25.1.09

Hi, Dad here. Mum is attached to the nipple vacuum! Theo has been pretty stable most of today but has had periods of activity. It's difficult to tell if he is uncomfortable, in pain, unsettled, or just an active child (we hope for the latter). He's on max morphine for his size/age (1ml pr hr), so he'll get no further assitance there. He goes into theatre tomorrow morning, so we are apprehensive, but confident. We are staying in Edinburgh tonight (only 5 mins from hospital), so I'm enjoying a LARGE guiness to calm the nerves, in the knowledge I do not need to drive! We really want to say a quick thank you to Alan & Angela who's flat we are currently occupying. Alan works at Sick Kids and had been informed of a child with a large exomphalos who had been admitted and the name baby welsh was mentioned. He put 2 and 2 together and popped up to ITU (intensive care) to find us. He then insisted on getting keys cut for his flat as Ang and their wee one were going on holiday to sunny Florida for two weeks so their flat would be empty. We really cant thank you guys enough, its extremely comforting to know were are so close to Theo and your genorosity is overwhelming (Ang - my guiness is on a coaster, so dont panic!) Probably another great example of how much support Theo has around him!

Today we celebrated Lucas's Birthday with the family. His b'day is on the 26th, but with Theo's op, were did things a day early. Lucas cannot understand calenders yet, so we are confident he will never know and we had a great day. Lucas and his cousins Anya and Christpher were very entertaining, and a welcome distraction. Mum did really well considering, but knew someone was missing....not including my Dad who is not well enough to travel from Inverness following a recent serious heart attack (you couldnt make this stuff up if you tried!) We thoroughly enjoyed some pass the parcel, musical statues and musical bumps (a few of us are expecting to be a little sore tomorrow with all that activity!)

This is a good opportuntity to thank everyone for their presents, as we may struggle to get round to thankyou cards. We have had the worst case of "knock door run" over the last couple of days....every time I get to the door, there is just a wee bag waiting for us. The best one was tonight when we heard a knock at the door but when I opened it there was only a bin bag sitting on the mat. I took it through to the living room and as soon as I started opening it I could smell Cigarettes! I took one look at Nic and said 'EMILY'!. Poor soul had driven all the way through from Edinburgh, knocked on the door, and sprinted away leaving a bag of goodies for Lucas, Nic and myself (I got some wine and Nic got some cosmetics...she knows us well). Em you are a star and we love you very much.

It goes without saying that we are all very anxious about tomorrow as it is the 3rd time Theo is going for surgery and he is only 2 weeks old and still 6 weeks premature. He has gone through more in his young life than most of us would ever experience in a lifetime and we are so very, very proud of our brave son. Talking of bravery, its worth mentioning my Gout has now cleared up. I only mention this as there as been a few concerned people, and this was beginning to bug Nicola somewhat!

Nic here, and I have just read Gary's post and feel I need to add how very proud I am of my other big brave soldier and I'm so very pleased he has struggled through his gout whilst I struggled through childbirth! I know there is no comparison and that he would have been in much more pain than myself but he barely mentioned it...well done sweetheart :-)