Monday 7th March

Today was pretty good. I left work heading in the direction of home for the first time since Friday 24th September. Normality had never felt so refreshing. This is the kind of thing I probably wouldn't have appreciated enough before; the simple act of travelling home, knowing that my little family are all there waiting for me.

The kids are now on double helpings of 'solids' a day. They had apple and baby rice for lunch, and sweet potato for dinner. Slightly more nutritious than the lunch of caramel KitKats and Penguins that their father had at work. It was my first day back in the office though; and the bananas I left in my drawer three weeks ago didn't look all that appetising.

Last night, all four of us had five and a half hours sleep in one go, so today we were feeling surprisingly refreshed. It's now a quarter to midnight, so fifteen minutes til their late supper. The grunts and groans coming from the baskets in the corner are like a countdown to food o'clock. Who needs atomic clocks to tell the time when you have Willow and Stanley.

Sunday 6th March

All is still going nicely here. We've fully recovered from our time as sub z-list celebrities; even surviving a surprise appearance in the Advertiser.

It's been a busy week for the four of us. Leela is relishing her role as a proper mummy at last; and I wasn't called upon at all in my back-up position while working from home. We had a lovely weekend together, including a walk in the spring sunshine along the beach. It's getting a lot more relaxing leaving the house, and we're not relying on watching monitors constantly anymore while out driving or walking.

We're definitely starting to put the whole NICU experience behind us, and hopefully Willow and Stanley are too. Going by their smiles and how happy they always seem to be (except when hungry), it looks like it's already a distant memory for them.

Wednesday 2nd March

This week, we've mostly been forgetting what sleep is like. Although that, and the tiredness created by the lack of sleepy time, are the only negative elements to come out of the last few days.

Willow and Stanley are still coming on in every way. Each morning they seem bigger and smilier, and it's always a real joy to meet them again every time they wake up. They were weighed again today - Stanley is 13lbs, Willow is 11lbs 10oz. They're moving their way up the percentiles, Stanley nearing the 75th and Willow on the 50th (for their corrected age of almost nine weeks, of course).

I've been working from home this week, pretending to not be at home at all - only interacting with family members if I hear an adult scream from downstairs. Leela has, amazingly, been coping superbly with the double full-time job she's got. On an average of three and a half hours sleep each night, it's not easy dealing with two extremely demanding little humans all day, particularly those that require oxygen, sat monitors and a cocktail of drugs. The day we get rid of Willow's oxygen and both the monitors will be like another escape - our final (material) ties to the legacy of premature birth will be left behind us.

For me, it has been like a break getting stuck back into work. I can concentrate properly now, knowing that everything I need in life is just downstairs, and not in a hospital on the other side of town, where I don't know what's happening. It's still an amazing relief every time the phone rings, knowing that it's not NICU.

The weaning is still going well; it looks like Willow is the more accomplished spoon feeder. Stanley still needs to calm down a bit, and realise that the food is not going to run away from him unless he shakes his head around like a madman. At this rate, we'll be liquidising jalfrezis before we know it. Might give those nappies a miss....

Saturday 26th February

Yesterday was all about Weening. Today, we've moved onto weaning.

Willow and Stanley both made their first steps into the world of solid foods this morning. It does seem very early to start weaning, as pretty much everything else in their development will be based on their 'corrected age' - which is the age calculated from when they should have been born (which is currently eight weeks). But, as their little stomachs have been digesting milk for five months, ie since day one, they will be able to start consuming solid foods earlier than their corrected age.

Not surprisingly, Stanley relished the opportunity to guzzle something other than liquid. And Willow wasn't shy either; I think we can call this experiment - the initial test anyway - a success. It gave us a lovely glimpse into the next few months, where they're going to be smiling away whilst covering their faces with all sorts of multicoloured foodstuffs.

Unbelievably, I only have one day left before going back to work. This has been the quickest two weeks of my life by far; I can understand now when other parents say to make the most of this time as kids grow up so fast. So I'm going to spend most of the time I have left feeding, changing, sterilising, talking rubbish and not sleeping. I'd happily swap work for all of that though - this is definitely the most rewarding job I've done.

Friday 25th February

So, it looks like our fifteen minutes of fame are over. Not before one final nice surprise though. Word had got around to Dean Ween, guitarist of one of our favourite bands, Ween, that I was wearing a Ween t shirt in the photo on the Telegraph's website. So the link was posted on their Facebook page and we got over 150 messages from well-wishing Ween fans. Also, they are sending Willow and Stanley some autographed baby-grows, which they'll be able to treasure forever. Some good has come out of all of this, after all.

Back home in the Senior residence, all is going nicely. The kids are getting into a routine now, with awake playfulness and long sleepy periods at the same times each day. It looks like Stanley's reflux is coming back, after a few episodes where he's done a bit of choking and turned ever so slightly navy. Nothing like what was happening a few weeks ago, but we've started him back on some Domperidone anyway. Another syringe to add to the regular drug administration schedule.

We're noticing the difference in both of them every day, particularly Willow. She's always been a few weeks behind Stanley after the rougher ride she's had, but she's making great strides to catch up with him all the time. Her smiles have gone from small unsure smirks to huge full-faced grins. No matter what time of day or night it is, seeing either of them smiling right at you just wipes away any problems there might be in the world at that moment.

Thursday 24th February

Wednesday was another day of craziness for the four of us. We awoke to the news that our story was now not only in the local Echo, but also in the Mail, Telegraph, Express and Metro newspapers (with only a little bit of sensationalisation, courtesy of the Telegraph). It's all a little bit embarrassing; we don't really feel worthy of all this attention. The kind of thing that we went through goes on every single day in this country, we are by no means the only people who've suffered and there are a lot others who are so much worse off than us. At least it does raise awareness of the work that goes on in intensive care units on a daily basis, and it's nice to be part of a positive news story amongst all the misery out there in the world today.

I don't think Willow and Stanley noticed any of the fuss going on around them. They've had another good couple of days and continue to thrive. Willow was giving us some real smiles, reacting to both of us as we talked rubbish to her, as parents do. They slept for nearly six hours last night, which is more sleep than either of us have had in the last five months. If we can just stretch that out a bit we'll be more than happy.

We've been for a nice walk down the beach in the glorious spring sunshine, but are still a bit on edge and can't help but keep looking at the monitors all the time. I think we need to start weaning ourselves off Stanley's monitor at least, so we can get used to having a baby with no wires attached at all.

The physio from the Child Development Centre made a visit today to have a look at how Willow and Stanley are getting on physically. One of the main worries of everything they've been through - like being extremely premature, and all the events that occurred since their birth - is that they might have some form of cerebral palsy. It's impossible to tell at this stage just what exactly the outcome might be, but from today's examination there was nothing obvious with either of them which would necessarily indicate any problems. So, although inconclusive, which is all it can be at this stage, we'll happily go with 'no news is good news'.

The last few nights, both babies have been fast asleep all evening, from around 7pm til midnight. Hoping this will also be the case tonight, we are planning to sit back and watch a blu-ray with no disturbances. The good thing is, we can have the surround sound as loud as we like; because they're so used to the racket going on in NICU, they can sleep through anything.

We'll see how that goes...

Tuesday 22nd February

Today was rather different. We almost felt like minor celebrities, expecting the papparazzi to be bashing down our door at any minute. The house phone rang at about quarter to nine. For the last four and a half months, that would always fill us with dread, as it could only generally mean one thing. Today though, after a quick glance at the two beautiful babies we were holding, we knew it wasn't NICU on the end of the line. Anyway, we missed the call as usual - we've always got our hands full these days - but there was a message from someone at Bournemouth News Service. Apparently we were on page three of the Bournemouth Echo, and our news story had gone national. That's the only time I'd like either of the two ladies in my life to be on page three of any newspaper.

By four o'clock this afternoon, we'd made it into the Daily Mail website, had an offer from a woman's magazine, and turned down the chance to appear on Channel Five. Not something that happens every day, and not anything we expected. We haven't really done much to deserve the attention; just had a couple of lovely little babies. All this fuss from a press release from Leela's school about the money they'd raised for NICU. If we do get any money from any of this, it will all go to NICU anyway, so it can only be a good thing.

As it turns out, there were no papparazzi, and we won't be competing with Kerry Katona for the front page of OK! magazine or the News of the World. But it did add a bit of excitement to our Tuesday anyway.

Back to the more important things in life, young Willow and Stanley were again thriving in their new environment of the Senior household. It's such a joy to wake up each morning and be able to see them again, even if it is 4:30am and they're screaming the house down. As soon as some food goes down their necks, the smiles aren't far away and it makes it all worthwhile.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1359503/The-premature-twins-tiny-arms-fit-inside-wedding-ring.html

http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/8867649.Premature_twins_back_home_after_143_days_in_hospital/

Monday 21st February

We've been waiting for Saturday and Sunday morning lie-ins like this for a long time, and we finally got them this weekend; complete with bacon and egg sandwiches, and our babies on the bed with us. We're still not getting a terrific amount of sleep though, as both Willow and Stanley make continuous noises throughout the night.

We're still appreciating not having to go to NICU every day, and not having to worry all night about what our children are doing all those miles away. Of course, we still worry about how they're doing right beside us, but it's getting much easier. Their monitors are going off a lot less already; they seem to be even more stable than they were when they left NICU.

The health visitor came around this morning and was very impressed with how happy and settled the pair of them are. They were both even giving away a few smiles. They were weighed today - Stanley is 12lbs 4oz, and Willow is 10lbs 9oz - so both are still gaining weight really nicely.

We've been out for a few walks, complete with Infection Control rain covers to protect from prying fingers and germ-filled splutters. We probably look like neurotic parents, but we'd rather look neurotic than see either or both of our babies back in hospital. We're getting used to carting oxygen and sat monitors around with us everywhere, but really can't wait until we don't have to anymore. It will probably be a few months yet; although we are starting to turn Willow's oxygen down quite a bit more now, and Stanley's feeding has improved so much that he hardly ever de-saturates at all.

We still haven't quite got our own feeding regime on track. We tend to not have time to eat, so breakfast doesn't generally make an appearance until the afternoon. There is always a pot of filter coffee on the go and a small supply of cakes for emergency caffeine and calories. The kids are obviously getting a lot more nutrition than we are anyway. 

So, we're one week in to our new lives back home, which means that Willow and Stanley are one week stronger. The highlights of any of our days now is when either of them smiles at us; I suppose it means we're at least doing something right. Hopefully their memories of all the nasty things they went through are already fading, and are being replaced with dreams of a happy future.

Friday 18th February

Things are still going well in the Senior household. It now feels like we've always been a family; I can't imagine what it would be like without Willow and Stanley around.

We're slowly getting into the flow of everything, and our sleep amount has increased from three quarters of a minute on Monday night to three quarters of an hour last night. The babies are getting a lot more sleep - and are generally very settled, quiet and happy. The only time they really cause a fuss is when they're hungry. Stanley can go from fast asleep to screaming his face off in about six seconds. And Willow's voice is getting louder all the time, so she's not far behind her brother in volume.

We can see they've come on so much in these last few days since being at home. Both of them are feeding a lot more nicely; probably helped by the fact that only the two of us are now doing it, and we're both a lot more confident and know exactly what they want. What's really nice is to be able to hold our babies without wearing gloves and aprons, and to not have to share living space with other people.

Today we had a bit of a surprise photo-shoot. The Echo wanted to do a story about us after Leela's school sent in a press release about some money they'd raised for NICU, and they wanted some pictures of us all. We made sure the kids were well fed before the photographer arrived, and they were very well behaved, even giving a few smiles at the right time.

I can't believe how quickly this week has gone; only ten more days off and I'll be back at work. Leela's going to have her hands full, that's for sure. She copes unbelievably well though, dealing with us three hungry whingeing babies all day. She's a real natural mother; the way she calms down both Willow and Stanley when they're both screaming at the same time is amazing.

Going by the noises coming from the moses basket in the corner, someone's a hungry boy again. Time for some more dinner....

Tuesday 15th to Thursday 17th February

So, we're now three days in to (relatively) normal family life, and it's been a real baptism of fire. We haven't really left the house much since arriving home on Monday; and why should we - for the first time since September, we have no reason to go anywhere. Everything we need is under this roof.

We've experienced some worries; perhaps now more akin to the kind of worries any new parent would have. There are no nurses or doctors providing 24 hour support, so we have to just use our instinct a lot of the time. I suppose this is where we have the advantage over normal parents; we have known our babies for nearly five months after all, and will therefore know if they're acting differently in any way.

We also still have the heart rate/oxygen saturation monitors, so we're not away from all the beeps of NICU just yet - not until both of them are completely free of additional oxygen. This makes manoeuvring around quite difficult. Willow needs to be attached to oxygen all the time, so when it's time for bed we have to detach her from the downstairs supply quite quickly and run upstairs to plug her in there. We have a portable bottle to carry around if we do venture outside, and we did have our first outing today. We walked around the block to try out the buggy, trying not to keep our eyes attached to the monitors but looking at the babies instead.

One thing we have learnt, is that having two babies to look after is a full time job for two people. There's not a lot of time for sleeping, eating or anything else. But who cares about any of that. It's so amazing having them at home; being able to know exactly what they're doing all the time. They're doing really well too - generally going four or five hours between feeds, and doing a lot of sleeping. We just need to get them - and us - sleeping at the same time.  Not sure how easy that's going to be though.

Willow's diarrheoa has now disappeared; her stools are well and truly solid. Maybe she just wanted to come home. We've had some lovely moments as a family; just sitting in the lounge, listening to music and smiling at each other. Just normal things that we've dreamed of doing for so long.

Today we're making a trip back to Poole, but this time as out-patients. Stanley needs to have some more immunisations so we'll be popping back into NICU for a while. We might even do something normal afterwards, like go for a walk around the park. How about that.