Wednesday's Tears

Well there was no consoling the little lady yesterday. I came home early after an appointment in Londinium to find that she'd been feeding almost every hour since the morning. For most of the afernoon and evening she was very unsettled and seemingly overtired though wouldn't sleep. Anna had tried her with baby rice for breakfast and lunch and on reflection we're thinking that this new substance may have been causing her some reflux problems. We simply have to look back at her last couple of weeks in the hospital when she was still having oxygen desaturations (decrease of Oxygen content in the blood) shortly after finishing a feed. We'll take it steady but she's definitely needing more than just milk.

Peaceful moments...

...and back to normal.

The Unstoppable Eating Machine

We're in trouble. Amelia was feeding almost every 90 minutes today. It looks like we're going to be throwing baby rice, Farley's Rusks and probably Fish & Chips down her before the end of the week. It's incredible but she's looking and feeling bigger almost every day now. Here's a few more pics before I have to go out and buy a wide-angle to get her all in.

Amy's learning to grab toys....

...next it'll be the cat.

Guess Who

Well after 'My Longest Day' I think we all need cheering up. Who do you think this is? Answers on the tag board please. The first correct answer wins a gold star.

Click to enlarge

My Longest Day (Part 3 - Conclusion)

"If I thought I was dreaming she must have thought she was through the looking-glass, being half-drugged in a dimly-lit hospital ward faced with the tiniest creature fighting for life. It’s no way to see you daughter for the first time that’s for sure." Click here for the rest

Well this is the concluding part of my 'exorcism' of August 6th. It's the reason this website is here and I've purged myself of a great deal in writing it. As I finished it last night having just watched Amelia feed from a spoon yesterday, I was gratified to feel that it all seems somewhat irrelevant now. I still cannot believe that the baby we saw on August 6th is the same one I kiss goodnight to every night.

Amelia Begins Spoon-feeding!

Over the last few days Amy has been needing more and more food and with a few other tell-tale signs, we began to think she may be ready for something more substantial. Yesterday we wafted some baby rice in front of her and it was like a rodent to a rattlesnake.

She sat for a full 10 minutes slurping away so we had to get some pictures of course. Not that we're happy or anything but there's 3 MPEG movies to look at too. They're all 15 seconds each so you'll need a broadband connection or a book to read while they download.

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Seconds

Thirds

Too much

Chubby Cheeks

The health visitor called this morning for Amelia's now 2-weekly weighing and she now tips the scales at 9lb 11oz which is 11.5 ounces up on the last one so she's gaining about 3/4oz a day. Not bad. Amy & Anna are off to the hospital today for Amy's 3rd RSV jab. I'll cover this in a post over the weekend but RSV is one of those things that's easy to shift for normal babies but potentially very bad for preemies. Spare a thought today though because it's a BIG injection and there'll definitely be tears.

No that I've got my 'A' back into 'G' there'll be a posse of new pictures, plus some interesting new movies up on the site next week.

'Amy Van Winkle'

I woke up this morning to see Anna grinning like a fool. Amelia was fed at 10:30 last night and then slept for an astonishing 8 hours. Oh hallalujah! Anna was therefore basking in the glory of nearly 7 hours uninterrupted kip.

My Longest Day (Part 2)

"The period that followed was without doubt the lowest point of my life. I had absolutely no idea what to do or what was going to happen. I remember feeling as though the relatively safe, secure life I’d had up until that point was about to disappear forever." Click here for the rest

You know it's odd but it all looks so melodramatic now. I think because we have Amelia home now, every day we're being able to push what happened further back into memory so much of it seems so unreal. I am reminded though that this is exactly why I wrote down what was happening at the time. It reads like a bad novel because that's pretty much how it played out. Anyhow the rest I just need to format for the web so it'll be up after the weekend I expect.

General Stuff

Firstly welcome to new visitors from Kuwait, Indonesia and Switzerland over the last 2 or 3 days. Hope you enjoy the site. Also a nice note on the Tag-board from the newborn Intensive Care Unit at the University of Newmexico. Glad to see we're getting around.

Amelia has been feeding like it was being poured straight through her over the last two days. I won't go into too much detail but she's feeding every two hours at the moment and when she's not feeding she's either burping or doing horrid things 'downstairs'. Occasionally she'll doze off for a couple of hours. Amongst all this though she is much more alert than she has been before and as happy as Larry to boot. She needs no encouragement to give you a smile and she's always interested in what's going on.

Having been mostly written for some weeks now the rest of my 'diary' of August 6th is coming online soon with the next small installment available to read later this evening.

Just when you thought it was safe....

...to go to sleep, the night feed returns! Well she's alternating between going through the night and waking every 3-4 hours so it's not so bad. Hopefully she'll be consistently going through the night soon.

This weekend I was treated to Amelia's first full-throated giggle and what a cheeky one it is too. It's quite a thrill because she's beginning to recognise me now which is really nice. I picked her up and was busy sorting some milk out when I heard her gurgling slightly. I looked down to see her grinning up at me and as I smiled back she giggled twice. Marvellous. Here she is yesterday in a tremendous new outfit.

Click to enlarge

Not quite 9

8lb 15.5oz today which is up 5.5oz and just shy of 9lb. Also I forgot to mention that Amy is now 5 months old - bless.

Still Weighting

Well the health visitor will have been in this morning to weigh Amelia but the bush telegraph obviously isn't working as I haven't yet been informed of the outcome. Honestly you just can't get the staff these days! In the meantime here's to oooh aah.

A rare moment of quiet. Click to enlarge

Mum & Dad give the family parambulator a run out. Click to enlarge

Welcome newcomers

Over the Christmas period AFC was visited by newcomers from Ireland, the United Arab Emirates and Togo! Welcome aboard everyone.

To answer the question I know you're all asking at the moment, here's some info on Togo:

Togo is a narrow strip of land on Africa's west coast. It formed part of the Slave Coast, from where captives were shipped abroad by European slavers during the 17th century. In 1884 it became the German protectorate of Togoland.

Population: 5 million (UN, 2004)

Capital: Lome

Area: 56,785 sq km (21,925 sq miles)

Major languages: French (official), local languages

Major religions: Indigenous beliefs, Christianity, Islam

Life expectancy: 48 years (men), 51 years (women) (UN)

If you really want more info, Click Here. In the meantime you're probably wondering what they thought of Amelia. Leave a tag next time eh?

No Night Feed

Last night was a breakthrough as Amelia went from a h-u-g-e feed at 11PM right through until 7:30 this morning. Let's keep that up young lady. Here's a couple of MPEG movies - they're around 15 seconds long so if you don't have broadband, set them going before you go to bed and watch them over breakfast.

Pass the Gaviscon

Amy coughs it up.

Happy New Year!

OK so I'm a little late with the saluations but I've only just finished shouting 'Good Riddance' to 2004.

Well Amelia is guzzling like like a Cadillac at the moment but she has now started sleeping pretty much 6 hours through the night although she spends most of the evening feeding to stock up for it. She's putting on weight as much as is possible I think and save for some real problems with wind she's in top form. Here's a few pics of the little lady to be going on with.

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge