Always look on the pink side of life #SundayStills

An update on Dottie

Dottie, my granddaughter, was born very early at 25 weeks gestation back in August 2019 weighing in at 845grams (1lb 14oz). It was a shock to us all and a very scary time.

My daughter and her husband live in England and I’m in Australia, but despite the distance I was able to be there with them all and to meet my newest granddaughter within a week of her being born. I travelled over on my own and stayed for a month, helping out visiting Dottie and Melanie in NICU, spending time talking with my daughter and learning a lot about premature babies. I missed my eldest granddaughter’s first birthday while away but I was excused! The Mathematician and I had plans to travel later in that year when Dottie was actually due, and luckily we managed to get that trip in before the pandemic hit.

Looking back it was a bittersweet time of our lives – with Dottie’s traumatic arrival, then watching the Black Summer bushfires ravage our community while on the other side of the world, before returning home in time for the arrival of our youngest daughter’s first baby and then Covid and state border closures!

Thank goodness it wasn’t happening now with Covid and the Australian borders closed, with anyone wanting to leave the country needing an exemption and approval from the government. It doesn’t bear thinking about but I’m sure there are many in similar situations who just can’t travel yet.

A reminder of Dottie’s early days.

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She was tiny but oh so very mighty! She still is!!

I wrote a post about Dottie back in October 2019 when she got her pink octopus. Apparently the tentacles of the knitted or crocheted octopus, can feel like the mother’s umbilical cord and can help reduce the babies pulling out their cords and attachments. I loved the notion of an octopus helping like this and providing comfort. There are lots of sites and stories that show the proof of these tiny little soothers and they can help provide comfort to those who make them almost as much.

Dottie is nearly 8 weeks old and now weighs 1.94kg (just over 4lb) which is fabulous when you remember she was born weighing 845grams! She is still being closely monitored and has had a rollercoaster of a time, sometimes it’s a case of two steps forward and one step backwards. She’s got a lot of love behind her and continues to fight, despite the hardships she is enduring. It’s still a long rocky road ahead for all of us.

Source – Deb’s World October 2019

Dottie stayed in NICU for 3 months before leaving hospital, still on oxygen, in late November 2019, just days before her actual due date. She has come on in leaps and bounds and is a source of much joy in our lives. She smiles a lot, she wrinkles her nose, she crosses her arms, she says Debbie and points to my photo on the fridge, she waves at us during our facetime calls and mimics our facial expressions. She now wears cool pink glasses and loves ice cream! She is such a little sweetheart.

Going pink for Sunday Stills

Given the theme for #SundayStills is pink this week, I decided now was as good a time as any to write an update, especially given the gorgeous photos my daughter sent through this week. So I’m declaring these photos are not my work and they are used with permission.

In looking at my archives, my previous Sunday Stills posts on pink jumped out to me, and so I decided to provide a brief update on Dottie, as her pink octopus post was very well received back in October 2019. I could have used some of the many pink flowers I have in my media files, but as it’s a grey, wintry day here I decided against it. It just doesn’t seem right for some reason!

And my daughter had just sent through these amazing photos of Dottie, on her pink slide, so that decided me!

Look at her now, she’s now 22 months old and thriving!

Isn’t she just the cutest little girl? She has a long road ahead of her and things might not always go well but she has a fighting spirit and a family who love her to bits, on both sides of the world!

Dottie Wombat

Before Dottie was born she was called ‘Wombat’ a reference to my daughter’s Aussie heritage, and so when Melanie was made redundant from her very successful job in media she decided to set up a little business from home. Of course she called it Dottie Wombat! She donates 1 pound from sales to Bliss Charity, as they help with premature babies in UK and to date she has donated in excess of 500 pounds! You can find her site here Dottie Wombat, on Etsy here, on Instagram and Facebook. She creates beautiful things!

To say I am proud of my daughter for all she has achieved is an understatement! And Dottie is her greatest achievement in my opinion.

I hope we can travel over to see them in person again soon, but in the meantime technology is our best friend.

Sunday Stills

So that’s me for always looking on the pink side of life! Thanks to my daughter for allowing me to share her photos of Dottie and for the timely pink slide shots. Also it was great to re-look at my previous pink posts for Sunday Stills, which prompted me to do an update.

I’m sure Terri, and others joining in, will have some awesome photos for ‘pink‘, so make sure you visit Terri to see what everyone else has shared this week.

Next week’s prompt for Sunday Stills is Sunrise/Sunset.

Thanks for stopping by and i hope you enjoyed my pink update on Dottie.

Debbie 🙂

All my Sunday Stills posts can be found here

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