Day 4 Postpartum. Vinnie gets a sponge bath...

Cam has been writing the last few entries as I have been somewhat under the weather myself... I am back though and very happy to report that Vinnie is doing well and that I am on the road to recovery.

Just a side note... those woman that opt for an 'elective cesarean' are completely mad. I have heard that natural delivery is painful, but having a c-section is no walk in the park. Generally speaking, pregnancy and birth is extremely unglamorous! The things my mother never told me! I could almost write a novel on this subject but it really isn't fit for the readers of this particular blog. The men certainly wouldn't want to hear about it and I don't want to scare any women yet to have children. Those that have children... well, you know what I am talking about.

The first 12 hours after Vinnie entered the world were a little scary. Despite being born at a pretty reasonable gestation (29 weeks has very good odds), a great weight (over 1 kg is considered better than under 1 kg) and getting the dose of steroids (for lung development) prior to birth, our poor little man was born with chronic lung disease. As you will have seen from Cam's entries he was put on a ventilator immediately and also suffered from a collapsed lung. At around 10.30am on Sunday one of the NICU nurses came to tell me that things were not looking great and that the consultant wanted to speak with Cam and I within the hour. The midwife standing by my bed asked me if I needed any religious counselling at that moment... if I hadn't have been on such a strong drug cocktail I probably would have had a fit.

An hour later the prognosis had changed drastically and Vinnie was now responding well to the treatment and the outlook was looking good. Hallelujah! His condition has only improved since then and he seems to get better by the hour. You will have seen from the last entry that Vinnie was extremely battered and bruised on arrival. His right arm was presenting in my cervix (extremely odd) and when the contractions starting his poor little arm was crushed. Luckily nothing was broken and it is just incredible how fast these little ones heal. There is some bruising on his arm now, but most of the swelling has gone down.

Today Cam and I were shown how to bathe Vinnie and change his nappies whilst inside his incubator. It was quite a special moment as it doesn't feel like we have had much opportunity to interact with him yet. He definitely responds to the sound of our voices and our touch! Tomorrow Vinnie is going for a brain scan (standard procedure on day 5 with preterm babies) to check for brain bleeds/swelling. After this he will be allowed out of the incubator for some 'kangaroo cuddles' with mum and dad. Will report more on this later!

Thanks again to everyone for your support!