Last updated, 18 July, 18:45
John was really improved this morning - lively, but clearly not in as much pain as last night.
Last night he had been lying on the open resusitation table on which they had revived him, but today they had put him in an incubator, which we thought meant that we could only touch him through the little portholes in the side. We were being so careful to only touch him gently and not disturb him, but then the nurse asked us if we wanted to hold him! It really did us the world of good to be able to cuddle him. He was reacting well to us, looking around when either of us spoke to him and being really cute. I took loads of pictures, some of which are on this site. He was still holding his hands very tightly and rather awkwardly and would have a little cry every now and again, but it was great to see him reacting like any other baby. He had some sticky tape on his nose, because they had been feeding him some milk through a tube there, but he had managed to pull it out. Mandy got them to take the tape off while we were holding him.
We were so pleased to see how improved he was. Mandy had not got much sleep in the hospital and decided that she wanted to go home. The nurse said that they would normally advise her to stay in a while, but she was determined. She rang her mum and dad and asked them to come round to our house and we got back there just before two o'clock.
Fiona, my sister, was to get married at two in Rivington, probably about ten miles away. We had assumed that we wouldn't make it, but I decided that I had a chance of at least seeing some of the ceremony. I threw on a suit, thrust some Polaroids of John into my pocket and jumped into the car. I didn't risk life or limb on the way over, but did perhaps risk my licence at certain points as I sped down the rather windy lanes to Rivington. As I got to the village, I realised that I didn't know where the church was. Fortunately, a combination of a parish noticeboard, my grandma's car and a big shiny wedding looking car gave me enough clues and I made it to a pew just as the vicar was doing the "We are gathered here today" bit.
The McCann tradition of being late had been proudly upheld by Fiona, meaning that I only missed her walking down the aisle - probably the most important bit, but the rest made up for it. I managed to catch my breath enough to have a go at singing the hymns (see the Order of Service which we did for her) and it was a beautiful wedding.
Everyone was really pleased to see the Polaroids, and by holding one up I managed to make sure that Mandy and John managed to get on the wedding photos!
The nurse on the ward examined Mandy again and told her that she thought her going home had been a bad idea. She hadn't been lying down at home, and so not ony was she visibly exhausted, but her stiches were not healing well. The journey home and back in the bumpy Mini had not helped. The nurse suggested that she came back in and Mandy reluctantly agreed. She did manage to strike a bargain, however, getting the nurse toagree that I could visit Mandy whenever I liked.
We went for one last night at home before Mandy was re-admitted to hospital.