Day 20,

Well we were actually told more acurate information regarding his weight gain.. He has gained 320grams since birth! Not in 3 days like we were told last night.. heheh

I thought it seemed a bit much considering we had been told in the past that they like the babies to gain around 15grams a day so he has gained a substantial amount so im still happy! He should have gained around 285 grams but he's leaped over that and gone straight to 320grams..

He was opening his eyes again tonight and seemed quite happy and i am starting to realise that he might actually know my voice (iv'e been denying it) because whilst he hates being touched, when i touch his back and talk to him his alarms don't seem to go off anymore or maybe it's just wishful thinking? hehehe

Oh also he has gone up to 20mls every 2hrs so im trying my hardest to keep up! Gosh it's hard though when i can't control how much milk comes out each time i express..  

Other than that there is no news but as they say no news is good news!

Day 19,

Ronan was beautiful tonight! He kept his eyes open the whole time we were there (we have added a photo to show you).. He was VERY alert and seemed quite happy considering he was on his back.. 

He has put on 320grams in the past 3 days which apparently is ALOT and you can actually notice the difference, he's getting a belly! His milk has gone up to 19mls every 2hrs so im trying very hard to drink the water to get as much milk as i can to keep up with his appetite..

Other than that no more news just at this time.. They are going to talk to me about music therapy as they want to start trying with that.. It's where he has a particular song that calms him so when they need to touch him ie: change his nappy it should calm him down rather than wriggle and get upset as much.. They do it for most babies these days and they almost guarantee that it works (Ronan & i get to choose the music)..

Remember to view his pictures..

Day 18,

Ronan had a good day today with everything.. He was nice and settled and his oxygen levels were all on par so we are very happy!

We spent a fair amount of time with him tonight because Mark got his first hold! It was totally beautiful and he didn't want to hand him back.. Mark has NEVER held a newborn baby before (no matter how much i tried to get him to hold our nephews) as he always told me "i will not hold a newborn or small child until i hold my own" and the day FINALLY arrived! Ronan behaved the whole time, he required no more oxygen and was really content and you will never guess what we actually FORGOT the camera tonight! arrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhhh

Some more good news Ronan's feeds have now gone up to 18mls every 2hrs so i really have to become a milking cow and make sure i start freezing more but i don't mind! heheheh

His eyes were really clear tonight and he was constantly opening them so before we know it he will be becoming more alert which is beautiful to see.. I changed his nappy tonight and lucky me was finally jinxed! He pee'd whilst i was changing it so we had to use 2 nappies in the end (i have been waiting for it to happen).. They are now going to start him on a special dummy to get him used to the sucking sensation but apparently they only do this whilst they are being fed to start making them realise sucking means food and fulfillment..

Other than that there is no more news just at this stage but we were happy with today's efforts!

Day 17,

Ronan is going well today.. His feeds have now gone up to 16mls every 2hrs so we were happy to hear that! He sadly has a nappy rash at this stage and we think it's because i ate salami! My sister actually told me it caused nappy rash on my niece but i found this out AFTER i had eaten it so i haven't touched it since so fingers crossed that is what has caused it, otherwise it's back to the drawing board..

He is still on his antibiotics today although the endomethasin (sp?) has now finished so they will do another scan on Tuesday now to see if it's improved, otherwise im not 100% sure of the next step as they really don't want to operate on his valve unless he's having a bad heart mumur which apparently it isn't as loud as what it was, so maybe just maybe it's finally starting to close!

Day 16,

Ronan was being very disruptive today with his machines and making all the alarms go off! The nurse who was looking after him this morning had to have a "talk" to him which i thought was very cute..

Popa Jim came and saw him today and he certainly noticed the difference from 2 weeks ago and i think he was VERY happy to be able to say hello, which was very special.. Ronan's progress is the same again as he is still on his medications and antibiotics but it will still be another few days before they test for any progress with his valve..

Otherwise he's still tolerating his 12ml feeds every 2hrs so i guess it's a relief to know he is enjoying his milk..

Day 15,

Ronan was the ame today as yesterday but seems to love fighting with his ventilator! He constantly makes it beep and all the alarms go off and they have to keep fixing it up (naughty boy) but if he's anything like me more than a few days of being handled by nurses iv'e had enough too! heheh

He is still on his endomethison and antibiodics so there are a few more days left to go before we hear of any progress/news.. Otherwise he was on his tummy tonight and was VERY happy and content which is what we like..

Day 14,

Ronan is still the same as yesterday and he does infact have an infection which they have been treating since yesterday. The way they could tell was because his nose was starting to produce yellowish secretions but they seem to have slowed down today which is good.. He is still having his medication for the valve too and his heamaglobin (sp?) level was a little low so they were giving him a small transfusion tonight..

I was able to change his nappy tonight and afterwards Mark fed him through his tube so i have a photo of that! Otherwise he's a total wriggler and keeps setting off his alarms naughty boy!

Day 13 (continues),

We finally got the results back from Ronan's x-ray today and his duct is still open and he does infact have an infection (due to the medication they have been giving him) so he is now on antibiodics and also the endomethison (sp?) which is to close his duct..

He was on his tummy tonight wrapped in his blanket all snug and was enjoying his snooze so we didn't stay too long, but otherwise he is progressing well..