Last 7 days

Hi
Sorry I haven't written much in the past 7 days or so, we've been a bit busy. We had a good Bank Holiday weekend, we joined Carols parents and her brothers family for a picnic at Mottisfont Abbey Gardens.

Carol, Harry & Ben and Carols brother Robert



It was a lovely day out and we all had fun. Roberts youngest daughter Heather managed to fall into the river and spent about an hour playing butt naked with another girl who had also fallen in the river. Very funny seeing all these OAP's walking around the National Trust gardens looking on and frowning at the two little kids playing in the nude in the gardens of a stately home, old fuddy duddys !

Mottisfont is great for picnics as there are huge lawns you can sit on under large trees and relax the day away. I am sure Harry & Ben will love playing here when they are older, as long as they stay away from the river :-)

Harry & Ben are really starting to interact more and are very aware of each other, as you can see from the photo below during play time over the weekend.



Last night was hard work, we think the boys are teething and Ben kept waking up last night, I don't think Carol and I hardly had more than an hours uninterupted sleep. Hopefully he will sleep well tonight.

I have just finished giving them breakfast and they are both asleep so I thought I would quickly write something whilst I had some time to myself.

Having said that I can hear Harry stiring, so I better go and check on him !

Going nowhere fast

Harry is doing my nut in at the moment. He has mastered the art of rolling over onto his stomach and is desperate to crawl. But he has not realised that he has to have his feet on the ground to push with. At present he has his knees bent and his feet up near his bum, so all he is achieving is rocking back and to on his tummy. After a while he gets really frustrated with himself and starts crying, so I put him on his back and he cries even more because I have turned him over and he wants to try and crawl. You can't win !!!!

I don't like Mondays

Mondays are no fun, the last couple of weeks Mondays have always been stressful. I can only assume that the boys realise Mum is not around after having the pleasure of her company over the weekend and they are unsettled and grumpy.

As their vocabulary is limited to a sound that can only be described as

wwwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

which is delivered at around the same decibel range as a pneumatic drill, this gets really stressful very quickly. (Ben has perfected this sound and I really hope he moves onto another one soon, preferably a nice baby gurgle or something pleasant)

I am not sure what comes first the loss of sanity or the bloody gushing from the perforated ear drums ?

It's 1pm and I am sat here in my PJ's as the boys woke at 6am for a feed and have been awake since then. They are currently asleep so my ears are starting to ring a little less now. Monday mornings are non-stop.

Hopefully I will have a Tuesday like last week when the boys were excellent and a joy to be around. I just have to survive today ! :-)

Saturday was a nice day, we visited Carols Nan as it was her birthday last week. The boys love her and I know it is mutual :-)

Nan with Harry:



Nan with Ben:

Something from the weekend

We had a good weekend. Saturday we spent making and baking homemade baby food. This should last for the next couple of weeks. Carol and her Mum baked, whilst Carols Dad and I kept the boys entertained.

Friday night was a bit of a milestone as Ben laughed for the first time. Harry constantly smiles and is a very happy baby. So is Ben, but Ben is the first one to laugh and it was the most amazing thing. He is so cute when he laughs, he was in the bath and I was making silly faces and blowing rasberries at him and he just giggled.

I have been trying to make him laugh so I can record it either on video or on tape, but as soon as I bring the equipment into the room he just stares at the shiny things and doesn't want to know about giggling !

Here is an example of our smiling boys.

Ben:



Harry & Ben:



Sunday we went to visit Carols brothers family who are camping in Dorset. The boys got thoroughly mauled but to be honest I think they enjoyed every minute of it.

Here is Harry with his cousins Heather and Emma:



And one of Ben with his cousin Amy:

Oi! - Wanna Fight !

We had a good weekend, our friend Julia came over and we went for a picnic and walk in Hillier Gardens.

It is very lovely there, excellent gardens and you can roam anywhere you like really.

Julia took a great photo of Ben, demanding that his servant feeds him, whilst he reclines.



For some reason Ben has decided to start waking earlier again. Saturday and Sunday he woke up (& woke Harry) at around 4.30am !

This morning (Monday 8th Aug) he woke up at just before 4am, Not funny.

This has put us all in a grouchy mood as you can see from the photo below.



They are both thankfully having their mid morning nap, so I thought I would get this post done and then get myself dressed. I better go and get myself sorted before they wake up, Bye :-)

End of an era ?

Ok I warn you now this post is a political one and I am about to have a right old rant, so if you just want to know about Harry & Ben read the last post before this one.

Right here goes......

It is sad to think that the Winchester Neonatal Unit is under threat of closure, all because of funding issues and the NHS debt in Hampshire. It is criminal that they are thinking of closing it down, it has one of the highest success rates in the UK and in fact is one of only a few that can take 25 week old prem babies. They have admitted and cared for babies that have been refered to them from as far away as Bristol and further. They have also done a large amount of research work that has benefitted other units around the UK (probably the world).

The plan is that they are thinking of closing it down and moving it all down to Southampton. Southampton is very good, but is already over worked and can't cope with a greater volume than it is already taking. Also because it is so large and the staff have so much to do, there isn't the personal touch that you get with Winchester.

At Winchester you get to know all the staff, they become part of your family and you know that they have a real compassion for your babies. It isn't a job for them, it's a vocation and it shows. They are incredible. I can't believe they are thinking of closing it down. Especially as the bloody South East Regional Assembly want to build 6000 new homes every year for the next 20 years in Hampshire !!!!

Where will all these babies go when they need special care ?

It makes me so mad, especially as no one actually elected the South East Regional Assembly, no one had a vote to say who they wanted on it. They just aren't listening to the people of Hampshire and as they aren't elected they don't have to care about pissing off the electorate.

I wouldn't want to wish a premature birth on any mother, but perhaps if some of South East Regional Assembly members experienced the Winchester Neonatal Unit they would appreciate what an asset it is to the South of England.

Whilst I appreciate that the South East Regional Assembly aren't the ones wanting to close the unit down, you'd like to think that the NHS review team might take into consideration the huge population expansion that is planned and factor that into their decision making.

The world has gone mad !

Teddy Bears Picnic

Not much happened today. Carols parents came over and helped out with lunch which was nice and really was appreciated - no crying babies !

They then took Harry and Ben for a walk so I have about an hour and a half to relax :-)

I said previously that I would write about the Teddy Bears Picnic last Tuesday. It was a great day out. Carols parents came over and we all went down to Winchester Leisure Centre. Carol was working unfortunately.

We got there to find a load of Mums with babies and toddlers all armed with Teddies and their picnics. Within half an hour the sun and burned the clouds away and it was very hot. It was great seeing all the families that had been through the neonatal unit and very encouraging to see how well they were all doing.

I met another stay at home Dad and we had a little chat, he just had the one baby to contend with and I think he realised how difficult twins are to cope with.

We also met a really nice couple, with a little girl called Amelia. Amelia was photographed by the unit and her photos were used in a hand book for parents with prem babies. The handbook shows all the common body language prem babies display for their different moods, we all found this book very helpful. Amelias parents are lovely and we got on well. In fact it was Amelias Dad who started this blog idea really as they do one and we really liked it. We read it when Harry & Ben were in the unit and it gave us a lot of hope.

My camera batteries we dead so I couldn't take any photos of the picnic, but I did take some video, which unfortunately I can't insert here. But a good day was had by all.

Fun & Games

Well Monday was fun !
My first solo day as a stay at home Dad went well to start off with. Luckily either Ben or Harry were asleep whilst I was feeding the other so there was no impatient screaming for food. Lunchtime came and went, Harry even tried to help with the operating of the spoon (see picture below). Then we had playtime and I had a lovely time with Ben whilst Harry was napping. Ben was all smiles and having a really good wiggle about on the play mat. I laid beside him and we played the eskimo nose game that he likes. It was a really special time, when he looked lovingly into my eyes as I snuggled up to him and he gave me a big grin and promptly puked in my face...what a little charmer.

That really signalled what was to come for the rest of the day, At the mid afternoon Harry decided for no reason at all that he was going to have a screaming fit. He was not a happy bunny. I went through all the usual stuff to check that normally causes babies to cry, it was none of those. Basically he was having a right old cry, because he could. The next feed time was stressful as both Harry & Ben were awake and both wanted feeding at the sametime. Boy can they scream when they get going, all very stressful.

Tuesday and the teddy bears picnic went well, but I will write about that later as the boys are complaining and want attention, so I better go and see to them





Lunch time got even better. Note the food on the legs and feet !

T minus 14 hours and counting

Sorry I haven't posted for the past week or so, been a bit busy gearing up for going solo. Carol goes back to work tomorrow and I will be left on my own with the boys and it will be the first proper day of being a 'Stay at home Dad'. Carol has gone out to the shops and I have been left alone with the boys for say half a day etc. But this is the real thing now. Ok, I admit it - I am getting a little worried :-)

Luckily Carols parents live about 2 miles away and they are brilliant, they are more than happy to come over and help. But I really want to give this a good go and not have to ring them unless I really have to. This is because I need to get used to being alone and caring for them. But it is nice to know that they are there.

On Tuesday the Neonatal Unit are holding a Teddy Bears Picnic. All the parents and babies that have been in the unit get together and have a picnic in the sports field next to Winchesters Leisure Centre. It will be really nice to see some of the nurses again, they were fantastic and we came to think of them as extended family. I can't wait to see their faces when they see how big Harry and Ben are now. They were weighed last Thursday and they are both 12.12lb !!!

So all being well and the weather is ok, Carols parents are coming over and we are going to the picnic with Harry and Ben (and their teddies). Sadly this is carols 2nd day back at work, so she can't join us.

I will take some photos and post them here as I know I haven't included any photos for a while.

Last Friday we went to Moors Valley Park in Dorset. We went with my sister in law Karen and her three daughters, Amy, Emma and Heather. Carols Mum & Dad also came along and we had a great time. Moors Valley is a huge woodland park with wooden animals for kids to climb over, Karens daughters loved it and I am sure Harry & Ben will when they are older. We all enjoyed the woodland walk and half way round there is a tree top walk way of rope bridges and platforms. Carols Dad Terry was happy to stay on the ground and walk the boys round in the pram and meet us at the far end, whilst the rest of us when up into the tree tops. There were loads of squirrels and my nieces loved every minute of it.

http://www.moors-valley.co.uk/

My neices Amy (oldest) Emma (the middle one) and Heather the youngest are really funny with the boys. Amy and Heather can tell the differences between Harry and Ben, but Emma can't even remember their names. For the whole day they were known as 'That boy' and 'The other one' Emma is very cute. In fact all three of them are sweeties.

Well the boys are fed and now it is our turn, dinner is ready and I must go.

Cheer 'Slightly worried' Si.