Baby Plumbing

Wow! What a couple of weeks it's been. No one ever tells you what hard work babies are! Well, they do. They tell you about sleep deprivation and never being able to finish a cup of tea or complete a task, but you don't actually BELIEVE them do you?

However, I'm not moaning. I've a sneaky feeling that Arthur is a particularly placid baby. Last night he slept from 10.30pm to 4.30am and again from 5.45am to 9.30am meaning that Paul and I got a really good night's sleep. Admittedly, he moaned for most of yesterday afternoon and evening but I can deal with that!

Our big worry is still Arthur's plumbing. Since being home we've slowly come to realise that he can't wee at all. It hit me quite hard first of all because I had really hoped he'd be the exception rather than the rule when it comes to spina bifida meaning incontinence (I expect all parents think this!) When we were sent home from hospital we were instructed to catheterise him every 6-hours, but this led to huge build-ups in his bladder. His bladder is only meant to hold 30 or 40ml, but it was often stretching as far as 150ml. Obviously, he wouldn't explode, the wee would force its way out eventually in a trickle, but would also go up into his kidneys which could be damaging.

So we're up to 3-hourly catheterising which has its problems, especially given how much he sleeps at night. If he sleeps for 6 hours, Paul and I really don't want to be waking ourselves (and, more importantly, him!) up after 3 hours to drain his bladder. Urology are sending us some indwelling catheters for overnight, so that should solve this problem. Going out and about is also a problem with 3-hourly cathing. A nappy change while out at the shops is one thing, but the cath takes considerably longer and generally involves a degree of screaming (not because it's painful, but because he hates lying on his back with his nappy off!) Still, it's something we'll have to work out. We're not the first parents to have to catheterise a newborn, and we won't be the last.

Anyway, the plan is that urology will work out why Arthur is producing and retaining so much wee, so it can be sorted out and the cathing can be done less regularly. To this end, Arthur and I have another overnight stay in hospital on Monday and Tuesday. Basically, they'll monitor what he's eating and what he's producing for a 24 hour period, as well as using the opportunity to scan him again and do some blood tests. I'm feeling quite chilled out about this stay in hospital. I feel I understand Arthur better now, and I know how the hospital works a bit better too, so I'll take all the home comforts we both need for a good stay.

Talking of the hospital, we had a appointment there today, this time with neurology. Some of Arthur's wound has healed very well, but the stitches at the top had come undone. The junior doctor told us he would need to restitch him under a general anaesthetic and keep him in overnight, but then a consultant turned up and said that, given that Arthur probably doesn't have a lot of sensation in his lower back anyway, he may as well stitch him up with no anaesthetic at all. Arthur screamed a bit (therefore, I conclude, he probably does have a bit of sensation in his back!) but the whole procedure only took about 5 minutes and I feel it was a better decision than subjecting the poor mite to yet another GA. While we were there he had his head measured, and I'm pleased to report it remains bang on the 50% quartile (exactly average) so there's no worry about hydrocephalus yet.

Oh - and we took Arthur to be registered today. That was great fun! It feels odd to be registering him in Oxford, given he's going to be a Westcountry boy really, but - as I always say - he'll be back in Oxford in 18 years anyway...! (Pushy? Moi?)

In other news... Well there isn't actually any other news. It's amazing how much a baby takes over your life. But it's not a bad thing, it's fab. I've been watching a lot of Olympics and I'm gutted its over but really looking forward to the Paralympics, especially because so many of them have spina bifida so I can show Arthur what he can achieve if he works hard.

We've had lots of lovely visitors over the last few days, and we've been down to Somerset too to see some family. The wonderful wonderful people of Cuddesdon are continuing to drop food at our door and I count my blessings every time they do. Life is good.