Sleepy Girl

Natalie is a very sleepy girl today.

Asleep on the sofa

Asleep in Mum's arms

Back at home

Back at home after our trip away. The cat is very glad to see us back again. We are all tired after a long journey back from Wales.

Everyone is asleep on the sofa

Boxing Day in Wales

It was so nice being out in the countryside again that we decided to stay another night. Natalie was proving no trouble to be away from home with and we could spend all of boxing day relaxing rather than spending five hours driving home. That could wait another day. Some more of Kate and Paul's friends arrived today, with more young children. So it was quite a party. It did us all a lot of good to get out and about after almost 3 months of hospital and not getting away from home. It was great to go away with friends and feel normal again for the first time in ages. Natalie enjoyed all the attention too!

Mum feeding Natalie by the Christmas tree


Natalie falls asleep on Mum's shoulder after her feed

Natalie's First Christmas

After reaching our remote Welsh hideaway the night before, we had a very pleasant Christmas day there with a couple of our caving friends Kate and Paul, their daughter and Kate's parents. Natalie got lots of presents, and was the centre of attention in the country pub we took her to for pre-dinner drinks. I was great to get out into the countryside with Natalie and the pram for the first time. We even had a lovely sunny walk back from the pub while most of the rest of the country had rain all day.

Natalie on her new play mat with some of her presents

She looks a bit overwhelmed by all her new toys


Natalie also got her first piggy bank!


Natalie makes friends with Imogen

Wearing her new pink booties

Christmas Eve

Breaking our journey to Wales overnight at Grandma and Granddad's, we had a relaxed Christmas Eve morning seeing their new house and garden. But Natalie was centre of attention of course! We set off for our remote Christmas cottage hideaway after lunch. Here are some pictures taken on Grandma's camera.

Gramdma and Natalie

Granddad holding Natalie

Natalie looking over Grandma's shoulder

Preparing for Christmas

After all the stresses and trauma of the last few months, we really wanted to take some time out to chill over Christmas. So Dad took a whole 10 days off work and we took up an invitation from some of our caving friends to join them in a remote cottage in the Welsh countryside for a few days. Natalie is too young to know any different, and Mum and Dad were too tired to care much about Christmas preparations. So apart from getting a tree, we didn't do anything else to make the house Christmassy. So now Dad has finished work for the break, we started packing everything we needed to take of our first overnight trip away since Natalie arrived. That soon filled the car! So much stuff! Still, we got it all together and set off on a very foggy day to drive half way there, breaking the journey overnight at Grandma and Grandad's who live conveniently on the way to Wales.

Natalie now weighs 3.13Kg (6lbs 14oz).


We were amused to discover that Natalie's head is the same size as the plastic scoop we bought at the garden centre today!

Natalie does her karate kid impression

Baby Sick Mayhem

The evening started off peacefully enough, before Natalie's first evening feed.



But after her feed Natalie was sick all over her clothes. So a bath was in order, which she was not at all happy about!



We bathed her in the bathroom basin bath as this was the quickest option. Ginge took advantage of the situation to make his move onto Natalie's play mat.



Once Natalie was cleaned and dried she settled down again (but now with fuzzy hair!).



Finally peace returns.

Hospital Visit and Christmas Shopping

Natalie and Mum came to town for Christmas shopping over lunch, taking advantage of Dad's works bus into town. This was our first test of feeding her out and about, although we ended up using the work kitchen rather than trying to feed her in town. She did not need a feed while Dad was in town, and Mum was too tired to stay in town when Dad returned to work, so we all came back to Dad's work on the bus. We had a check up appointment at the hosptial later in the afternoon. The hosptial only gave us one days notice as I think they had forgotten us and were fitting us in last minute.

We arrived on time at 15:00, but were not actually seen until 16:00. This meant that by the time we were finished, the rush hour had started. Added to the Christmas shopping traffic and we were stuck in terrible traffic for over 1 hour trying to get back to Dad's work. Natalie was well overdue for her next feed by this time, and not at all happy. So we had to feed her at Dad's work before going home. Natalie cried all the way home from Cambridge too. We were all completely exhausted by the time we got home. Had a fish and chip supper and then Mum and Natalie fell asleep on the sofa before Dad finally put everyone to bed after midnight.

Natalie now weighs 2.960Kg (6lbs 8oz).

Asleep on the sofa with her dummy

Play Mat

We bought Natalie a brightly coloured playmat to lie on during the day. She is sometimes transfixed by the reflections in a mirror which is on the underside of one of the hanging toys. The house is still in a general state of chaos, with baby stuff piled up just about everywhere!

Natalie now weighs 2.790Kg (6lbs 2oz).

Natalie on her play mat

Dad and Natalie on sofa the surrounded by baby stuff

Dad does nappies

Mum took some photos of Dad doing his bit with the nappy changing today.

Dad is on nappy duty

Natalie came home from hospital with this dummy. We have not found any other dummies which she can suck properly, and we have not seen any of this type in the shops anywhere. So it is very precious, and we have to be very careful not to lose it!

New Clothes

Natalie is looking cuter than ever now that she no longer has a feeding tube. Today she was wearing one of the new outfits we bought when we took her on our first shopping trip into town recently.

Natalie now weighs 2.540Kg (5lbs 9oz).

Posing in her new outfit

Natalie with her sheep comforter

Sleeping in her travel cot

Sleeping on Mum again

Natalie's Feeding Tube Removed

Natalie had her feeding tube removed today. The community team determined that she is feeding well enough with the special bottles we are using that she no longer needs to be fed through a tube. So no more sticking it back to her face and trying to stop her pulling it out again. It is lovely to see her without it. She has now reached 2.420Kg (5lbs 5oz).

First trip into town

We took our first trip out by car with Natalie today, going shopping in Cambridge. This was really a practise run for Mum and Dad with the car seat and the baby sling to see how well we coped. Natalie slept through most of the trip, including walking round the shops with her in the sling. We bought her some nice clothes and a few other baby essentials, then headed back home before she needed her next feed.

In the car seat ready for her first trip out

Sleeping on Mum on the sofa after a hard days shopping

Comfortable Pillows

Mum has lots of pillows to prop herself up while feeding Natalie and cuddling her on the sofa. Natalie needs propping up too as she cannot support her head yet, and Mum's nursing pillow is perfect.

Natalie trying out Mum's nursing pillow

Family Visits

Dad returned to work yesterday, feeling a little tired due to lack of sleep for the past week. He arrived home to find Natalie and Mum both fast asleep on the sofa. Dad cooks dinner and after eating it Mum falls straight back to sleep. Dad puts everyone to bed around midnight.

Today some of the extended family came to visit. So Natalie had plenty of attention all day.

Natalie now weighs 2.260Kg (4lbs 15oz).

Natalie meets her cousin Willam aged 2 and a half, and her Aunty Sarah

Aunty Sarah, Natalie and Mum

Nana holding Natalie

Natalie gets some rest in the evening

Grandparents Visit for the Day

Natalie had a visit from her paternal Grandparents today, the first time they have seen her since she came out of hospital. She was a darling all day and did her full cutest baby in the world repertoire. Dad is returning to work tomorrow, but Natalie did not settle down until midnight, and then had us up again at 1.00am! So we had a very poor night and Dad was very tired the following morning!

Here is a picture Grandad took of Natalie in Dad's arms

Natalie asleep on the sofa

Our first whole week at home

Well we have had a whole week at home as a family now, and it has been lovely. No doctors and nurses organising us and telling us what to do. It was great having the care and support of the hospital staff during the past 5 weeks, but it was really nice to finally be able to start to find our feet on our own! Ginge (our cat) has adjusted surprisingly well to our new arrival, after ruling the roost for the past few years. Considering he hates noise and disturbance, we were a bit worried about how he would cope with a crying baby. But once he got over the shock of this new unexpected noise, he has already started to ignore it. Unless it gets really bad, and then he slopes off to another room for a lie down. I think we could learn a thing or two from him!

Mum is learning to eat lunch one handed!

Ginge is first in the queue for the nappy changing mat!

Wrapped Up

Natalie continues to gain weight. She now weighs 2.080Kg (4lbs 9oz). Because she is premature she gets comfort from being confined and held close, like she would be experiencing in the womb. So she loves being wrapped up in a fleece blanket and held. She doesn't like being out in the open or too much noise and movement.

Natalie all wrapped up, contented in her blanket.

Exhausted!

All this getting up all hours of the night has left Mum exhausted! She sleeps in front of the television when Natalie sleeps!

Another tube bites the dust

Natalie managed to pull out her feeding tube again in the night. Two nights at home and two tubes gone! We are getting to meet all the various members of the community team as we have had to call them out two days in a row.

Now we have Natalie home we are enjoying putting her into all the lovely outfits we have for her. In the hospital she mainly wore clothes from the SCBU as they had a large collection of tiny clothes. Most of the ones we have found ourselves, and all the lovely outfits friends and family have bought her were a bit too big until now.

At night Natalie sleeps in a Moses basket next to our bed. She seems to be sleeping pretty well between feeds which at least allows us a bit of sleep per 3 hour feeding cycle. Dad is a night owl while Mum is an early bird, so Dad does the evening shift while Mum gets a few hours sleep. Then Mum takes over in the small hours and lets Dad get some rest. Natalie just sleeps when she feels like it!

Natalie sleeping in her Moses basket

Natalie all dressed up in her fleece jacket

First Night at Home

Our first night all at home together as a new family. Natalie needs to be fed every 3 hours round the clock, so we had to find a couple more alarm clocks to wake us up at all the right times. Natalie pulled out her nasal feeding tube in the night, so we started the day having to phone the special care community team who came round first thing to fit a new one. Once that was sorted out we mainly did a lot of washing, being at home for more than a few hours for the first time in over a month! In the afternoon we decided to test the pram, and took Natalie for a walk round the village green. It was rather bumpy and we had to go very slowly to avoid bouncing Natalie around too much in her cosy all terrain transport. She slept soundly throughout the excursion, but I think the fresh air did us all some good.

Here is Natalie without a feeding tube coming out of her nose. I took this while I had the chance, before the community support team arrived to put in a replacement tube after she pulled the last one out during the night.

Natalie looks a bit lost in her carry cot. She is so tiny!

Mum with Natalie in the pram, out and about for the first time!

Natalie is all wrapped up as it was a cold day.

Natalie is at home!

We got to take Natalie home on Sunday night as planned! We strapped her into the car seat in the ward, and took her on a final tour to say goodbye to all the staff who had helped care for her over the past five and a half weeks. Then out to the car and into a big traffic jam! Eventually we got home only a little late for her next feed (she needs a feed every 3 hours at the moment, 24 hours a day). Natalie seemed quite unconcerned with the new experience of traveling by car. At home Mum and Dad celebrated with some champagne! Dad is spending the week at home with Natalie and Mum, getting used to a routine of changing her nappy, sterilised her feeding equipment, helping feed her, cuddling her to get her back to sleep, tidying up the kitchen, cooking Mum some dinner, changing Natalie's nappy again .... !

Strapped into the car seat ready to come home!

Mum and Natalie home at last!

Wrapped up on Mum's lap

Natalie with Dad and a glass of champagne

Natalie celebrating with Dad!