Freya Rocks!
I just wanna fill ya all in on the situation, that have happen that last 2 weeks in my life.
Im a proud (and scared) father now. My daughter Freya is premature shes almost born 13 weeks before planned.
shes 31 cm long, and having a weight on 655gram
The doctors are telling me that shes a strong one, and shes got the "will to survive" - a tough little one that aint gonna give up.
What happend?
This hit us like a strike of lightning from a clear blue sky.
The grand plan was that Kristine was set to give bith on the 26 may 2010
It was "perfectly planned". Right between loads of work & 2 drupalcons + a couple of local ones im involved in.
Truthfully we didnt planned by calender and stuff, it was more like: "Hey baby im jumping on a flight tomorrow for paris, emmm are you sleeping right now ;) " - kristine is gonne kill me if she ever reads this...
Last Tuesday (16. february) Kristine was at her doctor for a routine check, for her blod pressure. There she was immediatly send to the hospital because it was sky high, and before we knew it, I was called to the hospital, where they told us that Kristine got "akut svangerskabs forgiftning" (no idea what its called in english) As I understood it she and the baby was in danger - so she could be set to give birth very soon.
WTF 30 minuts before I was at my office doing css debug & small theming fixes for a project - its february, snowing n shit outside - not Sunny happy Late May! - Now instead was looking into something that could look lije the pits of hell, terrified and scared.
To make a long story short Kristines blodd pressure came undercontrol (hurray for medicine) we were send into Rigshospitalet aka Riget (the top hospital for premature here in denmark) and waited out for as long as Kristine body could hold to the blood presure, so she could give our daughter the best chances for survival (more medicine even for the baby.)
After 6 days on sunday the 21. february our Daughter Freya was born.
I named here after the Norse goddes: Freya (Freja & Freyja or freia)
Kristine almost accepted my fun idea about throwing in ümlouds FreŸa ;)
situation now after 6 days.
Beeing born so early is off course not a good thing, and the risk of her health is absolutely there.
I dont know the survival rate for a kid born this early, and frankly dont care - eather we make it - or we dont! Were gonna make it - belive me (and here mother told me so, and shes like all other women always right)
Even if theres 1% I will grap that sucker and bring her home - When youre in a situation like ours the Shit gets very binary!
Guess its not like father like son, but its like father like daughter (im born 10 weeks premature). So I really hope she got my kickass-survival-rocknroll-viking-dont-bow-down-for-anything-loving-the-life-spreading-the-love genes - ooh and not to mention what here mother is bringing in to the mixture.
Im actually getting kinda afraid for here future boyfriends and/or girlfriends. I dont need to get a boom stick and a shovel, shes gonna kick their ass if they mess with her.
Were having our ups and downs, after an almost fatal fracture in her lounge on her 2 day, but were slowly moving forward.
So im taking it hour by hour, and wishing here happy "Birth Hour" evertime the clock is a quarter past (she as born 13:15), hopefully i can shift to days soon. Dont know when everything is gonna be allright, but as they days go the chances are getting better and better.
If you wanna follow the progress: http://freyarocks.wordpress.com
Drupal stuff...
Some of yo might now that im kinda into this drupal community thing, and was helping out beeing the "chair" on the theming track for Drupalcon SF When my situation suddenly changed I offcourse withdrew my self from the planning, the amazing john albin stepped in,and is now laying down the law ;)
Right now I dont know if im even gonna go to #DCSF - I was really (really) looking forward to comming back to a place that changed my way of looking at the world at the yahoo oscms drupalcon thingie 3 years ago.
The thought alone about beeing part of such a big devoted drupal crowd (is it 1300 people now 6 weeks before? ) Hanging with with this big bunch of loving geeks im proud of calling friends, the late night drinking passionate talks about moving the cms system forward etc.
Oh well if this is what it takes for me to get Freya home, then so be it!
DrupalCon Copenhagen
I was deep into getting drupalcon to Copenhagen Denmark, but the situation right now is that others have taken over until I can breathe again, and if theres even any room for me at that time i return, cause what im hearing #dccph plaaning group are kicking ass!
It look likes the plan of making sure that if any one of us in lead was "hit by a bus" the planning& project would still go on.
So you better put a big X in you calender for ** 23-27 August 2010 ** and book a flight to copenhagen!
I cant even say how grateful I really am that the copenhagen group are rocking. You guys & girls rawk \mm/
Tabus
I know it sound strange that with a daughter in an uncubator, a girlfriend hospitalized with to high a blood pressure, and me in my lifes biggest fight - I now know what "angst" & "Fear" are now.
How can I even think about anything else... well ... I have to else i would turn craaaazy very soon.
The sun is rising tomorrow yet again and life goes on, no matter what im trying to do. I cant hide whats happening - well thats why im writing this loooong blog post, no matter what will happen we need to carry on with our life.
To keep this kinda seperated from my normal geeky site at morten.dk (its heavy shit this freya talk ) & as way to share my thoughts with the world around me.
I created another blog at http://freyarocks.wordpress.com where people can follow the day to day diary of her life, my thoughts pictures n stuff.
Its in danish - sorry, but cant google do something with that translate?
Yup its on WP, and not Drupal - why? well I need a system i can post directly to with my iphone, and theres no native drupal app (yet) for that.
Its a hosted solution, really dont have the energy - or oppertunity - to set up a system right now (theres a shared PC at the hospital, no other connections)
Need something small that just works as a simple blog & wordpress.com is perfect for that, and imho better than tumblr
When freya turns 3 shes gonna get the "my first drupal" distribution ;)
thanx
This is offcourse a stressfull situation for me, my GF Kristine (yup the GF does have a name) & Freya.
The amount of good karma, prayers, hope, good vibes and warm feelings from around the world is keeping our spirit up.
The reason im not answering all the wonderful mails youre sending me, is that its really to hard for me right now to write back - after 11 days of tearing up everytime i tried i kinda gave up ;) - but they are really wonderfull and heartwarming
Im not a religious man But no matter what youre god is, remind her or him that im grateful, for the thoughts youre sending me.
Realy thank you!
From the very bottom of my heart, it mean Loads (shitloads) more than you can possibly think, to hear your thoughts, tweets, mails, comments, hope beams & payers.
/mortendk
High blood pressure and pregnancy
The condition in English is probably preeclampsia -- my sister in law was under a constant watch for it. Sky high blood pressure is a sure sign of it, and the baby has to come out right away or both the child and the mother could die.
If you can make it to Drupalcon, it'd be great to see you and I'll surely buy you a beer or ten. But if you cannot, it would be completely understandable. I would raise a toast to you and the health of all three of you and you'll be missed, but happy that your absence is a good thing.
But get her some rock-and-roll!
Was talking to a friend of mine (a doctor) so she mentioned there are much nicer chance to fight at this age for Freya then say if she would be born 3-6 weeks later. Strange stuff.
But get her some rock-and-roll! Music has some magic powered.
good luck
Hi,
I read this on Drupal Planet, and I want to tell you that my niece was born at 28 weeks (pre-eclampsia) and now she is a healthy, thriving 11 year-old. She was in the hospital for 10 weeks and it was very scary, but there is every reason for you to have high hopes.
You've probably already heard that it's good news she's a girl (premature girls tend to do better than premature boys do). I've also heard, but I don't know if it's true, that it's good news her birth weight was quite low for her gestational age. That means her body was under stress in the womb and put extra energy into developing her internal organs instead of just getting bigger. So she may be really tiny, but she might have better-developed organs than other babies at her gestational age. She'll have plenty of time to catch up on size later :-)
I assume your hospital advises Kangaroo care (holding the baby on mother or father's bare chest). Apparently it has many benefits, both for the baby and the parents.
It can be scary reading forums and blogs about prematurity because most of the people who post are those who had more long-term issues with their baby, whereas people who had fewer problems don't bother with a blog because they're too busy with their newborn. So know that Freya has every chance of doing great in the long run.
Best wishes,
Andrea Lemon
PS: I guess I'm used to preemies, because she looks really cute to me!
Congratulations and thinking of you and your family
Take care of everyone and yourself, lots of rest. Beautiful name, Freya. She has lots of love and support waiting for her to help her grow up strong and healthy and smart.
Pingback
Greetings from Argentina
A big hug, Oh King, sending you a karma bubble of Argentine fighting spirit to you and your beautiful family
Premies rule
Our daughter was born at 25 weeks and a little lighter than Freya. She's now a great, smart and beautiful 6 year old kid who already knows what drupal is. It will be a scary time but will just make her more precious to you as you all get older. Stay strong.
Thinking of you three
All the best! Hold on little Freya! The Cologne support team!
Shes though...
My wife made a preeclampsia, too, and my dougther born with 1200grams (twice as yours) but still as small as pack of milk. She is now 7 years old, and is as pretty as can be and healthy as it should.
Little Freya will be too... Keep positive and stay strong.
All the best and a great hug from Portugal...
hey dude...
sorry to hear you had a tough time with your new born baby, but really happy it worked out well. I'll also raise a drink to you guys if I get to go to DrupalCon.
Team effort
It's great to see other people are able to step in so quickly when something more important comes up. We've got your back, Morten, and we're all pulling for you. You focus on the important stuff (family) and we'll keep the store running.
And My First Drupal, is that a challenge? OK, folks, you heard him! We've got 3 years to make Drupal friendly enough for a 3 year old. Go to it. :-)
good health
wishing you three all the best for good health and growth.
You already made ten days, you will make the rest. Will the next days and weeks and months be a big curve up the mountain. We expect you to bring a huge picture of Freya to DrupalCon CP so that we can all enjoy her.
I hope in a year you can look back on the time pasted and be happy.
Health Dude
"Health is wealth" is known to all and everyone wants good health. That means no one wants to leave this wealth. So, Let us build a food habit discipline, keep pace with work, rest and or exercise to Achieve good health, The ultimate wealth.
Congratulations with Freya
All my best thoughts to you and your family
Fatherhood
The thing about fatherhood is that the scared never goes away...but, neither does the proud. Congrats Morten!
My son was a preemie as well. He born at 31 weeks, 2 days (his due date was 3 September 2003 and he was born 4 July 2003). Now, I forget he was ever premature. He's a healthy, happy and inquisitive six year old!
I wish you, your lady and your little one the best from the States!
How is she now?
Morton, I met you out a Jillian's on Tuesday night as everyone was headed to Rickhouse during DrupalCon SF; my little girl is now just over 1 year old and she was 6 weeks early. I know how stressful that whole situation is and what a drain it can be one everyone. I hope that Freya continues to improve and that we'll have a chance to talk again in the future.
Chris