Intensive Care Unit

Unfortunately Toby has had another bad day today. This afternoon he started having problems with his heart rate which kept on dropping, to cut a long story short he has been moved back into the intensive care unit and been put back on a ventilator. He can breathe for himself however they are going this to control his heart rate. This has most likely been caused but an infection so he is now on antibiotics. They are also going to inject some dye into Toby to see if they can find out what has been wrong with his tummy. All in all a very difficult day. Please continue to pray that Toby recovers and that the doctors can get to the bottom of the problems he is having.

Frustrating

Sorry there has not been much news on our blog in the last few days but we have been very busy trying to spend as much time with Toby as possible. To be honest the last few days have been extremely frustrating. Toby seems quite well in himself, however he is still having problems with being able to take milk. On Friday they tried feeding him milk but he did not seem to digest it so it was stopped and the same thing happened again this evening so the doctors are going to have to review him again in the morning. They don't really seem to know what is wrong. Please pray that Toby can take is his milk so that he can make a full and speedy recovery.

Yawn

Toby seems to be much better than a few days ago and has been moved out of the intensive care ward. He is now on a special drip called TPN and can't have milk until the end of the week, but we are hoping that he will be moved back to north Manchester by then. Here is a photo of Toby having a yawn! Thanks once again for all your prayers.

Roller Coaster

When Toby was first born a lot of the doctors and nurses said the next few months would be like a roller coaster and in the past few days we have understood what they meant. Yesterday morning (Friday) Toby developed a problem with this gut which meant that his tummy became swollen. The doctors made the decision that he needed to moved to St Mary's Hospital in south Manchester where he could receive more specialist treatment. The good news is that he seems to only have a mild case of a condition called Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC). He is now been fed through a drip and is on antibiotics. They hope that he will only need to stay there a week. This has obviously been very frustrating as he had been doing so well, however he seems to have gotten off quite lightly as NEC can been extremely dangerous. Please continue to pray for Toby's complete recovery.

Three Photos

It has been a few days since we have put an update on our blog so I have added 3 photos in one go. The top one of all three of us, the middle one is of Toby having a sleep and the bottom one with Kevin Catherine's brother with her and Toby.

The last few days have been quite difficult because Catherine had a tummy bug for a few days which meant that she could not see Toby, however she is fine now and has seen him yesterday and today. Toby continues to do well each day, however it is starting to dawn on us that is going to be a very long time, even if everything goes well, until he is home with us. It will be the end of August at the earliest.

Drinking

When I got to the hospital today I got this photo and a note from Toby that read:

Dear Mummy and Daddy,

Here is a photograph of me enjoying a cup feed last night. I was wide awake and enjoyed it very much.

Lots of love, Toby xxx

I Close My Eyes

Sorry that there was no post yesterday however we were very late back from the hospital and sleep really did feel more important. Toby is 2 weeks old today, it really seems a lot longer than that to us but it has been an amazing fews weeks. When Toby was only a few days old I was sitting next to his incubator at Hope hospital and I closed my eyes just for a few moments as I was really tired but something happened that I was not expecting. When I closed them I had a mental picture of his cute little face and he was all I could think of. In all the business of the following few days I forgot to mention it to Catherine, however as we were talking one afternoon she said the same thing back to me. Even when we are not with Toby he is always on our minds. Toby continues to make progress so thank you all for your prayers. Thanks also for all your messages and comments on the blog, keep them coming as we love to read them and we will be printing them all off so Toby can read when he grows up. I have changed the set-up now so you don't have to log-in to write a comment.

Looking Good

Today Toby wore his own clothes for the first time as up to now he has only fitted in the really small ones the baby unit has. To be honest they are a little big for him but we think he looks cute. He also got a visit from Grandma and Grandad Edwards who have knitted his first jumpers!

Loads Of Gifts

This evening we has a visit from some of Catherine's friends from school and it is fair to say that they did not come empty handed. It took Catherine ages to open them all. People have been so generous to us, I don't think Toby will have to wear the same outfit more than once! Toby is still doing well, here is a photo of him chilling out earlier on today.

Watching Him Grow

As promised yesterday here is a photo of Toby with some clothes on. Every day he makes little steps forward in his development and we are really enjoying watching him grow. He is such a wriggler and really enjoys waving his arms and legs around. We have been surprised by just how content he seems to be as he hardly ever cries, however I am sure this will change in time!

Busy Day

Today has been extremely busy as we have rushed around to get a few things sorted out. We registered Toby's birth in central Manchester so he is now all official. We also saw some more friends who brought us lots of lovely food! Toby has also had an eventful day as it was the first day he has worn proper clothes. Unfortunately that happened this afternoon and I had left my camera at home so this photo is from this morning when he was having a little sleep, something I am going to go and do myself.

Big Day

Today has brought a huge amount of change for Toby and Catherine. This morning Toby was doing so well they made the decision to move him back to North Manchester, something we thought might have taken a long time to sort out, but by mid afternoon he had made the move. Meanwhile the doctors gave the okay to discharge Catherine so she is now home with me, something we are both really enjoying. She has to check in with the doctors at North Manchester for the next little while but she is well on the mend. Thanks for all you prayer they have made a big difference.

1st Birthday (1 Week Old Today)

Toby is 1 week old Today and he continues to go from strength to strength. We have had loads and family and friends to see Toby in the last week which as been really great. Todays visitors were Matt my brother and his wife Claire (uncle and auntie).

This week has definitely been the strangest in my life, the most exciting and the scariest at times but through it all we have really found God's peace. Thank you to all of you who have been praying, phoning, sending texts and emailing and all the other support we have received it has been truly overwhelming.

Here is another little movie of Toby - Click Here

Wavy Hair

Here a great photo of Toby without his hat on you can see his wavy hair. It was taken when we were doing his cares. We have changed his nappy again today in which he had done a massive poo! We also got to hold him again which was really good. They have also increased the amount of milk that he his being given and he seems to be really enjoying it. Catherine’s blood pressure is still not right which is a real frustration.

Cuddles

Today has been really amazing and a hugh answer to prayer. At 6.30 this morning Toby was taken off his ventilator something that we thought might take ages to happen. Then this afternoon we both got the chance to hold him for the first time. He was taken out of is incubator and we held him in our arms. We each has a turn for about 10 mins or so. It was a huge relief for us and we really enjoyed being 'normal' with him. Catherine's blood pressure is still a bit high so please continue to pray that it comes down so Catherine can come home.

God is Good

When we started to think of names we really wanted one that meant something as well as being a name we both liked the sound of. Right from the start we had a girls name, however it took us a little longer to come up with a name for a boy. In the end we settled on Toby which means God is Good. This has been so true in Toby's first few days. The very fact that it all started on a Saturday and not a weekday when Catherine would have been teaching is testimony to this. Also that the first Doctor we saw picked-up on what was happening so quickly was amazing. For a few hour the doctors and nurses looking after Catherine were expecting her to have a fit and there was a real possibility that I could have lost both of them on Saturday. God was true to his word and his protection was massively evident.

The update for today is that Catherine is doing well although her blood pressure is still a little high and Toby continues to do well. We both had the opportunity to change his nappy today. It was really exciting, however as my friend Steve told me I am sure the novelty of this will wear off as soon as he is better. Please continue to pray for his recovery, they have managed to bring down the amount the ventilator is going for his breathing so lets hope that this might be stopped completely in the near future.

A Day Of Firsts

Today has been a really good day full of firsts for us and Toby. He did his first poo, Catherine and I helped with his 'cares' which is when he gets a wash, his nappy changed. Amongst other things, Catherine also got to hold him inside the incubator when he had his blanket changed. The other big first was that he started to be fed with the milk that Catherine has been expressing for him.

Blue Eyed Boy

Today things have been going well for Toby and Catherine. At around lunch-time Catherine was moved to Hope Hospital so she is now in the same building as Toby. When she went to see him after she arrived Toby heard her voice and opened his eyes for the first time. He has beautiful blue eyes just like his dad! He has been stable all day today which is good.

Toby Rowbottom

Toby was born on July 1st 2006 at 6.25pm he was a rather unexpected arrival as he is 10 weeks premature. It all began when Catherine was feeling unwell on Saturday morning and it ended up with her being diagnosed with Pre-Eclampsia which is not at all good for mum or baby. The decision was made to deliver him which all happened rather fast. All the staff looking after them both have been amazing. The latest news is that Catherine is doing real well and Toby is being well cared for in Hope Hospital's specialist baby care unit. It is still very early days but the signs are good at the moment. The main prayer request is that his lungs develop quickly so that he can breath unaided.

You can watch him in his own movie in his incubator, all the noises and alarms are normal! - Click Here