Episode 5: 4 visits with Santa
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Olivia’s Santa story began while I was pregnant with her. When Chris was at work, his client approached him to ask when he thought he would be finished working. He proceeded to tell him that the reason for his inquiry was that he had an appointment to get his beard whitened. Naturally, Chris was curious, so he asked the man if he was Santa. His client proudly confirmed that he was indeed Santa, and then he handed Chris his business card. Chris found out that Santa was preparing for holiday photo sessions with an old photography acquaintance of his, named Jesse Hlady. Santa and Jesse team up each year to create an unforgettable Christmas photo experience for families and companies. When Chris came home from work that day, he told me all about his encounter with Santa. We were excited about the idea of getting our baby’s first Santa photo, so we booked an appointment for a photo session. Olivia’s due date was the 13th of December, so we decided to book the last available appointment as a precaution. For first-time parents, we were overly confident that she would come out on time. It could be considered selfish, but during my final check-up on her due date, I was asked if I wanted to induce labor, so I said yes. Maybe it was karma, or just foreshadowing for the mischievous nature of our child, but I ended up in labor for almost 2 days after being induced. Olivia graced us with her presence at 3:10 am on Dec 15th. By the end of the 16th, Olivia was still having difficulties learning how to latch, so we were told we might have to stay another day. I was starting to get worried that we wouldn’t make it to our Santa photo session on the 18th. The nurse came by in the morning of the 17th to see how Olivia was doing, and to let us know if we could go home that day. Our discharge was completely dependant upon Olivia successfully feeding on her own. The nurse suggested that I try feeding her at that moment, but I wasn’t too optimistic because she hadn’t successfully latched yet. Like a miracle, Olivia perfectly latched and had a successful feed. Her medical team got everything ready for her discharge, and after her first bath, we were ready to head home by 11:30 am. After a day of rest, we prepared ourselves for our first outing as a family. We were excited to introduce Olivia to Santa even though we were still quite exhausted. When we arrived for our session, we were greeted by Jesse and one of his staff members. They led us to where the session would be. As we stepped around the corner we were taken back by what we saw. It felt as if we had been welcomed into Santa’s home. Every detail existed in perfect harmony to create exactly what I had imagined Santa’s home would look like. As he welcomed us over, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind. From his head to his toes, his voice, his charisma, and that sparkle in his eyes; he was the spitting image of Santa. During most of our session, Olivia slept, and I found myself wondering if I would look tired in the photos (but the rest of our session was a blur to me). That day was not only a first for Olivia but also Santa. At 3 days old, Olivia was the youngest baby that Santa had photos taken with.
(click photo to see each image)
Olivia had a challenging couple of months leading up to Dec 2018. Things were uncertain, and we feared that our sweet child would not see another Christmas. We decided that if we could get just one more photo session with Santa, then at least we could make that Christmas a special one for her. When we attempted to book our photo session, we realized that there were no more time slots available. Chris reached out to Jesse Hlady about getting a photo session with Santa. We knew it was a long shot, but we wanted to try anyway. He shared with Jesse what was going on, and he asked if they could make a time slot for Olivia. He also asked if we could purchase a bigger photo package than we had the previous year (that was something that we regretted not doing in 2017). Out of the kindness of his heart, Jesse volunteered his time and services to do our photo session for free. He booked Olivia’s session for around 11:15 am on Dec 5th (which happened to be before the general public). Initially, we thought it would be hard to convince her medical team to let us leave the ward for our photo session, but it was actually the easiest part. Organizing the details of our outing proved to be far more challenging. We had asked if we could take a nurse with us to the session, but unfortunately, that wasn’t an option at the time. They did agree to let us leave the hospital on a day pass, but only if they disconnected her IV fluid right before we left. At the time, we were under the impression that she wasn’t TPN dependant, so we held out hope that it would work. The irony is that if we hadn’t been so blinded by our hope, we would have seen the first clue that indicated her TPN dependence. In the past, Olivia had rather unfortunate timing during our weaning attempts. When it would come time to discontinue her TPN, she would end up catching either an illness or infection that would result in a crisis. On Dec 4th, the doctors were confident that the weaning process was going well, so we switched out her TPN for an IV fluid solution with dextrose. The following morning she was a little more tired than usual, but we weren’t overly concerned. We decided to proceed with our original plan, and after her IV fluid was disconnected, we headed on our way. I felt nervous about the idea of leaving the hospital without nursing help, but I was hopeful that things would work out fine. By the time we arrived at the studio, she was starting to feel more tired. We did everything we could to keep her awake, but unfortunately, our attempts to excite her failed, and she fell into a deep sleep. As we proceeded with our appointment, it became apparent that something wasn’t right. We did our best to smile, but our eyes told another story. When the session ended, I found myself feeling a mix of joy and disappointment. I had hoped for just one photo of Olivia engaging with Santa, but it seemed like that wasn’t going to happen. After Jesse left the room to upload our photos into his computer, we started to prepare ourselves to leave. As I was beginning to accept that our session was over, a miracle happened. While still cradled in Santa’s arms, Olivia opened her eyes and looked up at him. Tears welled up in his eyes as he looked back at her. At first, Olivia was a little confused, but she quickly became excited to see Santa. What made this moment so special for Santa was the fact that he had been following Olivia’s story since she was featured across multiple news platforms over the previous two months (I’ll talk more about that in a future post). When we let Jesse know that she had woken up, he rushed over with his camera to shoot another set of photos. Thanks to Jesse’s kindness, we were blessed with an unforgettable experience. By the time we returned to the hospital, Olivia was tired again. I approached her nurse to inquire about when her IV fluids would be restarted, only to find out that the doctor (who didn’t bother to read her chart, and as a result was unfamiliar with her condition) had decided that she didn’t need it. Against my concerns for her safety, the doctor refused to reconnect her.. at least until she became hypoglycemic. What we didn’t know until that evening, was that she was in the midst of a metabolic crisis. This particular attempt was not paired with sickness, but we would not learn the real cause of her crisis until more than a year later. Unlike her previous crises, the cause of this one was merely the act of disconnecting her TPN. There is so much that we can learn from Dec 5th and the days that surrounded it. When I reflect upon those days, I can’t help but think of the phrase “the devil is in the details.” At that time, we were blinded by hope and too fixated on our desired outcome to notice the truth about her condition. Olivia had been dropping us hints all along, but we weren't ready to see them. However, the one thing we didn’t miss out on from that experience was the beautiful moments that we shared with Jesse and Santa after she woke up from her nap.
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We had grown accustomed to our annual Santa photos, so when Jesse announced that time slots were available for 2019, we began the process of planning for it. At the time we were still in the hospital, so we sat down with her medical team to discuss how we could make our Santa adventure possible. Unlike the previous year, our planning would prove to be far more complicated. We had to sort out transportation, nursing, IV fluids, and picking a time slot. After what happened the previous year, her team wasn’t going to take any chances. They helped us prepare her for her car trip, sort out the logistics of bringing a nurse with us, and work out how we would transport her TPN. In the weeks leading up to Nov 2nd, Olivia was recovering from a series of horrible side-effects from our most recent attempt to wean her TPN. At the time of her appointment, her condition had improved greatly, and her rash had almost completely healed. In the morning of the 2nd, after our nurse Sarah had arrived, we headed on our way. When we arrived at the studio, Sarah disconnected Olivia’s TPN, and then we dressed her up in her Christmas outfit. Her photo session went smoothly, except she still wasn’t feeling at her best. She was a little tired, and her skin was still quite sensitive from when she had her rash. It took her a while, but eventually, she warmed up to Santa. By the end of her session, she was starting to feel more playful and talkative. Afterward, we headed over to our favorite coffee shop on Hillside Ave, 2% Jazz Coffee. We sat down together as a family with Sarah and enjoyed a moment of normalcy before heading back to the hospital. After our coffee break, Sarah reconnected Olivia’s TPN before we drove back to the hospital. All our hard work had paid off, and our adventure proved to be a success. Olivia was healthy and happy, and we were soo delighted to have had another unforgettable experience.
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Our visit with Santa on Oct 17th, 2020, was very different than the previous years (and not just because it happened during a pandemic). However, it did have a familiar feel to her first visit with Santa. Much like the first year, we were tired and nervous, but also excited. We had been home from the hospital for just 10 days after her kidney stones episode. Overall, Olivia was feeling much better, however, she was still adjusting to her new food. Her bowel movements had also become a little irregular after her recent diet change. So naturally, when we noticed that she was holding in a massive poop on the morning of her photo session, we were concerned. As a precaution, we decided to pack extra clothes and supplies in her diaper bag. That particular day we didn’t have nursing help, so we did our best to manage everything on our own. Just before her session began, we got her dressed, and then I disconnected her from her TPN. During our photo session, Olivia was feeling a little more tired and irritable than normal because of her impending poop. She seemed very intrigued by Santa at first, but it wasn’t long before she felt completely comfortable with him. Although it took a lot of effort, halfway through our session, we managed to get a couple of smiles out of her. After saying goodbye to Santa and Jesse, we headed on our way. Just after we got home and Olivia was settled on the couch on her soaker pad, she decided she was ready to void her bowels. Thankfully she waited until we were home because if she had created that mess while we were out, it would have made for a really crappy day (pun intended). Hopefully, 2021’s Santa photos will be free from an illness, crisis, or a massively destructive bowel movement. It sure would be nice to have a chaos-free family outing for a change.
