Hes going well now that hes about to become an old man of 5 weeks.

Long may it continue. Don't tell him your coming to see me on Saturday just in case he takes the pet again.

So we got him out half hour early and as soon as that Cpap came off and he was wrapped in my arms in a blanket he stopped wailing and began to look around. He stayed awake for 45 mins and his attention was largly on me and the green exit sign to the right of him! Then we both fell asleep curled up in the reclining chair It was the best!!

Bloody brilliant, i'm crying now and my OH thinks i'm a basket case!

Nic

Oh Hevs that is sooooo lovely that you got to cuddle him and fall asleep - that's just the best Sounds to me like he's still fighting, fantastic!

Poor April I hope she's not in too much pain

Heres wishing for lots more of those special moments with Flynn.

A cuddle is just what you both need.

My heart goes out to April and I hope that the news is positive as time goes on.

Best wishes

Sarah

It was an article about SB Hair and they just mentioned you weren't in the photo because of just having had Flynn. Glad to hear that you managed to have a cuddle and a nap with him, that must of been heaven for you both. Keep up the good work Flynn and get better.

Lorraine

You could have told her it was an article on Berwicks most wanted Lorraine.

It was really but thought the poor woman had been through enough and didn't want to add to it so just played it down a bit!!!

Lorraine

I was the same size as Flynn when I was born and nothing has ever been said as to how myself and my brother went.

I thought we just kipped in an incubator for a few months.

I wonder now what it must have been like. It's just never been discussed.

Badge, I find it fascinating that as we all get older we realise that there are some huge gaps in out lives, what we know about the people who were around us when we were children, and people who may still be part of our lives now.

Are your parents, Aunts, Uncles etc still about to ask them?

Ozzie

beautiful

Its not all about size mate

Its mainly to do with gestational age. Twins mature in utero a lot quicker that singletons because they are expected to be born around the 35/36 week mark anyway. So even if twins are born at 27 weeks (same as Flynn) they would be expected to be bigger and more developed (as they are not technically, so premmie) than a singleton. By mature, again i don't mean size, i mean internally, heart, stomach and the all important LUNGS!

Anything over the 28 week mark is considered a "viable" pregnancy and the difference between the 24 weekers and the 28 weekers is astounding. Also the difference between the twin and triplets and how well they do in comaparison ie. the speed they leave NICU as opposed to the singles births is quite marked.

The 24 weekers all have chronic lung disease, it seems on our ward, without exception. The ones over 28 weeks don't. The ones between, like Flynn...well its a lottery. Flynn has small patches, hence he's taking a while to breathe fully on his own.

Also the PDA in the heart can cause huge probs, that again is more often shut, or small in the over 28 weekers. Flynn had a large PDA (this is open in the womb because they don't breathe oxygen and closes a few days before birth in a term baby) and the medicine they gave him to close it caused a massive food intolerance. (as, in certain cases it can) But thanks to the 5 doses he managed to have his PDA is now classed as "small" and until it causes him problems they won't be dealing with it again, hopefully it will just close.

Theres a big list but i don't want to bore you. Anyway what i am saying is that every single baby has there own set of things to deal with and how they cope with that is dependant on many factors. But the lenght of time to reach gestational weight, breathing etc is, in a large amount of cases determined by gestational age over weight. (thats what the docs tell me anyway )

We are just so grateful that we live near the city as there are only 4 neo natal intensive care units in the whole of Vic, all of them around Melbourne and only the Monash on our side of the city

It's mind boggling how a couple of weeks can make the whole of difference in the womb isn't it? How is he doing Hevs, still behaving or not?

Lorraine

Crikey, it must be fate!

I hope the wee lad has a good weekend.

Thanks all..

OK!

Another great day for Flynn. I didn't see him today but Dad and Leah tell me he's looking cracking. Talking of cracking, thats what he does, every 6 hours when they put the Cpap back on. They are now doing 6 hourly rotations and I've just spoken to the night nurse who tells me they are all living in fear of his ferocious temper when they have to put the tubes back in. He throws an absolute wobbly and punches them like mad (If you can imagine being beaten with a cotton bud ) But joking apart i'm dreading the terrible twos already

He has also reached the lofty heights of wearing clothes. BUT yesterday he was in an outfit only suitable to wear doing the YMCA at the Mardi Gras, and Matt tells me todays was worse, it had purple pansys on FFS

Anyhow I sent them armed with some beautiful 00000 clothes from Auntie Melibeam and they got them on eventually (slightly tricky with a long line in his foot!) and he looks slightly more like a male now And they were only a bit on the big side....

He is also managing 9 mls an hour of feeds (tomorrow he may have a whole two teaspoons )

Brilliant....that made me smile