Left holding the baby

My Daddy's found a friend - Stuart (no, not my fluffy bunny), Gene's Daddy. Mummy and Gene's Mummy were somewhere else and Daddy dragged the chair over to the other side of the room (because I'm now portable) and the two Daddys chatted away about shopping and make-up... I mean gadgets, technology and mope-eds. They were having a right old chin-wag!

Great Grandma, Grandma and Great Aunty Penny visited today... here's Gt G and Gt A, they chatted too whilst they looked after me. Chat, chat, chat, that's all everyone does... Daddy and Mummy chat too, mostly about me!

Daddy visited me today. He's been busy digging the house out... just look what he's been up to... there's no floor left - what will my teddies do?! He held me close, he gave me a lovely warm bath, he dressed me again, fed me and then held me until I fell faaaaaaast asleep - I'm dreaming of it all again right now!

It's possible that my hernia op will be done on Tuesday of next week, I'll be home after that, probably by the end of the week - but I don't want to speak to soon, I'll be under general anaesthetic and will be ventilated again and on a drip... no breathing for myself or proper food - I hope that it doesn't set me back at all. Hernia op update will follow tomorrow.

Check out my equipment...

"OOOooooo" I hear you say... "yeeeessssss" I say; I've become portable! As from this afternoon I am not hooked up or connected to anything. I am however lying on an apnoea mat - this is a device that's connected to the machine (left) to keep the ladies in blue aware of my movement. There's a light that flashes on the machine to indicate that I'm breathing/moving. Mummy and Daddy (in fact no-one) can see what amount of oxygen there is in my blood as I'm no longer being monitored for it. Because I am nice and pink and not grey or blue, that's enough to indicate that I'm A OK! In fact Mummy carried me the furthest I'd ever been away from my bed today, to go and get a new sheet for my cot as I was sick on my other one.

I got a present today from Allison and Ian (Mummy's friends); a book about Bunnys - look at me reading it! I've got a pet bunny at home, his name is Stuart. He was Mummy's furry baby until I popped out, she's given him to me now but she'll still feed him and clean his house for me.

Oh yeah, some other 'breaking news'... I might come home before my hernias are sorted out, which could be in the next few days - that's if the op isn't booked by the end of next week, if it's the week after then I'll be going home imminently and going back into hospital for the op - cool eh!

Bath, bottle and bed

Isn't that the life...? Cuddles when I wake up, bath when I'm a bit grubby, bottle (breast when I'm up for it) and bed when I've finished it. I'm a lucky boy I am.

I've been doing what babies do today. I'll be doing what babies do at home soon. Mummy and Daddy still don't know when it will be (the op), but they know it'll be soon and I'll be out after that...

So, that's it for today really... bring on baking cakes with Harriet and playing in the sandpit with Gene...

No piccies because I'm starting to think that my Mummy's the pepperoni, she'll snap away at any opportunity... ah bless!

3 'H''s; 1st the worst, 2nd the best, 3rd the little princess

A moment of realisation, helped by the adorable '3rd H'...

1st the worst - hernias

2nd the best - home

3rd the Little Princess - Harriet

How wonderful is that...

Today has been 'normal' in the world of Oscar... I woke up, wriggled, wailed, waited, watered (ate/drank) and winked (slept)... Then did it all over again! It's the awake bits that are the most entertaining. I get picked up and cuddled and can have a good look around at my room. Full of babies - there's Hannah and Lauren (they're twins), Oliver, Henry, Ella, Brooklyn and Gene. They're all my chums, we have a special code; when one wails, we all have a go. Generally we're all fed on the hour and when one starts off then we all do. Gene's my mate, he's cool - Mummy and Daddy like his Mummy and Daddy too - isn't that a coincidence!

Today I woke up 1 1/2 hours before I was going to be fed, I got a bit wriggly and upset at having a dirty nappy, so the kind ladies in blue changed my nappy and nurse Kathryn picked me up for a nice squingy cuddle. Kathryn has looked after me very regularly from when I was born. She has followed my progress and helped me live and develop from when I first came out of Mummy's tummy and she has done an amazing job. There are many kind nurses, but Kathryn has probably looked after me more than anyone or at least she has looked after me consistently throughout my stay in hospital - I shall miss her when I go home.

I put on 60g's last night - that's 3100g's altogether, just over 6lbs 13ozs - I'm a right chumba wumba. I'm having 91mls of yummy nectar every 4 hours and it's doing me the trick of plumping me up nicely.

I've got my eye test tomorrow, they've got to put the stingy drops in my eyes to dilate my pupils so that they can peep through my peepers - I think everything's OK as I'm enjoying looking at what's going on around me, however it's not about whether I can see now, it's about whether I can see in the future - which is highly likely but they just want to check to be sure.

I should find out when the '1st H' will be sorted out too, then I'll book the flat - bring on the '2nd H'; optimism is key!!!

mmmmmmmmmmm... massage

Mummy gave me a massage today with some nice smelling oils... however the nurse phoned her later today to say that perhaps the unscented oil would be better for me for a little while. Daddy told Mummy this before she massaged me, she should have listened to him really!

I'm being more awake now in between feeds. Mummy has to play with me and put more effort in to making me forget about my tummy. She's doing a pretty good job at the moment, she jiggles me on her lap and she lets me see what's going on around me in my nursery room at the hospital. I'm really looking forward to my nursery at home... but it's not done yet, they've put me in the sitting room in the little house... it's compact and bijou just like me.

They haven't got too much more to do before I get home, but they do have to get some nappies for my wee bot. Get a move on Mummy, can I have some nice soft fluffy ones please, my bottom's very delicate you know!

'H' is for...

...hernia. I've got two of them in my lower abdomen. They need to be operated on before I go home... oh yeah... 'H' is also for HOME.

Yep I'll be home in a couple of weeks. The sureons are going to book me in for my hernia op this week, at the same time they'll book me into the flat for a night so that it's not booked by anyone else and then... HOME, so it could be a bit sooner than two weeks!

I'm still putting weight on even though my milk isn't being fortified; I'm now 3015g's - about 6lbs 10ozs; I can even make your arms ache!

Still breathing the same stuff as you do; air, air and more air - it smells so sweet (apart from when I've got a whiffy bot!).

I'll keep you posted on the 'H' word - I'm sooo excited I could squeak!

Spot the difference...

Perhaps there are too many differences to mention, however there are no prizes for guessing the one that's staring you in the face... Where are the tubes...? They're in the bin! I am officially breathing a lovely variety of air you know! I will have a green tube going up my nose again, I pulled this one out so that Mummy and Daddy could see me with no tubes at all and so that they could take the piccie for everyone to see my face with absolutely nothing on it other than the red marks left behind by the sticky stuff!

I got really excited because I could show off to Grandma Pat and Gt Aunty Chris who saw me this morning with only my green nasal tube, they think that I looked lovely... I think that Gt Aunty Chris has a crush on me... I love her too, she speaks 'ock eye the nooo' and cuddles me nicely, just look how compfy I am!

Ear ear...

I had my hearing test today... I'm fine. I could hear all of those little tinkle noises and my inner ear did what it was supposed to do (vibrate or something, am not quite sure). Just check out my ear thingies... I asked the nice lady if there was any music that she could play, a bit like an MP3 player, but she said no - I thought they were headphones though...

I've been doing really well with my breathing. I've been breathing air just like everyone else since about 10am today. I've had a few flashy red moments but they haven't lasted long. The doctor said to the nurse to keep me in air and to see what happens. Normally it's the other way round, keep me in a bit of O2 and put me into air every so often... am I turning the corner?! Just see how I looked 3 months ago; you can tell that it's me but I wasn't feeling too bright, I was about 2000g's lighter with stickies all over me. If I'm still on air in the morning then my tubes will come off and you'll see me face... Mummy says that I'm a real cutie (which sounds a bit girlie, but I can cope with comments like that for now; I'm still wearing blue so there shouldn't be any confusion!). I'll let you know what happens tomorrow keep your fingers crossed for me.

My Mummy and Daddy's friend Annabel came to see me today. Annabel's got a boy called Charlie... Charlie can come round to play when I'm home (when I've been home for a couple of weeks or so anyway... children carry bugs, all sorts of nasties).

Am still guzzling milk at a rate of knots, 88ml's every 4 hours. I'm now over 2900g's, which is heavy, oh yeah!

My real house... apparently

...well, where is it... this just looks like a pile of old rubble to me! I'm worried... where will my teddies go?

Work started on the 'family home' that Mummy and Daddy are doing. Well, Daddy would argue that it's him really as Mummy's looking after me and might make even more of a mess of our other house if she got involved... nice Daddy, eh! Daddy has worked hard today digging up the floor in the house. They're going to have this stuff called underfloor heating, this is so our toes stay nice and warm and if I sit on the floor then my bum will too - nifty!

Mummy's and Grandma Pat have been looking after me, I was breathing air again by late afternoon, it's good stuff you know. Hopefully I'll kick the O2 soon, but don't push me though because I might notice when they turn it down! If I can be off of O2 for about 3 or 4 days in a row then it will be amazing and I'll come home with no tubes up my nose. They're going to evaluate me after my eye test on Monday to see how I've been getting on. They'll have a better idea of whether I'll need O2 support when I'm at home. Mummy says 'not on my nelly'... what's my nelly?

I've been a bit bunged up for a couple of days. The lovely nurse Jo gave me a tummy massage and about half an our later I erupted - phew, that certainly woke me up and even after wolfing 87mls of milk I stayed awake for ages, I even held my own bottle (...camera trickery) - the snoozes did get the better of me though...

No piccies today...

...I've run out of poses! Mummy spent too much of the day playing with me, holding me and looking at me to take piccies. It gave me a rest from having too look my best, although I did have a deeeeelightful bath this avo to distract me from being hungry.

I'm now on 4-hourly feeds as predicted; it all started after my 3pm feed when my 6.00pm feed was strung out to 6.30pm when I had 76mls not 66mls, which after another 3.5hrs went to 87mls, which will be regular from 10pm onwards... let's see how long it takes me to guzzle that lot down!

Mummy had a word with me about my breathing. She and Daddy are immensley proud that I'm breathing for myself but there's that question of oxygen requirement still... I've been needing between 0.02% and 0.05%... today it went down to 0.01% and then air!!! This was even during my bath and my dinner (which as you know was half an hour late!). I hope that I've turned the oxygen/air corner...

I put on 40g's too - what a fatty bplump pudding I am... Mummy says that I'm delicious!

Celebrations all round...

It's strange saying goodbye to your friend, well, girlfriend actually. I could hardly bring myself to look as she walked out that door. Harriet's gone home now. She's left me... for the time being anyway. This is her Mummy and Daddy (Sarah and James) taking her home in her car seat - doesn't it look huge in comparison to sweet little Harriet?!

She sent me a lovely card that I'm displaying on my bedside shelf; she thinks I'm special and the card had kisses in it! Mummy's got her 'it's time Oscar went home' head on now... we've started ticking more boxes on that green form that I told you about yesterday.

I've been drinking/eating 66mls of milk every 3 hours... well, that's going up to 88mls as from tomorrow at 4-hourly intervals starting at 10.00 am. The routine will now be:

10.00, breast/bottle feed

14.00, breast/bottle/tube feed

18.00, breast/bottle feed

22.00, bottle/tube feed

02.00, bottle feed

06.00, bottle/tube feed

then all over again... I'm hoping that with being able to rest a lot between feeds that I'll have the energy to suck feed all of the time rather than any tube feeds (which would take ages), as 100% sucking feeds will be another ticked box for the countdown to home. Rowena's Mummy called A-side the 'departure lounge'... Mummy liked this, she thought it was funny and it put the 'departure' idea even more firmly in her head than before; she's even bought me a suitcase!

It was my mate Gene's 100th day today. This is his Mummy, Sam, cutting some cheesecake (Mummy and Daddy thought it was yummy). Sam's got healing hands just like my Gt Auntie Vallie. Strange but lovely how the three of us have a celebration today; Gene's 100 days old, Harriet goes home and it's my due date (I should have popped out of Mummy's tummy today)! Congratulations to us all, we've all come a long way haven't we!

I've been reading my book with Daddy today. There's lots of interesting bright coloured animals and bugs on it... they're ace... I can see the bright colours and the shapes. There's even different fabrics used and I like touching them.

Well, I'd best catch some Z's; it's a big day tomorrow to get to grips with this 4-hourly feed lark... Would you believe that they're starving me between 9am and 10am as they've got to get me into the routine which means delaying my breakfast... I'll be well vocal by the time Mummy gets here, be sure of it!

Oh yeah... here's our first family photograph!

Home, no not the one Mummy and Daddy live in... home...

...is A-side. You've heard me talk about it a lot and I have to explain what it's like. It's modern, with sliding doors, there's taps that you don't turn, there's oxygen that comes out of the walls and there's lots of babies and lots of space.

It's relatively quiet compared to B-side, there's not so many beeps, talking is quieter (almost like a library Mummy says), there's more space around the cots and there's more chairs for Mummys' and Daddys' to sit on. Talking of whom, they can do more for their babies, like mine do for me.

There's yellow sheets that the ladies in blue fill in rather than the pink sheets; and there's a green form that requires 'ticks' and 'dates' on it to use as a countdown to coming home. I've should have lots of ticks on mine but it's not been completed properly yet.

Mummy and Daddy have put their names down for the resuscitation course and another one about how to look after me (identifying signs of this, that and the other). They're doing that next week, so that'll be another couple of ticks. It's all getting prepared for coming home. Mummy and Daddy are feeling the strain of not being with me as much as they would like. I'm more alert now and look around more, I listen and take it all in when I'm awake.

I still need a wee touch of oxygen; that's what's holding me back. I think I've got the sniffles at the moment though, perhaps a little cold... which can't be helping me breathe properly and probably makes me need a bit more oxygen... perhaps that's why I've still got the tubes up my nose... it's not like I'm needing help breathing now, just a touch of the O2 stuff to keep me nice and pink at all times.

Wind...

...not outside, but inside. My tummy gurgled a bit today and whenever I was fed I got a gurgly tummy and parped a lot and was uncomfortable. Mummy's going to get me some Infacol tomorrow so hopefully that will settle me down.

I had another bath today, so I'm squeaky clean. New bed sheets and blanket, cosy oh yes! Yummy food, cuddles then snoozes.

I'm on 65ml every 3 hours and now weigh 2920g's... 6lbs 7ozs - hoooomungus!

Piccies of A-side tomorrow!

Never mind West Side Story...

...A-side's much better! Yes, you've guessed correctly, I only know because I'm over there! The lower dependency unit - the Special Care Nursery. Mummy and Daddy are sooooo proud of me; I guess I am a bit of a good boy really - I graduated here by my own doing, at being well enough to cope. It's a bit sad not being on B-side any more as I loved the nurses and doctors and all of the attention, but A-side's closer to home say Mummy and Daddy and apparently I'll like home even more than A-side...

It's been a great day. It's been nice and quiet (the occasional beep from all of us), just a few voices passing by. Daddy and Mummy were here all day, Grandma F and Grandad M came to visit; other than this I've fed, slept and had a lovely bath. I think that things are going really well and I hope to be at home in a couple of weeks (frequent updates on this one of course!).

Harriet's going into the flat tomorrow night (Friday) for two nights before she goes home on Sunday (my due date - Harriet's due date is on Monday 20th). I really do hope that she gets on well; I bet her Mummy and Daddy get no sleep for the next two nights, or ever!

Chatty me

When Mummy and Daddy are with me I stare at them and smile a bit; when they go I gurgle, wriggle and demand attention - why should I be on my own? When they go I get a variety of cuddles and attention; it's great!

Grandma Pat and Gt Uncle Robin visited me today - look at us having a cuddle - Gt Unc's going to show me some steam engine's when I'm bigger (probably the same week as my home-coming if he had his way!). He called me a 'slap 'ed' because I've only got a tiny bit of fluffy hair; he hasn't got that much more, he's got a number one on his head... I thought a number one was a wee wee!

As for everything else, it's fine!

Monster day today...

...what a happy one I've had. I had a surprise visit from Daddy today and he bought a new friend to see me, one that had come from Indianapolis in the USA. Snapper's his name, he's got a right set on him, just look at his grrrrr; he's here to protect me. He had a headache this afternoon and I fixed it for him.

I've been a good boy today. I've had lots of sucking feeds and have been awake for ages. I played with Mummy and with Daddy and Snapper when they got here.

I'm teetering on the edge of 6lbs now... I'm 2702g's. My milk is being fortified again as I wasn't putting on enough weight, well I think I lost more than I put on when it wasn't being fortified. I need to gain weight so that they can do a hernia operation on me. They'll pop them back in and will stitch my muscle so that they don't pop back out again... I've only got two and they're not that bad really.

A bit out of sorts

What with the booster jab in the leg and stingy drops on the eyes because of my examination, a poke and a prod here and there; it all got a bit too much and I beeped in protest. In fact I had 2 big bradys and desats; basically I had 2 'throw my toys out of my cot moments' and had to concentrate on my recovery with sleep.

My morning feeds were by tube, after which I had some Calpol, but by later on I had a nice bottle, then some cuddles with Mummy and Grandma Pat and slept a long sleep. I woke up later this avo far more refreshed and played with Mummy a bit; we had fun.

My eyes seem fine and the docs will just do a routine check in a couple of weeks or a bit before. The laser treatment seems to have worked well and they're happy with my progress- what a relief that is!