| The_Beighley\'s Timothy, born 3 months prematurely with several problems including cerebral palsy and hydrocephalus. |
| Born_on_the_30th_November Weblog introducing Zoe who was born 12 weeks early, with pictures and audio. |
| Born_Too_Soon Detailed account of the early life of Finlay, who was born at 25 weeks and 4 days. Includes updates on his life outside hospital. |
| Bryce_James_Cutler Born at 28 weeks and 5 days weighing 2lb 12oz due to partial placental abruption. |
| Buggy\'s_Life Born 6 and a half weeks prematurely, weighing 5 lbs 8.5 oz. |
| Catherine\'s_Survival_Page Born at 27 weeks weighing 2lb 2oz due to a damaged placenta causing oligohydramnios (low fluid). |
| Cayleb\'s_Place Born at 29 weeks gestation weighing 2lb 6oz due to pre eclampsia. Contains story, pictures and updates. |
| Chloe_and_Shannon\'s_Story Twins born at 33 weeks and 5 days due to pre eclampsia. Contains journals, photographs and updates. |
| Come_meet_Austin_and_Ashli Twins born at 24.5 weeks gestation. Comprehensive story of their first four years. |
| Corey\'s_Website Born at 25 weeks 5 days due to Intra Uterine Growth Retardation (IUGR). Contains pictures, updates and information. |
| The_Danika_Diary Born at 32 weeks and 5 days. |
| Death_of_an_Infant Life account of twins John Samuel and Michael Patrick Reagan. Links to support groups and other resources. |
| Donnie_and_Rita\'s_page Information about premature twins and NICU |
| Emily\'s_Miracle_Story Detailed progress of a preemie born 15 weeks early at a weight of 1lb 10oz through pictures, updates and videos. |
| Francesco_Ugo_Locatelli Contains the story and pictures of Francesco after he was born 15 weeks early at a weight of 1000 grams. |
| Franklin\'s_Homepage Introduces Franklin, who was born at 27 weeks weighing only 2 lbs 6oz. Includes pictures of his stay at the NICU and his healthy time at home. |
| Groenheide_Family Journal with pictures of Becky who was three months premature and weighed 2lb 8oz. |
| The_Haley_Bug Born at 25 weeks weighing 1lb 11oz Hayley spent 3 1/2 months in the NICU. Details her birth, time in NICU and her later diagnosis with Leukemia. |
| Herronsthree Story and photographs of the pregnancy and delivery of Conal Brennus Herron who was born at 28 weeks gestation due to pre-eclampsia and HELLP. |
| Holly\'s_Web Pictures, video and the online diary of the life of Holly Louise James. |
| Inkans_Preemie_Home Inkans PROM story, bedrest-tips, Antons birth story with many pictures & sounds of Anton and links to more than 110 preemie-stories in order of gestational age. |
| Introducing_Amanda_Kennedy_Foote Amanda was born 7 weeks early weighing 5lb 9oz. Chronicles her birth and her time in NICU with pictures. |
| Jack_and_Tom The story and pictures from the twins' first two years. |
| Jacob\'s_Journey_from_NICU_to_Home_ Story of Jacob's birth and life after NICU with pictures and video. |
| Jeff_and_Beth Twin boys, Lucas Jeffrey Allen weighed 1lb 14oz and Austin Lawrence Allen weighed 1lb 12oz and were born 15 weeks early. Includes monthly journal entries with pictures, videos and a forum. |
| Joey_Carpenter Neonatal intensive care unit journal with pictures and webcam footage. |
| John_Henry Born on March 14, 1995 at 24 weeks gestation weighing 1lb 11oz (760 grams). Pictures, useful links and stories. |
| Jordan\'s_Preemie_Page Born weighing 1lb 9oz Jordan spent 3 1/2 months in the NICU. Pictures, story and information on some of the problems he faced. |
| Joshua_Luke The story and photographs of Joshua who was born at 23 weeks due to vasa previa. |
| Joshua\'s_Courageous_Fight_to_Breath The story of a boy who suffered complications relating to intubation. |
| Julian\'s_Story The account of Julian's birth at 30 weeks and pictures from his first two years. |
| Kayleah\'s_Korner Story and pictures of former 23 weeker, Kayleah Blake Fontenot, whose early birth was attributed to an incompetent cervix. |
| Kellie_Christine Detailed journal, photographs, video and sound of 1lb 2.6oz Kellie, with updates of her first five years. |
| The_Life_of_Chloe_Elizabeth_Lewis Born at 26 weeks and 5 days due to HELLP syndrome. Weight at birth 1lb 11.4oz. |
| Life_with_Triplets_Plus_One The journal with pictures of a family raising premature triplets and their brother. |
| Lydia\'s_Preemie_Page Story of Lydia Sparlin born 16 weeks early weighing 1 lb 9 oz. Site includes pictures and stories of her birth, NICU stay, homecoming and life at home. |
| Marilyn\'s_Diary Marilyn was born on November 12, 1996 after 26 weeks of gestation. Includes a day to day update of her time in NICU and pictures. |
| Mary_McClain_Williams Born four months prematurely, contains pictures and journal of her first four years. |
| Max_Isaac_L_ Born July 29, 1994, at 27 weeks gestation. Includes diary, photographs, video and audio. |
| Melody_and_Molly\'s_Preemie_Page Includes the story and pictures of premature siblings and provides information on disabilities. |
Yes I know that was two days ago! What kind of parent am I? Actually I think it's a great indicator of where we are that this third birthday is not quite the sigh of relief milestone that the last or certainly the first was. It's nice that we celebrate it for what it is rather than what might have been. Anyway there's lots of great pics to upload when I get more than 2 minutes to do it so in the meantime here's a shot from Pizza Express in Alresford for Amy's birthday tea on Monday where she attracted the usual attention from all and sundry. The staff brought her some complimentary ice cream complete with candle and kindly sang Happy Birthday, after which the whole restaurant erupted in applause led by the couple behind in the picture who would have happily taken Amy home with them.
posted by OWB at 9:07 AM
Here's a picture of Amelia making friends with a bunny down at Birdworld the other day. We're on stand by for a jelly and ice cream extravaganza as we have a party on Saturday for Amelia's upcoming 3rd birthday (oh yes it's true). There's a bouncy castle, trampoline, sandpit and all the usuals. Full report to follow.Generally she's coming along just fine and is getting ready to start at playgroup in September. She's finished her first swimming lessons and can paddle around quite well with the aid of a noodle. She's talking non-stop and has even managed to pick up some of her old Dad's trademark phrases, 'You know you want too', 'Cheers Mate' and the ever popular 'Jesus Christ!'. Well it was bound to happen I suppose. We just smile politely and vow to curb our exclamations from here on.
posted by OWB at 11:08 AM
Well what can I say? What excuse can I give for such deriliction of duty in not posting here for almost 9 weeks? Well those of you unfortunate to ask me what's been going on over the last 6 months will have been bored to the point of suicide with the 'other website' project. Well that's all up and running now so I have more time to do this.We've been on holiday! Yes we visited the lovely Praa Sands in Cornwall and learned the true meaning of rain. However I did try my hand at body-boarding and we managed to spend a full day on the beach as you can see. There's so much news I don't know where to start so I'll return later with more. Have fun. Nice to be back!
posted by OWB at 5:27 PM
Well apologies to those who have had problems returning to the blog having clicked on an image to enlarge. It looks like the clowns at Blogger have managed to take a perfectly good piece of software and ruin it. No change there then. Anyhow we get the bairn back from her brief holiday tonight which is nice. On Saturday morning we'll have an Easter Egg hunt followed by some serious chocolate munching. Here's a pic from last year's haul to get you in the mood. Have a good Easter!
posted by OWB at 12:53 PM
Well it looks like they fixed the problem with the pictures so we're back full steam ahead with more posts as promised. Here are the girls enjoying breakfast in bed on Mother's Day the other week. Amelia was very excited to be helping and we made a jolly old mess in the kitchen but at least Anna got a bit of a lie-in plus the perks. Of course Amy had to have her own as well to ensure pilfering didn't occur and I think on balance it went rather well.News-wise there's not much to report apart from Amy talking 10 to the dozen as usual. She's off to stay with Grandma & Godma this week from Monday to Thursday night so oh my Lord are we going to kick back! Cinema, curry, boozing, the lot. Actually it's more likely we'll just clean the flippin' house & then crash. What with all my extra-curricular activities at the moment any quiet time is gold to be honest.
We did have a scare with Lucy-Cat (official name), our family feline last Thursday. On noticing how thin she was, Anna dragged her off to the vet to be told there was a large lump in her abdomen which felt fairly, well terminal. She gave Lucy a pre-emptive painkiller and told us to give them a call when we felt 'the time' had come. So I stocked up on fresh chicken, pilchards, tuna, all the stuff she's not usually allowed, on the basis that if she's going to check out, she'll do it on a full stomach and being fussed over. Well as usual the cat doesn't seem to have read the script. She's eating 3-4 times a day, putting on weight and generally giving the impression of an animal getting on with it as opposed to rolling over. Not sure what the next stage is going to be but at the moment we're just enjoying the extra time. In the meantime we have had many discussions abou Heaven etc and that Lucy is going to be going there soon. We'll see.
posted by OWB at 2:51 PM
I almost can't believe it's here already but we had to submit Amelia for pre-school in September and she's been given a place. It's ridiculous to think she'll be 3 years old then and before you know it we'll be picking out the school uniform. I'm filling up at the mere thought.It's a fair trek to the pre-school though. As of course we live in Camberwick Green where I work from home, Anna walks 100 yards to work and Amy's childminder is only a 10 minute walk, it's only fitting that we should have the huge task of lifting Amy over the fence each morning as the '3-4-5' club is held next door at the Methodist church! Anyhow we're all looking forward to the weekend as the temperature is slowly climbing back up ready for spring - yes folks it's just round the corner. Incidentally we had a huge spike in our user stats for Tuesday and Wednesday this week and I was a little confused until I remembered we carried the bulletin on little Amillia Taylor the other day. Looks like we must get Googled fairly regularly as dozens of people looking for that story found their way here - lucky them!
posted by OWB at 5:50 PM
You'll probably see this on the news but I was interested to see the report on Amillia Taylor in Miami who went home yesterday after 4 months in hospital and is believed to be the first baby to have survived following a gestation period of less than 23 weeks. This is a world record apparently, a dubious honour to be sure.She was the size of a pen and weighed 10 ounces (284g) at birth making our Amelia look like a whopper! Amillia has experienced respiratory problems, a very mild brain haemorrhage and some digestive problems, but doctors now say her "prognosis is excellent". Apparently Amillia is latin for 'resilient', something we didn't know but can certainly testify to. Happy trails Amillia!
As for our own little 'cheekius maximus', she like us has been down with the dreaded lurgy for a few days and has coughed herself into oblivion bless her heart. She seems to be over the worst now but we're both suffering so it's a bit like quarantinesville here. Still, at least it's not bird flu.
posted by OWB at 8:24 AM
After my slightly over-emotional farewell (see last post) I spent the subsequent days feeling somewhat edgy and this developed into what I can only describe as mild anxiety. Then it hit me. This blog long ago transcended from being merely a diary of how Amy was getting on, it served two other very important purposes. Firstly it overcomes the irregularity with which we all contact each other to see how things are going. I've realised that when I meet up with people after days, weeks, months etc., they're completely up to speed with what's going on. Great! Secondly it acts as what I've discovered now is a very necessary outlet for me. I can splurge endlessly about all sorts of nonsense and should you have the misfortune to stumble across AFC during your lunch hour or whatever, you've got to read it. That gives me some kind of warped satisfaction.To be honest I really felt a sense of loss after calling time on this thing. I mean it's been two and a half years and you kind of get used to it you know. I also know some of you were sad to see it go too. Let's face it, it fills 5 minutes every now and then doesn't it? So with a focus primarily still on the little lady, but with my general ramblings too, we will march onwards to a now undetermined future. Amy's Fan Club is back, and it's here to stay.
posted by OWB at 9:24 AM
Incredibly Amy's Fan Club has been viewed by visitors from the following 77 countries:
Andorra NEW!
Australia
Argentina
Belgium
Brazil
Brunei Darussalam
Burkina Faso
Canada
Chile
China
Colombia
Costa Rica NEW!
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Dominican Republic
Egypt
Ethiopia
Finland
France
Germany
Guatemala
Hong Kong
Hungary
India
Indonesia
Iran
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Jordan
Kenya
Korea
Kuwait
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macao
Madagascar
Malaysia
Malta NEW!
Mauritius
Mexico
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nigeria
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Papua New Guinea NEW
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russian Federation
Saudi Arabia
Serbia and Montenegro
Singapore
Slovakia
South Africa
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sweden
Switzerland
Syria
Taiwan
Thailand
Togo
Trinidad & Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United States
Venezuela
Vietnam NEW!
Welcome to all of you and thanks for your support.
