Lydia's new weight!

We have just arrived back home after Lydia's check-up with the neonatal consultant. She now weighs 7 Lb 5 Oz - WOW! He was pleased with progress and doesn't need to see her again until Jan 07. She is naturally still very tiny, but is nicely in proportion! She also had a hearing test with an audiologist this morning and her left ear was a borderline pass, but unfortunately her right ear failed. We think this may be down to her being very blocked-up at the moment. She will be re-tested in September to see if things have improved. She has also just started making small noises, which is great news, as there was concern that her vocal chords may have been damaged by all the tubes. That's nearly the end of the appointments for a few weeks, they both just need to be seen by our GP for a quick once-over, but that should be fairly straight forward and is more about getting them formally "registered" on the NHS. As the neonatal consultant put it "now try and forget all the medical stuff for a while and just enjoy THEM" - we will certainly be taking his advice!! Will upload some photos when I get a minute....!

Dedication service confirmation

We have confirmed that we will be holding a Dedication/Celebration service for the girls at 4pm on Sunday 17th September in Thornhill Church. This will be a good opportunity for us to thank God for Phoebe & Lydia and to celebrate how far we have come by the grace of God. If you have been following progress, or you just want an opportunity to meet the girls face to face, then please feel free to come along to this very simple time of celebration with our friends and family.

Lydia's arm update!

We took Lydia to see the plastic surgeon from Moriston hospital in Swansea today. He was pleased with the way things have healed-up and confirmed that he doesn't need to see Lydia again. This is another bit of really good news for us and another answer to our prayers. Lydia has been left with a scar on her right arm, which will get bigger as she does, but it will be another good story for her to tell when she's older! They couldn't feel pulses in her right wrist, but when they tried in her (good) left arm they couldn't feel them there either! This is most probably due to her still being so tiny! Friday is the next hospital appointment, with her neonatal consultant wanting to check her over!

New weight for Lydia!

We took Lydia into hospital for her first check-up with the cardiac team and dietician earlier today. She now weighs 6Lb 15Oz - wow! The dietician was very pleased with her weight gain. The nurse was also pleased with her observations and confirmed her operation scars are healing nicely. The registrar scanned her heart and confirmed that things are still looking good. She still has the tiny hole in her heart (VSD) but this will either close on its own, or she could just live with it as is. There is a very small possibility she might need it closing when she's a teenager, as it's very close to the tricuspid valve, but that's just speculation at this stage and is a very long way off! Her aorta repair seems to be holding up well, and again they will keep their eye on this, as her aorta was so small at the time of the operation she may need the scar tissue "balooning" at some point in the future, but again "time will tell" and all is well at this stage! We mentioned that we were concerned Lydia's cry was very weak sounding (it sounds like she's got a very sore throat) and they confirmed that this may be due to some damage to the nerve that supports the left hand vocal cord. Aparently, this nerve is looped right around the aorta at about the point where her coarctation repair was done. Again, time will tell how this heals up, but she might well sound a bit like a new Bonnie Tyler as she grows up - at least we'll be able to tell the girls apart a bit easier!! We have an appointment to see the plastic surgeon from Moriston hospital in Swansea on Tuesday about the skin on Lydia's arm, but when the cardiac doctors took a look at it today, they were keen for us to point out that it was the Bristol team that referred her, not the Cardiff team, as they felt it was healing nicely on it's own and the pastics team would wonder why on earth she had been referred in the first place - which is an encouraging situation! We are waiting to hear about the hearing test appointment, but Lydia is currently very blocked-up and can't seem to hear a thing, so we're hoping this will happen when her tubes are a bit clearer! Phoebe was very blocked-up when she first came home and this is probably them becoming used to life in the dusty, pollinated world outside of the sterile hospital wards! So, it's all moving in the right direction at last. Thanks again for your ongoing thoughts and prayers. Report more as it happens....!

Some new photos!

I thought it was about time you saw just how big the girls have grown!! They are modelling their new outfits from Neil & Alison in Gainsborough - thanks guys! Phoebe has just started smiling and we've even heard a few giggles. Mum and dad try for ages to get some smiles, but they come much quicker when the boys are telling the girls their latest jokes!

Lydia continues to do well and she's gradually starting to develop her voice. Until now, she's cried in wispers, but I think she's starting to pick up some tips from her sister in the noise stakes, although she's still got a long way to go to catch up with the noisy Phoebe!!

Advance notice: We'll be arranging a short dedication service for the girls in Thornhill Church for a Sunday afternoon in September (possibly the 17th), so if you would like to meet the girls face to face, this would be a good opportunity. Will post more details on this once we get things nailed-down, but it would be fantastic to see you there!

Some new weights!

Well, the girls had their jabs today and didn't particularly enjoy them, which is totally understandable!! They were also weighed and the really encouraging news is that Phoebe is now weighing 9 Lb 10 Oz and Lydia 6 Lb 11.5 Oz. We were really pleased with that news, and for me it makes all the patient hours in the night with Lydia's bottles so worthwhile! Helen is still obviously supplying a good "gold top" milk for Phoebe too, and it's great to see them both getting stronger by the day! The next appointment is this Friday, when we take Lydia in to see the cardiac team, who will monitor her progress after nearly two weeks at home! Will report more as it happens, or should I say, when my huge clan of children (and a very patient wife) allow me to!

One week on!

So, we've had both of our daughters home for a week now and it's been such a special time together. Apologies I haven't been updating the blog, but I was back in work last week and things were fairly manic as you can imagine! Lydia seems to be adapting well to life outside hospital and Phoebe is gradually getting used to having her sister around! They both seem to be putting on weight, but we will know for sure tomorrow when they get weighed by the health visitor. They both need their "jabs" tomorrow, Lydia her first set, and Phoebe her second, bless them! The boys are loving having both of their sisters around and are continuing to cope well with the fairly major changes within the household! We've got quite a number of outpatient appointments over the coming weeks for Lydia, but she's not giving us any cause for concern at the moment! Thanks again to those of you who have updated the guestbook, it seems to be working well! Thanks too for all your kind words of ongoing support and encouragement, they are much appreciated.

Lydia is HOME !!

We have just arrived home from the hospital after collecting Lydia, so we are all together as a family for the very first time. We are absolutely delighted to have reached this point and are so grateful for all your interest, concern and prayers - THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!


Please don't forget to check out the Bodger guestbook! It seems to be working OK!

Have you been reading this Blog?

If you have been reading this Blog I thought it would be a neat idea to try and create a list of your names in a "guestbook", so I get a view of who has been following Phoebe & Lydia's progress. Now this is breaking new ground for me, as I'm not really into all this "new fangled" technology as you have probably gathered by the state of this Blog! Anyway, let's give it a go and see how we get on. If you fancy participating in this very crude trial, then please leave your name in this guestbook. If it all goes horribly wrong, I will delete this Blog entry ASAP! Everything you enter in the guestbook will be viewable by others, so don't worry if you don't want to complete all the fields it asks for, just your name and a comment is fine. Unfortunately I can't tailor the questions myself, they are system-generated.

If you decide to keep your eye on the guestbook entries and this update is tricky to find, I have also created a direct link to the guestbook in the "Links" section on the right hand side of this page, just to make it simple for you!

Report more as it happens, although if Lydia comes home tomorrow as planned I may not have too much spare time on my hands, so you'll have to forgive me if the updates aren't quite so regular from this point onwards!!

Want to hear some good news?

We've just got in from the hospital following Phoebe's 6 week (since leaving SCBU) check-up. All went well and the consultant was pleased with her growth and progress. She now weighs 8 Lb 6 Oz, which is superb! We then called in to see Lydia and she was having her heart scan done. The registrar was pleased with this and also confirmed her chest x-ray and ECG scans were good as well! She is also putting on weight and is guzzling her milk from a bottle - there's just no stopping her - she is making up for lost time/feeds!! They are currently arranging an outpaitients appointment for her to see a plastic surgeon from a hospital in Swansea about her arm. She is having her remaining stitches out later this afternoon (from where her chest drain had been) and the plan is for her to COME HOME ON MONDAY!!!! We just can't wait to finally have her home. It will be exactly 12 weeks since she was born on Monday! We thank God for bringing her through the past 12 weeks and we're so appreciative for all your thoughts, prayers and practical support! Hopefully there will be more positive updates on the blog over the coming weeks as we continue to track the expoloits of the Bodger tribe!
Sam & Daniel chose some wrist bands from a bookshop earlier this week which say "God Strong" on them. This refers to a verse in the Bible from Ephesians 6v10 which says "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power", and I must say that this is something we have all been experiencing first hand over the past few months! Report more as it happens...

Lydia is back on Welsh soil !!

Lydia arrived back into the Heath Hospital at lunchtime today. She is now free of all wires and pipes, and was even lying in a hospital pram (after visiting the concourse with the nurses) when we called in to see her! The cardiac registrar we saw thought she was doing well. They now plan to monitor her feeding, heart and arm over the next couple of days, and if all goes well she could be home with us at some point next week! She still needs to see a plastic surgeon about her arm, but this may be able to be done as an outpatients appointment in the next month or so.

We even managed our very first "whole family outing" this afternoon, when we took Lydia with us (in our new double pram) for a walk through the hospital concourse and out to the "fountain area". The boys were very excited to see their sister again, although Phoebe didn't seem too fussed about the whole thing! Here's the first photo of us all out together, taken by mum earlier today.


Thanks to those of you who were praying the move would happen smoothly today. We've seen yet another answer unfold before our eyes today!