Wednesday 22nd April

Today we took Jamie to be registered. He is now officially Jamie George Francis Simpson. What I did not realize is that if we get married we will have to re-register Jamie as currently we are classed as single parents. We had been told that the registrar could get a bit funny if you were not married but she seemed ok with us. What was funny was that there was a couple in the next room having a major argument – had one of them decided they did not like the baby’s name at the last moment, or was she unsure of who the real father was? What was coincidental is that the Echo sent an email asking if we would be interviewed for a piece on couples who choose not to marry…

Thursday 23rd April The Transitional Care Team came first thing to take out Jamie’s tube, but he had already pulled it himself. Because of this we had tried him on a bottle yesterday for the first time and he had taken to it brilliantly. He finally looks like a normal baby.

Friday 24th April Today we asked loads of questions, such as ‘Can they poo too much?’ The team told of a baby who did not poo for 4 days but was told that this was quite normal. Pooing a lot is nothing to worry about. The only real worries are if the baby is being sick or isn’t eating. Jamie has put on more weight and is doing well. The team didn’t seem to mind that we had moved Jamie onto a bottle with a mixture of formulae and expressed milk. They said some of their midwife associates might, but the important thing was that Jamie was feeding well. Gave Jamie his second bath tonight. This time without his tube. It was a lot easier he certainly seemed better and happier for it.

Received my Health in Pregnancy Grant from the government today (HMRC) http://campaigns.direct.gov.uk/money4mum2be/ £190 thank you!!

Saturday 25th April Jamie actually woke us up in the night about 3 / 4 hourly. Not really crying but jiffling about and we could hear him sucking his fists. We have not given up totally on breast feeding but he is still not interested. I did read today that I should be expressing every 3 hours. I am afraid that this is not the case. Jamie has been having expressed breast milk during the day and then formulae in the night. I asked whether we could feed Jamie too much as he seems to be wanting more than the 74ml he was on when tube feeding. I was told to feed him as much as he wants. This could get expensive. He is having approximately 100ml per feed at the moment.

If breastfeeding, I had read that Newborns need to nurse 10-12 times in 24hrs. At least 8-12times a day. 6-8 wet nappies in 24hrs / 3-5 bowel movements per day means baby is getting enough milk.