The house is beginning to take shape, and by that I mean most of our junk has found it's way out of bags and onto floors! Jovie's huge stash of Christmas goodies have accounted for quite a bit of that too. We seem to be in a decent enough routine in terms of looking after Jovie, with both of us managing to spend some time together and alone, with the help of great friends and family it has to be said.
Jovie passed the 8 month point just a week ago, and is developing well for a baby of her age, obviously she's a wee bit behind after spending so long stuck in bed in intensive care but we are really pleased with her progress - she is starting to sit up on her own for very brief spells, she seems keen to try and crawl/shuffle when on her front, and her eating is fantastic, with her night milk feeds gone completely and a healthy mixture of milk (still through her gastrostomy) and solids (orally) during the day. Her amazing little personality is really shining through, I can honestly say I'm yet to see her without a smile on her face first thing in the morning - a stark contrast to her mother then!
No major hiccups or grumbles with her care package, the night nurses arrive at nine and leave at seven, sitting and watching our baby sleep to keep her safe. Our spare room is packed from wall to ceiling with Jovie's supplies, some of which we've had troubles with when it comes to deliveries but all in all things have started well. A few nights recently have tested our powers of sleep endurance with no carers coming at night due to illness or what have you, but we take it turns to sit up and cope with it like any normal family would do. It's the feeling normal part that has probably been the best thing, taking Jovie to town (which she nearly always sleeps through) or to the supermarket (which she loves!) and even getting her down the pub once or twice too! Yes you get the odd gorm looking at her like she's an alien, but I think neither of us suffer fools to gladly so it never interrupts our fun.
On the horizon, my dad is nearly trained to look after Jovie, and will beome the second member of our family/friends to do so. This gives us a bit of support when he's up or we are down visiting, and also the potential for a babysitter once and a while! We are yet to hear when we will be called back to Brum for another sleep study - Jovie continues to thrive during her three hours a day with no ventilator, and we are keen to extend this time but can't before her CO2 levels are monitored in a controlled environment. With Christmas done and dusted it won't be long before my wallet starts to shake in trepidation with May (now to be known as simply 'expensive') just around the corner; Jovie and Lorna's birthday's within 2 days of each other - ouch.
A little update and another big 'thank you' is also due on our fundraising efforts for the Ronald McDonald House Charities. The charity auction we ran late last year, with big contributions from all the auction bidders, Kelly's Raffle and generous donations from too many people to mention in fear of leaving any out, raised a whopping £2,700! This was absolutely fantastic and way more than we had anticipated... so much more in fact it has given us the imputus to hold onto that amount for the moment, in an attempt to increase it to our new target of £5,000. This amount would allow us to purchase a 'room sponsorship' at RMHC Birmingham with Jovie's name displayed on the room we stayed in. We are setting a deadline for this of Jovie's first birthday - May 4th 2012 - with a couple of things in our thoughts as ways to raise the extra £2,300 we need, including a skydive by the brothers Wyse!! So if anyone out there can think of anything they would like to do to help us reach our target, or if there are anymore generous donations hiding out there, please let me know by responding to this post, text or call me on 07825788729, facebook or tweet me (@sunners14).
On the actual laptop again this time so another chance to post some up-to-date snaps of our little star for those of you not already sick of me splashing them all over facebook! Cheers all, and happy 2012 to you from the three of us.
