The baby boy got his dates mixed up and instead came 3 months early on the 7th of May. Mummy Kat had swollen feet and hands, like a balloon, so she took a trip to the doctor. She had to have some nasty injections to help the baby boy’s lungs. The next morning at 9am they took Mummy Kat into theatre. This was very scary for Mummy Kat but she was sick and needed help.
Mummy Sophie came in as well, dressed in hospital scrubs, so she looked funny. They rescued the baby and put him in a little bag, to keep him warm. He was taken into the neonatal intensive care unit, where lots of special doctors and nurses could look after him. When he was born weighing 1lb 11oz. Mummy Sophie went to visit the baby the day he was born, with Grandma Jeany and Grandad Phil. Mummy Kat was still poorly and had to stay in bed. The next day both mummies visited the baby. They were trying to decide on his name and decided it needed to be a strong name to help the little baby. Mummy Kat asked the baby if he wanted to be called Leo and he opened his eyes. This was a good sign that he liked his name.
It took 5 days before Mummy Kat held her baby and this was just in the incubator. She spent a long time looking at him in an incubator and couldn’t wait to cuddle him properly. When they were allowed, both mummies loved cuddling Leo in their tops and giving skin to skin care. This helped the mummies bond with Leo and he seemed relaxed. After a week Mummy Kat could go home, but baby Leo was very, very small so he needed to stay in hospital until he was bigger and stronger. He was looked after by a lot of amazing nurses who took care of him and doctors who monitored his progress daily. It took a while for everyone to get used to all the beeps and noises in the NICU but they settled into a routine of visiting and also resting at home. Some days were scary, some were sad, some were lovely and some were boring. We loved visitors to help us with all these things. Mummy Kat was very sad at home to start with and found it difficult to get up in the middle of the night to express milk for Leo to drink. Teaching Leo to feed from Mummy Kat was really difficult but eventually he got it and was almost ready to go home. After 88 days, on the 3rd of August, the mummies could take Leo home. Prior to this, they roomed in with him for 2 days at the hospital. This made going home seem less scary.
When he got home, he was finally able to meet his cousins, who had not been allowed in hospital. They were excited to meet him. All the family celebrated Leo coming home and his mummies were over the moon. This began their family adventures which will continue forever.
Once upon a time there was a little baby boy. He was growing in Mummy Kat’s tummy and was due to arrive on the 7th August.