Southampton Hospital Update

Summer having a snooze on mummy

Summer loving her new bouncy chair

Chilled out on her bean bag!

We had Summers latest appointment at the Southampton General Hospital - Children's outpatients on Tuesday 26th August.

They were pleasantly surprised by her weight gain and after weighing her themselves announced she has put on another two ounces since Friday so now weighs 7lb 2oz.

Summers surgeon who will eventually operate on her tummy was called in to have a look at her exomphalos. His jaw visibly dropped when he saw how much it has reduced in size - he hadn't expected that at all. The skin is growing really well up the sides of her tummy and will hopefully fully cover the exomphalos in a couple of months.

Due to Summers great weight gain and fantastic skin growth over her exomphalos, Southampton said they do not need to see us for another five weeks!!!

Exomphalos shrinking....

At our last weekly visit to Southampton Hospital for Summers check up we were told that the exomphalos has reduced in size by half since her birth. This is partly due to fluid loss but mostly because some of the bowel has started to go back into her abdominal cavity by itself . This wasn't something we or the doctors expected to happen so was a lovely surprise. Looking at the pictures we took of the exomphalos straight after Summer was born and comparing it to how it is now shows an amazing difference. We drove home smiling all the way!!

Todays weigh in....

Summer was 6lb 10 oz when born but lost a lot of weight at the hospital partly due to getting an infection. She has struggled to regain any weight. The main reason for this is that the doctors believe that she is using all the energy from her milk to grow the skin over her exomphalos rather than gaining physical weight. To help Summer has been having a special high energy formula to try and give her extra calories (wouldn't all we girls like to have to have extra calories!!). She is also still being breast feed for three feeds a day.

At her weigh in today she has gained 10 ounces in one week!!! She is now up to 7lb exactly. This is great news it shows the formula is working.

More photos........

Summer after her bath

Summer and her mummy

She is a "mini Matt"!!!

First smiles

Summer is at home!

Having a bottle with daddy

Playing with Grandad

Giving a very "knowing" look in her sleep!

The hospital stay

Summer stayed in hospital for two and half weeks. This was partly due to the fact that she had an infection and had to be given antibiotics for just over a week.

Straight after she was born the exomphalos was covered in clingfilm to protect it as well as reduce heat and fluid loss. Summer had a canula in each hand so that she could receive fluids and/or drugs intraveneously. She also had a tube put down her nose so that she could be fed through an NG tube to begin with. Her heart and lungs were constantly monitored and for a few days she received extra oxygen through the nose.

The clingfilm on her belly had to be changed on a daily basis and the exomphalos washed and then redressed. This was originally done by the doctors but after three days mummy and daddy took over (under supervision to start with!) and we have done it ever since.

After two weeks the doctors decided to alter the type of dressing on Summers exomphalos to make it easier for us and more comfortable for her. We are now cleaning the exomphalos in the bath and then put on Mepital (which is a damp gauze type material). This is then covered with a Tubifast material to hold it in place. It is really easy to change and only takes a few minutes. It is more comfortable for Summer as the clingfilm tended to sweat and made her a little sore.

Once the infection had cleared up Summer was ready to come home. The doctors chatted to us to make sure we were happy with looking after her at home - of course we were dying to get her home so finally on Friday 25th July 2008 we were just the three of us!!

Meeting the Grannies!

Photos from Summers first few days

Sleeping Summer


Summer and Mummy


Summer and Daddy

And then there were three...

After a 12 hour labour followed by emergency C-section , Summer Hope Rudd was born weighing 6lb 10oz at 10.04am on the 8th July 2008. She was immediately taken to the Neo-natal unit and her exomphalos was wrapped in clingfilm. She was put on oxygen straight away and was wired up to monitor her heart and lungs. Above is one of the first pictures taken of Summer.

Quick Recap...

On Thursday 27th December 2007, half way through our routine 12 week scan, the Doctor told us they had found a problem with our baby. That was the first time either of us had ever heard the word exomphalos. It has been part of our daily vocabulary ever since.

The Doctor went on to explain a bit more about the condition – we won’t, the GEEPS website does a far better job than we would (see links).The Doctor also explained that the presence of an exomphalos is often an indicator of other chromosomal conditions. We were given a 1 in 4 chance of our baby having a serious chromosomal disorder.

At 9.30 on the Friday morning Emma had a CVS test. Over the next couple of days, while awaiting the results, we could not be entirely sure which of the 3 possible outcomes we favoured. The choices were a baby with a serious life threatening condition; a miscarriage resulting from the CVS or a baby with just an exomphalos - a condition we barely understood. Though grim, at least the first two were clear cut ‘no brainers’. The CVS results thankfully gave us the all clear for any chromosome abnormalities.

We were then referred to Mr Matthew Coleman - Professor of Fetal Medicine at Southamptons Princess Anne Hospital. That meeting was a real turning point and we haven’t really looked back since. We had regular scans to check that the baby was growing correctly at both Bournemouth and Southampton hospitals. Emma was advised she could have a natural birth and an induction date was booked for 7th July 2008.