Tuesday 31st January 2012

January is always a tough month so here's to the end of it!

Freddie is much better and the broncholitis seems to have cleared. He still has a bit of a cold but just sneezes and snuffles.

He has officially reached a stone! He weighed in at fourteen stone, three ounces yesterday.


Look at the size of our chunky monkey now!!

Compared to this little tiddler we brought home from hospital! What a difference!











We attempted to wean him off his colief drops in his milk again recently but he is still not ready. He wasn't griping as much as last time we tried to stop them but we could tell it still made him uncomfortable. The GP has said that his gut obviously isn't mature enough yet to handle breaking down the lactose in milk. We will give it a few weeks and then try again.

The health visitor thinks that Freddie has started teething because he is drooling a bit now and chewing on his hands and anything else he can get a hold of. She has recommended we look for signs of him being ready for solid foods from six months onwards. He is just over five months at the moment and seems happy to just have his milk for now. Apparently when babies are born prematurely the rule of thumb is to half the number of weeks they were early and add that to the standard recommended age of weaning. So in Freddie's case that would be four weeks added on to six months. So technically he should be ready for solids at about seven months but every baby is different so we'll just look out for the signs.

                                             Cheeky chappy! He is always sticking his tongue out.

                                              Our gorgeous smiley boy, I could eat him up!!

I'll just leave you with a photo of what happens to the children in our house once they are passed this baby, not being able to talk, not being able to walk, not being able to throw tantrums stage...

They are put to work!

xx

Wednesday 25th January

We've had an interesting week in the Sawyer house.
Freddie has had bronchiolitis bless him and we ended up taking him to A and E on Sunday. The GP said he had got it on Friday and his breathing got faster as the weekend progressed so we decided to get him checked out. His oxygen levels and heart rate were fine so he was allowed home. What a worry!

We think Samuel has had it too because he has had a nasty cough and cold for the past week or more but he has coped OK with it so we haven't had to take him to the doctors. He had it when he was a baby too and was admitted to QMC overnight because his oxygen levels were very low.

Our experience of Samuel's bronchiolitis and obviously Freddie's heart condition meant we were a bit on edge to say the least!

Good health is gradually returning to the house. Freddie is breathing a lot steadier and does not sound as 'rattly' as he did. Samuel is coughing a lot less and just has a consistently runny nose!

The only good thing that came out of our visit to A and E (other than knowing Freddie was OK obviously) was finding out that he now weighs thirteen pounds, 8 ounces! That was on Sunday so I think by next week he will have reached a stone.

Freddie has been taking smaller feeds but much more frequently whilst he has been unwell. All well and good but he has now got into the nasty habit of taking less milk during the day but waking up every three hours for feeds over night. Boo.

As well as all this Samuel has decided since Christmas to have a personality transplant and become rather horrible at times. We think it is a combination of ongoing separation anxiety but more significantly the arrival of a little brother. I feel for him sometimes because he had our full attention for 3 years and then this little person arrived in a very dramatic way which took up all of our time and effort.I saw his little face looking all forlorn the other day at Mamma and Grandpops house when I think the realisation hit that Freddie and cousin Zachary need and get plenty of attention too. However, he still gets spoilt by us and the family and gets lots of play time with us and trips out so I don't feel that sorry for him!

Till next time

xx

Guess the baby!

Just a little test to see how alike the brothers are!!!


Which one is Samuel and which one is Freddie...

Thursday 19th January 2012

Some of the latest pics of the lovely little man...

                                       Not the camera again Mummy!

                                           Oh ok I might try a smile!

                                            Cheese!

                                             Cheeky Boy!


xx

Technical medical jargon!

We received a letter at the weekend from Glenfield hospital. It is a summary of the appointment he had in November. I can't believe it has taken this long for us to receive it!

It goes something like this...
"On examination he looked well, pink and no breathlessness and no respiratory distress. He was well perfused. Cardiovascular examination revealed normal 1st and 2nd heart sounds with no murmur. It was very difficult to feel femorals and they were weak.


Echocardiogram showed pulsatile abdominal aorta with good biventricular function with mild LVH. Flow acceleration noted across the mitral valve. Distal aorta vmax of 3m/s which is the same as before with no diastolic decay..."


This letter was sent to our GP and a copy sent to us and the paediatrician at QMC that scanned Freddie's heart.
I understand that this is a formal letter and the facts have to be stated but I find it very annoying that it did not arrive till two months after Freddie's appointment and also that we weren't given any of this information when we were there.
At the appointment Freddie had his scans and then when we saw the doctor he basically just told us that they were happy not to see him for three months. None of the details of his scan were actually explained to us.

We are planning on taking the letter with us to Freddie's appointment at the City Hospital next month to go through the information with the paediatrician.
In the mean time through the power of google we have attempted to decipher the information provided and are quite satisfied that there is nothing in it to panic about.

I am now eager for his next Glenfield appointment to come around so we can confirm that his heart is doing everything it should.


Freddie looks fab. Its very obvious to see how fast he's growing at the moment. Not just in weight but in length too. He has been a little grumpy over the last couple of days but I think its because we have been out and about a bit which has meant he's missed out on his big nap! He's guzzling his milk down and smiling and giggling when he's happy.
We took him and Samuel to Eureka, the children's museum in Yorkshire. It was lots of fun and Freddie loved looking at all of the lights.

Will post some more pics soon

xx

Monday 9th January 2012

Hello,

Freddie had a couple of unsettled days after his last set of jabs. They were rather brutal though, three injections in a row is a bit rough. He's much more settled now and is very smiley and happy.

He is so attentive at the mo and loves sitting on my knee watching Samuel playing. His eyes follow his brother round the room and Samuel has created a hilarious crazy dance he does when Freddie is starting to get upset to distract him and make him smile!

                                          Happy smiley boy in his cot

Giggling at Mummy!!

 Bit of tummy time














Just finish with a picture of Samuel and Grandpops enjoying a picnic in January!! Crazy weather, enjoying it though!! xx

Thursday 5th January 2012

Just a quick Freddie update.

The little chunky monkey weighed in at 12 pounds and 5 ounces on Tuesday and is now 60cm long.
His weight gain has slowed down as you would expect it to do but he is still creeping up the centile lines of the children's growth chart in the 'red book'.

Freddie had his last set of jabs yesterday until he is 1. It was three injections which was rather brutal and the poor little thing went purple from crying so hard. The tears didn't last long though and he seems to have slept it off as he is a happy chappy today.

I am in the process of cleaning the oven, which is potentially the worst job ever! Back to it

xx

Sunday 1st January 2012

2011 has come and gone. I think it is fair to say it has been the most difficult year I have ever experienced both as Miss Dear and Mrs Sawyer.

As a family we have all gone through it this year. It was so tough seeing our little boy so unwell and not being able to do anything about it. I felt guilty because it was my job to nurture him while he was inside me and yet his heart was failing.
It was so hard on our parents and family who were not only worried sick about Freddie but also really concerned about Jon and I; our mental and physical states.
We felt constantly guilty about the effect all of the upheaval was having on Samuel. He was such a good boy but it was obvious that he knew something wasn't right and his familiarity with different hospitals was a blessing but at the same time heart breaking.

Whilst all this was going on we had a little boy who was fighting like a trooper to make sure he was home for Christmas. A doctor at the City Hospital told us in the early days that a parent had once described the experience of having a baby in intensive care like someone punching you straight in the face and knocking you down and then just as you get back on your feet and start to feel better they take a run at you again!
This was so true. We tried so hard to not be too optimistic but that is impossible when every bit of you is willing for your baby to get better. As soon as you hear good news you start making plans in your head but as quick as those plans are made something bad happens that just knocks the wind out of you.

But still little Freddie battled on and his hard work paid off. And yesterday I heard him giggle for the first time.

Freddie is thriving and I know hospital appointments and medical reviews are going to be a part of his and our lives for a long time but we'll take that any day compared to a few months ago.

To Samuel and Freddie if your ever reading this when your older; happy new year boys. We love you so much and yes you have your moments (Samuel has just thrown a tantrum having his hair washed and Freddie you haven't done a poo today so you're probably going to do one in the middle of the night) but you make us very happy and proud parents.

Happy New Year Everyone