Video evidence

Click HERE to see our video of Katy's first fully clothed cuddle. It is on google video, if you can't use it, leave a comment and I'l try and post it on another site too.

Another good day

Leanne got to see Katy in the same mood that I saw her in yesterday.

We dressed her up and gave her a cuddle for over an hour. She has a little lump on her leg from where she had a line in to travel to Kingston. It seems a little infected and Katy is having oral antibiotics to try and sort it out.

Katy is getting weighed tomorrow. Try to guess her weight, in grams, the closest will get a prize.

Mark Vs Matron

Katy has been better than ever today.

She is now doing 4 hours off CPAP, 2 hours on. She is more comfortable off it, so hopefully they will keep increasing her time off.

We registered her birth this morning, bit strange not to have an official document that's not bilingual!

Grandad and Nanno have been down for the last couple of days with uncle Daniel. It has been fantastic to see them, apart from when Dan beat Me at darts (a pure fluke, bullseye on the last shot).

The matron had said that Dan could not come onto the unit, but I managed to change her mind with some careful persuasion...

When I went in to see Katy and have a cuddle, she was awake and kicking around like a proper baby, she was looking at me and responding to my voice. It may have been my red hawiian shirt, but the nurse said Katy was grinning when she arrived on my chest.

I went out of the hospital I was walking five feet in the air.

Blog fun

We have made a few small changes to the blog page, hope you like them!

Naughty Katy Getting Her Nappy Changed.

As you can see above, Katy was pretty lively today,

She has been doing 3 hrs on CPAP, 3 hrs off CPAP. She seems to prefer it off CPAP and they may extend her to 2hrs on 4 hrs off soon. When she is off CPAP, she is lolling around in around 30% oxygen. As you can see from the photos, the blood transfusion has given her a much redder colour.

She is really developing her own little personality, hope it continues!

This post was sponsored by the "Red Rose of Surbiton", a fantastic curry house once visited by Robbie Williams, apparently...

Lovely cuddles

Katy pulled her feeding tube out and then pulled the plaster off her chin!

This dummy is, in fact, the word's smalest.

Leanne got to cuddle Katy today, without th CPAP on.

We had a great day today.

• Katy was weighed at 840g (1lb14oz). An 80g increse since being in Kingston!
• She is spending 2 hrs out of six off her CPAP
• She spent an extra 45 minutes off (2hrs45 in total) so she could cuddle with Leanne.

Katy is now back to herself after 2 days of settling into her new hospital.

Kingston Katy

We had a bit of day yesterday.

I rang the hospital at ten to one to find out how Katy was doing. The nurse filled me in with the usual; she's fine, on low oxygen etc. I told her that was great and we would be in soon. I heard someone in the background say something and the nurse said "oh, just to let you know, Katy is being moved to Kingston" I asked when this would be, and she told us half past one. I said "that's great news" not quite realising that it was going to happen in 30 mins and no-one had told us.

I told Leanne and she instantly realised how serious this was, rang the hospital and talked to the consultant to double check. It was really happening, so we hot-footed it over to St Georges.

Katy was still there because the ambulance was late so we were relieved to see her. This feeling didn't last long. Due to the late ambulance, a different registrar was going to travel with Katy. He came in to see her and said "she needs a canula" this means a line being put in her arm for quick administration of drugs. Then a third registrar rushed in to do the canula and could not get one in. It is really hard when your veins are as small as Katy's.

After 3 attempts and all the other panic we had been through, leanne and I told the doctors that they should stop hurting our daughter and not do the transfer. We were ushered into the "quiet room" where, after a couple of mins, the lead consultant came to see us.

She started by apologising for the short notice about the transfer and we told her that we had had no notice. WE had rung the hospital,not the other way around. She was not pleased and told us there would be a review of what happened. We then discussed the transfer and agreed that the registrar could try two more times to get a line in and the we would abort the transfer if he couldn't.

The doctors walked out and left us on our own. Within a minute, they came back in to tell us that the other registrar had got a line in and Katy could be transferred. What a mess!

Katy arrived in Kingston yesterday at about half past four. She was pretty pooped after the journey but the staff in Kingston managed to settle her in. We have been with her for most of today and she has picked up. They also gave her a blood transfusion because her levels wer a bit low.

We are frustrated that the transfer has been a bit of a setback but Katy is settled now and not only is Kingston hospital only 5 mins from where we live, it is much more peaceful. So by the end of the week we should be a bit more happy about things.

What a kefuffle!

Hats off to Katy!

Isn't she lovely!!

"Wednesday-whatday?"

Katy managed 2.5 hrs off CPAP today.

She also got back to her birth weight by putting on 15g. She was quite tired when she finished her mask free stint but they might not try her for so long tonight.

Sorry about the short posts these last few days. I have been using my limited brainpower to mark a-level coursework.

Camers batteries charging so no photos. Sorry!

Two hours with no trunk

Katy did two hours off CPAP today.

We watched her pretty face and head for the whole time and it was just like a dream. She put on 15g yesterday, which bumbed her up to 705g total. Hopefully she will be back to her birth weight tomorrow.

The Doctors are very happy with her and so are we.

Photo Phantastic

The website seems to have reduced the quality of these. Never mind!

Monday Funday

We regretted hanging around this morning.

At about 1130 Katy spent a whole hour frolicing around her incubator with no CPAP mask on. She was in 25% oxygen and did extremely well. Her blood gasses were very good afterwards too. Just before midnight she will be trying the same thing for two hours.

We we annoyed that we missed it today, but we will be there, waiting like the papparatzi, nice and early tomorrow. Katy had some special visitors this weekend and she was very excited to see them all. She got an especially cool baby grow too. Shame she won't be able to wear it for a while, but when she saw it, she said she couldn't wait to try it on!!

I'll pop some more snaps on the blog after tea.

28 weeks later

If Katy was where she should be, in Leanne's womb, she would be 28 weeks old.

She decided not to hang around there and coe and meet us all a bit early. She is doing ok today. I went to see her this morning and Leanne is there now.

She was a little restless this morning, maybe she wanted to watch the FA cup. Lucky she didn't, judging be the first half. She is still as beautiful as ever.

I had a strange, but wonderful experience this morning. Katy sleeps with her arms up over her ears, and so does Leanne. So when I bought Leanne her morning coffe and she woke up and opened her eyes, it was just like a super-size version of my (very) little baby.

Katy did look a lot like me when she was first born, but she is really starting to look like her mum now.

That's lucky.

Kangaroo Care

More cuddles yesterday, and on Wednesday.

Kangaroo care is when you put the baby next to your chest and tuck them into your shirt. This calms them down, regulates breathing and is an amazing experience for mum and dad.

No real news over the last few days. Katy is doing very well on CPAP, but is not putting on a great deal of weight yet. She has tolerated a couple of 10-20 minute sessions with no CPAP and they will hope to wean her off it over the next few days.

We were told about the possibility of moving Katy back to Kingston hospital, possibly as early as next week. This would be fantastic as it would reduce our trip down to about 5 minutes.

Thanks for all your comments, cards and support. You are wonderful people.

More cuddles

We both got extra cuddles today.

We spent all afternoon with Katy in our arms, then we got to change her and feed her. Fantastic.

Katy loves her new blanket, a Dacey original, and her other new blanket, from uncle Dan, is keeping all the harsh lights and sounds out of her incubator.

We had lovely visits from Greg and Charlene, Dean and Dawn (Gramps and Nan) and Auntie Catherine. Is really helps the hospital experience when you have others to share it with.

Katy had another brain scan today and it was fine. She is having more scrummy Leanne milk and her blood gasses have been "excellent".

Grow Baby, grow

The photos say it all

The best moment of our lives.

Beauty is in the eye of the babyholder

We both got to hold Katy today!!

As soon as we arrived, the new nurse, Dawn, said that we would be able to hold Katy. We got really excited while Dawn was on her break. Dawn came back and we both got to hold the baby.

More info and pics later...

Curly-locks

Before and after. Think Katy is smiling in the bottom one!
Katy has Curly hair!!

Katy has been doing really well on the CPAP. Her blood gasses are excellent and she looked comfortable, apart from her bottom, which was a little sore.

We had one of the best experiences so far today; we stayed a bit later today because Katy was not settled and we watched her being weighed. This involved her being stripped of all her wires, the CPAP, her nappy, and her hat. She was only being given a whiff of oxygen.

We could see how small she is when she was outside the incubator, but she was squirming and looking around like a proper baby, just in minature!! We also saw her dark, but curly hair!!!

What a treat.

P.S. A big thank you to Nanno and Grandma, who have been helping us keep things ticking over. It will be hard to adjust, but I'm sure we will give it a good go.

Great Extubtions Episode II, Attack of the CPAP

Katy has had a successful extubation.

She was super relaxed today and had been on the absolute minimal ventilation all weekend, plus her duct has almost certainly closed, so the docs decided to get that tube out today.

We were told that they would start at 1400, but they actually started closer to 1500 and finished at about 1530. She was very exited when we went back in to see her and Leanne put her hands on Katy to do some "containment holding". This has really calmed her down.

Hopefully she will continue on CPAP and not have to be re-intubated this time, but there is still a chance she may not cope. She seems loads better than last time though, so fingers crossed!

We have had some wonderful cards recently, and thank you all so much for those. We had a card today saying "Dear Katy, Welcome to the word" and without the tube in, Katy can really get a taste of this crazy place!

Fussy Katy

We have had a nice day today.

We were both quite tired, but we anted to see our little girl, and a few beautiful winks perked us both up. Katy was like a proper baby today, although a third of the size! She had a few sleeps, a few wriggles and some tantrums when her nappy needed changing!!

The medics think that her duct has closed already, but will still finish her treatment. Her blood pressure has gone up and she is on the absolute minimal ventilation, but her oxygen levels have remained high, even though she is breathing air.

The next step is taking the tube out (again) and putting her back on CPAP, they will probably do this tomorrow. Hopefully Katy will do a lot better this time round.

We'll let you know...

Welsh invasion

The clans have arrived in tooting.

Katy is doing well today, he has been put in a new incubator and she is lying on her front. She has tolerated the drug really well and will be having another dose later today. She looks really comfortable and that makes us feel much better.

Once, twice, three times a baby

Better photos today.

Katy was very kicky and twitchy today. I found it quite hard, because she seemed to be in discomfort. I wanted to absorb all her pain and discomfort myself. I'm sure all the dads will have felt like that at some point too.

She tolerated the drug well and has also had the "long line" taken out of her arm. This was being used to feed her, but she now only needs Leannes milk. Brilliant.

The contrast between today and Tuesday is amazing. She has gone from completely still and relying on the ventilator, to moving, kicking and twitching. We have found it hard to deal with both of these conditions, but I suppose we had just try and get used to it.

Little hands

Katy was holding my lille finger.

If you get your index finger and wrap it over your little finger nail, that is the size of her whole hand. It was nice to feel her grip though.

She is still nice and lively, with a cute little blanket on her legs (photos later). They are going to give her a small blood transfusion because she is running a bit low, small babies have trouble making new blood cells, they have stopped the antibiotics and will be starting indomethocone (sorry about spelling) shortly to treat her duct.

The full dose needed to treat the duct is 0.6ml (I think) and they are going to start her with 0.2 ml and then 0.1ml per day. They will check her levels every day before they decide to add another dose. By the time she has had the full 0.6 ml the duct will hopefully have been closed.

If Katy's duct does not close then she may need surgery. However, only 2 babies on our unit had to have surgery to close the duct in the whole of 2006.

Katy is looking forward to seeing her Great Grandparents; John and Marlene.

Alive and kicking

Katy has come back to life,

She has been looking around (sorry about the dark pictures, we don't want to use a flash) and kicking. We did not spend too much time with her today because she seemed so stable, we just want her to prepare for her medicine to close the duct.

We both feel so special when we touch Katy, it makes us feel that she is really ours. We will be going in to see her earlier tomorrow, so I'll post again then.

Get that duct closed.

The incredible hulk

Katy had a hole in her hat today.

We thought she might have incredible hulkitus where small babies turn green and rip their clothes, but, apparently, she had just had a brain scan last night.

The scan showed that there had been no extension of the bleed and some of the clot had gone away too. Brilliant! She has been taken off the drugs that were keeping her blood pressure up, because she can do that on her own, thank you very much.

She is going to be kept on antibiotics for another 24 hours. Her cultures have not shown any signs of infection and her infection levels have dropped too.

She is very lively today and I just had the pleasure of doing some "containment holding" that helped her get back to sleep. I hope I can retain this particular skill!!

She seems alive today. A fantastic feeling!!

P.S. Leanne had a very nice haircut this morning. It will take a lot of requests to perswade her to put a photo on to show you all...

P.P.S. Took some nice photos today.I'll post them tonight.

Happy birthday Great Grandpa!

Katy was much more lively today.

When we left, the medics were trying to put two new lines in, she was not co-operating. It is amazing to think that they can fit a plastic tube into her tiny blood vessels.

No other new news from earlier. We managed to get home earlier tonight and have enjoyed a scrummy lasagne cooked by Grandma Alison. We are both much happier,yesterday was tough.

We are in it for the long haul...

Same old same old.

Spoke to the consultant.

They are not worried about her IVH (brain bleed) apparently it is a "grade 2" and should not cause any problems. They are doing another scan just to check everything is okay, but there have been no clinical indications of any problems.

They want to start treatment for the heart duct,but have to wait untill at least tomorrow morning to find out if there is any infection. If there is no more evidence of infection then they will start treatment.

The team are happy with her and reiterated to us the fact that this is a LONG haul. Months not weeks. She is making progress, but everything should be done slowly. This is because, alongside each treatment she has to grow and mature aswell.

She has just had the new line put in and uncle Chris and aunty Helen have popped down from York to see her. She has also been given a blood transfusion because she was running a little low.

Bet Katy thought that Daddy was the biggest Richards, time to take uncle chris in and prove her wrong!

Sunbed tan.

Katy is a bit more like herself today.

She has been wiggling a bit but we have not seen her eyes because she has been back under the photopherapy. She does look a bit pale,but she did just have blood taken.

We will be having a chat with the doc at 1530, hopefully, to get us up to date. But we did get a quick update; she does have a large duct near her heart and it needs to be treated. They have not started treatment yet because she might have an infection and this would reduce the perfomance of the drugs that can close the duct. If there is an infection, they will delay the treatment of the duct for a few days.

They will be taking the line out of her umbilical cord and they need to put a new one in her arm (ouch). They will also be doing a brain scan soon to check up on her bleed.

Should be some more info in the next post.

Pretty in pink

A very quiet day today.

Katy was absolutely shattered today after her time on the CPAP last night. The doc thinks this was compounded by the PDA causing her blood pressure to drop and making things harder for her.

We have been upset that Katy was so still today, especially after the previous few days of dancing around. She has given a few blinks, but mostly she has had her eyes shut.

The staff are used to this of course and have told us not to worry. They said that they would tell us if they had big concerns, but they are happy with her. They did give her a couple of drugs to help boost her blood pressure. They should still scan her heart today, but no plans on the treatment until tomorrow.

This is a long process.

Happy birthday Granny!

Granny is 89 today,

I'm sure that any of you who have met this amazing person will wish her a very happy birthday along with Leanne, Katy and I.

Katy is still really tired and has been sleeping for most of the day. She has given us a few precious glimplses of her wonderful peepers to let us know that she is hanging on in there.

No heart scan today,the cardiologist is unwell. It's okay though, the Ram is going to do one tonight. He is doing a research project and is a legend at doing the heart scans.

Can't wait to put the new pics on tonight, looking forward to reading your comments.

A rude awakening

Doc rang at 0730.

They had to put a tube back in Katy, but she managed a whole 16 hours on the CPAP. We are very proud of her because breathing is very hard when you are only little.

She had a lung x-ray and it wasn't that great. Could be any of three things;
1. Her air sacs collapsed last night and she needs the tube to help her get them open
2. Her PDA is pushing too much blood to her lungs. She is having another heart scan this afternoon to find out about that.
3. She has an infection. They have put her on antibiotics just in case this is the problem,her blood results will not be back for two days.

None of these are ringing too many alarm bells and best of all, Katy looks comfortable. She seems tired, but she did puff herself out last night.

Katy has a new hat on. Photos later...

Shepherds' Pie

Granny came to visit today.

It was nice to have a wonderful lady, who is about to be 89, spending time with another one who is only a week old! We don't think that we could have given Granny a better birthday present, albeit, a little early-in more ways than one!!

We just spoke to Katy's nurse and she has been doing really well on her new ventilator (a shiny CPAP). It is attached to her nose and is obviously much less intrusive than the tube. She had a few wobbles this afternoon, but managed to pick herself back up each time.

The chances are that she will go back onto the other vent, with intubation, but the longer she stays off it, the stronger she will get. She should be getting a cute little dummy too to help with her pressures.

We just want to say thanks for all your lovely comments. It is a real treat to get in after a tough day and read them all, a real pick-me-up. We are especially impressed by all of the PICU staff at GOSH, it really means a lot. Spread the word and lets get more messages!

P.S. you don't have to log in to leave a message, just click "anonymous" and then leave your name(s) at the bottom of the message.

A quickie

Just saw the consultant.

Katy had a really good blood gas after her extubation. Seems like she has good strong, welsh, windbags. Wonder if she gets them from Daddy, Grandpa or Granny?

They can all talk the hind leg off a donkey.

Great extubations

The tube is out.

After a really stressful hour and a half for leanne and I they finally pulled their fingers out and got the tube out aswell. Apparently the tube was very "gunky", indicating that is had been causing problems and would have to have been changed whatever happened.

Katy seems to be okay breathing on her own. A small number of dips in this, peaks in that. If she can manage it, then brilliant, if she needs to be re-intubated, so be it.

She has been put back on her front and she looks really relaxed, so are her parents, for now.

One week old, time to fight.

Katy is being extubated now.

They should be finishing soon and we will be going back in to see her. If she can't cope, probably because of her heart duct (PDA), they will have to re-intubate. This might happen immediately, in a few hours, or tomorrow, or hopefully never.

Be strong Katy

(no) Great Extubations

We wanted the tube out today.

We waited all day, lots of nervous energy building up because of what we were told in the morning. Katy has been stable all day. Still comfortable, but dropping her oxygen down quite often.

Between monday and friday Katy had about 10 "bradycardia" where her oxygen dropped. On Sat and Sun, she had over 30. Leanne and I think that this is being caused by the tube. It can get blocked, cause irritation and move around.

We were present for the doctors change-over at about 2030. They said that the drops were being caused by the tube, and they might extubate tonight, def tomorrow.

Katy is fine, and the tube is not causing too much damage because the pressures are so low. We just want it out so she can be more comfortable.

Lets hope that, when it's out, it stays out.

Easy like sunday morning

Katy still looks chilled.

We had a very good sleep last night and we both feel a lot better. We got to the hospital just after 12 and Katy was just like she was yesterday.

She is on her back,doing some small movements, a few little yawns and she has given us a several glimpses of her beautiful eyes. We got to talk to the Doc straight away and there was lots of info (and a little bit of waffle too).

Her heart scan showed that her duct was quite big. This is not a massive issue, but may need treatment if she can't cope with breathing on her own. It may also get better on its own.

They will have just given Katy some caffine to get her ready for extubation later today,or tonight. They seem to think that it is likely that she will not tolerate being without the tube, but they need to test her out really.

I think her breathing is more regular today,and she is definitely breathing more calmly. There is still the spectare of her brain bleed to worry about and this has to be taken into account when making choices.

Her mass has increased, but that will put pressure on her heart,so the have decreased her fluids. It's a bit like a see-saw, the adjustments are so small and they have such a big effect.

Hope you can all have a relaxing afternoon. I suggest a nice walk.

Katy's first words

I gave my parents a fright today.

The nice doctor took the two lines out of my left foot, they were really bugging me. I had been waving my legs around all week trying to make them realise how I felt, but they finally got the message and sorted it out.

I do not have to move aroung as much now, I much prefer lying in the foetal position, it's where I should be right now anyway! They gave me some more of that light this morning so I got to put on my shades again.

There was lots of comotion this afternoon, but it didn't really bother me. Those big lumps should learn to relax. I have spent 26 weeks learning about the world and I've heard worse, especially daddy's jokes.

A nice man came in this evening, I think he was on his day off, and he gave me a heart scan. He said he was going to pass the results to the consultant (whoever that is) to see how my PDA (whatever that is) is healing.

I was a bit worried about mum and dad today, they were really stressed, so I opened my eyes for a look around and I saw daddy looking right at me. He looked as if I was the most woderful thing he had ever seen. I can't imagine why!

Oh well, they do say the best things come in small packages.

Night night everyone.

It's tough

We just had a bit of a bad moment.

We got back from lunch and Katy had just had a dip in heartrate and oxygen. She was being treated for it (extra oxygen) and this has happened before (its quite common). So that wasn't very nice.

At the sam time, one of the senio nurses must have had a cob on because she was slamming bins,talking loudly and disturbing us a lot. I think we will complain.

On top of those two things, the nursery was about to get another admission, by c-section. If you imagine ER with the docs+nurses running everywhere then you are about right. Leanne sent me out then,we were both really upset, because she knew what it would be like when the new baby was being stabilised.

It was our first experience of the unit being on alert and it was not very nice. I have just spoke to Leanne and unfortunately the baby who was due to come down died, and katy was fine through it all. Katy was frowning and Leanne gave her a calming hand on the tummy and she stopped frowning.

Leanne is expressing milk now and I'm outside in the sun with my folks. The madness is over now and i'm sure we will go through it again in the next few weeks and months, hopefully we will be better prepared for it next time.

It did not apper to effect Katy.

Size 00

Just spoke to the consultant.

No heart scan today because he doesn't want to give her the drugs to fix the PDA untll he is happy with her brain.

She is now down to 565g from an original 720g. This is not a major issue, all babies lose weight, but she is a little more than average. This is probably because they have kept her fluid low.

Still might extubate today though,her blood gasses seem good. Lets wait and see.

No saturday kitchen for us today

Katy has changed a little today.

She has had the two lines taken out of her foot so she curled up into a ball instead of kicking her legs out like she did yesterday. We can't decide if this is better, or worse.

She had a handful of drops in heart rate last night, and a little acid in her blood,so the extubation (breathing tube out) might not happen today. She should have the scan of her heart though to see if she does have a PDA and how big it is.

The docs would give her some drugs for either 3 or 5 days to try and close the PDA. However, these drugs would not be great for her brain. We are confident the docs will make the right call.

Grandma (Alison) and Grandpa (Dr Nick) have arrived and said hello to Katy. She has beens trying to open her eyes a bit more,but the phototherapy lights are back on so she is wearing her trendy eyeshades again.

Nearly time for lunch. I'm gonna stuff my face (whats new).

No saturday kitchen for us today

Katy has changed a little today.

She has had the two lines taken out of her foot so she curled up into a ball instead of kicking her legs out like she did yesterday. We can't decide if this is better, or worse.

She had a handful of drops in heart rate last night, and a little acid in her blood,so the extubation (breathing tube out) might not happen today. She should have the scan of her heart though to see if she does have a PDA and how big it is.

The docs would give her some drugs for either 3 or 5 days to try and close the PDA. However, these drugs would not be great for her brain. We are confident the docs will make the right call.

Grandma (Alison) and Grandpa (Dr Nick) have arrived and said hello to Katy. She has beens trying to open her eyes a bit more,but the phototherapy lights are back on so she is wearing her trendy eyeshades again.

Nearly time for lunch. I'm gonna stuff my face (whats new).

Good morning sports fans

No news last night so that means she is still stable. Will be going in to see her soon.

Mark has big, goalkeeper, hands.

Today has been a steady day.

Katy has now been stable for over 36 hours after her extended bleed. This is good and, if she stays stable, they will try to take the breathing tube out of her, as I mentioned below. They will also be scanning her heart to give us a definitive answer on the PDA.

There have been some nice things today. She has been stretching her arms and legs and wiggling her hands and feet. I saw her get her nappy changed, and she had done a big poo. I was very proud. Leanne has been handling her quite often, but i'm still too scared to do much apart from what you can see above.

We had a nice walk to Tooting and a delicious "subway". Having to decide how many olives you want on your club sandwich can take your mind away from the fear. We have both felt it today, we just sit and look at Katy and she twitches in a strange way, then we think; "Is she having a bigger bleed?" and we watch her for the next five minutes until she does a normal looking wriggle and we breathe a sigh of relief. I suppose we had better try and get used to these feelings.

It could be a big day tommorrow, we will try and keep you posted when we can.

Big job

Katy is still stable. Wriggling as ever, back on normal oxygen and her levels seem okay. I just went in to take todays photos nd they are crackers. Should be a little less blurry and you will really get an idea of how tiny she is.

I want to go back in with her to have a little chat, so i'll post later.

Slowly slowly catchy monkey

It has been a good morning.

Katy has been stable now for over 24 hours after the bleed. She is not in the clear yet but we can breathe a whisper of relief. We have spent a lot of time with her today and been able to have physical contact which feels very special.

We spoke to the consultant earlier and he is happy with her. He has told us that she might not have a PDA (hole) and even if she does, only a small percentage of babies need surgery. If she stays stable, they might take the breathing tube out of her throat (extubate) tomorrow.

It feels nice right now,walking in the sun (especially as I know i'm gonna get grub) so we can all enjoy a positive time because it might not last long.

whoops

There may be a Hotmail ad at the bottom of my last post. Please ignore it, unless you think Microsoft need a cash boost! This post should be ad free.

Morning yawning

We will be going to see Katy after nine, when the traffic has calmed down. We will be trying a new route today, so fingers crossed that we won't get stuck in traffic, lost or lost and stuck in traffic!

We have spoken to Katy's nurse, Cindy, who is brilliant. She said that Katy had a stable night; a little snoozing, like her dad and a little fussing, like her mum. They have had to reduce fluids because of her PDA (hole) but she should have a scan today to find out more about that.

Thanks for all your messages, they are wonderful, keep them coming!

Little Miss Wriggle

It has been a tough day today.

As you can read below, we had some bad news this morning and that really put our emotions through the juicer. Katy has been stable all day, she has been lying on her front and seemed to know that she should take things easy.

The staff have not really done anything today, to give her the best chance of survival. She has not had another brain scan but her blood results indicate that she is okay for now. There could be damage, but she has been moving all day.

Katy was visited by her Grandparents; Dean and Dawn. They were very happy to see her, they even forgot about getting stuck in the Kingston one way system!

Katy has had another set-back though. All babies are born with a "hole" in their heart that closes when they are born. Katy's has not closed, like lots of premature babies, and she will need some extra treatment to try and get it shut. It is not a massive issue yet as she is so small.

Two new pics today, sorry, they are a little blurry, but we did not want to use the flash. She is definately a Richards, note the wide nose and shovel hands.

We are all very tired, especially Nano and its time to turn in. The nurse who's looking after Katy tonight said that she was one of the wriggliest babies that she has seen for ages. This was a lovely finish to a trying day.

The tightrope on a rollercoaster

Katy had a setback this morning. She had a bleed into the ventricles of her brain. This problem is extremely common in little babies. I will be blunt, because there is no other way to explain the situation. One of two things will happen. The bleed will stop and the blood will "melt" away slowly,or the bleed will continue/start again and Katy will have very serious brain damage.

Since the bleed happed, they stabilised her and her results have improved. She still seems stable,relaxed and comfortable but her life is on a knife-edge. Katy is being left alone as much as possible so she can try and fix this problem.

There is nothing anyone can do, it's pretty much up to her now.

Day two

Here she is! It has been a good day today:

• They put a "long line" in so Katy could have some nutrients.
• Katy had some of Leanne's milk.
• Her brain scan was normal.
• Her potassium has gone down to normal levels.
• Katy has been very wriggly. At one point, Leanne and her mum thought she might flip over!
• We spoke to lots of very informative and helpful people
• Leanne got seen by St George's post-natal dept.

To give you an idea of size, if I could lay her down on my forearm, with her head in my palm, her feet would be about two thirds of the way down my forearm.

She is still very fragile and there will be tough days, but we sholud celebrate all the good things that happen.

Better sign off now, will try to add some more info and pics soon.

Lets get things started

We want to say a big THANKYOU for all your support in the last two days. We also want to thank the amazing staff at both Kingston and St Georges, the are giving us all a fantastic level of care.

Leanne and I will try and keep this site up to date so we not only keep you informed, but we also have a record of what is happening day to day.

This is going to be a long journey, please feel free to add you comments, it would be grat to hear from you.