Last updated, 18 July, 18:00
Today we had a breakthrough with the breast-feeding! At about eleven thirty this morning he had a proper feed direct from his mum. He took some encouragement, the general pattern was still to have two or three sucks and then to start to nod off, but unlike earlier days, he managed to try again. After an hour or so, the nurse was satisfied that he had managed to get enough that he did not need any milk to be tube-fed. This was a relief as she had taken the tube out of his nose in order that he could breathe more easily when clasped to the breast! Mandy is full of milk and he had some difficulty getting hold (the nurse was reminded of some Ruby Wax beach ball sketch).
For his second feed (at about two thirty in the afternoon) Mandy expressed some milk first, to try and give him a bit more of a chance. He was more tired this time, but still managed to do OK.
This is a major milestone, because the doctors would not let John home until he was breast-feeding unless it appeared that he was never going to do so. We seize on each little sign of something that he can do normally and this was an important one.
For his next feed, the nurses have suggested that he uses the tube again, in order that he can gather his energy for a proper go at half past eight. Mandy's Mum and Dad are due to visit at seven o'clock, along with John's Great Grandma Knight, so he will nearly be due for his feed after that.
Mandy is having a sleep now (half past five), or at least trying. People keep coming in asking whether she wants food or painkillers or something else. As my Mum said, they will soon be waking her up to ask her if she wants any sleeping tablets.
John was quiet when Mandy's folks visited and we had to wake him for his feed. He managed OK, but was not as vigorous as earlier in the day. Mandy gave him another feed at about eleven. The nurse suggested that Mandy got some sleep and that she would try to cup feed him during the night, so that she did not need to put the tube back in his nose to feed him that way. It seems that this worked well, with his notes saying "cup fed well, if burped often"!
While Mandy was feeding John, a doctor came round and they explained that they needed to take some more blood from John because, can you believe it, the sample they had taken that morning was lost before it got to the lab. John seems to have inherited his mother's veins - it took ages before the doctor could get blood out of him. We are considering renaming him "Stone". They have taken so many blood samples and he has had so much stuck in him, the poor thing resembles a pin-cushion. The doctor gave up trying to get blood from his hand and managed, after much prodding and poking with the needle, to get just about enough out of his foot. He cried while the doctor was doing this, which was obviously upsetting, but in a way it was kind of reassuring. He hadn't cried for days, but we had feared that he would still have been in as much pain as a few days ago, if it wasn't for the drugs keeping him sedated. We figured, however, that if a needle in his foot could make him cry then his head could not be giving him that much trouble after all.
I went home after John's last feed and called round at my mum's, to drop off the video tape of Fiona and Peter's wedding, which she had left me. Unfortunately, we hadn't been able to watch it in the hospital because the remote for the TV was missing and we couldn't persuade the TV to show pictures from the SCART socket without it. I was surprised to find mum was still up and I stayed with her and Mike for a little while. She had been getting concerned about her son and had bought me some microwaveable food so that I didn't waste away. Over stuffed peppers Mike and I compared techno toys - he had just got a new laptop so I attempted to outdo him by checking my e-mail using the mobile. I showed them this web-site, and gave Mike the address, so that the people I know at CAL could have a look and get up-to-date with John Kenneth's progress.
Because I had been getting stuff out of my bag at mum's, I accidentally managed to leave the bag of dirty washing there. Well, it gave her something to do, didn't it? ;-)