the beach for one day. Of course, inexperienced parents as we are we didn't realise that going to the beach is not such an easy task. To get to there, we had to climb up a dune- quite tricky when you have to carry an increasingly heavy baby whilst making sure that the 2nd sunhat you bought (because the first one was too big) is also too big so you have to hold it on their head whilst cursing yourself for not having gone for the smaller size. And that's not all as you have to balance in the other hand a towel and the bottle carrier whilst your spouse struggles with the other load of baby stuff. And just when you got yourself settled down, your very cute baby has a nicely explosive poo- and then you realise that you forgot the changing bag in the car. So down and back up again. And then she is hungry and guess what, the milk is not warm enough, so down that bloody dune to get an overpriced cup of hot water and back up again. And actually, she doesn't even want to feed. So by the end, both of your are exhausted and annoyed and thinking that going to the beach wasn't such a good idea after all.

But we all smiled for the camera...lol

Easter Bunny

2009-04-13T10:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I showed for the first time that I am a big girl by wearing a dress for Grandma and Grandpa's visit. I loved all the chocolate eggs and especially loved being cuddled by everyone all the time :0)- I am looking forward to next Easter already.

With Grandma & Grandpa Houchin

My favourite place

Ah, these paparazzi are boring me

I'm going incognito

Hey, it's still me!

Alina's workout

2009-04-07T07:00:00.001-07:00

Every evening Alina likes to have a little dance. We call it her daily workout- see the leg action in the video. No wonder, after all the milk she is gulping down every day :). Alex and I are amazed how chubby she has become- he calls her his "little tank" - lol . She's already filling out the 0-3 months clothes and next week we are probably looking at wearing the next size up, 3-6 months.

We've also had the joy of her sleeping through the night- 4 times in a row. We already thought..."wow, parenting is not so bad", before she decided that she actually didn't like it after all. So we are back to feeding through the night, which makes mummy a little grumpy in the morning.

I've also taken Alina to her first set of classes: baby signing and play. She seems to love it- being the smallest one, everyone is surprised how alert she is the whole time. Today we even got to touch some of the toys for the first time, which was very exciting. To be honest, I think Alina is more interested in the other babies around than the toys. It's the only time she is content being on her tummy :0). Tomorrow we will have our first physiotherapy session. Supposedly it lasts for about 40 minutes. I wonder what they will test her for?

We are praying for baby Kaden that he continues to make good progress and give mommy and daddy a great Easter celebration.

Happy Easter everyone.

Hugs,

The Houchins

Ollie went home today

2009-03-30T10:36:00.000-07:00

Another CDH success story. Ollie was discharged today! Yippee!! After almost 6 months in hospital, 2 CDH repairs, 1 bowel obstruction repair and 1 stomach tightening surgery he is finally saying good bye to the hospital environment. Way to go little one! We are so pleased for Tina and Tim and for little Ollie. They are such an inspiration to all of us.

Thank you everyone for all your prayers.

Hugs,

the Houchins

Double the size

2009-03-27T09:28:00.000-07:00

We haven't posted anything recently as we've been busy putting on the pounds. Alina's a happy 9 pounder, double the size of when she was born ( 4.5 lbs). Looking back on it, we are so incredulous of how well our baby girls has done. L ooking at her kicking her legs up you wouldn't think that she's had 2 major operations. And she's already starting to talk- well, not really, but we are convinced that she's said a few words already :0). So before you know it, Alina will be telling her own story herself.

We are so thankful each day for our beautiful daughter and for all the moments we get to spend with her. We finally got a camcorder, so do enjoy our first home video :0).

And another positive story, Ollie is being transferred back to his local hospital today. We are so happy for Tina and Tim as after 5 months in London, they are finally one step closer to home. Ollie will have to be weaned as he is not taking the bottle, but being home will be so much easier for everyone. Well done little Ollie!

The Houchins

2 week update

2009-03-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

Alina has been home for 2 weeks and 2 days now. Her progress is amazing, it's like we have swapped our little girl for another baby. Alina has gained 500g having reached 3.43 kg and is 53 cm long. She's outgrown quite a few of her clothes and we are beginning to fill the 1month baby grows-not bad given the fact that Alina was 5 weeks premature, so she is really only 7 weeks old today. She smiles a lot and is communicating very well, making all kinds of cute sounds and waving her arms and legs in the air. When the health visitor said that she seems to be ahead of normal babies of the same gestational age I thought " wow, is this for real! Two weeks ago we were still in hospital and look how far we've come already!"

We've also stopped topping her up with the bottle, because she doesn't seem to need it anymore. I guess that she has developed enough strength to breastfeed only, so one more brownie point for our little girl. It's great for us as a family as well as we get to go back to a normal lifestyle- i.e. getting out of the house. My mom has been here helping us and we've taken Alina out for little walks. Today,we even ventured as far as 1 hr away in a little town nearby, which was great. A change of scenery was welcomed by everyone :0).

A couple of days ago we had our check-up at the hospital. Her left lung is still a little bit hazy, but overall, the xray was well improved. We are due for another appointment in May, so hopefully there won't be any further suprises in the meantime. The surgeon did warn us though that if she develops fever, we should go straight back to the hospital. So keeping fingers crossed that we won't need to make that trip again- it was kind of scary last time.

So next on the agenda is her 1st immunisation next Thursday. I have been told that it's good to give her paracetamol just before, so I will try that. Even though I know it will hurt and she isn't going to like it, it's really exciting, as it means that we are definitely on the "normal baby" path.

I've attached a few of her more recent pictures.

We are thinking about all the parents who are expecting their CDH babies and wishing them well. At the same time we are praying for Maxton and Ollie, that they continue to improve and succeede in their fight against the CDH monster.

Hugs from the UK,

Alina, Ingrid & Alex

Ollie- update

2009-03-05T12:19:00.000-08:00

Ollie's operation went well. There was a lot of scar tissue and the doctors had to cut some of the blocked bowel away, but overall, they were happy with the outcome. Ollie is still ventilated, but they are hoping to get him off tomorrow. He doesn't seem to be in pain and according to Tim, he is quite happy. His aspirates this morning were also clear- a change from the green stuff that was coming up through his NG tube last week (it brings a lot of memories of Alina's bowel blockage). The docs are waiting for his tummy to come down before they start feeding him again.
Please continue to pray for him.

Urgent prayers needed for Ollie

2009-03-04T11:23:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

Some weeks ago I wrote about Ollie, another CDH baby that we met at Kings Hospital. I just got a call from his mom. Ollie has been taken to theater a few minutes ago. He has reherniated and also has a bowel obstruction which needs to be repaired. Tina is very worried as he doesn't do well on the venilator.
Please pray that Ollie's operation goes well and that he recovers quickly.

Many thanks.

Alina, Ingrid & Alex

Home sweet home part 2

2009-02-27T11:23:00.000-08:00

2 days ago we brought Alina home again. In the end, she didn't need the surgery to unblock her bowels. The doctors said that only a miracle would prevent her from going into theater and guess what...the miracle did happen...Alina's system started working by itself without a further surgical intervention. From there on, it was just a matter of days until we started feeding again. After having been without food for 10 days, our little girl took on to the breast like there was no tomorrow :0). Whilst in hospital we had another scare, when she spiked a whopping 39.4 fever. It turns out that she has an infection for which she got a set of antibiotics. She also has a heart murmur, which the doctors think it's due to the infection, but which they want to check out again in a couple of weeks. But all in all, Alina is one happy baby again.

Another surgery

2009-02-17T15:21:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately we just got some bad news. Alina's bowels are blocked or twisted and she needs another surgery, which will probably happen on Thursday. It really breaks our hearts that our little girl has to go through all this. We were so hopeful that she will be back soon, but unfortunately it won't happen anytime soon.
Please pray for us. She really needs it.

All the best,

Ingrid, Alex & Alina

999!

2009-02-13T02:07:00.000-08:00

Well....... what a shock - in the space of a few days, Alina has been back into hospital, had a "re-herniation" diagnosed, been in the operating theatre to have it repaired and is now recuperating in paediatric intensive care and is about to be moved to a general children's ward. She should be home again in a week.

It all started on Sunday/Monday when Alina was running a bit of a temperature and was not looking too happy. We thought she might have some kind of tummy bug as she looked a bit bloated and was not opening her bowels as normal. Also she had a couple of proper projectile vomits which was very unusual. We thought we would just keep an eye on it and the local health centre did not seem too concerned initially.

By Tuesday evening, her breathing had taken a turn for the worse and, apparently, she had really started panting and turned white, so Ingrid called up the local hospital who advised, with her history, that they come in. Her breathing was initially over 100/min and when I arrived she was in an oxygen tent, looking distressed and pale.

They took an x-ray and could not decide if her "new" diagphram had ruptured or if she just had a chest infection. When they took another more powerful x-ray, the docs straight away diagnosed that the blur in her left chest was her bowel, which had moved up thoguh a hole about the size of an adult finger, and that she would need to be operated on at King's hospital in London.

So at around midnight, Alina was transferred in an ambulance. She was admitted to the paediatric unit, as she is now no longer welcome in the neo-natal dept! It was a bit weird at first as her neighbours were a couple of other kids who were probaby 5-8 years old.

We were told it might be the end of the week for the operation, but as it turned out, it was on Wednesday afternoon. She was in for about 2 hours and the surgeon said to us afterwards that everything had gone as planned. He also said that it the hernia had probably opened up days before any symptoms and that it just happens sometimes - nothing that handling/winding causes.

When she came out of the operation, even though she's my daughter, I have to say that she really did not look well. Her eyes were puffy and red and she looked like she had been in a few rounds with Mike Tyson. But now, 1.5 days later, she's doing well, we're waiting for a cubicle for Mum and daughter in the general ward and we're back to starting to introduce liquids again slowly. Right now she's just taking water down a tube, but the talk was that today we would start with milk.

Who has been piling on the grams?

2009-02-06T08:19:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone,

Thank you for comments and advice. They were extremely helpful and appeased my fears that I was doing something wrong. Nevertheless, I was a pack of nerves going into today's appointment- quite the opposite to Alina who didn't seem to care. When she looked at the HV, her face said something like: " you don't know what you are talking about lady" and in protest had a wee on the scales :0)
And the good news is that she has put on 60 g in these past 2 days. So, with 2.84kg, we are still on the charts! Yippee!!

On another note, Ollie also seems to be doing well. His oxygen levels have come down and the doctors are planning to wean him off nitric oxide, which means that he will be awake soon. The cat scans they took also came back clear, so hopefully he hasn't suffered any brain damage. We are continuing to pray for him and his family.

Have a good weekend everyone and for those of you from the UK,Wales, Ireland and Scotland, good luck, hopefully you won't get stranded in the snow.

All the best,
Ingrid, Alex & Alina

Weight gain or weight loss?

2009-02-05T08:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the health visitor stopped by. Apart from wanting to have a general chat about Alina, she had also brought her scales to weigh our little puppet. When we officially discharged from the hospital last Saturday, Alina's weight had jumped from 2.685kg to 3.0kg, a massive gain over 2 days. When she was weighted yesterday, her weight was 2.780. You can imagine that the number left me perplexed and depressed.

Since coming home, Alina has been very settled and happy overall. She breastfeeds and we also top her up with the bottle. She usually cries when she is hungry, but it hasn't happened since we got into our new bottle routine. So I cannot understand how, after having gained 315 g in 2 days she lost 220g in 3 days.

The health visitor thinks that maybe the 3.0kg on Saturday was a mistake. She would've expected her to gain 100g over 1 week. In hindsight, thinking about it, Alina has never gained 100g in 1 day. We were always talking about 30-50g, so the extra 315g seem a little bit unreal. But of course, at the time we didn't query it at all...we were just so thrilled to be discharged.

We set a new feeding plan with a view of weighing our little one again tomorrow. The plan is to alternate between breastfeeding and bottlefeeding. Well, I can tell you already, it's not working. I still have to top her up as she is hungry. So, I decided today to go with my gut feeling and stick to what we have been doing so far. I just hope that tomorrow will bring good news and that everything has been a big mistake.

But if anyone has any suggestions or experience with weight gain/loss in CDH babies, please do let me know. I am already stressing out about it and poor Alex, he has to put up with it all :0(

Ollie- update

2009-02-01T12:13:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

Thank you for your prayers. Just had a chat with Ollie's parents, Tina and Tim and he seems to have been stable for the past day and night. The doctors took an xray of his chest and there is an indication that he might have an infection in his right lung. On the positive side, his stats have come down. He is on 40% oxygen and the pressures have been reduced from 32 this morning to 28 tonight. We are hoping that Ollie will continue to improve overnight. Please continue to pray for him.

On another note, Alina has been officially discharged from the hospital. We went to have her weighted again on Saturday, as she had lost quite a bit of weight previously. The doctor had warned us that if she doesn't put any weight on, they will have to re-admit her and insert a feeding tube to help her grow. He did suggest that we try topping her up with the bottle, which seems to have done the trick. Alina gained 315 grams in 2 days. She is up to 3.0kg nows and continues to thrive. So we said our final good-byes to NICU and popped open the champagne :0).

Hugs,
Ingrid, Alex & Alina

Prayers needed

2009-01-30T08:30:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

Whilst we were at Kings Hospital, we met another couple, Tina and Tim, whose son Ollie also has CDH. They have been in hospital for 3 months already, as Ollie has severe reflux. He recently has had a stomach tightening to correct the reflux but it seems that he has developed an infection and is doing very poorly. Tina is afraid that they might lose him.
Please pray hard for Ollie to turn the corner. He is such an amazing little boy who has been through so much and definitely deserves to live.

Ingrid, Alex & Alina

Home sweet home

2009-01-28T11:54:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, after 5 weeks and 4 days in hospital, Alina came home. It was such an incredible feeling for both of us to finally be able to relax in our own lounge with our sweet little angel. Alina is breathing air, doesn't require any medication and is breastfeeding. And when she belts out one of her occasional cries, one would never think that she has a small left lung :0).

Alina is taking her time adjusting to life outside the hospital. It's amazing to think that her entire life so far was spent hearing endless alarms and being touched by hands covered in sanitising lotion. I guess it will take her a few days to get used to the new smells and sounds.

There are no words to describe how we feel having our little girl home safe and sound. It's the most incredible feeling being able to cuddle her and interact with her without all those tubes that we've gotten used to seeing. We feel so lucky and are extremely proud of what our little lady has achieved.

Thank you so much to everyone for all your comments and words of support. We couldn't have done it without you.

Hugs,

Alina, Ingrid & Alex

More pictures

2009-01-25T01:50:00.001-08:00

One step closer to home

2009-01-25T01:16:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday Alina was transferred to our local hospital, East Surrey in Redhill. Our departure was very emotional as during our stay at Kings, we have made a lot of friends amongst the nurses, doctors and parents. Alina seemed to take it all in a stride and although pleased that her fan club came to wave her good bye, she was really looking forward to her first car journey- which of course, like a little lady that she is, she slept all the way through :0).

Being at East Surrey has made us realise how close we are to realising our dream of taking our little girl home with us. None of the machinery that we are used to is around us and the only thing that we are working on is her feeding.

Alina is breastfeeding but doesn't have enough strength to last through an entire feed. So she still needs her top-ups through the tube. Starting from tonight on I will be rooming in with her to hopefully make the next step forward- taking the tube out. I am really looking forward to it and can't wait to have our little girl with me all the time.

And last night we also tried bottle feeding, which she passed with flying colours.

We are so proud of Alina and are hopeful that by the end of next week we will be able to post a picture of her in her new moses basket.

Thank you to everyone for your continued support. Your kind words are really giving us a lot of strength.

All the best,

Alina, Ingrid & Alex

One month - packing bags

2009-01-19T04:01:00.000-08:00

Alina was moved out of Intensive Care on Friday night to a room for less sick babies, the "High Dependency Unit". She was also taken out of the incubator and put in a cot so we could touch her freely and give her some cuddles as and when. Her condition then improved again enough that less than 24 hours later, she was moved again into the Special Care Unit (also known as the departure lounge).

She's been taking on full hourly milk feeds, which she's handled really well, and we are waiting to see if she can handle a double-sized meal every two hours, effectively the last hurdle.

She's already been signed off as ok to move to our local hospital by the surgeons, and the neo-natal docs are on the phone to secure a cot for her! Barring any last minute hiccups from Alina, it sounds like we are just waiting for confirmation of the space and the ambulance transport.

Alina is still getting fed through the tube and is not sure to do with Ingrid's nipple, but that'll be sorted out in East Surrey hospital. I know Ingrid's really looking forward to getting home, so touch wood, we are in the final stretch as for this episode at King's College Hospital.

It's weird writing this as only two weeks ago Alina was being ventilated and did not seem like she was quite strong enough to come off the machine, even though her head was telling her she was. And now..... well we're just waiting for the tap on the shoulder from the docs.

She's 1 month old this evening - 9.47pm.

Air, glorious air.....

2009-01-16T02:31:00.000-08:00

Alina is making good progress - she kept pulling the two nasal prongs that were keeping her lungs pressurised out, so the Docs decided on Wednesdayto give her a run with no assistance whatsoever and she is doing well - looks very happy and is showing no signs of having a problem handling breathing air on her own.
She's almost off the drugs completely except some caffeine - but, hey, who gets by without that anyway?

So, she's due to be moved out of intensive care and into a ward for babies requiring less observation etc, where we will start to look at feeding her orally (rather than through a tube) to see how she handles it - CDH babies do have problems with the muscle that lets food in the tummy and stops it going back up, I guess mostly down to the hernia in the diaphragm.

But all-in-all, Alina had an excellent week and looks well. Everyone is very happy with her and all talk is about moving onwards and upwards.

3.5 weeks, almost 6 lbs.

2009-01-13T04:03:00.000-08:00

So Alina has moved forward since the last post.

We thought the Docs would wait until yesterday, Monday, to try taking the tubes into her lungs out again, but in the end they gave it a go on Friday and the good news is that Alina is doing ok. She's got two prongs up her nose that keep her lungs at least partially inflated (cpap), but apart from that breathes the air in the incubator.
Her surgery scar is looking better and I was saying to the surgeon yesterday that it looks like it's healed better than Ingrid's caesarian... that;s what 30-year old skin does to you ;0)

Because Alina's always trying to pull the prongs out, the Doctors today have moved to a 3 hours on CPAP, 3 hours off, i.e. just breathing air. Her breathing is a bit more laboured but she's holding up ok. This will be a real test to see if she comes off the vent or needs it - no-one is rushing her, more we are trying to hold her back a little bit, as she looks ready to pack her bags to go home!
Overall, one difference from before is that she actually looks better in herself - she's still got a purple tinge around her eyes but she's opening them a lot more and she's clearly beginning to put 2 and 2 together regarding how to get tubes and wires off. She's more active and not just kicking and screaming, but overall taking in the sights and sounds of the intensive care unit.

There's a long way to go, but things are definitely settled for now.

19th Day

2009-01-07T03:45:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've had access to the Net, so sorry for no further updates.

Since the end of December, Alina's stats, for the most part, have been pretty stable. The hospital has tried to extubate her two more times - first, with no support into an oxygenated incubator and then onto CPAP, as she was around Christmas Day. The first time she was really panting and lasted about 40 mins before they put the tube back in and the second time, she did very well for about 2 hours, before everything started moving south and they put her back on the vent half an hour later. But both times, she recovered well, but it's going to be a few days before they try again.

She has also started vomiting. I know this happens in both normal and CDH babies, but for us it has been hard trying to change our frame of mind from when she did very well in the first week, to watch her struggle and seemingly fall short of where she was then. We've both seen her stop breathing and be resuscitated and we've seen her take in decent amounts of drugs and have a decent amount of blood taken out for tests.

However, away from the medical challenges, she looks like she is going to be a real handful - she does not mind a kick and from the sounds of it, sometimes she needs two nurses - one to hold her down and one to do the job in hand as she is a real fighter! Yesterday we came back to see she had been put in a swaddling blanket - not to keep her warm, but just to stop her trying to pull out her breathing and feeding tubes ;0)

We really enjoy spending time with her and although it's hard to watch her suffer at times, it's great to be able to comfort her as she knows Mummy's and Daddy's touch and voice.

Back on the vent

2008-12-30T10:20:00.000-08:00

We'd always been told that having a CDH baby was a rollercoaster but up until the 27th December, the only way Alina had been travelling was up - milk feeds were up to 4/5ml per hour and the synthetic drip was being reduced, the CPAP was just air on low pressue, only caffeine was being administered and the siutation was pretty stable. We both got to hold Alina for half an hour each on the 27th and feel her warmth next to our hands and you could see she was pretty relaxed and enjoying some mummy and daddy time.

Then during the 28th/29th it was noticeable that the amount of oxygen needed was creeping up, Alina was crying more and even to our touch, her heartrate was peaking over 200 and not really falling much below it. That night we both went to bed worried. The doctors took an x-ray and straight away intubated her again and put her back on the vent. They said it could be down to a few things but they are telling us they think it is because she is totally exhausted after the first week and making the progress that she did.

She seems ok at the moment, but she's being ventilated quite hard (really back at day 1-2 levels) and her pulse is still high. We're just hoping that this rollercoaster starts moving up again soon.

Alina more pictures

2008-12-26T16:19:00.001-08:00

Alina on Cpap

2008-12-26T15:37:00.000-08:00

In these past few days our little girl hasn't ceased to amaze us. She is 1 week old today and has already shown us that she is a true champion.
This morning the doctors decided that she was stable enough to turn the vent off, which they replaced with a Cpap, a machine which works with her breathing rather than doing the breathing for her. So our little girl is using her own lungs ( or rather lung, as she is mainly using her right lung, the one that has developed in utero). It's a big step forward and if she does well the next step would be to remove the Cpap altogether.
Yesterday I got to lift her for the first time, while the nurse was changing her sheets, and today I held her for a couple of minutes. It wasn't a real cuddle, which both of us are dying to have, but it was a great start and a very emotional time for us. We also got to see her without her hat on...she has very dark, curly hair.... and got a few flashes of her beautiful dark blue eyes. And she even gave us a few good cries...mainly when mommy and daddy were fumbling with her nappy :0).
The little but important steps that Alina has made so far have been the most fantastic Christmas presents we could ever get and we are hoping that she will continue to do well.

After her breathing is sorted out the next step will be to see how she handles food. She has been fed 2ml of breastmilk/hour, which she seems to keep down. However, this is done via a tube that goes straight into her tummy, so she is not swallowing or digesting herself. We are a little bit nervous about this as reflux is a problem that CDH babies can have. As a matter of fact, there is another little boy in the NICU who after 9 weeks still has severe reflux and will need to have another operation.

So please continue to pray for her as we still have a long way to go.

Happy New Year everyone.

Ingrid, Alex & little champ Alina

Alina post-op

2008-12-22T23:56:00.000-08:00

Alina had a fairly stable first 24hr after the operation. The doctors managed to bring her back to the same levels as before the op, which is great news.

The night just after the op, her heart rate jumped from 140 to 190, which was very scary to see as a parent. She also wasn't weeing very well, which had been a concern before as well. However, she didn't have any infection- which signs like this usually point to. That was great to hear and after a few hours, she settled down again.

So yesterday, the next step was to reduce her muscle relaxant. So hopefully today we'll see our little girl open her eyes.

Also, before the operation, the tubes in her tummy were removed and another long tube was inserted in one of her veins through her hand. This will allow the doctors to start feeding her nutrients with a view in the long run- 3-4 days if everything goes well, to slowly start with some breakmilk.

So overall, encouraging signs from our little daughter. She is definitely putting up a great fight. We're so proud of her!

As always, thank you so much for all your messages of support. They mean a lot to us and give us a lot of strenght in this battle against CDH.

Have a wonderful Xmas everyone!

Hugs from the Houchins.

Surgery

2008-12-21T04:35:00.000-08:00

Alina had a pretty stable night last night. The sodium levels had to be adjusted a little bit as she wasn't peeing as much as she should've been. But overall, everyone was pleased with her. The blue light which they use to treat her jaundice has also been removed. It was great to see her little face, she is such a cute little baby.After the doctors'rounds we got a call that she will be taken to theatre to repair her hernia. It's one of those things that we should've been ready for and although we know it's for the best and it's another step forward, we just couldn't stop our emotions take over.We got to say good bye to her and also had a quick chat with Prof Davenport who will be performing the operation. So now it's the waiting game. Whoever said that CDH is a rollercoaster ride, was entirely correct.We never thought that the last 6 months would contain so many ups and downs.
Now we're just hoping and praying that everything runs smoothly and that there won't be any complications. We are so proud of our little girl. She's less than 40 hrs old and she's already been through so much!
Please continue to pray for our Alina.
All the best,
Ingrid, Alex & Alina

Alina arrives!

2008-12-20T14:53:00.000-08:00

Alina Maria Houchin was born by Caesarean at 9.47pm on Friday night - she just could not stay in any longer. She's finished her first 24 hrs and has been pretty stable on a standard ventilator (not high frequency) and since 5am on the same O2% as air. She's not the biggest at 2100g/4.6lbs but has long arms and legs and huge feet (Michael Phelps watch out!). Her chest x-ray showed that the right lung is ok and we will find out more tomorrow as they are planning to repair the diaphragm if nothing changes.
Ingrid is doing fine and was so happy to see her when she managed to get in a chair to be wheeled up to the NICU. We're both just hoping she can repeat today's performance before and after the operation tomorrow.

Setting up camp

2008-12-17T09:08:00.000-08:00

So, Ingrid has been in hospital this week and it looks like she is going to be there a while longer, certainly through Christmas and New Year. The docs have now said that she does not need to be induced as long as she and Alina stay infection free, but they'll need her on the ante-natal ward in case the heat does turn up quickly. It also means that in the hospital they can keep testing Ingrid's blood, giving her antibitoics and also running cardiotocographs on Alina to check how her heart is doing and the strength of any contractions.

She's had a weird few days - her waters really broke on Monday and we could really see Alina's body form through her belly, but since then, even though she is still leaking some amniotic fluid, it seems like more is being made and the roundness has come back to Ingrid's big bump. We spoke to another Mum who'd had the same balloon/water breaking and held on for another 2-3 weeks, so it seems like we're in the same boat - her boy is doing well today at c. 9 months, so hopefully we end up with the same result.

Into hospital!

2008-12-15T04:38:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone - I am pasting in what I have put on the Cherubs website, which is dedicated to diaphragmatic hernias - I'll keep you updated with how the situation develops.

Hi all. Yesterday, we had just bought the Christmas tree and I was wrestling with it around the back of the car, when Ingrid suddenly told me she thought her waters had broken. It turns out, after a couple of hospital trips, that she is leaking some amniotic fluid - not badly but her membranes are definitely ruptured.
She is now in hospital and will be until Alina is born - it seems like they normally induce within 96 hours of the water breaking, which would mean starting labour by Thursday lunchtime. Alina's heartbeat looks fine and Ingrid is not having contractions yet, although you can see that her belly is not as round as it was as the fluid levels start to fall and Alina's butt sticks out.
It was quite a shock but she is in the right place now and, since it's the same hospital where we had all the ante-natal care, the staff are completely clued up on what's going on. Ingrid's on antibiotics to prevent infection and is also having two steroid injections to help Alina.
The doctor said that, although it would be better for Alina to stay in as long as possible, at the stage we are at, it won't make a material difference if labour is delayed beyond where we are now (today 34 +4 and Thursday will be 35 weeks).
I know Ingrid won't be able to write for a few days (sorry if she owes you an email), but I'll keep you posted on what happens - in the meantime, please add a thought or prayer for Alina at this time and also for Rachel, mother of Elias, and her family.
/Alex

The balloon is out

2008-12-12T02:45:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday we had surgery to remove the balloon. If the first time everything went " by the book", it was quite the opposite this time around.
First of all, Alina was cephalic. She had turned about 3 weeks ago. We were so happy about it, as we knew about the complications with breach births. Well, breach is the ideal position for the surgery, so the Professor had to turn her again. I had a lot of fluid- my deepest pool was 14.2 cm- so it didn't feel very uncomfortable.
Medication wise, I got the antibiotics to prevent infection and the patch on the back to stop contractions. No suppository this time, as it could have negative effects on the baby. Which also meant, that my only pain relief were two paracetamols :0).
Prof. Nicolaides scanned Alina and was very happy with her response to the balloon. He even mentioned that he was "optimistic". I couldn't believe what I was hearing! In normal circumstances, I wouldn't have paid any attention to this little word, but in our case, it's the first beacon of light in what has been a very difficult and sometimes dark period.
Next, he gave our little girl 3 injections to put her to sleep. Mhhh.... he didn't know who he was dealing with.... Alina refused to be paralised and continued to talk. It was really cute to see her tongue move the whole time.
This posed a problem however, as he couldn't separate the vocal cords to get to the trachea. So he had to go in twice. In the meantime, I was also feeling very dizzy and one of the consultants had to turn a fan on. Admitedly, there were about 20 people in the room, so it was definitely stuffy. Poor Alex, I think he was getting concerned as things just weren't going well at all. But then, the balloon came into vision, and was popped quickly. Alex said that a gush of water pushed it out of Alina's throat, so we'll probably also see a little golden ball when I give birth.
Then they had to drain 1.5l of fluid out. 1.5 liters! That's a huge bottle, it's less than I drink in a day! Admitedly, I felt so much better afterwards. For the past weeks I had had a lot of pressure on my spine and wasn't able to sleep at all at night. So being able to have a good night's sleep feels like a luxury now.
All that done, we were then whisked to a quiet room where all the fun started. My body began to shake uncontrollably for what seemed like a very long time. I had had the same symptoms last time, albeit much later in the day, so I knew it was coming. However, Alex was totally freaked out and didn't know how to help me. Luckily he managed to find a nice consultant who gave me 2 extra paracetamols, which seemed to do the trick. Pretty scary, though :0).
A little while later, the Prof. checked Alina's heart, which seemed to be beating fine. She was sound asleep though, so he couldn't turn her back down. Well, we definitely know by now that Alina has a mind and a will of her own :0).

We also found out that out of the 3 couples that had undergone the procedure, we were the only ones left. The other 2 had gone into premature labour and had lost their little ones. Our hearts go out to them and we are praying that they will find the strength to get through it all.

On a positive note, we met another couple who had brought in their 8 months old girl, Evie, for a routine check-up. She had undergone the balloon procedure and was doing really well. It was great to see her as she gave us another ray of hope that one day, Alina could also be in the same position.

So all in all, a very surreal day. We feel blessed to have come so far and are hoping that Alina will not decide to make an appearance before Christmas.

Thank you so much for all your kind words so far. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

Hugs,
Ingrid, Alex & Alina

Balloon Removal

2008-12-08T10:02:00.000-08:00

Today we received a call from the hospital and were told that we are booked in tomorrow, to have the balloon removed. Given all that's happened with everyone else we know who has undergone this procedure, we are a little bit apprehensive. Hopefully everything will go well tomorow and in the days following and Alina won't sudddenly decide to make an appearance.
Please keep us in your prayers.

Hugs,

Ingrid, Alex & Alina

Little Angel: Elias Patrick Mate

2008-12-08T06:25:00.000-08:00

It really breaks our hearts to publish this post. Unfortunately, Elias lost his battle with CDH on Friday evening. He put up such an incredbile fight and for the entire time was surrounded by the love of his family: Rachel, William and Hugues.

In the past months Rachel and Elias have become such an important part of our family and our hearts go out to the Mate family for their tragic loss.

Please keep them in your prayers during this difficult time.

Ingrid & Alex

5th scan post FEO

2008-11-28T03:25:00.000-08:00

Another long wait at King's hospital and quite an emotional day all around. This time however, apart from having the scan we also met with the pediatric surgeon and toured the neo natal intensive care unit. And we also got our first 3D picture of our sleeping beauty :).

The measurements weren't as we had expected. We were both on a high from the last reading 3 weeks ago, hoping for something closer to 3.0. When the consultant said 1.6, my heart sank. How could it be that the LHR has come down from 2.7 to 1.6 ( unless, as Alex said, Alina has a huge head :0). The consultant mentioned that probably at the previous scan, they had overestimated the number. Funny thing is that about 1 hour later, we had another measurement which came out to 2.1. I am sure you can understand my sceptisim at that point.

The meeting with the surgeon, Mr. Patel, however, clarified the discrepancies and also answered a lot of other questions we had. As it turns out, there isn't a standard way of measurement. Kings is trying to introduce a better process but at the moment, the numbers are operator dependent. It also depends on how the baby lies and a lot of other variables. At the end of the day, no one knows for sure until the baby is born. For FETO babies, what they need to see is a response to the balloon, which Alina is clearly showing. We also found out that all the measurements are based on the healthy lung (right side) only, which is something that we were not aware of.

He then explained to us what will happen after Alina's birth. It is really hard to hear that your baby will be a severe case and that she will probably need more than one surgery as reherniation can occur in FETO babies. The main problem is that her hole is probably very big and he suspects that she doesn't have enough muscle tissue where they could sew the patch onto. So, instead they will sew it onto her ribs. In some cases, there are also issues with the appendix, which they might have to remove. Also, the fact that my fluid levels are so high (polyhydramnios) could be an indication that there might be a problem with her bowel, so it's another organ they will need to look at. Everything sounded so terrible and it broke my heart just listening to what our little girl will have to go through.
The good thing is that if she makes it to surgery, she has every chance of leading a normal life.

Visiting the NICU was also difficult and I couldn't hold back the tears. All those poor babies, it's amazing what they have to go through. It was good to see all the machines though and to have a better understanding of what we should expect.

Overall, it was a very difficult day emotionally for both of us. The discussion with the surgeon and the visit to the NICU really brought home how severe Alina's condition is and that we still have such a long way to go until we know that she will be healthy and safe.

So we'll be back at Kings next Friday for our last fluid level check before surgery, which will be in two weeks.
In the meantime, our thoughts go out to Rachel and Elias, who had their balloon removed last week. We hope that they are doing well.
We are also thinking about Mollie and little Elie, who was born prematurely at 32 weeks. She seems to be improving, we're just hoping that her progress continues so that she gets to go home soon.

Thank you so much for all support. Your comments give us a lot of strenght and really make us feel that we are not alone.

Hugs from the Houchins,
Ingrid, Alex & Alina

4th scan post FETO

2008-11-13T07:32:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your wonderful messages of support. They mean so much to us!
We are 30 weeks pregnant today ( yippee, way to go Alina :0) and unlike our previous visits to Kings, today's scan was kind of uneventful. The doctors checked my fluid levels, they are still high, but not higher than last time. So no poking for now, which is great news. We will be back in 2 weeks, November 27th, when we should also get an appointment to meet the pediatric surgeon and a tour of the ward. It's incredible, thinking about it, how far we've come and how fantastic our little girl has been so far. We are just hoping that she will continue to develop her little lungs and that she won't have any desire to pop out too soon ( haven't told her about the new shopping mall in Shepard's Bush, so she doesn't know what she's missing yet ;0).

On another note, we've been following up on Nayeli's story ( see the link on the right hand side of our blog) and it looks like she will be discharged this weekend. We're so happy to hear that, Nayeli, Liz and Shane have been through a lot and they definitely deserve this great piece of news. We are wishing them continued success in the fight against CDH. Well done Nayeli!

Also, Rachel and Elias will have their balloon taken out next Thursday, November 20th, so please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Hugs from the Houchins,

Alex, Ingrid & little Alina

3rd scan post FETO

2008-11-10T03:33:00.000-08:00

Thank you everyone for your fantastic messages of support. They are really giving us a lot of strenght and helping us get through every stage of our CDH story.
Last Friday we had our 3rd scan. Alina amazed us with a fantastic lung development. At our previous readings we had jumped from 0.6 to 1.0 to 1.5. Given that we were told that the first weeks display the highest rate of development, we expected to be in the 1.7-1.8 range this time around. Well, I was secretely hoping for 2.0 ;0).
When the doctors said 2.7 we thought there was a mistake and asked them to recalculate it. I mean, 2.7 wasn't even on the charts, Alina's lung growth was completely off the scale. As it turns out, the measurements were correct and our little girl is doing a fantastic job at getting ready for the outside world. We left in a complete daze, truly incredulous at the wonderful news we had just received.
We will be going back to the hospital again this Thursday as my fluid levels are quite high and the doctors might have to drain some out. They would rather not, as every intervention carries the risk of premature birth. So keeping fingers crossed that they won't have to do anything and that Alina continues to amaze everyone.

Hugs,
Ingrid, Alex & the incredible little Alina

2nd scan post FETO

2008-10-27T04:51:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for your wonderful messages of support.
On Friday, October 24th, we had our 2nd scan. Alina's LHR has increased from 1.0 2 weeks ago to 1.5. Although I was hoping for 2.0 ( which Alex thought was too optimistic), the doctors were pleased with the results. It seems that overall, she is responding well to the balloon and is closer to "normal baby" readings, which is great to hear. And the other good thing is that they didn't have to drain any fluid, which, honestly, I was relieved about.
We also saw Alina in 4D. It was amazing too see her little traits. She is definitely going to be a cheeky little one, as first she hid her face from the camera and then, all of a sudden she removed her little hands and revealed a beautiful smile. And then she started talking. It was hilarious.
So next up is November 7th, when we will have another scan. I cannot believe it that we only have 6 weeks left until the balloon is removed.

In the meantime, our thoughts to go out to Liz and Shane, whose daughter Nayeli was born last week and has already had surgery. It seems that the 5 days following surgery are crucial so we hope that she will recover quickly.

Also, Rachel and Elias had their MRI and heart scan and everything looks good. Elias will have the balloon removed in 4 weeks' time so please keep them in your prayers.

Hugs from Surrey,
Ingrid, Alex & cheeky Alina

1st scan after FETO

2008-10-10T06:14:00.000-07:00

Quick update, Alex and I went to our first scan after the balloon procedure and got the first piece of good news in these 5.5 months. Alina is showing good improvement, her LHR has almost doubled from 0.6 to 1.0. A pulmonary artery was also visible on the scan, and the stomach seems to have been pushed down a little bit. Our consultant, Catalina mentioned that the most improvement can be seen right after the procedure, so overall she was very pleased with the results. We had our 4 year anniversary yesterday and this is by far the best present we could've gotten.
Alina was utterly cute, posing all the time and as always, being extremely active, which brought quite a few smiles on everyone's faces. Catalina said that she will probably be a model, so I guess she was practicing those catwalk skills :0).
Our next scan will be in 2 weeks' time, when they will also monitor the amniotic fluid. It has risen from 5.3 to 6.7, which is in the upper range. Because of the balloon, Alina is not swallowing as much fluid, so they might have drain some out at our next visit.
I left the hospital in a total euphoria and although we both know that we need to be realistic as we still have a long way to go, I am going to allow myself to be blissfully happy and extremely proud of our daughter, at least for 1 day. Keeping fingers crossed that everything will continue on this path.
Have a good weekend everyone!
The Houchins.

24 weeks FETO or balloon procedure

2008-10-06T09:50:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone for their fantastic messages of support. It means so much to us and it really gave us a lot of strenght last week.
So, on Thursday, October 2nd, Alina had the balloon procedure, or Fetoscopic Treatment for Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (FETO). Honestly, only Alex remembers this very long name :0).
It's an in-utero surgery, which is supposed to increase Alina's chances of survival from 10% to an estimate of 50-60%. The procedure is still experimental, but seems to have shown good results. The trachea or windpipe regulates lung growth. It has been observed that by blocking the trachea with a balloon in utero, lung growth is stimulated. Hence, the name balloon procedure.
We had a long wait in the hospital but I have to admit it, it was a good thing. I was really scared going in, hadn't really slept the whole night and on top of that, had also caught a bad cold and felt feverish the whole time. But by the time we went in for the procedure, all the fears were gone, I just wanted to get it done and over with and get home. Alina was doing really well the whole time. We first had a routine scan to see if anything had changed. Alina was extremely active, even the consultant said that she is quite lively. Everything was fine and we saw her little cute profile. What can I say, we have a beautiful daughter, but I guess every parent say that about their children. About 2 hrs before the procedure I got some intravenous antibiotics to prevent any infection, a small patch on my back to stop contractions and a suppository for pain relief. Before the operation, they checked Alina's position. Amazingly, she has shifted so much that she ended up being breach- ideal for this procedure. Prof. Nikolaides then inserted this long needle to put her to sleep. When I saw it, I thought: "ouch, this is going to hurt", but actually it didn't at all. Alina fell asleep with her mouth open- again, great for the procedure. Then I got an injection as a local anaesthetic- that part was a little painful. And as a last poke, the Prof. inserted a tube through which he introduced the camera and the deflated balloon. When we first heard about the balloon, I had this image of a normal balloon, but it's actually really small- 1/2 the size of a fingernail. The camera was directed through Alina's mouth, down her pallate, through her vocal cords and into the trachea. Her neck was a little bit bent, so they had to manover the camera around a little bit, but everything seemed to be working fine. When they got to the position they wanted, the balloon was inflated. Then they checked again after 1 min to see if it hadn't deflated. It was surreal to watch everything on camera, it seemed like a Jaques Cousteau under water documentary. I wasn't really sure that I wanted to see it and closed my eyes at first, but it was all fine and really interesting. And it didn't hurt at all- I guess because Alina was in such a good position. I must say, we are bursting with pride how fantastic our little girl has been through all this. We still have a long way to go and next week's scan, on Friday at 9:30am, will be crucial, as we then find out if the intervention was successful or not. But we are confident that Alina is a little fighter and will make us all even more proud.

And another good piece of news, a lady from France, Rachel, with whom we have been corresponding and whose son, Elias, needed the same operation has also had a quick procedure and everything seems to be fine. Their scan is also next Friday, so please keep both Alina & Elias in your prayers.

20 week scan

2008-09-16T12:33:00.000-07:00

I really dreaded going to the scan. I wished I could just close my eyes and this whole nightmare would go away. We had bought this listening device from Mothercare, with which we could listen to Alina's heartbeat and kicks. We didn't hear anything, but Alex had a great time listening to his own heart :0). On the day of the scan Alina was kicking like crazy. She was all over the place- I guess that she must've sensed my fear. I had been praying a lot since we first found out and was really hoping that the readings would be good. Basically, if the lung to head ratio is above 1, the baby's chances are good. If it's below 1, they aren't and the options given are:
1. Termination
2. To continue without the balloon procedure and see if anything can be done when the baby is born
3. Undergo the tracheal occlusion
Despite our hopes, Alina's reading were low: 0.5-0.6. We were gutted! It had been so fantastic to see her on the screen- she has a beautiful little nose- but the news just made us cringe. This time however, we were much better prepared as we had done our homework. A lot of parents suggested that we go into the room with our questions written down, which we did. It was a very emotional time but overall, although the results were just a little bit worse than expected, they weren't extremely bad. So, we were somewhat prepared for it and had made a decison beforehand that we would continue and go for the procedure. And to be honest, it would've been extremely difficult for me to give Alina up. I already have a strong bond with her- she has developed her own personality and we both feel that she is not just a fetus but is very much part of the family.
Having Alina diagnosed with CDH has been the most painful thing we have ever experienced. It has been such a rollercoaster of emotions and we are only halfway through. But we are convinced that we are doing the best we can for our baby girl and are hoping that she will have the will to fight. We have found support in the most unexpected places and have discovered that only the two of us alone can make a decision. It will be extremely difficult if we have to let her go or if she decides to leave us, but what we have learnt so far is that the best we can do is to take it one step at time and hope that Alina's story will have a positive outcome.
So, next is our appointment on October 2nd at King's College Hospital on October 2nd to undergo the tracheal occlusion. Really keeping fingers crossed that everything be fine.

What we learnt about CDH

2008-09-16T08:08:00.000-07:00

So for the next 7 weeks we found out everything we could about CDH. Alex joined an online group called Cherubs. It was formed by parents whose children were diagnosed with CDH and it has been a fantastic venue for us to receive much needed support and also to find out more information about this condition. I have attached the link on the right hand side.
We've also done extensive research online. The website of the Children's Hospital in Boston provides a very good general introduction: http://www.childrenshospital.org/az/Site476/mainpageS476P0.html
Alina has LCDH, meaning left sided congenital diaphragmatic hernia. Basically, the heart/lungs are separated from the stomach, bowls, liver and spleen by a muscle called the diaphragm. In babies with CDH, the diaphragm has either a hole or parts of it are absent altogether. Alina's left side is entirely missing. That has caused the contents of the abnominal cavity to move through the hole upwards and push her heart to the right.
In normal babies, the lungs would grow on the right and left hand side just below the heart. In babies with LCDH, given the fact that the left hand side is occupied by the stomach, bowls, etc and the heart is on the right, the space for the lungs to develop is very small. This wouldn't be a problem whilst the baby is still in the womb, as the fetus breaths through the umbilical cord. However, when the baby is born, they wouldn't be able to breathe on their own, so they would die.
Recently, quite a bit of progress has been made in the medical field regarding this condition. As we have found out, each country has adopted a different method, it doesn't mean that either is right or wrong, it just means that they have found what works best for them.
In Europe, a procedure called tracheal occlusion has been introduced. The procedure is done in-utero and according to what we have been told, is performed in only 3 centres: London, Barcelona and Brussels. The tracheal occlusion involves a 3mm incision in the mother's womb. Then a balloon is introduced microscopically down the baby's trachea, which is inflated and left there until shortly before birth. The aim is to try to create some space for the lungs to develop. By the sounds of it, it's not more painful than CVS or amniocentesis and is done under local anesthetics. The fetus is also sedated, so hopefully they don't feel much. Another mother we have spoken to who has undergone the procedure said that it was amazing to see how quickly the lungs were developing afterwards. So it seems that it is beneficial. The balloon is taken out in a similar fashion at a later stage. It can happen that the balloon deflates and then the surgeon will decide whether it is worth having a second operation. The main risk with this procedure is premature labour which, given that most of these babies are already given very low chances of survival, is not a good thing at all. We were given 10-20% survival rate without the procedure and 40-50% with the procedure. So, I suppose, if given the option, every parent would go for the procedure. But this is for each couple/individual to decide.
Unfortunately, even with the tracheal balloon occlusion, the medical story doesn't end here. After the baby is born, they will have to be put on a ventilator, to help them breathe. Once they are stabilised they have to undergo surgery to place the stomach and the rest of the abdominal cavity back in their place and close the hole in the diaphragm. A CDH mother recommended to us a programme on the Discovery Channel part of the Saving Babies series, where a similar procedure is done in Australia. Although emotional, we found it very useful as it made us understand better what was going to happen.
Following the surgery, the recovery time commences and it sounds like it depends on a case by case basis. Everyone says that every baby is different and they alone can determine whether they want to survive or not. I guess, we as parents can only do so much and the rest is up to them.

Our decision

2008-09-16T06:53:00.000-07:00

When we left the hospital, we felt as if our entire world had been shattered. I was more inclined towards termination. As another mother said to me, I imagined our baby with pink and white spots. Alex had done some research on CDH and had a much better picture. I had refused to read about it and had been totally oblivious to even the most remote possibility of Alina being sick. When the news hit us, I could only think that I would have a severely handicapped child. What I have learnt along the way is that this condition is not black and white, that so many things are variable and that each child is different, which means that each outcome can be entirely different.
We were very fortunate to have been referred 2 days later for counselling to our local hospital, East Surrey in Redhill. We had the opportunity to speak to a midwife, Angie Partidge who had arranged for us to see a pediatrician, Dr. Lewis. Dr. Lewis already had 2 cases like ours. After the avalanche of information it was great to be able to sit down and discuss our case, ask questions and really understand the situation better. I would like to thank both Angie and Dr. Lewis for their time and understanding. It was extremely useful in helping us reach a decision.
We found out that although Alina was quite a severe case, having been detected so early on, we wouldn't really know what her chances were until the 20-week scan, when her organs would be more developed. Then a measurement of her pulmonary area compared to the lenght of her body ( head to lung ratio) would give us a better indication of her chances of survival.
Yes, it was going to be a very difficult battle and even if she did or didn't qualify for the tracheal balloon procedure, she would still have to undergo surgery after she was born, to repair the hole in the diaphragm. The main challenge would be to stabilise her after birth and then after the procedure. She could have medical problems afterwards, the most common one being reflux (inability to keep food down), but she wouldn't be handicapped in terms of being entirely dependent on us for the rest of her life. As a matter of fact, she could end up having a normal life. What we found out is that despite the statistics and what the doctors say, it was all up to Alina. Some babies fight really hard to survive and she could be one of those.
I couldn't stress enough how important this discussion was for us. Apart from clarifying the situation, it gave us both time and space to express our feelings, our concerns and most of all, ask a lot of questions. We both felt that we wanted to give Alina a chance and made a decision together to continue until the 20 week scan.

Shocking news

2008-09-15T12:24:00.000-07:00

As you can imagine, waiting for the results wasn't easy at all. When we got the phone call- it was actually a voicemail, I couldn't sleep the whole night. I imagined the worst case scenario and wished I could just ignore it all and pretend as if nothing had happened.
As it turns out, the news was good. 99.1% of the genetical disorders had been tested and the results came back normal. What a relief! So, we enjoyed the rest of our holiday hoping that the next scan would show that it had been just a mistake and that everything was ok.
2 weeks later we were back in the hospital. The first appointment was with the cardiologist, Dr. Vita Zidere, who had already seen us during our first visit. I knew immeditely that something was wrong, just by the look on her face. She confirmed that Alina had the stomach and probably the liver on the left hand side, which was the reason why her heart was on the right. Alex noticed that she was the first person to say " I am sorry", which is not really what one wants to hear. The only positive news was that her heart seemed to be structurally sound. We were then taken to have the annomaly scan, where another consultant did a lot of measurements of her bone structure to detect any other problems. Apart from the CDH, there were none. We were also told that the rest of the genetical disorder test results had come back normal. So overall, some ray of light in otherwise a very dark experience. The worst part was when the consultant sat down with us to discuss the situation. She mentioned that Alina's chances of survival were very low, that she was a "severe" case and that we would probably qualify for a procedure, called tracheal occlusion which could improve her condition, but that overall, it didn't look good at all. She basically told us that we had two options: one to go for termination, the other to wait until the 20 week scan when they would be able to do more measurements and determine the severity of her condition.
Alex asked quite a few questions but honestly, I don't remember much of the conversation. I only remember "severe", which was the only word that stayed with me for a long time.
We were both in such a state of shock. Our little baby, whom we had both wanted was really sick and nothing of what had been said to us was giving us any ray of hope that she would be ok.

The beginning of our CDH story

2008-09-08T14:28:00.000-07:00

When Alex & I found out that we were pregnant earlier this year, we were both thrilled about it. It felt like our life was taking the course we had envisioned: getting married, buying a house, having 2, maybe 3 children. We still hope that our family will expand in the near future, but the present is looking completely different than we had expected.
At our 12 week nuchal translucency (NT) scan, we were told that our baby might have a heart problem due to an increased level of fluid around her neck. It really came as a big shock, as we were both convinced that everything was fine. We were referred immediately to King's College Hospital in London, which luckily is not a long way away from us (we live in Surrey). I was adviced that having a Chorionic villus sampling (CVS) would detect any genetic abnormalities, such as Down's, that our baby might have.
At King's, Dr. Jose spent 1.5 hrs studying the baby's heart. It's strange, Alex and I were completely oblivious of the fact that our baby might actually be sick. It's one of those blind faiths that everything will be ok, that I think, one, as a parent carries around. Unfortunately, things were not fine. Even though the heart was structurally sound, it was placed on the right hand side of the baby's chest. This, according to the cardiologist, indicated that our baby might have congenital diaphragmatic hernia or CDH. Although her organs were too small to determine for sure if she had CDH, in general, this condition is associated with a chromosomal abnormality. So having the CVS became a necessity at that point. I was lucky enough to have Prof. Kypros Nicolaides perform the test. I wouldn't say that it didn't hurt or that it's a pleasant thing, but in the grand scheme of things, it's not that bad at all -especially if you have a doctor with a steady hand. We would only find out the initial results 3-4 days and the full results 7 days later. We were also programmed for an anomaly scan 2 weeks later. Alex & I were due to leave on our 2 week summer holiday to France the following morning, but the next 3 days really felt like the longest of my life.