Georgia was finally moved back onto the Nursery part of the Ocean ward 31 days after her admission. She had been weened off morphine but was hanging on to the last little bit of oxygen. If they took the oxygen off her, then her sats would drop slightly.
She had started smiling again. Really big beaming smiles. I was so proud of my beautiful little brave girl!
One morning when I arrived on the ward, I was told she had been completely off oxygen for 6 hours in her sleep. It hadn't affected her sats and she was doing well.
When they did ward rounds, the consultant told me that Georgia could return to our local hospital the following day! She was still on a drug for hypertension and needed to be weened off it, they knew that our local hospital would be able to do that.
From my previous experience at our local hospital, I was worried.
Although I wanted nothing more than for Georgia to come home, she was safer here than anywhere else. They had saved her life so many times. What if her airway collapsed again?
The next day, Georgia was to be transferred by ambulance over the water. Closer to home. I had so many emotions that day. I was devastated to be leaving all these wonderful people. I also felt exceptionally guilty for leaving the parents that I had made friends with.
Mike was travelling over with Georgia in the ambulance, as he was the only one she would behave for! I followed in my car.
As we were leaving the ward, we had so many people to say goodbye to. I cried the whole time. It's not that I didn't want to leave, its because these people went through the hardest part of our lives with us. It felt like I was taking Georgia away from the people that loved her as much as I do.
By the time we got to St Marys I had pulled myself together. It was weird being back there. It was like it had changed. We had been through so much since being there last.
It was only as I was leaving that evening that I realised. It wasn't the place that had changed, it was me. I have become who I am supposed to be.
Georgia has given me that. I am now more patient. I know that life is too short to waste it. If Georgia can be so strong, then so can I.
Even though we were back on home ground, Georgia still had some battles to win. She still had a feeding tube and we were trying to get her to take a bottle. It was hard for her as she had lost the ability to suck. She needed to though. No food or drink ever passed her lips. She constantly had a dry mouth, we used to have to change her tube and stick it back to her face. We also had to swab her mouth to moisten it and put Vaseline on her lips to stop them drying out.
We were told she would never drink from a bottle after having lost the suckling. Luckily that was a very stupid think to say to me. I was then all encompassed with getting her to drink.
Georgia would love to sit outside by the duck pond at the hospital. She had been in hospital for 36 days, this was the first bit of sunlight she got. I would sit there watching her with a ghost of a smile on my face. She would squint up into the sun and smile.
She appreciates the sun, the air, the trees, the clouds. All the things we take for granted.
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