Home on the 30th January!!

Well there is no putting it off anymore.

The room is all tidy and cleared away. Dad has been running back and forth between home and the hospital and has brought my push chair. As we live only five minutes away, mum and dad thought it would be really nice to walk home.


So its chance to say goodbye to everyone. This was quite an emotional moment and mum wept buckets. But then dad says she cries at the Whiskas adverts on tv.


However dad was pretty choked too. He must have been as he bought everyone who worked on the unit a rose. Soft git!


And then it is off we go. Dad is in charge of driving whilst we are leaving the hospital. I'm sure this will be the first of many walks for him with me in my pram.


And before long we are at home. Now its very quiet inside which i think means that either Frodo is not aware we are home, or he is fast asleep.


Now i just want to take this moment before i go in to thank you all. There are so many of you out there who have helped to bring this moment about.
Simply by logging on and looking at my site.
Some of you i have already met, and some i hope to me soon.
Some of you i have spoken to through the comments.
All this has gone a long way to help mum and dad. i know it kept dad from going round the bend in the first few weeks and it has really been a way for them to see how much everyone was thinking of them.
Now i will try to keep regular updates going on here for, especially for those a long way off. Also if you want to make any comments they will get to mum and dad and they can respond. To be honest i am going to let you into a secret. Although i have been taking credit for all my technical abilities, a lot of it was down to dad!!

But right now i have something very important to do.


My first nights sleep in my own home.

Thank you everyone and see you all soon.
Night night from home.
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Some Very Special People

Now before I leave hospital i want you to meet some of the very special people who have been looking after me.


Firstly this is Emily. She has been the butt of most of dad's jokes whilst I have been here, but she has taken lots of care of me.


As has Lindsy here. A lot of the things that have really pushed me on were initiated by Lindsy, such as cup feeding.


Now i think i introduced you to Helen earlier. As i said she saw me in and she saw me out too which was really nice.


As did Hannah. She is a student nurse who started her ward placement on the day i arrived.


Another butt of dad's jokes was Gail here. However she certainly gave as good as she got, and was another who took particular care of me and pushed things on.


As did Lindy here. She is the one on the right, and took care of me lots of time at night when mum and dad were not here.
The one on the left is Mad Izzy.


Also here is Yvonne. She is one of the ward assistants (actually she has become more qualified since i came in and can now care for the babies) and was responsible for making sure i had everything i needed.


And of course here is Dorothy. She is the Modern Matron in charge of the whole unit. Dad had waited for exactly two months before he said 'Ooh Matron' in a Kenneth Williams style.

Of course there are far too many people for me to thank individually here. Unfortunately Lynette was not on today so i had to say goodbye to her on Saturday.
Also there are loads of people who worked the night shifts, like Wendy (who comes from Glasgow and supports Rangers) and Naomi, some of whom mum and dad never got to see.


However to all of you i just want to say a huge thank you. Without you mum, dad and I would never have got through this. The ladies(and Emily) who work on here are amazing, dedicated people. They treat mums and dads like parents not patients from the start. They make things easier to cope, and especially people like Sue Croydon, Sue Selby and Sandra were able to share dad's sense of humour. Others like Gail Henderson were there to provide supprot when it was most needed.

Fantatsic people the lot.
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Born on the 30th of November

Hi there.


Do you all remember back to 30th November and when i came into this world.
Well back then i looked like this.


Well lots of things happened since then. I started to grow stronger and bigger and by 30th December I looked like this. I was still quite small and had not pounded up. And of course about this time i started to experience some difficulties with desaturations.


Well its been another month since then and i now look like this. I am twice my original birth weight, am on demand feeding, i am off all the monitors and drugs.


Now i want you to meet a very special person.
This is Helen and she was the nurse on duty the day i came in here two months ago. She admitted me to the hospital and made sure i was ok.
Well Helen was the nurse looking after me this morning and it is quite fitting. She was the one who saw me in and she will be the one who sees me out.


This blog site is called Born on the 30th November.
However it might be more fitting to add something to that title now.
Born on the 30th November, Home on the 30th January.
Because that is where i am going - Home.
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Firstly an apology.

From mum and dad actually!!
They want to say sorry that they may have been a bit unaccessable this weekend. However there was a very good reason for it.

This is my new room. I moved in here friday morning. This is the parent's flats attached to the unit. This is a halfway house between being on the ward and going home. Parents come and stay in the flats and take over the looking after of all our needs. So its a bit like going home but being still here.

All the monitors have been removed and i am on demand breast feeding now - no more tube thank goodness!!! I have also tried out my car seat to see if it fits properly. It's starnge but i don't look that small when i'm sat in this.

Now the reason that i am so bundled up is that Lynette suggested we go for a walk on saturday afternoon. So dad brought the pram over and off we went.

As you can see mum looks in total control - NOT!

And we went up to the cafe for a bit of lunch. We had a trip out again this afternoon and everything was fine.

So it won't be long now until i am out of 'da joint'. Providing i do well on the breast feeding and settle well, the doctors are pleased and happy that i am medically fit, and i have no serious set backs it could be that i am home very very soon.
See you soon,
Love
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Yes I Know I look Stupid!!!

However it is very important. These are the Cliff Richard 'Wired For Sound' photo's that i promised you.

The hearing test is very important. It shows that we are developing properly and there are no long term problems caused by the early birth.

A machine sends little clicking noises into my ears and then measures the responses. It's all very tecnical and had Grandad T baffled, but everything was fine and i came through with flying colours.

However i needed a bit of a cuddle with Grandma to help soothe the process. Later dad got his mp3 player out and repeated the test........
....with Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit!!!
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Technical Difficulties Again!!!

Sorry about this again.


We are having some difficulties with the computer/camera scenario so here is a nice photo of me and mum that was taken yesterday.

I have had another good day. The demand breast feeding is going very well and lasy night i was cup fed when mum was not here. I am no longer having gaviscon and i am managing fine with it. No desats or reflux problems.

Also today i had my 6-8 week check up and the doctors were very pleased with me. No problems at all. Another thing i had today was a hearing test. This is normal with babies and i came through with no problems at all. I will publish the photo when i can get it sorted. It is abit like the Sir Cliff/Wired for Sound Video - without the roller skates.

So its just a case now of sitting back and waiting until i am good to come home.
So that is what i am going to do now.


And here looks a comfy spot.

I will speak again on monday and let you know how i went on over the weekend.
Till Monday,
night night.
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This Breast Feeding is a Breeze!!!

Basically what you have to do is this.

A) Sleep for between 3 and 5 hours.
B) Wake up when you are hungry and put on the grumpy face (crying a bit also helps)
C) Someone supplies you with an endless stream of food
D) Okay so you have to be winded but mostly i just trump or have my nappy changed
E)Back to sleep for another 5 hours max.
Doddle!

Actually it is going really well and everybody is happy with how i am doing. The doctors have been on their rounds and they have said that it is going to be two weeks max before i am home, and maybe less so that is good news. That means i may be home for dad's birthday!!

Had a couple of visitors today. Firstly Grandad T came round this afternoon and was very happy to find me wide awake.
And then in the evening i had some more.

Here is Auntie Ellen (Sorry but the photo of you head down didn't come out so i had to use this one).

And then I had a big cuddle with Uncle Sneag. The resemblance is uncanny don't you think. Dad said it was like Dr Evil and Mini Me!

Now because i am scratching my face, dad put these horrible things on me. I have nearly managed to suck one of them off, but mum says that tomorrow she is going to do my nails. I tell you its like a health spa - manicure, massage, hot rooms, sunbeds. Fantastic.
Right i'm off. I have a pedicure at ten! Just call me bubbles darling everybody does!
Bye bye
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(p.s. congratulations to Uncle Ian. Well done you deserve it)

Spot what's missing!!

That's 10 points to all you who said 'where's that tube thing up her nose'.
Well here is how it goes.

Today was Wednesday so i had my weigh in as normal. And my weight now is....4lbs 11oz. This means that in 3 days i have put on another 3 and a half ounces. What the nurses think is that i am having my breast feed, and then i am just lying back and having all of my expressed milk too.

So this has to stop if i am to go home. The doctors think that medically i am nearly there. They certainly don't see me being here more than 2 weeks, providing i start a proper feeding patern. So it was out with the tube and on to demand feeding.

Now i cant't show you any pictures of mum's boobies so here is a nice one of me and dad. What this did mean was that unfortunately mum had to spend most of the day at the hospital to be on call. And it has generally worked very well. The longer the day has gone on, the more i have woke up hungry. Last night i breast fed for 15 minutes, had a breather and then went on for another 10. Now the tube will go back in tonight so the nurses can feed me. But day 1 went very well.

Now, remember all those days ago to the start of my story when i had those problems with a black hand.

Well now look at it. Mum is getting seriously concerned with the length of those finger nails. Dad has already been punished by pulling his hair for weeks now. But this talon could do some serious damage!!

Right i had better let you all get off. Another good day, and a bonus Lindsay was that i didn't have to have a bath as Lynette thought not to try too many things in one day. Fantastic.
I will keep you up to date with my breast feeding patterns tomorrow. I will also tell you how much i screamed tonight when i was hungry and mum wasn't there. Poor Emily!!
Till tomorrow,
night night.
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They are not boots Grandad!!!

they are socks!!! They are very special Scotland socks sent to me by Kim and Marty, some Kiwi friends of mum and dad.

Well, every baby has to have them. And they are not very nice i'll tell you. Today i had the first of my immunisation jabs. So up popped Donna the doctor with two big needles which she shoved in my legs.
I was very good and i didn't cry much. And i have not reacted badly to them. The nurses need to keep a little eye on my temperature, and to see if there is any reaction.

However a bit of a cuddle with Grandma helped out.

My feeds are still going really well. I am on 61mls with gaviscon every four hours, and this will probably go up tomorrow when i get weighed. I'm thinking 4lbs 10oz will be good. Mum is also providing milk from the breast and i am doing quite well. I feed for about 10 minutes and then have room for all my feeds.

What might happen in the next few days is that they decide to start me on demand feeding. This means they will cut down my feeds to me actually screaming for them, which should be nice for mum and dad!
Right, i'm off for a kip. Everybody is still very pleased with me and i am a little gem overnight.
So until tomorrow,
night night.
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Porker!!!!

Hi and welcome to a new week here at NICU.

So, it has been a very busy weekend. First of all i had my usual sunday weigh in. And nobody got it right. I have put on a massive 4oz which makes me a whopping 4lbs 7 1/2oz. So i am now officially double my birth rate at 2.03kg.

Saturday was bath day again, and this time it was mum doing the honours. I am finally getting the hang of this water lark, and this time i only cried for a millisecond. Anyway mum was very gentle with me, a lot more than dad was last week!!

Now, the blood tests came back on saturday all clear, and i am producing bone marrow and red blood cells fine. So the doctors are pretty sure that it is me refluxing again. Well the gaviscon certainly seems to have done the trick. I have not had a desat since saturday morning.

In fact all the nurses who have had me say that i have been a little darling and have been no trouble at all. Mum and dad were told to take a well earned break on saturday afternoon. Mum went to bed and dad lay on the sofa watching football. And it certainly did them lots of good.

Yesterday i met some new frinds again. Rob and Charlotte came to see me. Unfortunately they couldn't bring their daughter Amy in but dad was pretty blown away by the difference between us.

So there you have it. All the news from the weekend. I just want to say a big 'Oh my gawd' to Lynne in America. Mum and dad said it was very nice to meet you, and i want to thank you for my message all the way from the U S of A.
Anyway, until tomorrow it's goodnight from NICU again.
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