type as me

So far we have:

• Bean
  
• Beany
  
• Hollybean
  
• Ickle Pickle
  
• Icky Picky
  
• Icky Von Picky ,shortened to
  
• Icky Von
  
• Icky McPicky
  
• Ickster
  
• Grumple Stiltskin (when she's in a mood)
  

I get a bit carried away

Imagine the scene... It's late at night. Holly's unsettled, and I try to comfort her. She slowly calms done as I pace back and forth, and then falls asleep in my arms. I go to put her back in her cot, and slowly move her toward it. Reminiscent from the above scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark, I carefully place her down, knowing that one false move could start her off again, and unleash a rolling boulder* if she wakes.

But success is oh so sweet It's just not how you'd want to emulate Indy.

^{*metaphorically, of course. The room's not booby-trapped with spears, rocks, or poisoned darts. Well, not that I know, anyhow.}

What an unbelievable week it has been! From being woken up at 1.30am last Saturday by Pip telling me she thought her waters had broken, to Holly being born about 15 hours later, and then being taken away shortly afterwards with breathing problems.

I don't think I've had such a roller-coaster of emotions before, going from the trauma of seeing Pip in labour (due to a variety of things she couldn't have a painkiller, and she really needed one), the elation of Holly being born and holding her in my arms,

then the fear and panic of her turning blue and being taken to the Neo-Natal Unit and being attached to so many wires and tubes.

She was in there for just over a week, and although they unit has 24 hour visiting, you can't help feeling distant from her, and helpless.

Each day we hoped to see improvement, but for the first few days she was stable, but not improving. All we could do was look at her through the perplex, as the Doctors told us they wanted to have minimal interaction, concentrating all her energy on breathing.

But then there was a distinct change. It's like her lungs finally got the idea, and kicked in. She was taken off the oxygen for longer periods, and we even got to hold her.

The nurses and staff were fantastic, letting us getting involved as much as we could; changing her nappy, and helping with the feeds.

One by one the different wires came off, starting with the oxygen, then the drip and monitoring leads, and finally the feeding tube.

I was moved into the hospital to help establish a feeding routine, and slowly Holly started to feed for longer and longer. She wasn't, however, putting on weight, but the Doctors allowed us to take her home on Monday.

We had to take her back in today, to make sure that she had put on weight, and she had! A whole 4oz. So now she is home for good, and we're enjoying every minute of it. Even the night where she didn't settle until 4am