Marks Page of Rubbish

2011-12-16T14:51:00.004Z

Well, what can I say? Its been AGES since I was last here. I would like to say that I have been too busy at work, but that would be a lie!

Anyway, there's quite a lot that has been going one since the last post. For a start, the summer has disappeared, and it was actually snowing earlier tiday (its all dried out again now, but is still COLD). We've had our holidays (long forgotten now) and we're just about ready for Christmas. Well, I say that we are ready, but that's not really correct. I have broken with tradition this year and our tree/lights were up within the first week of December, and last night I wrapped some presents, but other than that, to say that we are 'ready fro Christmas' is a bit misleading. I have no idea where we'll be having Christmas dinner, who will be cooking it or what it will be. I'm sure I won't starve though.

With regards to the family, Callum continues to grow, and is very good at walking and running around now. It took him a while, but within the last month he has really found his feet, and there's no stopping him! He also has loads of teeth, with a couple more coming through now. Its nearly a full set.

Laurie is doing well, and started 'big school' in September and seems to be enjoying it (although from what I can gather all they do is play). His class went to see Cinderella at a theatre in Cambridge yesterday, and he loved this, although he was a bit perplexed that a couple of blokes were acting as the ugly sisters! He thinks that one of them even had a beard, but I cannot comment on this further.

He is looking forward to Christmas (Laurie, not the beared ugly sister) and keeps getting me to write out lists of toys that he wants. I keep telling him that bad boys don't get presents, but he doesn't believe me.

He has also been to loads of birthday parties since starting school, and one of these was a Pirate Party.

That's about it for now, so I shall be going.

I'm sure that I won't be getting back here before Christmas, so I shall say Happy Christmas to anyone who cares, and I'll speak to you in the New Year. But don't hold your breath!

2011-07-15T21:17:00.005+01:00

Ok ok ok, so its been another 3 months! But here I am at last. Well, here we are getting well into summer (in fact, we've passed the longest day, so the nights are drawing in!).

Callum is now 1 year old (jeez, where does the time go?). He had a very quiet birthday - we only had a big barbeque with all the family around. I got very drunk and spent a lot of the night feeling unwell. Apparently at one point in the evening, I was leaning over the garden fence talking to Conner next door (he's 6 years old) about Lego Star Wars figures, and he was making more sense that I was! Anyway, a good time was had by all.

Callum is now trying to walk, and is standing without any problem (he has to hold onto something, but he is definately getting there).

Laurie is like any other 4 and a half year old - he is a pain in the bum! Only kidding. He's going though a stage at the moment where he wakes up at 5.30 every morning and insists on waking daddy up to play with him. Bless. I'm knackered!

Still, I'm sure he'll grow out of it.

Other news is that I have now joined Facebook, so if there is anyone oput there who knows me and whats to try and find me, i'm there - Mark Shepherd in Cambridge.

Apart from that, nothing much has been happening. Actually, thats rubbish. Laurie had to go to hospital the other week cos he got a bit of apple stuck in this throat. He had to be put under, and operated on. This hugh bit of apple was taken out. It just showed us that even though he's not as bad as some of the poor souls we know, disaster can still stike at anytime. We were lucky - could easilly have choked to death on it.

Best not to think of it...

Still, no harm done.

He starts big school in September and we're still trying to get the school organised with someone who can look over him when he eats. This just makes it more important to get sorted.

Thats about it really, until next time (which will probably be at Christmas!).

Hope you all have a good summer (what's left of it) and if you go on holiday, enjoy that too. Hopefully we are going to Devon and Bournemouth in August. Hopefully it won't rain, otherwise I'm coming home!

So, until next time, I hope that what ever god you support will go with you.

Byeeeeeeeeeee.

On no - a hospital visit!

2011-05-01T14:57:00.003+01:00

Shouldn't complain really. Its taken 4 years, but Laurie finally got a bit of apple stuck that he couldn't move, and we had to go to the hospital to get it out!

It was wierd, actually. We had a barbeque with friends on the Monday, and part way through the day he got a stickie. We couldn't move it, buit at the same time, he was having such fun that he never let it stop him. It didn;t seem like there was anything wrong with him - he was still running around and shouting, its just that when he tried to eat or drink, nothing would go down, and he had to cough it back up again. We monitored him through the night, and then in the morning hoped that his breakfast would go down. He had one small bite, and said that he still had the stickie. So we got in the car and spent the day at Addenbrookes.

He was put under general anestetic, and they went in was a camera and tweezers, and pulled out a HUGE bit of apple! This lump was getting on for 2 inches long. He was a bit grumpy when he woke up, but as soon as we offered him food he ate it (without any problem) and also drank without any problem.

We got home at about 8 o'clock, when he just went straight to sleep in his bed. His throat has been a bit sore since, but apart from that he's been fine.

Other news...Lauries bike riding skills are getting better all the time, and we are regularly going around the villiage or Cambourne. We can do 3 miles without any problems. Its really great.

Additional to this, we have bought one of those bike trailer things for Callum to sit in, so he can come along and we make it a family affair.

Its all going very well.

Speak soon.

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

OK, so I'm no good at keeping up to date...

2011-04-11T21:05:00.004+01:00

So, I blinked and another 3 months has passed! All is going well, although both Callum and Laurie have got runny noses, and coughs. Snot everywhere. Nice. One day when I get the chance, I will update all the pictures on this blog. In the meantime, I would report that Laurie is now a fully fledged cyclist, without stableisers or anything. 'I can ride a bike' he said the other day. 'OK', I said, removing the stableisers, 'get on and ride that up and down the path'. So he got on and peddled off! So that's another hurdle out the way. I thought that I'd be spending weeks trying to get him to go without stableisers, but he's away and there's no stopping him. We all went out over the weekend, and he cycled 3 miles without any effirt. If I hadn't have been so knackered, we'd have gone further!. Callum continues to get bigger, and most of the time he just sits like a big pudding and giggles at things. He's making some lovely baby noises (most of which sound like 'Daddy') and just dribbles everywhere. Anyway, thats about all I can say at the moment. As always, I will promise to keep this blog up dated, and as always, I hope you don't hold yer breath! Byeeeeeeeeee.

Happy New Year

2011-01-13T12:56:00.004Z

Crikey, has it really been that long…

Anyway, everything seems to be going well. Laurie is now 4, and Callum has reached 6 months – he also has 2 teeth coming through on the bottom gum, so he’s turning into a piranha.

First, lets talk about Laurie…

Christmas passed without incident followed immediately by Laurie’s 4th Birthday. He got so many presents we don’t really know what to do (not that we’re complaining). Actually, there is still a large box under the stairs that he hasn’t even opened yet (it’s a colouring set, which be got him, so we can always save it).

We have also joined the other millions round the world, and we have got a Nintendo Wii.
Obviously it’s for Laurie, but Daddy likes to play as well (we have Brain Training, so that’s an adult game). Actually, I’d much rather be playing Sports Resort, but Laurie beats me at just about everything – especially the sword fighting. Its not that he’s violent or anything, its just that he has got loads more energy than I have, and he can keep going long after I’ve collapsed.

Laurie has also had his first real School Photo (well, Pre-school photo – he starts ‘big’ school in September). Isn’t he adorable?

Now lets talk about Callum…

Like I say, he’s now 6 months, and turning into a right little lump. He’s absolutely beautiful (but all parents say that about their children) and he never cries (well, he does, but that is only when we take too long to get the spoon from the food to his mouth). He really is like a piranha – chomp chomp chomp - he never leaves anything, and just gives you a look that says ‘is that I get?’ when the food is gone. Its so completely different to when we fed Laurie. We have nothing to worry about with regards to getting anything stuck, and he’s already attacked his first banana.

He growing like there’s no tomorrow, and the Charity shops in Cambridge and surronding areas are doing well in baby clothes. He has also outgrown his carry seat that we used in the car, and has moved up into his first real car seat. Now he’s facing the right way, and loves watching the countryside fly by as we drive along.

Most mornings he wakes about 3.45am, but either a quick cuddle or drink of milk settles him, and we’re OK again until 7 or 8. Well, we would be in Laurie didn’t wake up at six! “Daddy!!! Is it morning yet?” is the shout that normally wakes me first thing.

And so that’s about it. As always, I’ll try not to keep things for so long next time, but its difficult finding any time to just sit and do this type of thing!

Just an update (at last)

2010-10-06T12:37:00.001+01:00

I just don’t really know where the time goes anymore!
Callum is now 12, 13 14 weeks old? I don’t even know – its pathetic!
All I know is that he is always grinning and giggling, and he is now too big for his baby bath (which he loves!)
He is now in his own room, and his own big cot (which I’m sure will soon look very small) and he wakes about once a night. He has his milk, and then falls back to sleep!
Couldn’t be easier.
Laurie on the other hand is turning into a yob.
Only kidding. His favourite past time at the moment is cutting up bits of paper with his scissors, leaving the bits all over the place. Bless him. He is also mad on paper airplanes (insisting on calling them ‘rockets’) and I spend most of my life folding paper of various sizes into airplane – sorry rockets – of various sizes. He then throws them around before cutting them up and then asking me to make another one!
Love him.
He now does 3 days at pre-school, and seems to enjoy this greatly. The best bit of it all is that he’ll often just start signing little songs that he has learnt. Over breakfast the other day he suddenly started up, and it went something like:
‘2 little men in a flying saucer
Flew round the world one day
One looked left
One looked right
They didn’t like what they saw and so
They flew away’. It was lovely.
He’s also started to really learn to pronounce words, and he’s really proud of what he does. One of the main ones is saying his own name, and also Callum’s.
In the past, Laurie has always said his ‘L’s as ‘W’s, so Laurie would sound something like ‘Wa-wy’. ‘Callum’ would just be a noise – ‘Ca-wum’ or something similar.
But now, he’s really good, and really proud with himself when he says a new word. (Just as an aside, why is it that when he picks up on a swear word, these are always so clear??)

That’s about it at the moment. As usual I’ve been useless at keeping this page updated, and as usual, I will promise to try harder in the future.

Callum James has arrived...

2010-07-08T11:20:00.003+01:00

So, here we go...Callum James was born at 9.18am on Friday 2nd July. He weighed in at 8.6lbs (or 3.8 kgs, if you prefer) and he's wonderful! He has a tongue-tie (just like his big brother) so we'll have to sort that out, but apart from that he's perfect!

Laurie loves him, and although there are the expected moments of jealousy, he has taken it all very well, and wants to help out whenever he can ('me get the nappy', 'me feed him his milk' etc).

We were, of course, ready for hell when he was born. Would he have the TOF condition like Laurie? Will he scream the house down all day and night? will be have all the right bits in all the right places?

We needn't have worried. He feeds nicely, then he sleeps. He then cries for a few minutes until he's fed again, and then sleeps.

He went to sleep at 10.30 last night, and woke up at 4. He was fed, and then slept again until 7.30 when we got up anyway! Its quite a bit different to how we were with Laurie. In fact, at the moment, I would go as far as to say its been easy! (That'll change things now...)

Anyway, thats all I can say at the moment, so I will put some more pictures up, and then report back whenever anything happens.

Byeeeeeeeeeee.

Getting Close to The Due Date...

2010-05-07T12:41:00.004+01:00

Hi,

Its been a while, but I'm still alive.
This is the first post about our fourtcoming arrival - new baby is due on July 8th. Apart from the fact that she throws up each morning, put her back out, and has low iron limits, Rachel is doing fine with the pregnancy bit. We've been for the usual scans (and some extra ones) and all looks OK with Jelly Bean (we do know if its a boy or a girl, but I won't tell you yet!) If Laurie gets his way, he wants a brother called Millie!
Hopefully this picture is pretty clear, but just to help, its a smiling face with a foot (not a hand) waving at you!)
We've obviously been concerned that Jelly Bean could have the TOF problem as well, but so far all scans have proved that everything is normal. Still, they said that about Laurie. To be honest, its pretty unlikely that Jelly Bean will be TOF - its happened so few times in the past that there aren't really that many results about it. Anyway, in some respects, it would be easy if we did have another TOF - at least we'd know what to do!
Laurie is doing very well, although he has another cold at the moment. This is always a problem because it makes his breathing quite difficult, and he's more prone to getting food stuck in his throat - he's had a sticky each day this week, I think.
Other bits - the summer is on the way, and therefore the bikes are out, as well as the kites. Lauire likes to fly a kite, and I've just bought one of those big 'power kites'. We've not tested it yet, but its looking good! I'd better not let Laurie fly it, otherwise he might take off.
I can't think of anything else to say at the moment, so I'll sin off until the next time.
Byeeeeeee,
M&R&L&JellyBean

Breaking News...

2010-01-07T16:26:00.004Z

Helloooo,

Its been a while (again) but I’m back (again).
Things to report…
I’m sure there’s lots been going on in the last couple of months, but the main one is that Rachel is pregnant again!
Estimated time of arrival is July 7th, and we’re already getting things ready – Laurie wants a sister.
So, I’ll keep yu updated on progress as and when (of course, the next Blog entry will probably be after the birth!

What else? Oh yes, Christmas and New Year. Hope everyone had a good one – we all did. Laurie got so many presents that we had to divide the opening of them over Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Amount other things, he got a tower crane, aqua-draw and a scalextric (that was really from me so that we can race each other! He’s really good at it as well!)

Then January 3rd was Lauries 3rd Birthday, and that was all nice as well. Again, lots of pressys, including a push-along scooter! Unfortunately it’s been too cold/icy to go out on this, but he sits there and looks at it, knowing that one day he’ll be out and annoying the neighbours.

So that’s about it. Probably enough for most people – Christmas, New Year, Birthday and pregnancy, but there you go.

I’ve included a couple of pictures to make it look more interesting, but please keep coming back – I promise I’ll keep updating things.

M&R&L&JellyBean

2009-10-20T20:19:00.003+01:00

So, it's nearly the end of October, and the yera is flying past.
The nights are drawing in, and there will be a lot less barbeques until next year!
What else has happened? Well, Laurie is out of nappies!
It was a strange experience, really. Rachel suddenly announced the other day that we'd try Laurie in pants, and thats what we did. And guess what? There were no accidents. It was really quite odd. One day he's peeing for England, and we have to change his nappy every few hours, and the next, we put him in big boiy pants, and he decides that he won't wee until he feels good and ready, and then he tells Mummy or Daddy that he needs the toilet, and off we go.
I'm well impressed, I must admit.
Of course there have been some accidents, but certainly nothing like I thought there would be.
So, that's another chapter getting well and truly sorted.
What else?
Well, not a lot, really. We went to the TOFS conference in Newcastle a week or so ago, and that was good. Meeting with other parents and their TOF children. learning and sharing a lot. Drinking and eating a lot as well!
Other than that, I don't have anything else to write about.
I'm sure, as usual, as soon as I post this post, I'll think of something else, but until then, byeeeeeee!

Laurie and the Red Arrows

2009-09-11T19:53:00.004+01:00

Well, here we are again.
Its been awhile – so long in fact that I’ve forgotten what we’ve been doing lately.
The new bed is excellent – Laurie loves it. In fact he now has a new duvet and pillow! All in an attractive ‘D is for Dinosaur’ pattern.
What else…
Well, we’ve been on a couple of holidays – one good, and one not so great.
First the not so great…
Devon.
Yep, that time of year again where the Shepherd/Hayes family pack up and go to Devon for a week in the Caravan. Last year was a complete disaster, and we lasted just 36 hours before coming home – it just poured down and wasn’t very good for any of us, especially Laurie.
So, we decided that this year could only be better. Well, it was. Sort of.
We arrived late afternoon of the Monday, with the intention of staying till the Saturday, or even the Sunday. We had a nice evening, and things were looking promising. However, by 5am the following morning, we were in Torbay hospital because Laurie was having problems breathing. He’d picked up a really bad chest infection, and it had come on overnight. After ruling out Swine Flu, we got given some antibiotics and by 8.30am we were in McDonalds having breakfast. After that, we went into Torquay, and had a lovely wander around. The sun even came out.
The following day we just chilled out, and then on Wednesday, we had a wonderful day on a steam train from Buckfastleigh to Totnes. Following this, we went to a small ‘rare breeds’ farm and it was great cos Laurie could feed the animals and stroke them – he loved the guinea pigs, and now wants one!
Even though Laurie was obviously not 100% during the holiday, he never let it get him down. He insisted on playing with the football and the frisby in the evenings, and only stopped when he realised that he really couldn’t breathe anymore, and which point he would just go and lie down on the bed in the caravan.
But we did have rain, and it was just too much for us by Friday, so we made our way home again.
It was a nice break, but all in all it was a disaster again.
However, a couple of weeks after Devon, we went to Bournemouth!
Last year we went, and there was an air show on. It was really good, so we decided to go again. This time, Ma and pa Shepherd also came with us (and paid! Which was nice).
The weather was WONDERFUL, and although we all had back up plans if things should turn wet, we spent the entire 4 days sitting on the beach, watching the people, and the airshow and drinking a bit. In fact, apart from Laurie, we all got sunburnt. It was quite simply fabulous.
There were no illnesses, and Laurie was safe on the Bournemouth beach, and loved the aeroplanes.

We have already enquired about going again next year, and I’m sure the booking will be made soon!
So that’s about it for the holidays this year – now its back to work until next year.
Oh well, something to look forward to, I suppose.
Hope you are all well, and as always, I will try to keep this blog updated more often.

Much love,
M&R&L

I need to cool down

2009-07-06T12:16:00.003+01:00

Blimey, hasn't it been hot for the last week or so?
Not only has Theo the Tortoise been out in the garden, but Laurie has been making the most of it as well. Water fights and his paddling pool, and playing in sand - he even witnessed the lighting of the barbeque the other day. He's also been out on 'yellow bike' basically every day and he's really good at riding it now.
I don't really have a lot to report, but I noticed that I hadn't written for a while (as normal) so I thought I'd just give a quick hello.
Laurie continues to grow, and continues to remain very vocal.
Actually, talking of that, I have remembered something that has happened - he is no longer in a cot.
That is to say he is no longer in a cot with sides so that he can't get out. Now, I'm sure there's some of you out there having a bit of a giggle thinking that he should have been out of a cot by the time he was 3 months old, or something, but we just never got round to it. He always seemed happy with the cot, so we didn't try to change anything.
Anyway, we then decided to take the plunge, and remove the sides so that he could do what he wanted during the night. So far, he's always been downstairs with mummy and daddy until he goes to bed at around 7.00. However, we thought that it might be nice to start making his bedroom into the place that he can go if he wants to play, sleep, mess around etc. So, as the first step, we made it so he can get in and out of bed whenever he wants to.
We thought it would be a complete nightmare, and we were all ready to sit at the top of the stairs for hours on end, showing him the way back into his room until he sussed out that bed time meant sleep.
But he was no problem at all. In fact, the first night he didn't even attempt to get back out, and just fell straight to sleep. The morning was even easier. He hadn't worked out that the sides of the cot were gone, and therefore he had 'access all areas' and instead of getting up at the crack of dawn and jumping all over the house, we were woken by very loud shouting from down the hallway:
'Mummy!' Pause. 'Mummy!!' Pause. MUMMY!! (Louder this time). Another pause. This wasn't working...
'Mum-Daddy!' Change of tactics. 'DADDY!!' and so it went on until I got out and went to see him.
There he was, happily lying on his back, merrily shouting away. As soon as he saw me he just smiled and asked 'Out?' I tried to explain to him that he could get out at anytime now, but he still hadn't sussed it (In fact, a month later, he still shouts until we tell him he can get up). Finally, I said 'Yes you can get out', and he jumped up, ran down the hallway and took my place in the 'big bed'.
Oh well, might as well make the coffee then!
And that's how its been.
In fact, just yesterday our kind neighbours gave us their old 'toddler' bed, and this is now what Laurie sleeps on. Its extentable, so as Laurie grows, so can the bed. Its quite cool, really.
And that's about it really. As normal, I start with nothing, but seem to be able to get quite a bit written down once I'm going.
So, until next time,
Byeeeeeee.

My Yellow Bike

2009-05-05T19:45:00.002+01:00

Phew, what a day.
We’ve just come back from a little journey out where we stopped at McDonalds for a little lunch (!) and Laurie had a Happy Meal. He had chicken nuggets and got one stuck!
It really upsets me when this happens. He gets that look on his face that says somethings wrong, and his eyes water and then his arms go up and we know it’s a sticky.
Well, over the course of the next 20 minutes, he choked 3 or four times, bringing something up each time before finally clearing the blockage and collapsing in a cuddle with Rachel and me.
This is about the 5th sticky in a month, and we don’t know if it means he needs another stretch, or if its just because he’s beginning to enjoy his food so much that he’s forgetting to chew completely.
Its really difficult…and not made easier by the fact that even if he knows he has something stuck, he will still try and eat more! Instead of everything pushing downwards and clearing, the main bit stays stuck, and everything else fills up on top of it until he can’t breathe! Hopefully its something that he will learn as time goes on.

On another, happier subject, Laurie now has his first bike! We’ve been looking out for some time, and then we finally decided that we would take him to Halfords, and see what was available. Rachel had looked on the Interweb and found a nice model, and we figured that if he could sit on it OK, then we could get it and teach him to ride. So that was what we did. Only, when we put him on the bike, he just started to peddle and went zooming off round the shop!
‘We’ll have that one then’, we said.
He loves it.
‘My yellow bike’ he calls it with pride.
He puts his crash hat on, and peddles around the garden, before getting to the far end of the path and then getting off and pushing it back to the beginning again (he’s not sussed out the turning around bit, yet!).
He’s forever wanting to go out on his ‘yellow bike’ and gets quite upset when he can’t because of the rain or the fact that its bedtime.
Also, we went out with my mum and dad to Knebworth House the other day. We went for a picnic and it was lovely.
New experiences here were a bouncy castle (he loved this) a train ride (yep, he loved this as well) and also we walked around the dinosaurs! He’s been here before, but this time he knew what they were because its one of the places that Boogie Beebies has been, and he knows all the dance moves for the triceratops!
The bouncy castle was fun, and we also went on the train, which we all enjoyed.
Anyway, that’s about it, really. Just keeping you all up to date.
Additionally, for your viewing pleasure, here are some pictures.
See y’all soon
m&r&l

Summer Time is here again...

2009-04-23T16:20:00.002+01:00

So, it looks like the summer may be here! Such a contrast from the last time I blogged
Well, when I say ‘summer’ that is to say that at the time of writing this the sun is out and the thought of barbeques is central in my mind.
As usual, the competition of ‘Most Barbeques for The Year’ has commenced at work, and for those of you that are interested, the Rules will be shown at the end of this entry. A bit of excitement to add to the Barby Rules is the new category of Picnics.
Please feel free to suggest any other Rules that you think should apply, and if you have a Picnic or Barby, please be sure to let me know, and I might even publish the results at a later date!
So what has been happening in my world?
Well, Rachel got her car back, and its all fixed. Unfortunately we also got the bill, but it was MILES cheaper than Wests. (Did I mention never to go to Wests for anything to do with cars? That’s Wests, in Cambridge).
Rachels still out of a job, but I think she’s enjoying being at home and looking after Laurie at the moment. Especially now that its sunny – all they do is go out for walks, play football, and go to the park for Picnics! (Laurie will be registered on the Picnic Competition on his own!)
Recent activities in the Hayes-Shepherd household have included going to Colchester Zoo, and also finding Leo’s Funzone in Huntingdon, as well as the gym.
The Fun Zone appears to be for kids, but the parents have to show them the ropes, don’t they? Basically it’s a big padded room with a big padded climbing frame, swings, slides, ball pit and all sorts of other stuff, and you chuck your child in, and let them do whatever they like for 60 minutes while you have a coffee. (Or, in my case, you get into the ball pit and allow yourself to become the target for all the kids who wish to play while Rachel has a coffee. Its great fun).
The best bit is, we only have to pay for Laurie, and at the end of it he’s so knackered that all he wants to do is sleep! Unfortunatley, I also find that this happens to me as well, and the rest of my Saturday is wasted!
The Gym is pretty similar, although I’ve only been the once.
Again, it’s a nice big padded area with loads of gym eqipment that all the children can climb over. The best bit here is the big pit that is full of foam padding. Just hurl yourself in, and watch everyone else bundle in after you.
Genius.
Other than that, the zoo was great, and we spent the whole day there with Ma and Pa Shepherd. In fact, we had our first Picnic there, so that’s gone on the list.
I can’t really think of much else to put at the moment, but I think you’ve had enough to be getting on with.
Now, as promised, please find below the Official Rules for Barbeques and Picnics. Like I said, I am happy to hear of any changes that you feel should be made, and these will be put towards the Panel at the next available meeting.
All updates and amendments will be published at a later date.
Watch this space.

Blog soon, enjoy life, and bye bye.

Qualifying Rules of a Barbeque

-One point is awarded for each separate barbeque.
-Multiple barbeques in one day are all counted as separate, but only up to a maximum of 3. No one can have more than 3 barbeques in one day. There must be at least 4 hours between the end of one barbeque, and the beginning of the next. (This is a rule that is open to abuse, so please play fairly).
-A barbeque can be held at any time during the year, but remember that the main competition will probably be between the months of April and October to coinside with the clock changes.
-Any fuel is allowed (gas, wood, peat, petrol / diesel etc)
-The barbeque has to be outside (might sound daft, but someone might try it indoors to obtain a sneaky point!) Please note, having it in the garage with the doors open does not count as ‘outside’ and will not be allowed.
-It does not have to be your own barbeque, but you must be in charge of the cooking at all times. (So, you could earn a point by being the chef at a friend’s house). However, turning a burger over while ‘your mate gets another beer’ does NOT constitute ‘having a barbeque’ or ‘being the chef’. -Repeat offenders will actually have points deducted.
-You must eat outside (undercover of a temporary structure or a Garden construction such as a Gazebo is acceptable, but in the car or garage is a no-no).
-You must spill some sauce (any flavour) somewhere on your clothes (preferably where it is in full view of others so that they can laugh).
-Although items cooked in a conventional oven are accepted at the Barbeque Table, the majority of food must be cooked on the open range.
-Pre-cooking of food – such as chicken - in the conventional oven, is accepted, but must be kept to a minimum. Ideally it should be placed on the barbeque for ‘warming up’.
-Under no circumstances will a George Foreman Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machine be accepted as a barbeque, even if it is plugged in the extension cable and set up on the patio area. Leave it in the kitchen.
-Barbeques whilst on holiday are accepted. This can be particularly useful in hot countries with a swimming pool, and where you know you won’t be driving, and when you know that the neighbours won’t complain and when you know you don’t have to get up for work the next morning.
-Alcohol is NOT compulsory. But what, really, is the point of a barby without drink?
-Any injuries or illness (burns, food poisoning, alcohol poisoning, accidental impalement on Barbeque utensils) will NOT earn extra ‘sympathy’ points. They will, however, be subject to extensive laughter if revealed.
-Although there is not a minimum amount of food that needs to be cooked to constitute a barbeque, salad with a sausage will not count. Make it worth the effort and cook lots of stuff. Friends / colleagues are always impressed when you have left over Barbeque food for your lunch the next day.

This list is not exhaustive, and further qualifying Rules may be added as they occur.
Please also note that evidence of having a barbeque can be requested at any time, so please keep a camera handy at all times.

Qualifying Rules of a Picnic

This is a new category, and as such is still in the preliminary tests. However, the following have immediately been established:

-One point will be awarded for each Picnic. Only 1 picnic is allowed per day.
-Picnics must be a ‘Deliberate Act’.
-Picnics must be constructed at home and then taken to any public area for consumption.
-There is no minimum or maximum distance that you have to travel from your home for a picnic.
-Getting a sandwich from Boots and eating it in the park does NOT constitute a picnic. Never has, never will.
-There is no definition of what has to be in your picnic, but it is assumed that there would be at least a sandwich, crisps, drink, and possibly a sausage roll.
-Your garden does not count as a Picnic Area.
-Neither does your neighbours garden.
-In fact, you can’t use any private gardens (unless they belong to a stately home, or similar). Roof gardens will also be discounted.
-Ideally, picnics should be outside events. Acceptable venues include fields, on a river, any public open space, public gardens, and the beach.
-Being undercover is acceptable, but it has to be open to the elements in some way. A bus shelter, for example, or one of those beach shelters where all the old people huddle out of the wind on the prom is acceptable.
-Unacceptable venues would include a shed, a barn, the car, garage (even if it belongs to a stately home) and a tent or marquee.
-If you are camping, please ensure that the picnic is consumed outside the tent, otherwise you will be in breach of The Rules. This also applies to caravans and motor-homes – you must eat outside.
-A boat is debatable. If the picnic is outside on the deck, then that is OK. Below deck is not counted. Photo evidence may be requested.
-Picnics while on holiday are accepted, but they have to be constructed at your holiday residence and consumed in one of the acceptable venues as listed above.
-Please note that having your sandwiches at the airport (or similar) does not count as a picnic – whether you are on holiday or not.
-Picnics at Sports Events are accepted (public or ‘members only’ events). But only if the food is provided by yourself and not bought at the venue. Also, remember that all food must be consumed outside, and the venue must be acceptable as noted above.-Having your packed lunch at your desk at work is not acceptable.
In fact, having your packed lunch anywhere is not acceptable. That is your lunch. It is not a picnic.

This list is not exhaustive, and further qualifying Rules may be added as they occur.
Please also note that evidence of having a picnic can be requested at any time, so please keep a camera handy at all times.

Here I am again...

2009-03-09T12:10:00.003Z

It’s been awhile (again) since I last ‘blogged’ so here I am.

I would like to say that the reason for no blogging is simply because nothing has happened, but it would be a lie!
So here goes (don’t get too excited, its not that great…)
Rachel’s still on the lookout for work, she’s getting interviews and everything, so hopefully she’ll be able to get something soon.
In the meantime, Laurie only goes to the childminders twice a week – Tuesday with Hilda, and Friday with Donna. Wednesdays my mum has him, and the other two days he’s with Rachel.
Its really quite good, cos they have started going to various classes and activities and it will get them both out the house and she won’t get too stressed with everything. IN fact, I’m sure it will only be a matter of time before she’s coming home and saying that she’s going out with all of these other women and the children, and it will all be a big party to her!
Talking of being stressed, Rachels car blew up the other week!
Now, when I say ‘blew up’ I don’t really mean ‘You’re only supposed to blow the bloody doors off’ blew up, but certainly enough for the bastard at the garage to rub his chin and say (intake of breath through teeth) ‘you’re gonna need a new engine…’
A NEW ENGINE – the sodding cars only 5 years old! They wanted £6,000 to fix it, when a newer version of the same car was in the showroom for £6,950!
Wests in Cambridge – the Renault dealer – steer clear of them!
(It’s a bit of a story, but basically, we took the car there because the engine had been misfiring, they ‘fixed’ it and within 50 miles it had blown up! Of course, ther are denying that it was anything they had done, saying that it was unfortunate, but ultimately co-incidence.
So, once again, DO NOT GO TO WESTS FOR A SERVICE (or a car, come to that!)
Right, that’s my rant over. We got it fixed at the local garage in Elsworth – Bob’s the man! He’s done a good job as well. We haven’t had the bill yet, but we know its going to be at least half the cost of Wests.

Other news…
Didn’t it snow the other day (well it did round here, anyway).
As you can see from the picture, Laurie went out and had fun. As luck would have it, I happened to have three days off work, so we were able to be a proper family and go out and build a snowman and play snoballs and everything – it was really great.
Although Laurie has seen snow before, this was really the first time that he’d been out in it, and he loved it. For some reason, round us, there was no one else playing in the snow, so we had the whole football field to ourselves and made good use of it.
We had a wonderful time playing and just being kids. It was a shame that it had to melt.

One final thing at this time…
There’s this programme on the TV called Boogie Beebies, and basically it was something that Rachel found some months ago, and Laurie loves it. It has a man (Boogie Pete) and woman (Nat) who visit different places, and then make a song and dance around that area (fruit market, wheels, diggers, and all sorts of other things).
Anyway, Boogie Pete was at the Milton Community Centre just outside Cambridge the other Saturday, and we took Laurie along to have a look. It was great fun. A big room full of small children and crazy parents all dancing to Boogie Pete. We even got a signed picture and a photo of Laurie and Pete! (Not that Laurie looks that impressed, but he really did love it!)
The best bit was, that he knew all the moves to the songs that Pete did cos he’s learnt them off the TV.
Cool.

Right, that’s about it. I really will try an blog more often, but I’m sure it won’t happen!

Love,
M&R&L

So much stuff - so little time...

2009-01-19T12:51:00.002Z

Hi, its me again.

It's terrible I know, but I've not put anything up here about Christmas, New Year or Lauries BIRTHDAY!!!

So here goes...

we've had Christmas, New Year and a second Birthday!

Oh, and a loss if a job...

Here we go then...

Christmas went without any problems, entertaining the parents and family, before over eating, over drinking and over sleeping. Laurie was totally spoilt by everyone, and we now have so many toys that we don't really know which way to turn. However, he's worth it!

New Year was a quiet affair, going over Chris and Barbs (friends from Stevenage, Spurs supporter, but he can't help it) for a couple of drinks and some lovely nibbles (yum yum). Which now that I write it sounds rude. The battered prawns with the crispy tails were wonderful! Anyway, we went over there for a couple of hours, before returning to my mum and dads for a fun filled evining of entertainment and merriment. (This is a bit of an exageration - it was a room full of my parents and their friends, all getting on in years, sitting round the room like some confused seance, trying to contact each other because they are all dead already! Harsh, but fair).

Anyway, we had a few beers while Laurie slept upstairs, and then popped a few Party Poppers to welcome in 2009, before excusing myself from the crowd, leaving Rachel with them, going up to my bed, and quite frankly falling asleep in the time it took me to close my eyes.

Still, the amazing thing was that Laurie then slept through till 10.30 the next morning, Rachel was in with him because I snored, so I was in my own room, alone and asleep, and it was wonderful. I even got the en-suite so that no one could hear me when I got up at 3.30 to be violently sick! (You didn't need to know that bit, but I was quite proud that I managed to be sick 3 and a half hours into the New Year!)

So, that was Christmas and the New Year, then a couple of days to recover before the Second Birthday!!

We had all the familiy and reletives round. and also a special guest appearance by our friends from Huddersfield - Martyn and Claire (probably spelt it wrong, but a full apology will be given in necessary). Now they have twins, Oliver and Harrison, who are the same sort of age as Laurie, and Harrison is a TOF just like Laurie! We all met at the TOF convertion last year, and I helped find a load of napkins for Claire after one of the twins puked all over her (see, we're back to the vomiting bit again). Anyway, it was a strange way to meet, but we all get along, so its all good.

Anyway, we had a wonderful time, and Laurie loved being the centre of attention. He even had a cake and blew out the candles (he loved the applause).

And so that was it. We were all happy from our eventless celebrations, and then Rachel returned to work on the 5th January and was told that she was being made redundant!

So that was a kick in the teeth.

She had no idea that it was going to happen, and it was a bit of a shock to her when it did!

Oh well, these things are sent to try us.

I can't really say a lot more - I think you'll all be bored by now anyway.

Oh, one thing that I will say is that if I didn't send you a Christmas Card, then I'm very sorry - especially if you sent me one. You were all in my thoughts throughout the whole of Christmas (apart from when I was drunk).

So there you are. Right, must get back to work now while I still have a job myself!

Blog soon.

M&R&L

I've Been Meaning to Put This On For Ages...

2009-01-07T13:11:00.002Z

This will mean something to certain people, and to others, you'll just think that I've lost the plot. Its been a couple of years now, but this was how things feel when you don't really get what you plan for...

WELCOME TO HOLLAND

When you’re going to have a baby it’s like planning a fabulous vacation trip – to ITALY. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum, the Michelangelo David, the gondolas in Venice. You may learn some phrases of Italian. It’s all very exciting. After a few months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, “Welcome to Holland!” “HOLLAND!?!?” you say. “What do you mean, Holland? I signed up for Italy. I’m supposed to be going to Italy! All my life I dreamed of going to Italy!” But there has been a change of flight plan. They’ve landed in Holland and there you must stay. The important thing is that they haven’t taken you to a horrible and disgusting place full of pestilence and disease. It’s just a different place. So you must go out and buy different guide books. And you will learn a whole new language. And you will meet new people that you may never have met in Italy. It’s just a different place. It’s slower paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy, but, after you have been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around and you begin to notice that Holland has tulips, Holland has Rembrandts. But everyone you know is busy coming to and from Italy and they are all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest or your life you will say, “Yes, that’s where I was supposed to go. That’s what I had planned.” The pain of that loss will never go away because the loss of that dream is a significant loss. But, if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn’t get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things about HOLLAND.

Ho. Ho. Ho.

2008-12-18T12:41:00.003Z

So it’s getting towards Christmas again, and we have decorations up and everything. So far, Laurie has totally ignored the baubles, but is very intent on pulling the tinsel off the tree, and then getting all the annoying sparkly bits all over the floor.
The hoover is constantly out these days.
He has even ignored the appealing pile of presents that are residing at the base of the tree…(I have noticed Rachel sifting through them, though, giving them a good shake to try and establish what they are!)
So, all in all, it looks like it’s going to be a lovely time of year.
For anyone who knows me (or Rachel, come to that) you will know that we are not particularly ‘christmasy’. Its nothing to do with religion or anything like that, its just that Christmas gets earlier each year, and quite frankly I find it boring!
Anyway, as everyone keeps telling us, now that we have Laurie, we will begin to like Crimbo again.
And do you know, they are right!
We’ve got him some wonderful presents, and I’m really looking forwards to seeing him open them. I shall try and get as many pictures as possible to share with you.
(That’ll be nice, won’t it??)
Apart from Christmas, Laurie just won’t be quiet now that he’s had his toungue snipped.
I don’t know if its just coincedence, but he’s really started to make lots of different sounds, and has got a new favourite word…’Mummy’!
Mummy this, mummy that, the occational Daddy, and then Mummy again.
Oh, and ‘cat’. And ‘woof’. And ‘bus’. And ‘two’ (we’re working on all the numbers before/after!) And ‘yes’, and ‘no’ (especially ‘no’!) and quite o lot of other things as well.
He also seems to be having less trouble with his eating, although he still gets stickies and chokes on certain things. It seems that he enjoys his food so much that he simply forgets to chew properly, and just stuffs food in and then it gets stuck.
Unfortunately he takes after his father when it comes to eating. I’ve always eaten as though someone will be coming to take it away before it’s finished. Rachel’s quite quick as well, so we’re really making the effort to show him that slow eating is the correct way of doing things.
Its really hard for all of us!
Anyway, the tongue operation bit seems to be a big success, and it has caused him no problems at all. In fact, apart from the improved speech and eating, you’d never know that he’d had anything done.

Right, that’s it for the moment, and possibly for this year.

Its been a fast one, and on the whole a really good one.

Lauire will be 2 on the 3rd of January, so that is cause for more celebration, and I shall obviously report back when I get the chance. But until then, Happy Christmas everyone, and I hope that 2009 will be splendid for you all!

Love Mark and Rachel and Laurie

I've Had my Tongue Snipped...

2008-11-27T13:16:00.002Z

So yesterday was the day.
Of course, Laurie has caught another cold, but we got up at 6am to get to Addenbrookes at the allocated time of 7.30, in the hope that they would take pity on us and still do the operation, even though there was a runny nose in front of them.
We weren’t kept waiting long, and then we went in to see an anaesthetist. She was a bit concerned about the health of Laurie, and after listening to his chest decided that she should consult another anaesthetist.
So back to the waiting room for a while longer, and then back to see this new guy. He wasn’t much older than Laurie, and he was Australian.
‘G’day’ he said ‘wadda we got ‘ere?’
We went through the explanation again (we were feeling that this operation would not be happening today) and he, too, listened to Lauries chest.
‘Hmmmmm’ he pondered. ‘E’s in for quite a bit of work isn’t he?’ he said.
‘No’ we said, ‘just a quick tongue tie snip…’
‘Oh’, he said, ‘then no worries. We’ll be with you in a few minutes…’
And that was that. About 20 minutes later Laurie was taken through for the op.
Rachel went to get some coffee, and we settled in for the wait. We knew that it wouldn’t be too long, but we hadn’t even got the lids off of out Costa coffee before they called us through to see Laurie again.
He was quite happy, and the nurses were fussing around him. So he was OK.
‘Now,’ they said, ‘you can feed him, but don’t be surprised if he doesn’t eat too much. He may be sore for a day or so’.
Rachel had packed a selection of foods and drinks, and we began to offer them to our poor baby.
30 minutes later, he had drunk a cup of milk, some pureed pear and apple (home made), yogurt, Innocent Smoothy drink, and some other little bits that we had. He would also have had a chocolate roll, but they suggested that this may stick under his tongue, and that it might be better to wait a couple of days for that.
So, after they had seen what he had eaten, they just laughed and said, ‘You can go home now’.
And so, we were back home by 11am.
He was a bit dopey for the rest of the day, and as it got later he became a bit irritable, but there was no way we were going to complain about that – I would imagine that he felt like he had a VERY big mouth ulcer under his tongue.
We have seen the difference in him immediately. He dribbles a lot more for a start! But seriously, his tongue is so different. He’s more than happy to stick it out on demand, so it doesn’t hurt him at all.
He also said ‘yes’ as clearly as anything this morning, so we really do think that its made a difference in all the areas that we thought it would.
So, a success all round, basically.
Here is a picture of him as he recovered in bed at home.
Like I said, he sticks his tongue out on demand!

Mark.

We're all ill...

2008-11-10T13:10:00.003Z

Well, whatever Laurie has, we've now all got it! We sent him off to the childminder today (still coughing) while Rachel and I stayed at home.

Rachel has been asleep for the morning. I tried but couldn't, so I did this.

How sad am I????

Laurie is ill

2008-11-08T16:37:00.002Z

Poor Laurie has a really bad cough at the moment. Its so bad that it's actually making it difficult for him to breathe.
He really doesn't know what to do with himself, so most of the time he just sleeps. He's asleep now - and has been for the last 3 and a half hours!
I've been off work with him for the last two days, but there isn't a lot that we can do. Rachel took him to the Doctor who assured us that there was nothing life threatening going on, but he is on anti-biollocks anyway. Poor little man.
So that' sabout it. See, you wait ages for a new entry to come along on this blog, and when it does, it was hardly worth it.
Still, at least you know we're all still here.
All the best, then,
M & R & L

We've Been on Holiday

2008-10-12T21:34:00.000+01:00

We’ve been on Holiday.
Sort of.
It was a bit of a disaster, really.
We took 2 weeks off work, and I was really looking forward to it. We had decided that Laurie was too young to bother with a flight out to Turkey, so we decided to just do a week in The Caravan down in Devon.
It rained.
Actually, let me put that another way.
It pi**ed down!
We went down on the Saturday, and it basically rained all the way.
By the time we got there, we were, quite frankly, knackered, and so we decided that we would just have an easy light tea, then just chill out and get to bed early.
We were prepared for the worst – Laurie doesn’t like the first night in a new place – but he did really well and didn’t wake during the night. He was up at 5.30, though.
But, hey, we were on holiday, and the Olympics were on, so me and Laurie sat cuddled up in a sleeping bag watching TV while Rachel slept.
Sunday turned out to be pretty good, and once we were up and about we went into Torquay for a wander and a look at the sea.
The Caravan isn’t the newest of constructions, and was a bit damp, so we all bought some slippers so that we could wander around the place without getting trenchfoot.
Sunday turned out to be a really good day, and we managed to get a Pasty in, as well as a beer sitting in the harbour (we’re posh, you see).
Even the evening turned out to be pretty good, with the rain staying off so that we could walk up the pub!
We were still tired, so we decided that we would eat in ‘The Tavvy’ just up the road from the Caravan.
Bad move.
As it was Sunday, they didn’t serve food till 7.00, and there was no way that Laurie was going to last that long – he was already making loud shouting noises – not angry noises, but also not good in a quiet pub!
So we had a quick drink, and decided that we could just do something quick back at the van.
And so, apart from the failed pub meal, Sunday turned out to be a really good day.
And then, in the night, the rain started again.
And it didn’t stop.
Monday morning dawned, another early start, and then we noticed things were damp. The caravan hadn’t had a chance to dry out over the last few weeks – there had been a lot of rain – and our clothes were damp to the touch.
We drove into Newton Abbott – basically at a loss of what else to do, and wandered around for a couple of hours, and then decided that enough was enough.
The rain was not easing, and we were wet, and knackered. It hadn’t cost us anything to stay in the Caravan, so we decided that we would go back home.
And so, by 3 o’clock we were packed and back on the road again, driving through the rain back to Cambridge.
It rained all the way until Bedford, and then stopped.
So, that gave us 2 weeks to do what ever we wanted.
And so we spent our time going to the wildlife park in Shepreth – really good, and then we spent 2 days in Bournmouth, which was BEAUTIFUL. There was a free airshow over the sea, and everything.
So, all in all, the two weeks finished on a high note, and we’re even thinking of having a few days there every year from now on!

(I'll get some pictures up soon!)

I'm Getting My Tongue Untied!

2008-09-18T12:17:00.003+01:00

Hello all,
Its been just over a month, and a lot has happened in that time. I will eventually get round to reporting everything, but for the time being, just to let you know that we went to the ENT department in the hospital yesterday (Ear Nose and Throat, for those that can't suss it out) and we waited and waited and waited, and eventually we got to see a nice doctor man who had a look at the offending item (Laurie and his tongue) and said, 'Yep, no problem, we can get him done under the NHS, it'll be a couple of weeks...'
Job done.
So that was nice.
So, now all we have to do is wait for the date to come in, and he'll be back in hospital for the day to have his tongue done. Hopefully this will help with his feeding and speech development, and he will speed ahead of the rest of the class!

Oh - forgot to update about his tongue...

2008-08-07T13:24:00.003+01:00

Further to the discovery of the tongue-tie, we have an appointmet with the Doctor and the Speech Therapist to discuss what we can do.
So, as soon as that's done, I'll let you know what's happening.
I don't think that Rachel and I are in doubts that we want it done, but we need to speak to the experts.
We've also been thinking that saying the letters 'L' and 'S' could be difficult if its not corrected, and this isn't much fun if your name is Laurie Shepherd!
M.

I'm Not Dead - It's Just a Bump!

2008-08-07T13:02:00.004+01:00

Oh well, it was bound to happen, and it finally has. Laurie has had a bit of a fall, and has really bumped his head. It was the third and final thing that went wrong during Sunday 3rd August. It all started with the idea that Laurie, Rachel and me could go for a nice bike ride round Grafham Water. So, I went to load the bikes up.

'Arse' I said. Rachel's bike had a flat tire. Well, not to worry...we'll just go past Halfords on the way to Grafham, get a new inner tube and I'll change it when we get there.

Brilliant. So off we go. Get the inner tube from Halfords and then a quick spin down the A1 to Grafham.

'What's that funny smell?' asked Rachel.

'Smells like someone has got an oil leak, and it's splashed all over the engine' I said.

Then we arrived at Grafham.

I got out the car, and immediately noticed that it was covered in oil!

'Arse' I said. Looking under the car, something was pouring out of the engine, and steam was billowing around.

'Right', I said, 'lets get back home'.

And so we drove all the way home, smelling and smoking badly. Thankfully we didn't burst into flames. I have since found out that the fuel line split, and it was in fact diesel all over the car and engine.

Anyway, that brings us nicely round to the third disaster of the day - Lauries head.

We decided to go for a bike ride anyway - just round the villiages - a nice 10 mile circuit - and on returning towards home, we saw Lauries childminder (Julie Julie) with her neighbours, having a street party. We stopped and said hello, and it was at this point that Laurie started running around and giggling, before he fell over flat on his face!

'Arse' I said as I went to pick him up. He was obviously in some distress, but I couldn't see any blood so I figured he'd had a lucky escape. After a cuddle he was fine.

We made our excuses, and left the street party to return home.

It was only about 10 minutes later when Rachel went to change Laurie's nappy that she called down for me to have a look at something.

We carefully moved his hair to one side, and there was the biggest bump you ever did see! No wonder the poor little man cried.

'Arse' I said - not for the first time that day.

Luckilly, the bump didn't seem to bother Laurie, and he was soon snoozing (hence the 'dead' photo, attached). We made sure that everything was OK, checking all the usual signes - he hadn't been sick, he was still breathing, he wasn't bleeding all over the place etc, and just let him get on as usual. Poor little man.

And so there we are. One flat tire, one exploded engine and one bump to the head.

Still, at least we got the first real bump out the way. I'm sure there will be hundreds more!

Speak to you soon,

Mark, Rachel and Laurie.

Its Time to Learn Another Long Word...

2008-07-05T07:51:00.003+01:00

Hi,

Its been a few weeks, but here we are again. It's July, and we have found out that Laurie has got a condition called 'Ankyloglossia', or 'tounge-tie'. Up to this point, its been missed by everyone, and Julie Julie the Childminder saw it. (I suppose all the hospital people had other things to worry about when it came to Lauire).

Basically, you know that bit of skin under your tongue that anchors it to the bottom of your mouth? Well, in Laurie's case, this bit of skin goes to the tip of the tongue, therefore making it difficult for him to stick his tounge out! It's not that rare, and in most cases it doesn't seem to affect people that much, but Rachel and I always wondered why he never licked his lips, or stuck his tounge out. Well now we know.

Usually, it seems to effect babies when they first start to feed - they have no suck, and they can't get the milk they need. Obviuosly Laurie had his own problems when he was first born, but luckilly, sucking wasn't one of them!

It can have a knock on effect we speech at a later date, but until he says more than 'daddy', 'mummy', 'cat', and 'woof', we won't know if he is affected.

I'm more concerned about the fact that he may not be able to enjoy ice cream as much as other kids. And what about snogging. What's his girlfriend going to think when he can't snog properly!!

Oh well. Just another thing to contend with.

Anyway, for further details, please check it out at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankyloglossia

Other news...

On a happier note, the walking bit is getting better. He seems to be able to get to places that he shouldn't, and its twice as hard to keep up with him. He gets quite upset if you pick him up to move him, when he knows he could do it all himself.

He's learning things really quickly now, and seems to sit, just working things out, before he attempts to do them - working door handles, turning keys, removing keys.

Hiding keys!

He also likes standing on things so that he is higher up (boxes, etc). It will only be a matter of time before he is escaping from everywhere that we put him.

Right, that's about it at the moment - its 8 on Saturday morning, and I know that he's moving in his cot. It'll soon be time to get him out before he shouts the house down.

I will try and put more stuff up - I've actually got a few other bits to write about - we've been to the zoo and Blackpool and lots of places - and I feel that I should share.

So, until next time,

Byeeeeeeeeee

M, R and L.

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!

2008-05-17T20:38:00.002+01:00

Feeling hot, hot,hot…
Its been warm, hasn’t it? (well, it was a week ago!)
In fact, I understand that its been the hottest May ever. Phew!
Anyway, Laurie has been out in the garden, having fun in his paddling pool. It’s really the first time that he’s been out in the garden – that is to say to actually crawl and walk and fall over in the garden. He’s obviously been out there before, otherwise that would be cruelty!
Watching out for the sun, and his delicate skin, we took all the precautions that we could: plenty of sauce (factor 50), we put up the gazebo, and we also put up his sun shade/wind deflector tent thing.
In the middle of all of this was Laurie, (Oh, and he had a wet suit on!) splashing happily away in his pool.
It was really nice to see him having fun in his own garden, although it was so hot that it was very tiring to keep chasing him around, and picking him up and putting him back where he should be (and I did ache in the morning).
Theo the Tortoise (‘Tor-tor’) was also running around, and Laurie found it highly amusing to chase after her and throw his plastic blocks at her. At least she can withstand a bit of a knock or a heavy pat on the back – that’s more than the cats allow him to get away with! Also, as a tortoise, she’s pretty limited to how fast she can run away from him. Having said that, we do have to keep an eye out for Theo because she is very territorial and doesn’t like it if you go on her garden. She can get quite upset by the whole situation, and has been know to sneak up on you and head-butt your foot just to remind you who’s the boss. She didn’t seem to bother too much over the weekend – I think this was probably because we had so much of Laurie’s stuff outside that she knew she was better off on the other side of the garden.
Anyway, that was all I was going to say.
Just wanted another excuse to put another picture up on the Blog!
Speak to you soon.
M.

Thank You Everyone!!!

2008-05-17T20:34:00.001+01:00

Hey!!
Just wanted to say Thank You to everyone who looks at this site. I've had 1000 visitors now!!!
Please keep coming back for updates.
We love you all.
M and R and L.
xxx

Hey! Look what I can do now...

2008-04-30T12:08:00.003+01:00

Hi again,
you see, I told you that it wouldn't be long before I was writing again. And this time it all good stuff. Its taken just a few days less than 16 months, but Laurie has taken his first UNAIDED steps! The report from the Childminder (Julie Julie) was that he had taken 7 steps during Wednesday 29th, so that evening, after a nice dinner, Rachel and I tested him out! Doing that thing that you always see in pictures, I was one side of the rug, and Rachel was the other, and we encouraged him to walke between us. And it worked - he took several steps, arms outstretched, and grinning like a mad thing, before falling into Rachels arms with a giggle.
All this time we've been willing him on, getting him to walk, and from now on, all we'll be doing is telling him not to go here, and not to go there. Its no wonder he looks confused all the time!
Anyway, that's all I have to say at the moment. As soon as I get pictures, they'll be published.
Watch this space.
M.

Lauries Been Out On A Bike!!

2008-04-27T13:11:00.004+01:00

Hi, Loyal Listeners in BlogLand, and welcome to the new 'Post'.

Laurie has been doing well, especially as he seems to get a new tooth every day.

He is beginning to try and say lots of differnt things, including 'Dat' ('cat') and 'Dish' ('fish)'. As Rachel says, you can tell what pets we have, and we're really interested to hear what he will make of 'tortoise'!

Anyway, the real reason for writing is that Summer has arrived (well, it was here yesterday) and so we have invested in a bike seat and crash hat (almost as trendy as the last crash hat he had to have, and a lot cheaper) and we have taken him out on a bike ride.

Nothing to strenuous for a start - neither Rachel or I have ever cycled with a baby on the back. I seem to remember when I was younger, I'd take a mate on the handlebars, but thats as far as it went.

So, we carefully strapped him in, put his hat on, and off we went.

We thought that there might be a bit of crying or at least a lot of wqobbling on the back, but, like everything else he does, he just grinned and let us do what we wanted.

Like I say, nothing too extravagant - just a couple of times round the village, just to get used to the extra weight in the back. All Laurie seemed to do was watch my feet go round as I cycled alongside, trying to take photos. I don't know who was more at risk - Laurie on the back of Rachels bike, or me falling off with a camera!

Rachel wanted to be brave and do the first circuit, and then I had a go. It only took a few minutes to get used to it, and was great fun. I'm not too sure that I'd want to go out on a busy road though! However, come on the Summer, we can go to Grafham Water (only 8 miles round) and then Rutland - 26 miles!!! Easy peasy!

Right, that's it for the moment. I'm sure that there will be something else to add in the next few days, so until then...byeeeeeeeee!

We've Been to The Beach

2008-04-07T12:30:00.004+01:00

Hi y'all,

Well, its been the Easter Holidays and Rachel and I took Laurie away on holiday for a few days. Nothing fancy, just down to the New Forest for 3 days. We stayed in a lovely thatched cottage, where Laurie had his own bedroom and everything. The weather wasn't great for the first day, but the second day we decided to go to Bournemouth for the day, and it was beautiful (well, much better than you'd expect for March anyway).

The owner of the cottage had suggested that we head for a place called Durley Chine. This is about 2 miles or so from the central pier at Bournemouth, and the car park leads right down onto the promenade. I'm not sure why, but the car park was empty and we had no problems parking - probably just off season - everyone thinks it will be cold. It also had the added bonus of having a Harvester Restaurant at the bottom of the car park - right on the prom, next to the beach. We immediately calculated that a beer could be incorporated into the day, and set off along the prom.

We had a wonderful few hours just strolling about along the promenade, and then briefly into the town. Laurie was in his element - lots to see and point at! It's been years since I last went to Bournemouth - not that I've ever been on the beach - and I don't think Rachel has ever been. The sand is real sand - no rocks or stones - just real sand. Oh, and lots and lots of big shells if you wander down to the water. And that's where we went.

It was a bit of a struggle, but I could see there was a lady near the water with her baby and buggy so I decided that Laurie should have fun like that as well. So, off we went, pulling the buggy backwards through the sand with Lauire giggling at going in reverse. The beach - like the car park - was basically empty, and we found a nice spot to just sit an play for a few minutes. I was already regretting only putting enough money in the machine for 3 hours as it was obvious that we could stay here all day. Oh well, we could always wander back and put more money in.

We took Laurie out of the buggy, and let him get sand in between his toes! He really enjoyed it. He's getting good at walking - with help from Mummy or Daddy - and was quite happy strutting his stuff in the sand. He didn't like it on his hands, though!

We slowly made our way towards the town centre, and had enough time to get Laurie some nice new shoes, before deciding that we should head back to the car. It was getting towards his lunchtime, and we figuresd that we could feed him at the Harvester while Rachel and I had a beer - see, told you it would all work out!

So that's what we did. We'd got some sandwiches from Boots, and made our way back to the Harvester. We knew we would be able to waste at least another hour, so I fed the car park machine agan (a few more cars now, but not full) and went back to the Harvester.

Like I said, it was right on the Prom, so we sat outside in the sun, watching the sea, and the few people that were about - like the car park, getting busier. Obviously they had all decided that it was actually a nice day!

It was beautiful, just sitting there with my bird and my baby, watching the world go by with the sound of the sea and seagulls. We had a beer and secretly ate our sarnies, and fed Laurie his food that we had bought with us. Just one of those moments that you have every now and then.

We decided that this would be a good place to have dinner in the evening (Our lives revolve around food!) and quickly worked out that once we'd had our drinks and food, we could go somewhere else, and then return later - they had lots of food on the menu that Laurie could eat. And thats what we did.

I won't go into too much detail (I've already gone on too long) but we left the Car park, and went off for a little drive around, before returning at about 6 that afternoon to have some dinner.

Laurie, as always, was very well behaved, and even though we were eating later than usual, he didn't create. He had a pasta dish with a tomatoe sause, and he didn't leave anything - but then, neither did his parents. He even had some garlic bread!

So, all in all, a wonderful time for everyone, and possibly the best day at the sea side that I have ever had!

What a couple of weeks...

2008-03-13T19:48:00.003Z

Well, what a couple of weeks we’ve had. As you will see from the last entry, Laurie had a cold, and was feeling a bit under the weather. Well, things really got bad a few days after I last wrote.
His cold got worse, and so did his breathing. We had a couple of nights where he woke up in the early hours screaming and with a raging temperature, just burning up, and we had to force Child Nurofen and Benylin into him to bring his temperature down. Its so difficult watching him struggle without us being able to do anything else.
Then, on Saturday 1st March we had no alternative but to take him to the hospital. He woke up – for the third night running – at about 2.30am, but this time he didn’t seem to be getting any better. We did the usual Nurofen, Benylin and Asthma puffer thing, but his temperature stayed high, and his breathing was very raspy and laboured.
We got to Addenbrookes at about 6.30am and after a bit of a wait we saw a doctor who did the usual checks, and reported the usual conclusion that he has a cold, and that there’s ‘not a lot we can do except take these antibiotics and wait for it to clear’.
And so that’s what we did. We have been given a pot of antibiotics (the same antibiotics he was taken off of just before his last cold!) and now we have to give him these along with all the other potions.
Needless to say that Saturday was written off, and Sunday wasn’t much better. Poor little bloke didn’t know what to do for the best. If he laid down, he would just constantly cough, and if he sat up, his nose would just run and make breathing difficult. Both Rachel and I were knackered from the lack of sleep, so goodness knows what Laurie was feeling. (In fact, the last time I was this knackered was when he was born!)
He managed to get snippets of sleep over the next few days (as did Mum and Dad) and thankfully he has slowly got better.
At last, 2 mornings ago, he woke up saying ‘dada, dada’ rather than ‘cough, cough’ and this morning, he woke up at 7am signing to himself.
So, I think its safe to say that he’s back!
Other things, whilst writing, are that he has started blowing kisses to Rachel and me, and also he’s full of hugs and cuddles at the moment - pick him up and he cuddles into your neck. It’s lovely.
He also picks things up and offers them to you – a cuddly toy, for example – and as you reach down to take it, he’ll snatch it away and laugh. He’ll do this for a couple more times, before he finally gives it to you. The other thing is that he’ll raise his arms into the air so that you bend down to pick him up, but as you get close, he’ll throw himself onto his front and hide his face in his hands. He’ll stay like this for a few seconds before peeking out with a giggle and doing it all again.
He’s turning into a proper little boy – full of mischief and laughs – and we love it!

Don't Worry - We're Still Here!!!

2008-02-29T13:10:00.004Z

Hi,
Just wanted to say a quick 'hello' and to say that we are still here. It's been a month since I last said anything, and I know that some of you look in regularly (Hello Richard!).
Not a lot to say at this point (however, I'm sure I'll be able to fill a bit of space).
Laurie has another cold, and there's snot everywhere! It may only be coincidence, but since he was taken off all his drugs he's had a cold. He seems to survive at the moment on Tixylix and Calpol. Poor little sausage.
Just before I go on, you might not want to eat while reading the rest...
Over the last few days, Laurie has had some bad choking episodes, but we've always managed to clear them without too much difficulty. Its strange...when you or I get food stuck, we immediately find breathing difficult - after all, the food is stuck, and therefore should, you'd have thought, block your windpipe. With Laurie, things seem to be different. This is something that Rachel and I have discussed on many occasions, but she seems to think that when Laurie gets something stuck, it's way past the windpipe bit, and therefore just blocks any other food going down. It makes sense in a way. Food goes in your mouth, and then down your throat, and then, there's the split between the windpipe and the foodpipe. Food goes down one tube, while you breath through the other one. Its AFTER this point that Laurie had the repair done to his oesophagus, and therefore anything that gets stuck should be after the windpipe, and shouldn't interfere with his breathing. I want to believe it, but when you see him start to struggle and gag, it's very difficult not to panic and think that he's going to die. To support Rachel's theory, in one of the books that I've read, it does say that if you child has still not cleared the blockage within 12 hours, then take them to the hospital. 12 HOURS!!! I wouldn't leave it for 12 minutes! Anyway, this does go some way to convincing me that the windpipie isn't blocked. Still, it not nice...
Normally during a blockage (or a 'sticky' as we're come to call them) Laurie - and Rachel actually - will be very calm. I'm normally running around like a crazy thing, shouting useless words of encouragement to Laurie like 'C'mon, Mate, clear it' and 'C'mon, cough it up...' and usually when it does clear - a bit like watching a cat eject a furball! - I normally collapse in a crying, trembling heap on the floor, thanking the stars that Laurie is all OK. I tell you, having a baby has made me the softest person in the world! I am getting much better at being calmer during a sticky. If Laurie isn't too put out about it, then why should I be?
The last choke, though, even Laurie panicked.
I think that we've all become a bit complacent over the last weeks. Laurie has been doing very well with food, and regularly has toast or a sandwich without problems, but the other day, a bit of bread got stuck, and we didn't realise immediately. Whether because Laurie hasn't sussed it out, or because he just doesn't understand, he'll keep putting stuff in his mouth. This obviously stacks up on top of the stuck bit, until nothing else can get into his throat (this would cause the windpipe to get blocked, but luckily, it hasn't come to that yet). The first cough that he gives usually brings up anything other that the main sticky, and that's when the fun begins. We quickly remove him from his high chair and assume the 'Sticky Position' - basically chuck Laurie over your shoulder and gently rub his back. This usually is enough to clear anything, and he'll cough it up. Sometimes, however, it can be a bit worse. The other day took a good five minutes to clear, and Laurie was obviously in some distress. He knows that he should stay still, and just let us help him, but he was getting to the point that it was difficult to hold him. He was beginning to thrash about in a panic, and this made things harder. In the end, there was nothing for it but for me to hold him while Rachel put her finger down his throat. This is, I think, only the second time she's had to do this. But it worked. The offending bit of bread was bought up and cleared. You can always tell when Laurie has been having a panic because after the event, all he wants to do is sit quietly with you, looking into space. Usually there's no point in continuing with the meal at that point, and we have to try again after an hour or so.
Anyway, the point that I was going to make - before rattling on about stickys and sickies - was this...
I think that because he has a cold, like anyone else, there is a lot of mucus stuff floating around his nose and throat area. Therefore, his throat - which is already restricted - is further restricted with mucus, and this makes it much easier for things to get stuck. There, that's my assumption. I'm going to monitor it from now on, just to see if I'm right. This could be very useful to people at a later date.
Apart from the stickys, everything seems to be going very well. He's all up to date with his immunisations, and in a week or so he has the MMR jab. I won't be taking him to that. Anyone who sticks a needle in my baby's arm and hurts him will get a smack from me! Not really. I've only ever been present for one injection, and that was while he was in hospital. He never cried. If possible, I shall be there for the MMR. I think its an important one.
Right, that's it for now. I shall be away, and get on with my day. I shall report again soon, but until then, Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Just wondered what she sees in me...

2008-01-25T11:20:00.001Z

Utterly Elated

2008-01-16T16:56:00.000Z

Well, what can I say?
We took Laurie to see the consultant, Mr Samuels yesterday (14 January).
Mr Samuels is the man who operated on Laurie when it was discovered he had a TOF.
He was very pleased to see Laurie looking so well, and had no hesitation in suggesting that we stop giving him any drugs or medication.
Laurie has been on Ranitidine since birth. This is a drug that stops reflux (vomiting). The idea is that if Laurie was sick (like other babies) the acid in the stomach could burn the scar tissue at the repair in his throat. This can ‘thicken’ the scar tissue, and therefore constrict the throat, making it necessary for further operations to open the gap up again. With Ranitidine, there’s no vomiting, and therefore no risk of scar tissue build-up. (The Gaviscon basically did the same thing, but not as drastically.)
Mr Samuel also said that as Laurie was looking so fit, and was obviously doing very well, there was no need for him to go back to the hospital. When we first left the hospital, we were told that Laurie should be under the supervision of Mr Samuel until he was 15 years old, but Mr Samuel has now said that there is no need for this.
‘There is no point in bringing back to see me as he is obviously doing so well, and just treat him as a normal little boy’ he said.
He hasn’t left us completely on our own. He has given us his own mobile number, and has said that if we have any problems at all, or any concerns that things are changing, then we are to give him a call, and he will arrange for us to go to his clinic.
And so, we are free of the hospital and free of all drugs.
We are elated, to say the least.
Its strange, but both Rachel and I will miss the whole performance, the whole aggro of having to go to the hospital for check ups and overnight stays. Neither of us would EVER want to go through it again, but I think we very quickly became institutionalised – we could go to the hospital and know that we would be looked after. By having the worry of Laurie, we could forget every other thing that may be happening in our lives – work, bills that had to be paid, problems with the car, the house or just the computer – we could retreat into our own hell within the hospital, and just worry about one thing.
It’s really difficult to explain, and reading this as an outsider, it probably makes no sense at all, but somehow it makes sense to me.

And so on with our lives. Laurie is now 1 year and 2 weeks old, and he continues to go from strength to strength. He is useless as an alarm clock because he sleeps past 7am most mornings, and he is full of mischief. All the time.
I suppose we’ve reached the biggest goal since he was born, and we now need to aim for something else. His feeding also continues to get better – ham sandwiches, toast, and jacket potatoes, fish fingers and beans. He even tried a chip the other day.
He didn’t like it.
So different foods is still a goal.
Walking, obviously, and then I suppose we just take whatever comes at us.
I will still be maintaining this blog, but there might not be so many entries in it – at least they won’t all be about Laurie.
But please keep checking , cos you never know what can happen!

M.

Never Thought We'd Get To This Point

2008-01-15T13:08:00.000Z

And so we’ve made it – Laurie’s First Birthday.
It’s been a tough year, and there have been times when both myself and Rachel have lost it, but we’ve pulled through, and with a lot of effort (more on Rachel’s half than mine – after all, she was with him when I went back to work) we’ve got to where we are now.
Laurie is still not 100%, but he’s getting there. And anyway, as you always hear, we wouldn’t change the way he is for anything.
The best bit is that it looks like we have finally worked out one of the major problems – his breathing. Since he was born, he has always had loud breathing – Rachel called it the Rottweiler Growl. Well, although no one has actually come out and said it, it looks like it could be asthma related.
And so, this brings me on to my worst bit – all this time that Laurie has been waking during the night, his mum and I have been getting steadily more and more angry – more worked up about the whole situation – because we couldn’t see any reason why he should be so distressed. And all the time there was a real reason for it.
Obviously all babies cry – we all know that - but with Laurie, he just wasn’t growing out of it.
From Day 1, we’ve had a checklist for when he cried. Was he too hot? Too cold? Was his room too bright, too dark? Was he teething? Wet or uncomfortable in any way?
Always we went through the checklist when he cried, trying to establish what the problem was. Normally it was none of the above. Nothing we did seemed to calm him or make things easier. I couldn’t even blame the ghosts.
And all this time, it looks like he really did have a problem: Our poor little baby couldn’t breathe.
Only the other day I felt so low at work, felt so guilty, that I emailed Rachel to apologise for my actions, for being such a miserable git. All this time, we’ve both been suffering broken nights – in fact, in the last 365 nights, I honestly think that we’ve had uninterrupted sleep for about 20 of them.
Laurie would wake up in the middle of the night, alone in his room, unable to breathe, and it would scare him to death.
He was terrified, and didn’t know what was happening to him.
What would you do?
He cried and cried. And the more he cried, the more he found breathing difficult.
Obviously we knew that he had restricted movement in his windpipe – I mean the bloody thing was cut and sewn into a different position 3 days after birth!
And then, following this, he got struck down by bronchiolitis within the first 6 months, and this, of course, is a virus that attacks the airways.
What no one deducted was, with these two issues alone, there may be some long lasting damage to his breathing ability.
All the sleepless nights, all the late night visits to the hospital because he wouldn’t settle. Even the time that he just stopped breathing and started to fit, we just wanted to know what was happening to our baby. As far as we were concerned, we were watching him die every time this happened.
And no one could help. No one really knew what to do.
And then, in early December we took him into hospital due to the fact that he suddenly and without warning, just fell asleep. He gave a few pathetic cries, and then just fell asleep and wouldn’t wake up. When he finally came round, he was very unresponsive and slow.
And so, like the previous times, we took him straight to A&E to be examined.
It was suggested that we try an inhaler – similar to the ones that asthma sufferer’s use. We had been given one of these some months earlier when his breathing was very ‘raspy’, and although it made a small difference at the time, we were never really advised to carry on with the inhaler. The nurse was very nice and said to give it another go, and almost immediately after giving him 5 puffs, he settled right down and just became calm. It was an amazing transformation.
They wanted us to stay in A&E for 4 hours just to make sure there were no other problems, but it was already 1 o’clock in the morning, and we could see straight away that he was so much better. And anyway, we only lived 15 minutes away.
It was suggested that we give him 10 puffs for 5 breaths before he went to bed each night, and extra puffs ‘whenever he might need it’. This is easier said than done. The inhaler is administered through a tube that has a face mask on it, and Laurie HATES things on his face. We would sneak in at night once he was asleep and gently rest the mask over his mouth and nose, and stand there silently, trying to spray the inhaler without waking him! But it was worth it.
Through trial and error over the next few days we established that once this medicine was administered, Laurie settled down and slept like, well, a baby.
Quite simply, whenever he exerted himself – when playing, for example - he would find it difficult to breathe. The action of breathing harder would close his airways, and this would make it even more difficult. The more he struggled for breath, the more the airways closed up. And this is exactly what happened when he went to sleep. Just like someone who snores, as his body relaxed, the airways would relax and close up, and this would make him struggle for breath. He would then wake up, unable to breathe, and panic and struggle even more. It’s no wonder the poor little man would cry and not settle.
Rachel took him to the local doctor, to get a second opinion about the usage of the inhaler – 5 breaths of 10 puffs seemed a little excessive – and they said that the inhaler that we had was to be used once breathing became difficult. They prescribed one that is a ‘preventative’ medicine – give him 2 puffs in the morning and 2 at night and this should stop any breathing difficulties before they start.
So that’s what we did. It has been an incredible transformation. Within a week, he became a completely different little boy. Laurie now sleeps through the night – every night. Rachel and I go in to see him when we go to bed, and he is so silent now that you really have to listen to hear him breathe. Not only that, but he can now crawl around and laugh and giggle without getting out of breath, and he’s so much happier in himself. He’s even got to the point where we can hold the facemask on him when he’s awake, and he presses the button to release the spray – I think he quite enjoys it. Perhaps he knows that it really helps him breathe.
And so there we are. We are finally getting full nights sleep. In fact, it’s so good that Laurie is now a useless morning alarm – he often sleeps until past 8 in the morning – nearly 14 hours – so you can’t trust him to wake you up for work!
Also - and this is the best bit - the other night, he was very restless, and was crying when we put him to bed. He cried for well over 30 minutes, and it was wonderful.
The reason?
He has another tooth coming through.
The reason why it’s so good?
Well, for the first time in a year, for the first time in his difficult little life, this was the first time that we knew what the problem was, and we knew that we could help him. We knew that we could put some stuff on his gums, and we knew that we could comfort him and really mean it when we assured him that we knew what the problem was.
When we told him, ‘Don’t worry, it’ll soon feel better’ we knew we were right, we were telling him the truth – we were not lying. We were able to be real parents who could give real love to a real simple problem.
It was just wonderful to be able to hold him until he finally went to sleep, and to know that it was only his teeth.
And so there we are.
He’s a different little boy, and we are happy parents!

Happy Birthday, Laurie

2008-01-03T21:24:00.000Z

It's Lauries FIRST BIRTHDAY today!!
Happy Birthday, Darlin' from your Mummy and your Daddy!
'It's been a Long December,
But I've reason to believe
That this year will
Be better than the last...'

Thats' all I wanted to say.
M.

Something Funny For Christmas...

2007-12-24T13:50:00.000Z

Hi y'all...
I just thought that for Christmas I'd do something a little funny.
Happy Christmas and a Great New Year to Everyone.

The Road to Enlightenment - The Teachings of Zen
1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me for the path is narrow. In fact, just get lost and leave me alone.
2. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and a flat tyre.
3. The darkest hour is just before dawn. So if you're going to steal your neighbour's' milk, that's the time to do it.
4. Sex is like air. It's not important unless you aren't getting any.
5. Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted
6. No one is listening until you fart.
7. Always remember you're unique. Just like everyone else.
8. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.
9. If you think nobody cares whether you're alive or dead, try missing a couple of mortgage payments.
10. Before you criticise someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticise them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
11. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.
12. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
13. If you lend someone £20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
14. If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.
15. Some days you are the fly; some days you are the windscreen.
16. Don't worry; it only seems kinky the first time.
17. Good judgement comes from bad experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgement.
18. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.
19. A closed mouth gathers no food.
20. Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
21. There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.
22. Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your lips are moving.
23. Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
24. Never miss a good chance to shut up.
25. We are born naked, wet and hungry, and get slapped on our backside then things get worse.
26. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

Pictures of a Flat Head!

2007-11-21T16:10:00.000Z

OK, as promised, here are some pictures. It's a strange thing to put up, but there you go...

This first one is from July. That was when we first got the helmet. As you can see, there is a bit of a bulge on the left side. This is actually the correct bit of the head. The flat right side needed to grow out to match it...

This next picture is about a month later in August. As you can see, his hair has grown, and although it might not look like it, there is already quite a bit of difference in the shape of his head...

And then, moving onto now, this last one was taken a few days ago in November. It's pretty obvious at this point that the head is just about spot on!

And that's about it really. As you can (hopefully) see, it was well worth the efforT and expence to get it sorted. Laurie can now go through life knowing that he can shave his head without anyone laughing at him!

Hey! Where's My Crash Hat Gone?

2007-11-16T13:01:00.000Z

Excellent news - Laurie is now out of his crash hat! We went to see Sally @ Technology in Motion on Wednesday, and Laurie was fully measured, and scanned and all sorts, and he has been given the all clear to remove his hat! Yee-haw! Rachel and I had agreed that if his measurements had reduced so that his cranial index was below 90%, then we would take the hat off. Well, good news - it was 89%. I won't confuse / bore you with the full measurements (actually, I didn't keep them in my own mind really) but when he was first measured up, his index was 98%. This has now reduced by 10% and this means that he is just outside the average section of head sizes (75% - 88%). Having said all of the above, his hat has been adjusted so that we can put it on him for another month if we feel the need. If we keep it on, it may be that his head will improve by another couple of percent, but it was actually suggested to wean him off of it gradually. This is not such a bad idea, seeing as when we got home it was a full 5 minutes before he rolled around and banged his head and cried! He's even got a bruise!

Anyway, it's off, and that's the main thing.

I'll get some pictures up as soon as I can.

Other news...

Not much else to report, really.
Oh, except that we have also taken Laurie to see a Speech Therapist. Now, I know what you're thinking: He can't even talk yet. Well, he's very advanced for his age! He he he, just kidding. When he was first discharged from hospital in January, it was suggested that once he was eating more solid foods, it would be a good idea to take him to a speech therapist. Believe it or not, if a baby doesn't eat properly, this can affect their speech. With Laurie having a TOF, this makes eating lumpy foods more difficult, and it was suggested that the Speech Terapist might be able to check that things are all going to plan.
So, anyway, we went to see one at Addenbrookes. She was a very nice lady who took lots of notes, and was genuinly interested in Lauries development. We had to feed various things to Laurie while she watched (the audience didn't bother him in the slightest) and then she made some suggestions. Well, she made 2 actually:
1) She suggested that when we give him water, we should wait till his mouth is empty. (He has to have lots of water with all meals to help the food down his throat). By waiting till his mouth is empty, this will ensure that the water is not actually pushing the food in his mouth down his throat and choking him! (seems common sence, really when you're told these things!)
2) When we give him things that he needs to chew, we should ensure that we place them on one side of his mouth. This way, he will have to chew to get the food moving round - rather than just holding it in the centre of his mouth, and waiting for it to soften up so that he can suck it down.
And that was it.
The Therapist said that it was obvious from his healthy exterior that he was enjoying his food, and was not having too many problems. I think that she was getting at the fact that he was big for his age! She also said that she didn;t need to see him again, but if we felt the need for a talk or advise, she would be happy to help.
So all in all, another great result, and something else that can be ticked off the list.

So there you are - all up to date.

Hopefully there won't be anything major to write about within the next few weeks, so the next thing will be Lauries First Christmas, followed rapidly by Lauries First Birthday.
Of course, taking into account his previous track record for Hospital Visits, he'll probably be in at some point during Christmas and his birthday on the 3rd!

Love to you all,

M & R & L.

Hospitals and Conferences

2007-10-22T13:51:00.000+01:00

Right, where to begin?
It’s been a bit of a tough week - or should that be a TOF week - all in all. First off, we went to the TOF’s convention in Solihull (more details below) but after this – Wednesday the 17th of October, to be exact, Laurie had to go into hospital again. In an ambulance.
So I’ll start with that…
He got the symptoms of a cold after our weekend away, but didn’t seem to be to bothered by it – in fact, on the Wednesday afternoon, he was rolling and crawling and giggling all over the living room. He was a bit snotty, and had a horrible cough, but still smiled.
I put him to bed at about 7.30pm, and he took a long time to go off – every time he laid on his back, he would cough, and wake up. Eventually, he went to sleep, and Rachel and I had our dinner.
Then, at about 8.45, he woke up screaming, so I went up to sooth him. The short of it is that there was no way he was going to be soothed, so I decided to take him downstairs to be with Rachel and I. As soon as I picked him up I knew he was too hot, and as I went downstairs, I thought I felt him shake. I stood rocking him gently as Rachel and I decided what to do. Neither of us wanted to go to the hospital – it would be several hours of sitting in A&E while they decided what was best for him, and then they would either send us home, or keep him in for the night for observation. Don’t get me wrong, we both wanted him to be in the best place, but we didn’t want to be sitting around for the night if we could avoid it.
Rachel decided to phone NHS Direct and ask there advise. It was while she was on the phone to them that Laurie started to fit.
He was obviously having difficulties breathing, and the more he tried, the more difficult it became. I indicated to Rachel, who passed on the information to NHS Direct, and the immediately called an ambulance.
15 minutes later, the flashing lights arrived, and they assessed him, and decided to take him in.
Oxygen was the first thing, and this made a lot of difference (apart from the fact that Laurie didn’t want the mask on his face), but it kept him stable.
I followed the ambulance in the car, pretty certain that we had a long wait in front of us, and pretty certain that Rachel would be wanting to stay there the night (they can only accommodate one parent).
As predicted, the wait took us to 2.30 in the morning, at which time a bed had been found, and we took Laurie in. He was so tired (as we all were) but he still fought sleep.
I got home at 3, and had what sleep I could, while Rachel stayed at the hospital lying on one of their plastic covered beds in the hot ward.
I went back at 10 the next morning to be told by Rachel that they had both had a dreadful night.
He had to be connected to the machine that monitors his SATS (I think this stands for Saturations – at least there’s nothing else better listed on acronyms.com). The SATS are his heartrate and the amount of oxygen in his blood. Whenever he was awake, although he was coughing and struggling for breath, his heartrate was around 120 (which is fine) and his Oxygen level was around 97% (100% being the obvious maximum). So this was fine, too. However, as soon as he relaxed to go to sleep, the heart rate would increase to 200 (!) and the oxygen would drop to below 90 (setting off the annoying alarm on the monitor). So, to sleep, he had to have oxygen to keep him going. This was the main reason for keeping him in the hospital. Apart from this, there were no incidents. He had a good Thursday, and we hoped that he would be home on the Friday, but that night, and Friday morning proved to be a bit of a downer, and so they kept him in for Friday night as well.
His sleep on Friday night was pretty good – he hardly needed any oxygen, and by the end of Saturday, he was assessed again, and we were told that we could take him home.
So, what was wrong with him?
Well, nobody could actually tell us.
The bottom line is that he had a very bad cold, and I think that this just affected him worse than it would a normal baby – his little airways couldn’t cope with the added pressure, and made it too difficult for him to breathe. He was given an inhaler (like the ones Asthma sufferers use), and this did make things easier for him. They did suggest that he could be suffering from Asthma (Rachel and I both have eczema, and this creates Asthma, apparently) but I don’t think he has this.
But what do I know, I’m not a doctor!
Anyway, there you go. Laurie’s back home again, and indeed, he’s back at the childminders (although this is so that Rachel can go back to bed – she’s now suffering with flu!) but all seems to be getting better.
Hopefully, as he gets older he will get more immune to this sort of stuff, but until then, we will have to keep a close eye on him.

So, now, onto the TOFS Conference…(and strangely enough, I mention asthma and ecezma in this next bit!)

We went to a TOF Conference over the weekend of 13/14th October in Solihull.
The TOF charity (http://www.tofs.org.uk/) hold a conference each year to raise awareness of the condition (TOFs awareness week is 6 – 13 October) and this year was the 25th Anniversary Dinner.
So, we went along to the Holiday Inn in Solihull see what it was all about, and it was really good!
We set off from Elsworth at about 7.15, and got to The Holiday Inn at about 8.45 – the roads were really kind to us, and we made good time.
The conference was due to start at 10.00am, and Laurie was booked into the crèche from 9.00. We were a bit unsure as to how many other people would be there, or indeed, how the day would work out – I had images of just a few odd people milling around, not really knowing what to say or do, but when we got there, it was as if TOFs had taken the hotel over.
Our timing was great – straight to the restaurant for a nice hearty fried breakfast – sausage, eggs, bacon, beans – you get the picture. Laurie even had some scrambled egg and beans! Yum yum.
It was the first time that either Rachel or I (or Laurie, for that matter) had met another TOF person, and there were loads of them – young and old!
One of the first things we heard on entering the restaurant was the familiar TOF Cough - and it wasn’t from Laurie. A small boy – I suppose he was 5 or 6 years old - was running around after his (healthy) brother, and as he did so, he gave a cough. It was almost like a welcome to this other world.
We sat down for something to eat, and immediately started talking to a couple from Leeds, who were there with their twin boys – one had TOF, and the other was unaffected (apparently, this is quite common in twins). The additional thing was, that Harrison (the TOF child) also wore a hat the same as Lauries!! It was a different colour, but came from Technology in Motion in Leeds! It was really strange. Harrison was wearing his hat for exactly the same reason as Laurie – he had a flat head, which was made worse by lying in the hospital.

After breakfast (OK, so it was the second breakfast for some of us) we took Laurie to the crèche, and he didn’t even know we’d handed him over – his eyes were on the large inflatable car full of plastic balls! We went down to the conference rooms, and found a chair a sat down. There were going to be a series of presentations from Surgeons and experts on the subject of TOF, together with a Q&A session and ‘workshops’ There were several workshops, all about different aspects of TOFs – tube feeding, resuscitation, genetics etc – and they were an opportunity to choose a subject, and ask questions of the expert at the front.
Both Rachel and I learnt a lot during the day – some of it was just a ‘refresher’, but other elements were new to us.
One of the things that did surprise us was the fact that the drugs that Laurie has (Renetadine) is designed to stop him being sick. This we knew, but what we didn’t know was that if he is sick, the acid in the stomach could affect the scar tissue in his throat, which could then close his throat up, creating more surgery.
So, we don’t forget to give him the drugs anymore!
The other main thing was the fact that there are so many other complications and deformalities that are associated with a TOF child. Thankfully we haven’t had any other problems with Laurie, and we do realise just how lucky we are to have him as he is. Before he came out of hospital in January, we had the usual checks for heart and lung defects, but there was no problem here. He is also physically fine – all the correct fingers and toes etc. But there are so many other things – deformed limbs, deformed/twisted spine, extra sets of ribs, bottom in the wrong place, stunted growth – the complete list pretty much covers every conceivable deformation that you could think of. And then you get to the respiratory problems.
Hopefully, Laurie has no problem here either – he hasn’t shown any difficulties, but in later life, when he is able to talk to us, he may suddenly announce that he can’t breathe! Asthma is common in TOF children, as are other breathing problems, but hopefully Laurie will be as healthy as he can be. As my brother said right from the start, ‘Look at the stock he’s from’.
So, all in all, we’re really bloody lucky.

It was a sit down dinner in the evening (even though the rugby was on!) and on our table was a very nice man and his wife, and he was the oldest TOF in Britain! He wasn’t like 90 or anything, but he was 59 (I think). He was a very nice man, who had just run a marathon (not that day, you understand, but a week or so ago). So he was a fine example of what can happen, even with TOF.

So, there you go. It was a very good day, and most informative, but just knowing that we’re not alone in all of this helped a lot!

Head Update - 10 Oct 07

2007-10-10T14:07:00.000+01:00

Hi Y'all,
Laurie has been to see Sally @ Technology in Motion (Wimbledon) today, and yet again, he has made splendid progress.
The results for this month are...
He has flattened out by another 3%, taking him to 91% (you may recall that 88% is the average) and the difference between the sticking out bit and the flat bit of his head has squashed down by a further 2mm to 7mm.
Sally did say that we could remove the hat now, but recommended that we keep it on for another month, just to be sure. She also said that if he were a new case, they wouldn;t recommend giving him a hat because the mis-shape is not severe enough anymore. So, good news all round.
He's booked in for what will hopefully be his final check up on 14th November (5 weeks time) and we'll see what happens then.
If this does become the final visit, Laurie will have his head scanned again, and I will report back with the final figures.
So there we go.
Apart from that, Laurie is doing fine, and continues to grow, and eat and sleep. We think that he has at least 1 other tooth coming through - this will be his seventh - and we find that he fits better into 12 - 18 month clothes, even though he is only 9 months old!
Oh, nearly forgot, next week is TOFs Awearness Week, and as part of this, Rachel, Laurie and I will be going to a TOFs conference (the 25th Anniversary one, no less) in Birmingham. This is organised by http://www.tofs.org.uk/, and should be really interesting. It's an all weekender, and we hope to learn a lot more about this condition. As always, I will report back to you all if I think that you will find it useful.
Right, that's it. See you next time.
Mark.

Head Update.

2007-09-24T12:13:00.000+01:00

OK, Head Update…
We’ve been to see the very nice lady (Sally) at Wimbledon, and she is really happy with the progress of Laurie’s head (what a strange job to have, isn't it?)
Anyway, the measurement that makes sense to me is this one…at first, the difference between the sticking out bit of his head, and the flat bit was 14mm. Now it’s only 9mm. Basically, this means that it’s gone down by another 2% which takes it to 94%. I can't remember what I have previously written on this Blog, but 88% is average. Sally said that she would like to see Laurie reach 86%, and she has no doubts that this is very possible. Knowing Laurie, and all the crap that he has already been through, I think that he will beat all the odds again, and will have no problems getting to this. We shall see.
Anyway, the bottom line is that he doing really well, and getting on just fine.
There’s not a huge amount to add at the moment…
Oh yes, nearly forgot. The place that we take Laurie to see about his head – Technology In Motion – well, if you watch that programme with Ewan Magregor where him and his mate go round the world on their motorbikes, well, they wear knee braces to help their legs and knees on the gruelling ride – well, those braces come from Technology In Motion!
How cool is that.
I said that they were the experts.
Other news...
Laurie waved yesterday! I mean, really waved, and knew what he was doing, not just a baby waving his arms in an attention grabbing way, but a REAL WAVE!
We waved at him, and he smiled, and waved right back.
Of course, we didn't have a camera ready, so you'll just have to believe me.

Also, his crawling tecnique is coming along. It's still more of a 'lunge' but he's definately getting there. To encourage him further, we have purchased a 'Discovery Tunnel' for him. Basically he crawls through it, playing with the various things along the way. I think he needs a bit of work to realise what he's supposed to do, but he's a fast learner.

We have continued to have a couple of major choking episodes in the last week. We tried him Raviolli, but although it was well mashed, we think that it needed more sause. Anyway, even though he obviously enjoyed the stuff, it got stuck in his throat too easily - so we won't be trying that again for a while.
Other 'finger foods' that he now eats include Milky Bars (or preferably Buttons), carrot flavor giant Wotsits (no, really you can get them) and JELLY!!!
He loves jelly.
More other news...
I got sent the attached by my mate Simon over the weekend. You don't need sound, but you do need a sence of humour. It made me laugh, anyway. Just follow the link...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfcQ1q3P1ag

See you next time.
M.

Just A Quickie (Ooh Errr)

2007-09-03T13:24:00.000+01:00

Just a quick post to say that Laurie has been back to Addenbrookes for another routine check on his throat. He was put under anesthetic again, and they had a drill around. Basically, he's doing fine. Mr Samuel (The Main Man) is very happy with the results so far, and doesn't want to see us again until around November. So that's good.

Other news...

We've had the first check up on his flat head, and Sally - the nice lady in Wimbledon - said that his progress has been 'outstanding'. The skid-lid that Laurie is wearing basically holds everything in place, except for the flat bit on his head. This is allowed to 'grow out' into the hat, so that it catches up with the rest of the head. When he was first measured, there was a difference of 14mm between the flattest bit and the bulging bit. Within 7 days, this has reduced to 12mm. So, all in all, the hat seems to be doing what it should do.

ALSO...

He has progressed with things that he is eating...

he now has Wotsits (cheesy crisps) Quavers (other cheesy crisps) toast (but we have to be careful of the type of bread we give him - some is a lot more stodgy that others - and Jaffa Cakes! We have no idea if he should really be having Jaffa Cakes, but he loves them!

We have tried him on banana, but this tends to get stuck if it's not within another dessert, and we had a MAJOR choking even the other day. It was very nasty, and on the edge of rushing to the hospital. It was eventually dislodged (by a deft finger down the throat from Mummy) and all was well. Even so, he's doing really well with his progress.

We have another appointment to see Sally for his head on Wednesday 12th September, and I'll post again when we have been there. Having said that, we're having some building works done on our house over the next couple of weeks, so there could be a delay...or, I might just post details of the work we are having done!

Right, that's it for the time being, so see you soon.

Look at my New Crash Hat!

2007-08-22T13:11:00.001+01:00

So, we've been to the place in Wimbledon again - Technology in Motion - and Laurie has been fitted with his crash hat. (Actually, just as an aside, I also noticed pictures on the wall showing that Technology In Motion have also kitted out various rock and pop starts with various leg braces and things from when the have sustained injuries on the stage. Cool). Anyway, we've got to introduce Laurie to his hat gradually, so for the first day (Thursday 16th August) it was on for an hour and then off for an hour. Friday we moved on to 2 hours on, 1 hour off, and then Saturday it was 4 hours on, 1 off. The idea is that he should get used to it as the days go on. Well, the first day, apart from looking at us initially with a look that said 'What the hell is this!!!???' he didn't seem to care about it whatsoever. In fact, he even fell asleep with it on!

The idea is, that by Monday, it will be on for 23 of the 24 hours (we take it off for 30 minutes for 'playtime' and then 30 minutes for his evening bath and feed).

It's a bit fiddly trying to get it on for a start, but once it's there, it can't come off very easily.

Of course, as soon as I emailed the above picture out to family and friends, my brother immediately emailed back with the following:

'Very nice, but somebody should tell him that the Russians have already beaten us in the Space Race...'

Talking of Monday, just when Laurie should be getting used to it, he is going back into hospital to have another check down his throat, just to make sure that things are still working fine. We have no doubts that they are, but it will be nice to find out from the experts - I'll keep you posted. (Or should that be 'Blogged'?)

Anyway, that, in a nutshell, is it. The hat is on, and should be there for the next 4 months.
Watch this space...

Laurie Needs A Crash Helmet!

2007-08-06T13:42:00.000+01:00

Hi People,

Following on from our worries about Lauries flat head - or Plagiocephaly if you prefer - we took him to a place in Wimbledon called Tecnology In Motion, and saw a nice lady called Sally Hunt. This was on 27th July.

Basically, this place provides all manner of things to do with broken bones, sprains, fractures and things like that. The walls were lined with pictures of sportsmen and women with words of thanks for the neck brace or the callipers, or the new arm - that sort of thing. Anyway, it was very good to see that they obviously had a great deal of experience in bones and 're-forming' things.

Sally started off by explaining what they did, and that the purpose of our first meeting was to take some measurements to establish if Laurie did, indeed, have a flat head, and if he did, what sort of treatment - if any - would be needed.

What happens is, a measurement is taken from the front of the head to the back, and then across from side to side. If I understood correctly, in most cases, the difference between the two should be 75% - in other words, if it's 100 front to back, then it should be 75 side to side - this give a nice head shape.

In the case of a Plagiocephaly, the back of the head is flat on one side. In this case, they also take measurements across the diagonal of the head. This will show how much difference there is in the total head shape. It sounds really complicated, but it was all pretty simple, really. Anyway, as I have said, 75% is the basic 'normal' head, they will allow up to 84% before they start to think that things are a big questionable, and Laurie came out at 96%. Basically, this means that he is termed as 'severe plagiocephaly'. The other measurement they gave us was 14mm. This is the differemce between one side of his head and the other - in other words, one side of the head 'bulges out' by 14mm. It doesn't sound a lot, but he only has a small head, and it is really quite prononced - please see the picture!

Anyway, where does this lead us???

Well, it means that we have decided that he will need to wear a special crash hat for a few months, and this will help to bring the head back into allignment. The crash hat is actually called a STARBand.

It's exactly the same principle as a brace on your teeth: you put it on, and it starts to shape things in the direction that you want them to go. So, we have ordered Laurie a STARBand, and it will have a nice denim jean pattern on it - don't worry, I'll get a picture as soon as it's possible.

He will have to wear it for about 4 months, and it will be on for 23 hours of the day! Hopefully it won't be too much of a problem.

(The main problem is for Mum and Dad who have to pay for the thing! Although the flattening of the head was undoubtably caused by Laurie being unable to move when he was first born, the corrective proceedure - ie the crash hat - is seen as 'cosmetic' and therefore is not covered under NHS or any other private mmedical insurances. It's a shame, but we are more than confident that it is totally the correct thing to do, and well worth the cost!)

So, Laurie was then scanned in a special machine, and this took a 3D picture of his head. This picture is then used in the construction of the STARBand so that it fits his little head exactly.

We have made an appointment to go back and have the fitting, and this is booked for Wednesday 15th August. So, at that time, I will be able to give you another update.

Following the initial fitting, we will then need to take Laurie back to Wimbledon every couple of weeks to get it checked and remeasured.

I will be able to keep you informed as things go on...

Ever tried to give a cat a bath???

2007-07-17T12:10:00.001+01:00

21 Years!!!!!!

2007-07-12T12:00:00.000+01:00

I would just like to take this opportunity to say that 21 years ago today (12 July) I was standing with 75,000 other people in the middle of Wembley Stadium – the ORIGINAL ‘twin towers’ stadium – waiting to see Queen, live in concert.
I was 16 years old, and it was brilliant.
21 YEARS!!! Bloody Hell!!!
Twenty ONE years! TWENTY one Years! Twenty One YEARS!!!
It rained. And I never even noticed.

Lauries Been To The Hospital...

2007-07-05T13:00:00.000+01:00

Time for an update…
First the good bit…

We took Laurie in to Addenbrookes on Monday 2nd July to meet Mr Samuel again, and to be checked out for signs that his oesophagus may need re-boring. Basically, when the original surgery was carried out, we were told that where the two ends of the oesophagus were rejoined, there would be scar tissue, and that this may not grow with the rest of his oesophagus – scar tissue is dead, and therefore will not grow or stretch very well.
The procedure on Monday was to check for any narrowing of the oesophagus, and to stretch it out as necessary.
A camera is put down the throat, and into the stomach, and if there is a narrowing, a long balloon thing is then inserted into the oesophagus and inflated, and this has the effect of stretching the tubes – therefore, hopefully there would be no need for anything involving knives and scaples.

Laurie was put to sleep under general anaesthetic, and the procedure took about 45 minutes.
When we were called back to the recovery room, Laurie was already awake and having a bit of a cry. The best bit was that as soon as he saw Mummy and Daddy, the tears stopped, and the grin appeared.
Mr Samual came and spoke to us, and said that there was absolutely NOTHING wrong with Laurie’s oesophagus, and that he didn’t need to do anything out of the ordinary. He did say that he put the balloon in just as a precautionary check, but that it had inflated without any obstruction.
To say that we were relieved is a bit of an understatement.
I think that Mr Samual was quietly very proud of job – afterall, the original surgery was one of the biggest repairs that he has done, and for there to be no additional procedures necessary, I think he should be justly proud!

So, there we are. We have to take him back again on August the 20th just for another routine check, but I can’t think that anything will change from now till then. I will, of course, keep you updated.

Now to the bad bit…

It could be time to learn another long word: ‘Plagiocephaly’ or ‘Plagio’.
It basically means ‘flat head’. http://www.orthomerica.com/products/cranial/cranialindex.htm
This is next on the agenda of The Life Of Laurie.
I have had concerns ever since Laurie first came out of hospital that the back of his head was flat, but most people – including most of the medical profession - just look at it and say that it will grow out as he gets older (it’s taken me a while to convince Rachel that something is wrong with his head!)
Basically, Plagio seems to be getting more common, and it follows on from the fact that babies are put to sleep on their backs nowadays (this is all to do with cot death prevention). Because the baby is lying on his/her head for a long time, the back of the scull doesn’t have a chance to form in a nice round shape. However, when babies start sitting up and lying on their stomachs, the growth of the scull continues and usually evens itself out. The scull is still forming up to the first 2 years, apparently.
Anyway, with Laurie, not only has he been laid on his back for the first 6 months, but the first week of his life he was paralysed, and then for the next 3 weeks was confined to a bed with very restricted movement. I think that this has had a knock on effect with the forming of his scull, and although he still has a year and a half before it stops shaping up, I don’t think that it’s going to get any better.
Thankfully, Rachel has finally decided that she agrees with me, and we are now looking into corrective measures for this.
Now, I know that there will be some of you out there that are thinking we are just being over protective, but I can assure you that we feel this is a real concern to us. It also makes perfect sense, taking into account the first months of his life, that this sort of scull deformity could easily happen.
Apart from anything else, we really don’t give a toss what anyone else thinks – Laurie’s life has been tough enough as it is, and we intend to look after him to our best abilities.
So anyway, we have found out about clinics within the UK, and we are booked in for a free consultation on July 29th at one in Wimbledon. At least we will be able to get a professional view on whether they think it’s worth doing something about.
If they do think it’s a case of Plagio, then they can prescribe a helmet for him that will help shape the scull. It’s like a crash-hat you wear on your bike, but a bit more sophisticated.
So there we are. Another thing to worry about, but this time with the added concern of financial output. These things don’t come cheap, and because it’s seen as a ‘cosmetic’ procedure, we cannot get it on the NHS or via private medical insurance. Still, if it needs doing, then money doesn’t come into it. And anyway, we’ll be wanting the best in the country to look at him.
Keep watching this space for the next update…

The First 28 Days - To Hell and Back

2007-06-23T12:07:00.000+01:00

While we were in the hospital waiting for Laurie to be born, I decided that I should write a diary about the experience. This was before I knew what a issue it would all become. I have only read it back to myself once, so for all I can recall there will be things in the following that could be embarrassing - but I don't care - we're all adults here!

I know it's a bit lengthly, but you might find some of it interesting...

To Hell and Back - What We Did On New Years Eve

1st January 2007 – Midday

Monday

So here we are, waiting in the hospital, waiting for ‘SpongeBob’ to arrive. This is Hinchingbrook Hospital in Huntingdon. All in all, it seems like quite a nice place to have the baby. Of course, given the choice, we would have gone to Addenbrookes in Cambridge. That’s posh – and so are we!
Its 1st January 2007, and just before midday. Rachel came in last night - NEW YEARS Eve, and is being induced – the natural due date was 27th December, but because of all the pain and discomfort she’s been feeling, the specialist people have decided that she should be induced. She is in a ward all on her own, but likes the idea of this, because it means that she can get a good night’s sleep – without being woken by other new mothers and babies!
She didn't get much sleep last night – the last night at home, but with all the things going on around her at the moment, she may not get that much sleep here tonight, either. At least she has a television here, so we can watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang this afternoon! There’s not a lot more that I can say at the moment. Hopefully baby will be wanting to make an appearance within an acceptable time. We shall see.

So now its 4.50pm. I've been home for lunch, and come back to the hospital, put another £2.00 in the bastard car park machine and came back into the ward for the afternoon session. I cannot lie, but it’s boring!

One of the many midwife types have just been in, and done another quick heartbeat test on the baby (they seem to do them every now and then - perhaps they know things are taking a long time, and want to assure us that we have not been forgotten). Rachel has been having contractions, but they are not completely regular. The midwife has been waiting for a bed to become free in the labour ward, so that they could take Rachel through to have her waters broken. Problem is, they don't like to do this after 5 o'clock in the evening.
Its now 5.03. So that idea would appear to be fecked, then!

Rachel has just gone to have a bath - she's getting very bored with waiting. Technically, I should be leaving here at 5, but seeing as Rachel is in a room all on her own, no one cares that I will be staying.
But now there’s another twist to the story...a large green lady has just come into the room, and confirmed that they won't be doing the break-the-waters thing today, and that I should go home and get some sleep. She seems to think that Rachel's waters will break naturally within the early hours of the morning. I left the hospital at around 9pm, when it became obvious that nothing was going to happen that night. I went home alone to watch The Lord of The Rings, and wait for a call to come in.
If nothing happens, then I need to get into the hospital again for 8 tomorrow morning. Hopefully SpongeBob will make an appearance then.
We shall see.

2nd January 2007 – Tuesday – 6.20pm

Ok, so I'm writing this at 6.20pm on 2nd January. Rachel is now in Delivery Room 1, and has been here since 6am this morning. She has had her waters broken (that was before I arrived, and apparently it was like sitting in a swimming pool – nice) and she is now waiting for `the big push`. When I came in this morning at 8.15am, she was not happy. Although she had been in since 6, nothing else has happened, and no one else has come to check on her. She was getting a bit narked, when finally, a nice Chinese midwife came in, and started to get things going before she went home for the day (she had been on nights). So this was our first midwife. By about 10, the second midwife of the day came in and had a bustle around, and then went out again, promising to come back. Eventually she did come back, and did various things before she also left for the day (actually, she was here until 3.30pm).
Because of the slow progress, they have decided that it would be best if Rachel was put on a drip to help things along. This means that she can no longer have a water birth. She’s a bit unhappy about it, but it can't be helped.
At last we have a couple of midwives who are lovely. They have posed with a cuddly SpongeBob in the crib, just for a laugh, and they are nice to talk to. They are giving us 100% of their time – there’s no one else giving birth at the moment.

Lunchtime, and I popped home for a break. When I returned at about 3.00, Rachel had been having some good, strong contractions – in fact, they were just thinking of phoning me - and things looked like they were moving at a good pace.
The specialist man has also been n to take a look, and he has suggested that Rachel should have an epidural. This is something that she really didn’t want, but after some initial tears, she decided it might be best. She has been in a bit of pain, and this will help relieve it.
The epidural is one of the scariest things I have ever had to witness – an injection into the spine with a fecking big needle, and at anytime, it could go wrong and that would be very bad! Of course it all went ok, but that's not the point!
Anyway, all pain immediately left, and Rachel is smiling again.

The midwives think that SpongeBob should be here by midnight. They are hoping he is, cos that’s when they knock off, and they want to see him!

3rd January – Wednesday - About 3am.

Rachel went 'into labour' at about 12.30am – half past Midnight. The drip is doing its job, as is the epidural, and things were looking good - the proposed 12am time of birth has gone well out of the window, though.

It’s now about 3am, and Rachel has been told to push! She did a couple, and it all looked ok, but then, the midwife decided that baby wasn't moving out. A consultant was called (a bizarre looking man, who was actually wonderful) and he said that caesarean was probable. The baby didn't have his head in the correct position, and wasn't coming out in the normal way (he was coming out forehead first, not crown first). Of course, this wasn't the way that we wanted things, and Rachel wasn't very impressed. The man suggested that a greater dose from the drip could be tried, as this could make the contractions stronger, and help things. Although this did indeed make the contractions stronger, the baby still wasn't coming out. That’s when the wonderful, weird consultant said that Caesarean was imminent.
All hell broke loose - Rachel was then rushed into theatre, to have an emergency caesarean operation. I was shown a little room where I quickly had to change into a theatre outfit – blue smock thing, nice hat and flimsy cotton shoes – while Rachel was wheeled into a room of lights. The operation itself was the worst experience of my life, let alone Rachel's. Although she was shaking like a crazy thing, she was extremely brave, and was almost happy while she spoke to me. 'it feels like someone is doing the washing up in my tummy' she said.
It only took a few minutes for the baby to be delivered, and he appeared at 4.56am on the morning of 3rd January. He was whisked to the corner of the room to be wrapped in a blanket, and when I heard him cry, I thought it was the most wonderful sound I had ever heard. Although he was out of the womb, there was still a cord that could be cut, and I did this - another strange experience. It wasn't until I turned and went back to Rachel that I noticed all the blood on the floor and on my regulation issue theatre shoes. I then heard that they were having problems with getting Rachel to stop bleeding. She had lost nearly 2 pints. It would appear that most of this went on the floor and my shoes. No need to show panic, so I sat back down on my little stool next to her head, and talked to her. It's really difficult to try and talk to the one you love the most when their life is slowly bleeding out of them and onto the floor. I don't think that I have even told her that this happened!
I'm sure what felt like an hour was only a couple of minutes, but thankfully the bleeding finally stopped - not that the consultant seemed worried. It was something to do with a muscle not contracting naturally to stop the blood flow.
Baby was then immediately given to Rachel, but because of the strange angle she was at, she suggested that I have him. I just sat there holding him and crying. He was so hot, and so still and quiet - the poor little sod must have been knackered! He opened his eyes a couple of times, and they were dark blue, and as deep as the ocean. They had never 'looked' before, and you could see that they had never witnessed anything - no pain, no questions, nothing. They were fresh eyes, and you just fell into them when they opened.
After a few minutes he was taken away to be cleaned up and weighed. He came in – or out – at 7.35 lbs.
We made out way back to the ward – Rachel and baby being wheeled, me sloshing in my shoes. I made a quick change back into my own clothes, and dumped the soggy stuff in the bin that they showed me.
I was expecting Rachel to be a bit shaky/worried about everything, but she was great. Perhaps she was just too tired to care.

We spent a few minutes talking, and just looking at the bundle we now had, and then I went out to make the phone calls. We had decided to keep things quiet about going into the hospital, otherwise I would have been phoned every few minutes by one of the parents to see how things were going. We had also decided that we would have no visitors to the hospital – after all, Rachel and baby should be home within 48 hours, and it would be a lot easier to entertain at home.
After making the calls, and explaining what we had decided, I don’t know who was more pissed off – Rachel’s Mum or mine! Anyway, they were all happy that baby had arrived safely.
I made sure that Mum and baby were settled, and then drove home, tired but happy.
Today was going to be a good day. Early morning traffic hadn’t built up too much yet, so getting home was pretty easy.
I got home at about 7.30am, and before I was out of the car, Claire was coming out from next door.
‘Well?’ she asked. I told her that we had a little boy, and she ushered me inside. ‘Talk to Vic, tell him as well…’
They were both in their dressing gowns, and before I made it to their dining table, I was presented with a large glass of whiskey – Irelands best.
I looked at the glass, thinking, ‘its not even 8 in the morning yet’, and then deciding that that wasn’t an issue. I was going to sleep anyway, so might as well make it a good one. The drink was actually very nice - and anyway, my body told me it was some time near midnight!
I told Vic and Clair all that had happened, stumbling over words because I was so tired.
After 20 minutes or so, I made my excuses, and went home to bed. I treated myself to a quick Jack Daniels while I fed the cats, but when I got to bed, it didn’t take long to fall asleep.

I suppose I slept for a couple of hours, but woke up wanting to get back to the hospital, so after I had done various things round the house, and made more phone calls, it was back in the car, and off again to see my woman and baby.
I got back to the hospital at about 4pm, and Rachel was sitting up, trying to breastfeed with the help of a midwife. Baby was quite happy to give it a go, but seemed to be struggling with the co-ordination a bit.
‘He’ll get used to it’ said the midwife, and then left us alone.
We managed to both have a cuddle - with each other and the baby - and took some pictures of baby, and then discussed names. While talking, Rachel mentioned that baby seemed to be having spasms. We watched him in his cot, and sure enough he had a little bit of a stretch, and then suddenly had a little spasm. It was like a baby 'move', but seemed to be a bit…stressful.
‘The nurses say that he’s just clearing the mucus from his throat’, Rachel said. ‘They think that he could be making more of an effort because he’s so tired’. The nurses also said that Cesarean babies don’t get mucus and crap squeezed out of them naturally because they don’t come down the birth canal. It seems logical, and we believe them – after all, they are the experts.
We sat there, just content with looking at what we had created, and then went back to names.
‘What do you recon?’ I asked.
‘Well, I think that he looks like a Laurie’ she said.
I told her that I wasn’t worried either way, and I certainly wasn’t going to argue – I’d name him whatever Rachel liked.
He’s the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, and I was happy to agree to anything at this moment in time. I kid her along that I wasn’t sure of the name (I liked some of our other choices and suggestions) but on reflection, Laurie is PERFECT.
I stay with them for the rest of the day, and leave at about 7pm. I am absolutely knackered, but elated. I decide to celebrate with a KFC Bargain Bucket. I eat 5 of the 10 pieces, and 2 of the 4 fries, and put the balance in the fridge for consumption for breakfast.
Breakfast never came.

3rd January – Wednesday - 10.30pm

I had been in bed for approximately 5 minutes, when the phone rang. I figured it would be a relative, so I let the answerphone cut in. The voice on the machine was muffled from the bedroom, but I knew it wasn’t family.
I decided to check it.
It was the hospital, asking me to call back as soon as possible.
I dialed back immediately, not really thinking much about it, but the woman on the other end seemed a bit concerned.
‘Mark, there’s no need to worry, but…’
She explained to me that Rachel had insisted on getting a doctor to look at Laurie. The doctor was concerned with what he saw, and immediately had him admitted to their Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU). They told me that it wasn’t an emergency, but Rachel could do with my support.
I got to the hospital within 10 minutes, and just abandoned the car in a lay-by. That could be stolen for all I cared at that moment.
I ran to the SCBU, and found Rachel in a right state.
‘They’ve taken him in, there’s something wrong with him’ she cried. ‘He’s having trouble breathing’. The nurses were still maintaining that it’s mucus being cleared, but they have taken x-rays to be sure.
While we wait, we have access to Laurie, but he’s not a pretty sight. He is in one of those heated plastic ‘new born baby’ display boxes, and he is obviously in some distress, and cannot breathe easily. He is constantly dribbling, and cannot clear his mouth. He cannot cry, and cannot make any noise. There is, however, a horrible, rasping, chesty breathing sound.
I just stood there looking at him, and tears rolled down my face. They are rolling down my face now as I write this. He must have been in so much discomfort and pain, but he was exhausted, and obviously couldn’t tell us what was wrong.
They have tried to get a feeding tube down his throat, but this has not worked. Apparently, the tube went down, twisted back on itself and came back out.
The x-ray came back, and there was obviously something not quite right. They couldn’t explain exactly what was wrong, but Hinchinbrook immediately called Addenbrookes, and they suggested that Laurie by put on a drip, and made comfortable for the night. They would transfer him first thing in the morning.
All we could do was go back to Rachel’s room and sleep. I don’t remember being able to.

4th January – Thursday - First thing

I can’t really remember much of the first hours of 4th January – perhaps Rachel will.
Laurie was taken to Addenbrooks at about midday by emergency ambulance. We were not allowed to travel with him, or even follow the ambulance, in case there was an accident.
By about 3pm that afternoon, Rachel spoke to the consultant (Mr Samuels) at Addenbrookes. He confirmed that there was a problem. He said that if we could get to Addenbrookes by 5.30 that evening, he would explain it all to us. Rachel said that she was only 24 hours over an emergency c-section, and there was no way that she could get there for that evening. Mr Samuels said that it wasn’t crucial that he did anything that night, and that Laurie would be made comfortable until the morning.
However, he said that Laurie would need major surgery the next day. Rachel said she would be there for 8.30am as suggested.
She immediately discharged herself from Hinchingbrook. Nobody argued with her. 36 hours after emergency C-section, we were driving home for the night. We could have gone directly to Addenbrookes, but decided that we really needed the sanity and safety of our own home for a few hours. We just wanted to be together, alone in our total and absolute terror and uncertainty.
Rachel said that she was glad it was dark outside. That way the neighbours couldn’t see that she didn’t have her baby with her.
She tried to phone Addenbrookes before going to bed, and got through to a Chinese lady who spoke in riddles. In the end, I took the phone and relayed the message to Rachel. (We would later find out that this was the wonderful Mali-Wan – or Milwaukee, as we would come to call her).
She said that Laurie was comfortable, sedated, and had been given various standard tests. There wasn’t a lot else to say.
Nearly 72 hours have now passed. We have slept for around 6 of these.

5th January – Friday - dawn

Rachel was up at 4am. I lasted till 5, and we were ready to leave at 6am. I had already broken down in tears twice before we left. Why was this happening to us?
We made our way to Addenbrookes, and arrived with the dawn. The walk to the maternity hospital – The Rosey - seemed like a mile, but I’ve walked it a lot since then, and it seems to be shorter each time.
Laurie was booked in for theatre at 8.30am, and we were able to speak to Mr Samuels who was going to perform the operation.
We went into a little room for him to explain things. I would imagine that this room was used for a lot of things, it was private for breastfeeding, and for conversations like the one we were going to have. I bet that it was also the room that parents were taken to be told that their children had died were taken to be told the news. I didn’t like the feel of the room at all.
This was our time. This was the time that we were told our baby’s fate.
Mr Samuels explained that Laurie was born with a condition called Trachco-oesophageal fistula, or TOF. Basically, this condition made swallowing difficult or impossible. The oesophagus and the windpipe are not fully formed, and rather than food going to the stomach, it can go straight to the lungs and suffocate him. It happens to about 1 in 4000 babies, and Addenbrookes deal with about 9 a year.
He explained that the x-ray showed that Laurie’s oesophagus stopped short of the stomach, and the windpipe was confused and went into the oesophagus. Apparently this is the most common version of 5 different types. This was why the pipe that Hinchinbrooke had tried to insert came back out – it reached the ‘dead end’ and turned back on itself.
Mr Samuels assured us that the TOF was completely fixable, and that normally there are not any further complications. Sometimes, though, the gap between the dead end and the stomach is too great and they have to try different things – like lifting the stomach higher, or creating a tube out of the stomach, and then tube feeding through this for the first 6 – 12 months until they can look at fixing the problem when the child is bigger.
Occasionally, on the worst cases, when the child is older, he or she will not be able to eat certain things (sausages with skins, or grapes with skins, for example) but he said that like anybody, Laurie will soon discover what he can and cannot eat. He also suggested that a fizzy drink would help with swallowing.
Mr Samual said that depending on how the operation went, Laurie could be feeding by the 5th day, and home by the 7th. However, if things didn’t go well, he may need further operations, or even need feeding via a tube for a few months until a further operation could be considered. Whatever happened, it was still fixable.
The operation would be in excess of 5 hours, so we settled down for the wait.
With everything else that had gone wrong with the birth, Rachel was happy just to know that breast-feeding should still be an option. She was producing milk OK, but she just hoped that she didn’t ‘dry up’ in the meantime.

5th January – Friday - Afternoon

Unfortunately, there was a delay in getting into theatre – some inconsiderate bastard had decided to bleed all over the place during his own operation – and so Laurie didn’t go down until 1 o’clock. There was nothing else to do except wait.
Rachel had been given a side room, and they provided me with a camp bed so that I could stay with her for the night. We split our time between this room and the family room. In here there was biscuits and coffee. We could have tried to sleep, but it wouldn’t have worked.

5th January – Friday - Evening

Laurie is out of theatre, and we are able to look at him for the first time since the morning.
He’s not a pretty sight.

He is in a room in the Intensive Care unit of The Rosey with 4 other babies – all of them premature. He looks huge compared to them (they range from a couple of pounds in weight up to about 5 pounds), but all in all, Laurie looks a lot worse off.
He is covered in the funny red/brown antiseptic wash that they cover the body in for theatre. He still has blood and muck in his hair from the birth because he hasn’t had a bath yet, and he had tubes coming out of everywhere on his poor body - nose, mouth, hands, feet.
He is on a ventilator, and he is totally sedated and paralyzed so that he cannot move.
They have inserted a chest drain so that his lung will empty its contents of goo, and there is a tube coming from his nose that is connected to something else that is also used for extracting nastyness.
We immediately start to touch him, to assure him that we are there, and we are told that we cannot stimulate him in any way.
‘If you touch him, he’ll try to wake up – he’ll be fighting the anesthetic and that won’t be good. Talk to him, but don’t touch him’, they tell us.
Rachel just burst into tears, and I wasn’t far behind.
We went out into the corridor, and just stood there, holding each other and crying.
We were taken into the same small room that we had been in with Mr Samuels, and seen by another consultant. He went through what had happened.
The operation had been a success as far as they could tell, but the gap between the end of the oesophagus and the stomach was more than 4cms. Compare this to the fact that Laurie is only about 22cms long, and this is a fecking huge gap.
He told us that a bit of muscle in Lauries back was also taken to assist with the fixing, but because of the big gap, they have had to sedate and paralyze Laurie to stop him moving around. This is the only way that the wound will be able to get a good start in it’s healing, and he will be like this for around 5 – 7 days.
We were both devastated by this – we had just gone through the agony of the operation, and now we had to wait until he was free to move before we could even touch him.
I hated the world.
There was nothing else to say or do, except to go back into the room and look at his beaten, discoloured body.
I don’t know how long we stayed there, but I know that I woke up on the camp bed at 3am, and Rachel wasn’t there. I waited a few minutes, but sleep took over, and I awoke again about an hour later by her coming back into the room. She had just been up with Laurie, watching as the nurses did their stuff, just listening as the heart monitor cut time up into manageable pieces, and threw them all away.
6 January - Saturday

Rachel has had a really low day (she was told that the 4th or 5th day would be tough. Apparently its when the hormones really play up). Even so, in the morning, she felt that she should try and express some milk. They have a great electric breastpump in Addenbrookes – affectionately known as Daisy – and you just attach a nozzle to each boob, and let it do it’s stuff.
Rachel has been unsure if she would be able to express, and indeed, the nursing staff have said not to expect too much at the moment because she is under a lot of stress.
But, she attached up, and it was bizarre to watch! Strangely enough, I thought that it would kind of disturb me, but it was great. Perhaps it was because I knew that it would be good for Laurie when he was better, or perhaps I just like to see Rachel being milked! It certainly made the atmosphere slightly happier! And then it appeared. A very small amount of milk dripped into the bottle, and then a bit more, and just seeing Rachel’s smile at the fact that it was happening was worth the wait.
She continued for 15 minutes, and managed to express about 10 mil of colustrum (the 'pre-milk' stuff) for freezing and using later. This is WONDERFUL news and a real plus. It should mean that she won't 'dry up', and will be able to breast feed as normal. By the afternoon, she had expressed a further 15 mil. This has really made a difference for our 'happy' thoughts.

7 January – Sunday - 5am

Rachel woke me up, and we went to see Laurie. They have changed the ventilating machine (he has now had 3 of them - they keep showing 'leaks') and they have also inserted a 'long line' in his leg. This is an additional feeding tube, and in proper Shepherd fashion, it didn’t go totally according to plan! It was meant to go into the groin area, and therefore feeding directly into the bloodstream, but it stopped short. Therefore, Laurie had a ‘short long line’! If needed, they will be able to feed a pharmacy mixture of nutrition and calories to him if he starts to lose weight. This mixture is called TPN – Total Parental Nutrition. However, if after the first week, he is able to accept food through just the mouth tube, then the short long line shouldn't be needed as urgently.
Rachel, The Milking Machine, is obviously made for breastfeeding, and even though the stress levels are high, she is producing our newly found valuable commodity in bucket loads! Well, milliliters, at least. The colostrum is gradually giving way to proper milk, and the production is steady…
9 o'clock expressed 32mil
12 o'clock expressed 35 mil
5 o'clock 32 mil

In the afternoon, we decided that we really must have a break. We went home for a few hours for a shower, but Rachel found it difficult to be away from Laurie, and we soon found our way back to the hospital.
However, by the end of the day, things had progressed slightly. They had removed the chest drain from his lung, and also he had a feed of TPN via the short long line (not really because he is loosing weight, but just to maintain it).
He also had a nappy change, and it was surprising to find he had managed a wee and a poo. This is a very positive thing apparently!
There are also comments that he hasn’t puffed up like a lot of babies do after surgery. This is also positive – it means everything is very fit and healthy. But then, as by brother said,’ He’ll be fine, look at the stock he’s from’. I think that he was indicating that me and Rach are large and healthy!
While we were discussing nappies with the SCBU nurse, Rachel got a bit upset, and said that we hadn’t even done this ourselves yet! The nurse was great, and we were told that this shouldn’t be a problem. The one tomorrow would be Rachel’s!
So, a positive day for all involved.

8th January - Monday

We both changed a nappy. It was easy.
But then, there was no poo!
The nappies are weighed before and after the event to see what kind of output there is, and also cotton wool balls are used to soak up wee for sending away for testing. The tests all seem positive, and the output is encouraging.

9th January - Tuesday

I have returned to work, unable to do much else at the hospital other than watch and wait, but Rachel remained ensconced at the hospital.
Rachel is beginning to get into the swing of things, and changed a nappy all on her own – the nurse stood well out of the way. She was also able to massage his hands and feet, and give them a little wash. This has made her feel much happier. Sandra – one of the nurses that looks after Laurie – says that she has seen Rachel gain loads of confidence over the last 24 hours, so that’s nice.
We decided that we should go out for something to eat, and although it was difficult being away, we had a nice positive chat about things in the Hungry Horse. (Note to self: Must get Laurie here ASAP - lots of food!)

10th January - Wednesday

A day of total change.
Rachel phoned at midday to say that Laurie had been bought out of hibernation! They have begun to reduce the sedation and she said its wonderful to see him wiggling around. However, the little sod did manage to pull his ventilator pipe out of his throat! This could have been very bad – because of the nature of the operation it could not be replaced - but he seemed quite happy breathing on his own, so it all looked OK.
However, by the time I arrived at the hospital at 6, his lung had collapsed.
This could only happen to us! A new ventilator had been placed on his nose, and the idea was that this would puff a small amount of air in as he breathed out. That way his lungs would not fully deflate, and it would be easier for him to inflate them again when he breathed in.
Rachel has hit rock bottom again with this small set back, but still manages to produce milk like Dairy Crest!

11th January - Thursday

Rachel met me for lunch in town this afternoon, and just before we left to go back to the hospital, they phoned her.
They just wanted to let her know that they have removed his ventilator again, removed the morphine drip, and stopped his antibiotics. They will continue to give him paracetamol, but this will be the only pain relief he gets. This is WONDERFUL news! It means that out little boy is really on the mend.
When I got to the hospital in the evening, Laurie was a different little boy. He was sleeping, but when we changed his nappy he woke up. For the first time in a week I saw his eyes again. As Rachel said, they just drown you. We were able to see his scar for the first time, and although I wasn’t shocked, it was a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be. It goes from his side right to the middle of his back.
By the end of the evening, the nurses were talking about moving him to a cot/crib, rather than the heated semi-incubator he’s in now.
Its great news, but I must admit I am beginning to feel completely left out of everything, now that I am back at work. I certainly miss out on a lot of ‘first time’ things.

12th January - Friday

Rachel phoned. She was in town again, just walking round, taking a break. This in itself means that things are good – she only leaves Laurie’s side when things are good!
She said that they have started to feed him with her breast milk down his tube. Basically, they fill up a syringe and attach it to the tube that goes into his nose (the TAT Tube). Then, when the plunger on the syringe is removed, gravity takes over, and the milk flows down the tube and into his stomach. He only gets 3mil every 6 hours, and it’s just put straight down his feeding tube. She said that so far, he hasn’t bought it back up, and it seems to be going to his stomach like it should – he’s certainly not choking, so something must be going right.
She also said that there was a ‘surprise’ for when I got to the hospital later. It can’t be that he’s coming home – she wouldn’t have been able to keep that quiet!

Evening – we got cuddles! That was the surprise!
Rachel asked during the day if there was any chance that we might hold our own baby, and they said, ‘Yep, no probs’ and so that’s what we did. Rachel waited till I was there so we could share the experience, and it was wonderful. We are both still very wary of his head and neck, not to mention the scar across his back, but he was more than content to have some TLC from his Mummy and Daddy. He had a little grumble, and he has this lovely husky cry! We are also concerned that the crying will upset the surgery as well, but they have assured us that this won’t be an issue – he’s too far out of the op for this to be affected.
Rachel has decided that with the good progress, she needs a break, and so she has packed her bags, quit the room, and came home for the night!

13th January - Saturday

Oh what a day. First of all, I woke up with Rachel. Then Rachel managed to express 150 mil of milk - using the hand breast pump! Perhaps it's a good thing that we haven't invested in an electric version!
Then, we got to the hospital for just after 1, and Laurie had improved again. He just looks like a completely different baby. He has had a bit of a clean up on his hands, and he has a new plaster on his cheek holding the feed tube, (just small things like that) but he just looks so beautiful.
Apparently he has been a bit grumpy during the night, and all the nurse's have had to have a cuddle to get him through the night as quietly as possible!
He's in a nice little sleep-suit with ears on the feet (Rachel wasn't that impressed, but I thought he looked fabulous).
Rachel had first cuddle, but then she needed to get her milk to the freezing unit, so I took over. I was cuddling him for nearly 2 hours! We had such a moment. He was asleep for the start of things, but then woke up, and we just looked at each other for ages. He still looks like he is struggling to breathe sometimes, but I think this just when he tries to clear his lungs - it must be very frightening for him - he hardly knows what's going on as it is. This 2 hours cuddle was exactly what I needed to lift me up a bit. At least I felt like we were bonding.
Anyway he had a feed, and this was better than yesterday. Although he isn't absorbing all the milk, he is beginning to get there. The nurses are really impressed with his progress.
While we were there, Rachel did another express, so he's got a huge bank of milk to get through. He is a bit grumpy, but we think this is because he's hungry. He's beginning to really get better, but he's only getting 3 mil of milk every 3 hours. Lets face it, it doesn't even touch the sides - I mean, literally. It just goes down a tube straight into his tummy. The poor little bugger is starving! But, he'll soon get bigger!
The nurse who was looking after him said that the next big thing is to get him absorbing the milk. What they do at the moment is feed him, and then, when it’s time to feed again, they suck up anything from his stomach with a big syringe, and check how digested it is. By doing this whatever is in his stomach at each feed, they will get a good idea of how this is going. We were there for 2 feeds, and she said that it could be better, but he seemed to be making good progress.

I have to admit that it was more difficult to leave tonight, but as he’s doing so well, we found that once we got home, we could relax.

14th January - Sunday

In again for about 1.30pm. We have had a bit of conflicting information. The nurse on duty today (Vanning) said that Laurie has not been absorbing anything over the last couple of days!
This is a bit of a blow for Rachel, although they have said that it’s not unusual.
We decided to take it out on Laurie, and decided that his punishment should be cuddles! Another lovely 2 hours! While I cuddled him, and Rachel was away expressing, a lady consultant came in, so I took the opportunity to question her.
She said that he wouldn’t absorb much straight away. Due to the amount of morphine that has been given to him over the last week, this will take a while to get out of his system. Once this has gone, the stomach should start to learn what it’s supposed to do. She said once he absorbs a little, he will soon begin to absorb all of it. She said that she would hope another 3 days for him to start.
She also confirmed that his lungs were working perfectly – you can tell this by the fact that his breathing is not laboured or fluctuating. Also, the electronic scoreboard above his bed is showing between 95 and 100%. He probably breathes better than me!
Finally, we have noticed that his nipple area is quite protruded, and really hard. I asked if this was normal. Apparently, it’s just the hormones that are still settling down. Sometimes, they can even give out milk!
So that’s OK, then.
Basically, another successful day.
Celebrated with a pint in the George and Dragon that evening!

15th January - Monday

Rachel spent the day at the hospital, and I joined her in the evening.
We are planning to see if we can have a word with Mr Samuels or Uncle Wilf to see how things are progressing, and the nurses on duty said that this would be easy to arrange (Uncle Wilf is another one of the consultants that looks after the ward).
Rachel has also mentioned that she would like to try breast feeding, and they have suggested that we continue to ask at every opportunity.
I had only just arrived this evening when they announced the Ward Round (everybody out so that they can talk about you behind your back).
We went and had a coffee and Rachel expressed, and then we went back into the ward. Rachel, now in full swing, and knowing the ropes, went straight to the notes hanging on Lauries cot, and read what had been written. She gave a little shriek and handed me the notes.
Oh Christ, I thought, what on earth has gone wrong now…
There was a squiggle on the notes, and I have to admit that I couldn’t immediately make out the words. I must have gave a small unknowing look, because Rachel smiled and quoted ‘Allow a small nuzzle to the breast’.
Within seconds she had called over a nurse, got a chair, and her top was coming off (Rachel’s top – not the nurse’s)!
Rachel was told not to expect too much, but she was just happy that she was allowed to get him to the booby area.
He did show a lot of interest, but never really suckled. He did, however, do the correct man thing, and fell asleep there!
Rachel certainly wasn’t disappointed, and has all of tomorrow to try again. (They have told her not to bother if he is ‘grizzly’ or asleep or tired. So that leaves about 30 seconds of each day to try!)
Other news…
They have also INCREASED his milk intake.
Instead of the 3mil every 6 hours, they will start to increase it by 3mil at each feed. After 24 hours they will see what is happening, and hopefully he will be taking it all and absorbing it. If he doesn’t, then they will simply go back to 3 mil, and wait a bit longer before trying again.
So, fingers crossed that he drinks up and absorbs!

16 January - Tuesday

Rachel spent all day at the hospital again. One of the poor premature babies died overnight. I find that really sad, but also so glad that Laurie is still fighting fit.
Rachel has tried a couple of times to breast feed, but without success. I don’t think she is really happy about it, but there isn’t a lot that can be done!
Laurie was asleep when I got there in the evening, so I suggested that we have an early night.
We changed his nappy (which he slept all the way through) and also fed him (which he also did mostly asleep). Rachel has now been promoted and can give him his tube of milk! Before he was fed, Natalie, the Nurse, extracted all that was in him, and it looks like out of the 18 mil he has already had, there was only 9 mil left – in other words, it looks like he is absorbing it!
Hooray!!
She put the 9mil back, and then we added another 21 mil on top. At least he is getting a lot more food now – no wonder he doesn’t want a breast!
Natalie also said that they were hoping to move Laurie from Intensive Care to the Rosey SCBU tomorrow. Hopefully this will make breastfeeding easier. It will be less ‘intensive’ and should offer greater opportunity to sit quietly and just get on with it.
Apart from that, we left early, while he was still asleep.

You will notice that there is a break of a few days here. There is no reason for that other than there wasn’t a great deal to report. Laurie has continued to improve, and every day seemed very much like the others.

20 January - Saturday

Rachel went to the hospital for about 1, while I stayed at home waiting for Uncle Andy and Aunty Caroline to arrive – they were visiting Laurie today.
We all got to the hospital for about 3pm, and they spent an hour or so there – Caroline was the lucky one that got to cuddle him all the time!
Nice Nurse Rachel was looking after Laurie today, and after Uncle and Auntie had gone, Nurse Rachel suggested that we could wash Laurie’s hair, and neck and pits (and any other easy to reach places).
This was a real hands-on experience, but we now have a clean baby – this is the first hairwash since birth.
He was very good, and lovely to be with, and managed to take all his food without mishap.
By the time we left, it was really quite late, so we stopped off at Tescos, bought a nice easy to do dinner and went home happy to sit by the fire.

21 January - Sunday

We didn’t get to the hospital until about 3pm, and quite frankly, it was a bugger of a day.
Laurie was very agitated, and although it was nice to hear him crying (another normal baby past-time) he was only winding himself up. This is not good when it comes to feeding. As we have previously found out - the milk takes longer to drain into the TAT tube, and if he wiggles and is unsettled, then he tends to throw-up.
Basically everything we tried to do with him today resulted in being sick.
I think that today was the first time that Rachel and I were close to arguing. It upsets me when she is not happy, and at the moment she is not happy because she doesn’t think she is a good mother. This upsets me even more.
Instead of shouting, we went for a walk outside and had a talk and a cry with each other. This seemed to be helpful for us. I think that we are both exhausted, and just find life difficult at the moment.
We have been told that Mr Samuel may be around in the morning, I have decided that it might be worth taking tomorrow morning off to see if we can meet with him.
There wasn’t any point in staying late tonight – we couldn’t try breastfeeding – if we moved him, he just threw up – so we were gone by 6pm. So, no cuddles for Daddy tonight.
However, by the time we left, we were slightly calmer - Laurie as well as Rachel and me).

22 January - Monday

Took the morning off because there was the chance that we might be able to meet with Mr Samuel. That, and also the fact that Rachel was feeling a bit down from yesterday.
We had been told that Laurie hadn’t been too bad during the night, but on arrival, the notes showed that they had been concerned about his breathing.
We have all noticed that he has been a bit raspy, and Rachel has worked out that all he needs to do is have a good cough. Unfortunately, it seems that he gets a bit clogged in his throat when he gets fed, and this has the effect of him wanting to gag and chuck.
We established that Mr Samuel wasn’t around, so I stayed until Laurie had his first feed, and then left. (This first feed stayed down!)
In the evening when I went back, Rachel was a bit happier, and Laurie was pretty much relaxed.
They have decided to put him on an ‘anti-reflux’ drug. Basically, it is likely that he will have to take this all of his life, and it acts like a stomach soother, and should help to stop any vomiting.
It seemed to be doing OK, and by the end of the evening, we had got 54mil in him without any problems.
Finally for today, they have also, managed to somehow mess up the feeding times, and everything is an hour earlier than it used to be. This could create a problem for the evening feeds because I will miss them (they have moved from 6.30 to 5.30, and I won’t be in the hospital until 6). However, even with this, we left that evening a bit more positive.

23 January - Tuesday

We went to see the Councillor this evening.
He is a man called Ian, and he introduced himself to us when we first arrived at the hospital, 3 weeks ago. Rachel felt that it would do her good to have a chat, so I agreed.
Unfortunately, just before the meeting, Rachel had a stressful feeding time, and was in tears before we even got in the room!
Ian was pretty good, actually. It wasn’t the first time either Rachel or I had been to counselling, and he told us pretty much what we already knew – all of our concerns, worries and fears are normal, it’s good that we are having them, and we would be odd if we didn’t feel this way.
He also said that we should ask more questions, and get as much information as possible about EVERYTHING while we were in the hospital – remember we are in an environment that we are not used to, and we cannot possibly take everything in first time.
We – or at least I – left the room more confident, and immediately challenged one of the nurses about feeding times.
I said that it was not convenient and that I would like to be there for at least one of the feeds, and that they will have to find a way to correct their error. We also made it clear that Rachel sometime found feeding rather stressful, and that if I were there I might be able to help out a bit more.
They said they would see what they could do.
We also know that Mr Samuels will be there tomorrow, so I will take the morning off to see him with Rachel.
Other news: Laurie has now had the heart monitor removed (this was a small light sensor that clipped on his hand or foot). They say that he is doing well enough to get it removed.
They have also reduced the TPN to just about the smallest amount possible, and this will soon be stopped completely. The short long line will remain for the time being, just in case they need to feed him through it again. That means that we only have the TAT tube in his nose and the short long line left.
Again, by the time we left, Laurie was relaxed, and so was Rachel, so we could call this a successful day.

24 January - Wednesday

Today is the worst day since time began!
And it’s not just to do with Laurie.
It snowed a bit in the night, and on the way to the hospital we were involved in a car crash. In fact, not only us, but various others! It all revolved round a bit of ice and a police Range Rover, and has created a whole new nightmare for us. But that’s another story completely.
Anyway, we finally got to the hospital, and started our wait for Mr Samuel.
While we waited, it was suggested that Rachel try and breast feed again. We had another nurse today – Ruth, I think – and she is pretty good. She spent a bit of time trying to get Laurie to latch on, and we were very close. In the end, though, Ruth decided that we should also try ‘cup feeding’ him (using a small beaker).
This was very successful, and he drank quite a bit from his cup.

Then the next shitty thing of the day happened: As he was being put back into the cot, the short long line got trodden on, and was pulled out. Ruth went into emergency mode, shouting ‘We need help here – NOW!’ and the doctors were soon on the scene. They had a look at the damage, and removed the remaining part of the long line completely. Laurie was not harmed in any way, and didn’t show any signs of pain or distress – in fact, he was a calm as ever.
However, this does mean that he will now HAVE to learn how to feed via the mouth, other wise he won’t be able to get his nutrients any other way – not unless we keep the nose tube in for life, anyway!
So, in the same rude way that the ventilator was removed, the short long line has been removed!
However, this does now open up greater options – Laurie is not ‘tied’ to any machines anymore, and he is free of all constricting wires - he can be carried around the room now! And he was! The first thing Rachel did was pick him and walk round the room with him.
So, fate would have this thing happen, and hopefully it is for the good.
By 12.30, Mr Samuels had been called to emergency surgery, so we never got to see him anyway! He remained in surgery for the whole day so the crash and the removal of the long line was all in vain.

Nothing else really happened today – could there really have been anything else!
Laurie has got a lung scan tomorrow. We have no need to think that anything will be wrong, but we are still hoping that it will all be good news.

25 January - Thursday

Got to the hospital at about 4pm, just in time to join Rachel and Nurse Jane, getting to take Laurie down to the Ultrasound department.
Jane took control, and was really winding Rachel up. I was being treated as the father, which meant that I was just being ignored. This wound me up as well. Oh well, it can only be expected – after all, I did all that I needed to do 9 months ago!
Anyway, the scan was fine, and Laurie has 2 perfect kidneys. So, full marks for that.
We arrived back in SCBU to the news that Mr Samuels had just been round and that we had missed him! Bugger.
However…brace yourselves…he has had a look at Laurie, and has decided that the nose tube can be removed!!!
Apparently Mr Samuels said that there was no need for it to still be there, and said that it should be removed. 5 minutes later it was gone.
For the first time since birth, we could see Laurie’s little face completely – and the poor little sod really looks like his Daddy!

Then, Mr Samuels appeared.
He came over to talk to us, and we talked about Laurie and his condition. One of the questions we asked was about the bit of muscle that he had used in the operation.
Mr. S said that as the gap in the tube was so long, normally they would use a plastic or fabric tube to make up the difference. He said the problem with this is that sometimes the body rejects them. So, once he was in the middle of the operation, he thought, ‘hang on, I could use this muscle here…’ The muscle should act as a protective cover for the oesophagus. Basically, he said that ‘he made it up as he went along’.
So, Laurie - as far as we know - is the first baby in the world to have this condition fixed in this way! The only one in the WORLD! And he’s only 3 weeks old!
Mr Samuels said that there shouldn’t be any further complications, and that we should deal with him just as a normal baby. He did suggest that he would like us to start Laurie on solid foods by the 4th month – rather than the governments guidelines of 6 months – and he said this would encourage the oesophagus to heal better and faster, and get it going quicker.
Then – as if that wasn’t enough – Mr S says, ‘oh, by the way, you can take him home whenever you feel like it’.
Just like that.
We can take him home!!
And so there we go.
All we have to do is learn how to give him a bath, and learn a bit of resuscitation, and we are away.
Things couldn’t be better.
Rachel is staying at the hospital again, so that she can feed Laurie ‘on demand’ (the regular 3 hourly nonsense has stopped), and so I went home for a nice beer before a good sleep.

26 January - Friday

At the hospital this evening, and Rachel said that today was one of the best days that she had had. She was in control all day, had learnt new things, and had confidence to get on with it all.
She also said that Laurie had been very good as well.
This evening, with the help of lovely Nurse Rachel, we gave him a full bath, and just as we expected, he seemed to love it.
He has also been introduced to a bottle, and Rachel has been told that as long as he has the bottle as well as the breast, there should be no reason why he would ever prefer the bottle.
We are booked in for a bit of resuscitation tomorrow, and once that is done, we’re going home, Baby!
Tomorrow afternoon, just under 1 month from being born, and he should be home!
I can’t wait.

27 January - Saturday

I did various things at home – trying to get the place neat – on the understanding (and hope) that Laurie would be home today.
Got to the hospital at about 12 midday, and Rachel was equally hopeful that he would be home today. She had already packed and made up her bed! If he had to stay in again, she’d be knackered because all of his stuff would have to taken out again! I had also bought his car seat in the hope that he would be in it by the end of the day!
We were told that there would be a Ward Round at about 2pm, and it was then that they would check everything and hopefully give the go ahead that Laurie could go home. We could wait that long. We went to the Family Room for a coffee and a biscuit, and to waste time. We also attended a half hour Resuscitation course, and as we came out, they were just making their way round.
2 o’clock came and went, and still we waited. It seemed like a lifetime. We could see the doctors going from room to room, but it seemed to be ages until they reached us. Eventually, they arrived, and took a look at Laurie and Rachel. I can’t remember the Doctors name, but he was the same one that sorted out Lauries short long line when it was pulled out. He gave Laurie a quick check over, played with his legs to see if he had ‘clicky hips’ and then asked if we wanted to take him home. I think that he was teasing us, really – he knew that we were expecting to go, and when we said we wanted to go, he just said that it was fine.
He said that he would have to write up the correct forms and papers before we could go, and he said that this might take some time. Rachel was concerned about driving home in the dark, and asked if that was a problem. To his credit, the doctor did say it would be best not to drive in the dark, and he would get things sorted out as soon as possible. He did say it was likely to be after 6pm, though!
So much for the early drive home.
There was nothing else that I could do, so I popped back out to the town to just keep busy – I shouldn’t have bothered. Traffic was terrible, and by the time I managed to park, Rachel had phoned and said that I could go back to the hospital because they were ready to leave!
I got back to the hospital quicker than I left, and we set about getting Laurie into his car seat.
This was a major operation in itself, but once he was in, it was easy.
Rachel insisted on getting Maliwan and saying goodbye, and then we made our excuses and left. We were proper proud parents, walking down the corridor with suitcase, and car seat.
By about 4.30pm we were putting our baby to the car.
I had been told by a number of people that the drive home was a strange affair because you wanted to drive really slowly – I just wanted to get Laurie home – he should have been there 3 weeks ago!
And so we made it. At approximately 5.30pm on Saturday the 27th January, we finally had Laurie home.
It was a strange sensation. We had had the crib up for so long, just sitting at the end of the bed, and now we had something to fill it.
We just put his car seat down in the middle of the room, and looked at him for a few minutes. Then Rachel took him out for a cuddle. When it was my turn, I showed him round the house. We said hello to the fish, and the tortoises, and the cats. I showed him his room, and also where daddy played on his computer. He also had a quick look in the conservatory. There was a lot to take in, and I’m not sure he really took much notice. He was probably wondering when his next feed would be!

So there you have it. That’s what we did over the New Years.
It’s now the end of March, and Laurie is 12 weeks old. He is the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen. I spend time EVERY day at work taking a few minutes out to look at pictures of him, and just smiling to myself. Like all babies, he can be hard work, but all in all I don’t think that we have done too badly.
Now that we are home, and things are getting along fine, it’s hard to look back over all this and think that it happened to us - it all happened in a blur. I think it was one of those things where you are forced to go onto automatic pilot, and just go with the flow. Neither Rachel or I had ever experienced anything like this before, so we were totally at the mercy of the professionals.
We have had some scares over the first few weeks and ended up in A&E at Addenbrookes, but once they have checked him out, he has been allowed home with no ill effects. I think that this must have been ‘settling in’ things.
He also took a while to get used to just having his Mummy and Daddy around. In the hospital, he was always being looked after and cuddled by different nurses and doctors, and now that he is home he has to get used to us. This has also had it’s moments, but he now has no doubt who Mummy and Daddy are.
He is constantly smiling at us, and is very observant and always looking around at things. I wish I knew what he was thinking!
We have just started to put him to sleep at 7.30pm, after we give him a bath (which he loves) and then we wake him (or he wakes himself) at around 10.30pm. He then has another feed and gets put down to sleep again. Normally he will wake once during the night (around 4am) but other than that he is sleeping.
He has been moved into his own room and into his big cot/bed (after spending the first 11 weeks sleeping in Mummy and Daddy’s room, in his crib, and he has taken to being alone without any fuss.
Feeding can be a bit of a frenzy – like his Daddy he likes to get things down his throat as quick as possible, just in case it gets taken away! At least this shows that the operation was a success. Every now and then he will take too much in and he will give a little shocked look as it all dribbles down his chin, but he’s getting better. He is being weaned off liquids and onto solids by the 4th month, and this will be the next big step in his life. This is when we will find if he can swallow bigger things.
Oh, talking of swallowing and throats, we have had a couple of post-op meetings with Mr Samuels, and he is very happy with his condition. He is also writing up Laurie in the medical journal as an example of how to do the TOF operation for future – the thing with using the muscle. Genius!
Rachel did get her sister to help her for the first week, but I didn’t mind in the slightest – Laurie knows who Daddy is, so that’s all that matters. Also, but I could see that having Toni-Anne around helped.
He is growing fast (now over 10.5 lbs) and we are buying him too many clothes – he’ll never wear them all!
Daddy has also taken this as an excuse to buy some Corgi lorries (Laurie’s Lorries) that I will put on display in his bedroom.
I try and take him out every Sunday for a couple of hours – just me and laurie – so that Rachel can have some time doing things without worrying about Laurie. We go for a walk or a drive somewhere – and I love it!

List of Nurses worthy of mention
Mali-Wan (Milwaukee) Chinese nutter. Called Laurie ‘Laurie-Pop’
Sandra – Older and wise. A real mother figure.
Rachel – Essex bird – did a lot of suction to get lots of goo out. Lovely girl.
Alex – very hands off. Thought our sense of humour was great
Vanning – I think she’s South African. Likes to swing babes to stop them crying! Very good at showing alternative ‘holding’ techniques’.
Natalie – Down to earth, and easy to get on with. Knows a real ‘man’ baby when she see’s one.

Laurie Needs A Re-Bore

2007-06-22T10:37:00.000+01:00

Well, we hoped it wouldn't have to happen, but unfortunately it will. Laurie has started to make noises like a seal (as in furry sea dwelling animal) when he is feeding or any other time that he is getting excited - like when Daddy comes home from work!

Rachel has contacted the various doctors and advisers that we have accumulated over the months, and they have suggested that we bring Laurie in on 2nd July to have another small operation. Basically they need to put a camera down his throat, and then 'stretch' the oesophagus so that it makes it easier for things to pass through. He certainly doesn't seem to be that bothered by it all at the moment, but it certainly can't go on like it is.

Bit of a bugger, but not wholly unexpected. (for those of you that don't know what the hell I'm on about, then have a look at http://www.tofs.org.uk/)

Anyway, hopefully things will be a lot better after this, but it is still possible that Laurie will need to have this type of operation every year or so, right up until his body is strong enough to handle things on it's own. We shall see.

Other than that, he continues to be a happy little boy, full of the joys of summer.

I will try and keep things updated as and when they happen.

Lauries Dad

2007-06-15T14:47:00.000+01:00

Just a quick picture of the reprobates that you will be dealing with!!

This Is Me...

2007-06-15T14:13:00.000+01:00

Hi, and welcome to Marks Page of Rubbish. Lets not beat about the bush here, I'm only doing it for a laugh!
I've just come back from lunch, and was messing about on the computer when I thought, I know, I'll set up a Blog - I don't even know what the address of the thing is!

Anyway, I will be posting completly useless information about myself and family, and I will attempt to get some pictures in there as well.
Of course, all I need to do now is work out how to do all of this...