My first full day...

A plastic bag?  Really?

Look, I know it's my fault and I should have just stayed where I was for a bit longer - well for three months longer - but I ask you, was it really necessary to pop me straight into a plastic bag when I arrived?  Apparently, it's to stop me losing too much fluid through my skin but honestly, I look a right state!

And look at that label attached to my hat!  I look like an oven ready chicken!

Mum and Dad arrived about lunchtime.  They came straight from Warwick as soon as Mum was discharged.  I hope they don't mind me saying but they looked knackered and more than a little bit worried!  They were met by a nice doctor who took them off into another room to introduce them to the world of premature babies and all the scary stuff that they need to be ready for.  When they came back in to see me they looked worse than when they went out.

Mum had a cry.  Then Dad saw Mum crying and tried not to cry himself, and failed.  I would have cried too but the tube down my throat got in the way (this might become a theme!)

Here's a summary of what Mum and Dad were told...

1.  There's a long way to go and there will be lots of ups and downs
2.  I'm going to get infections but they will test me all the time to stay ahead of the game
3.  I'm very early.  My organs aren't really fully finished yet, especially my lungs and my heart and my skin.  This is going to cause no end of problems!
4.  I can't breathe for myself so I'm on a ventilator.  When I get a bit stronger I can come of this and go onto something called C-PAP (?).  I'll probably go on this, then get tired and have to go back onto the ventilator again, but this is normal.  It might happen several times.
5.  I'm being fed through a tube in my foot but Mummy has to start making milk so that I can start drinking that instead.  I say drinking but they are actually going to inject it down a tube in my nose straight into my stomach.
6.  I'm very bruised (from my feet first entrance in to the world yesterday) and I have a lot of something called Billyrubin in my blood - which is bad - and my liver isn't working so I can't get rid of it, so I have to go under a magic blue light for a bit.  Apparently this works like a liver... don't ask!
7.  I'm connected to lots of monitors which go bing a lot, and occasionally go bong bong bong very loudly causing Mum and Dad to become very worried.  This is normal.

As if this wasn't enough for Mum and Dad to take on board the nice doctor then asked them if I could be part of a medical trial (to be fair I do look a bit like a guinea pig at the moment!).  He was very keen that I should take part.  So keen in fact that Mummy got all uppity with him and asked him how much money he was being paid and which drug company was paying him.  Dad was a bit embarrassed!

Long story short, they've agreed, so I'm now part of the I2S2 clinical trials!  It's something to do with iodine and thyroid development.  The good news is that when I'm two I have to go for a follow up test and the sponsors of the clinical trial will pay my bus fare... which is nice!

Oh, the other thing that came out in the meeting was that my Dad thought it was a good idea to Google 'Premature Babies' when he got home last night, so the nice doctor had to bat off loads of questions about survival rates (9 out of ten 10 for babies weighing over 2lb), Cerebral Palsy (high risk), deafness and blindness (both high risk).  Mum and Dad like to be told the facts and I think they're both pretty strong so probably better just to be straight.  As the doctor said, I'm just one baby and I'm either alive or not and at the moment I am, so let's crack on!  I like that!