My NEW life!

This is me age 8 lovely and happy and healthy.  I have a lovely brother called Noah who can be a bit mischievous and he is three.  I have a lovely cute little sister called Matilda who is two.

Photos 2

Photo Story

1 Week old today

Hello everyone. Kate is one week old today!

Sorry about the gap in the blog. As you are about to find out, we have been very busy! We left the story having been discharged from hospital. It was straight to our (small) flat in Kingston for a short time while we waited for our audiology appointment in St Mary's Hospital.

As I'm sure you can imagine, and as those of you with children know, the first nights at home with your baby are interesting ones. The first thing we noticed was how loud Katy was, grunts, squeaks and the less subtle screams for attention. I was able to sleep through some of these, but Leanne stayed up with Katy for most of the night. However, I was there in the mornig to take over and let Leanne get some well earned rest.

When we first moved to Surbiton in 2006, we walked along the Thames to Kingston and saw all the prams being pushed by proud parents. It was finally our turn, although we still should have had 3 weeks of walking with a big bump. We were fourtunate enough to have some cracking weather so we we able to have a stroll down the river on Wednesday, a stroll and a wander round outside the shops on Thursday and then we ventured into some shops and a resturaunt on Friday. On Saturday, we were joined by Auntie Sarah for a frosty beer and nibbles, in the sun, next to the Thames. Katy was due to be born in two weeks from that day and we could not quite belive that we were all sitting there and having fun in the sun.

That weekend was spent getting ready for the move back to Wales. Lots of sorting, packing, and thowing things out. Katy was very well behaved, and just watched us get everything sorted. We had a farewell dinner with Uncle James and Auntie Sarah on Monday evening then it was off to the hospital on Tuesday.

The hearing test was not great, reduced hearing in one ear and nothing in the other. Katy was still not supposed to be born so she will be tested again in a few weeks to see if she has got any better. On Wednesday, we loaded up the car, gave the keys back to our landlord and were on our merry way back to Wales.

Katy was fantastic on the journey, she slept pretty much all the way. We had a decent run and were both nervous and excited (there must be a word for that) as we got in the lift up to our new home.

What we found was jaw-dropping. All of our things that had been put in storage over the last two years were there waiting for us. Our ormanents, photos, clothes and our fantastic bed. It was a special feeling to finally be here, almost as if the past three months had melted away.

Katy responded to us being much more chilled out and she loves the sea air. We take her for walks in the "BabyBjorn" (THANK YOU LYDIA!!!) every day and she is developing every day. She is now over 5lb and has started lifting her head and doing little smiles. She has met many of her Welsh relations for the first time and spent lots of time with her Grandparents too.

Katy was supposed to be born last week. She decided that she would come into the world 16 weeks ago and she has shown us all how strong she is. Leanne has been, and still is, an amazing mother. All those hours spent with Katy in hospital have definately meant that we could be here today, and not still in Kingston going to see her in hospital.

Thank you ALL for your support through this tough time. This is not the end of the blog. We will be keeping the photos and comments comming every few weeks so stay tuned for more exciting Katy adventures, and if you are ever in West Wales, drop us a line.

Mark, Katy and Leanne Richards,

129 Altamar,
Kings Road,
Swansea,
SA1 8PP.

PS. Photos in a seperate post

Katy's Home part II

On Sunday katy was weighed and was 4lb for the first time in her life. This meant that she could be discharged, it also meant that we were going to "Room in" with Katy on Monday instead of Tuesday.

We did not spend much time in hospital on Sunday because we had to go out and get lots of things done. We managed to get everything sorted and turned up at the hospital on Monday afternoon.

Within an hour, we had taken Katy out of the neonatal unit and into our private room. It did have an en-suite, but daddy had to sleep on a fold out bed. It was amazing to just lie on the bed with Katy and watch trashey TV. It was a fantastic day and then the time came for mummy and daddy to go to sleep.

We decided to feed Katy at 2am and 6am. There were two main issues that stopped us getting to sleep. When Katy was sleeping silently, we were scared she was not breathing and when Katy was not sleeping silently, she made a wide variety of strange noises. One of the nurses had came in to see us and did say that "she is a loud sleeper". She was spot on.

As dawn broke, we both thought "where did that come from?" and got ready to give Katy her morning feed. The reat of the day was simply a matter of waiting for a doctor to check Katy over and discharge her. This happened at about 2pm and then, after some "graduation" photos and tears from Leanne's lovely mummy friends, we finally got to take our baby home.

Part III coming later, I need to sort Katy out!

Katy's home.

Katy came home on Tuesday 24th July!

She had been in hospital for 12 weeks and 1 day. That last day was spent with us in Transitional care. It was a amzing to be fully responsible for our daughter for the first time.

Katy

Monitor Monitoring

Katy has been taken off her oxygen and pulse monitor.

We will have to watch her carefully from now on!

How low can you go?

Katy is enjoying her new spot in low dependancy.

She has been feeding very well and we had fun giving her a bath yesterday. We are nervously waiting for weigh-day on Thursday so we can see how close she is to coming home.

Only 180g to go!

P.S. Here's some snaps so you can see her as we do!

Changing Rooms-No Handy Andy

Katy has been moved into LOW DEPENDANCY.

We are off to see her new room. I'll take some photos too!

Super sunday

Katy now weighs 3lb 10oz!

Sha has had a good weight gain, and been taking her feeds from the bottle so well that her feeding tube has been taken away. She still does not need any oxygen and has been able to keep her oxygen levels up on her own.

This all brings her a lot closer to coming home, but also more frustrating that we have to leave her in hospital. We could just unplug one lead and whisk her away!

Baby steps

Katy did about 20 hours without any extra oxygen yesterday.

She has also put on 70g taking her over the 1.5 kilo mark she is 3lb7oz in old money. She had a great day off extra oxygen but the nurse on the night shift put her back on. Katy does dip and set off the alarms, but she bounces straight back every time. We were a little frustrated to say the least!

I had my lats ever teaching day in the Priory on wednesday. I was a bit overwhelmed by the respose of the students. Lots of cards, gifts and a few tears. We went for a fantastic meal with some of the staff on Wed night. I will really miss everyone at the Priory.

It is time for the next exciting part of the Mark and Leanne adventures (and Katy too!). We have achieved so much in the last 2 years, we have overcome massive hurdles, but we have stil had an amazing time and become better people.

The next step is exciting too. Moving to a new life on the beach, near to our wonderful families and getting to have Katy home with us. We dont know when we can take this step, but neither of us can wait and neither can Katy!!

Thanks to everyone at the Priory, it has been wonderful.

Rosy Cheeks

Katy had a blood transfusion last night.

Leanne and I had thought she was pale since the weekend and she got a blood test on tuesday morning that showed her red blood cells were low. She then had some extra blood and she perked right up!

It is my last day in school today and I can't wait to be with my lovely, beautiful, girls.

On yer bike

I am on my way back from the start of the "Tour de France", or as Leanne calls it "just a load of men on bikes".

My friend an I had a fun afternoon of sun, crowds, harrods sandwiches and now sunburn. I got to play with my wonderful daughter before I left. However, while I was away, mummy and auntie Sarah got to give Katy her first bath. Photos to follow.

Katy has been doing most of her feeds from a bottle and spent two hours today with no extra oxygen.

Nearly a big girl...

That's more like it!

Katy is fantastic

She has been moved out of the incubator and into a cot. She now weighs 3lb 3oz too! All these things bring her closer to coming home!! A registrar did mention the first week of august as a possible home time. Although I thing there is a chance she may be out sooner. I hope so because I finish school on well wednesday.

However, there is still and infection risk, which is why I can't see her right now. I have a sore throat and its not worth the risk. She was immunised yesterday so there are a few infections that she won't be getting. She tolerated it very well. Katy still needs a small amount of extra oxygen.

Leanne is doing well, especially as we are putting together a list of bits that we need to go out and buy!

Weighty Katy 4.0

What a great weekend!!!

Katy is now over 3lb. Weighing in at 1.38Kg. She has been put on nasal oxygen (see 4th pic) and has been taking a complete feed from a bottle (see 2nd pic). We have been visited by two aunties; Catherine and Lois and we were cooked a delicious meal by James and Sarah.

Katy is on 0.02litres of oxygen per minute which is only a tiny puff and 0.01 is the lowest she can go so she is nearly off extra oxygen. She is taking a lot of feeds from the bottle and a little from Leanne. Feeding and breathing without support are two massive steps towards coming home, so well done Katy.

Sorry that my blog updates have reduced in frequency, but I promise that you will be the first to know any important news.

Don't worry, be happy

Katy just did a burp and a bit of sick and her oxygen is now back to normal.

Kids eh?

Not so weighty Katy

Katy has only put on 40g.

She is now around 2lb 13oz. It is tough for us because we had thought she was doing really well. To add insult to injury, her oxygen has been put up by 5%. These two things are not big problems, but it is frustrating. I suppose we should not will her out of hospital sooner than she is ready. However, the more she looks like a proper baby, the more we want to just take her away.

Seeing all the other proud dads zoom past when we are on the way in doesn't help either.

2lb 12oz

Katy has had an exciting weekend.

She is still out of intensive care. She has put on 80 g and is now 1240g which is 2lb 12oz. She has been moved onto one feed every 3 hrs and is tolerating the larger volume well. Her incubator oxygen has been as low as 22% which meant that she was almost breathing air! She has finished the antibiotics and seems a lot better.

We had a great weekend, hope you did too!!

Holiday or emmigration?

Katy was moved out of intensive care last night.

She was the most stable baby and they needed the cot space. Katy only put on 20g so she is now 2lb9oz, at least it is a gain. Her bottom is still quite poorly, she has nasty blisters, but the more general rash has got better because we are using terry toweling nappies. However, Katy cannot use the full size ones, so we are using flannels instead! (another good idea from Nanno)

She may move back to intensive care, because she is still one of the smallest around, and she is still in an incubator, but it will be fun for Katy to look around her new room.

Oh well, got to do some reports, time to copy and paste...

Whoops, I've got a puncture

Katy had to have a lumbar puncture yesterday.

It was all clear, and she had three doctors doing it, so it went in first time. Her infection markers have come back down a bit now, but Katy is still having nappy rash. Katy had blood transfusion today so she is looking nice and pink.

The camera batteries have run out, so no photos today. Maybe Friday, sorry photo fans!!

P.S. Our address is:
10 Rivermead,
Uxbridge Road,
Kingston Upon Thames,
Surrey.
KT1 2LR