Theo James Welsh 10.01.2009 - 30.01.2009

It is with great difficulty that I write this.

Theo James Welsh sadly passed away yesterday.He fought hard for three weeks but his bowel and liver had begun to die and the doctors could do no more for him.

All babies are special but exomphalos babies seem to have an inner strength and Theo had to go through so much. He has touched so many peoples hearts in his short life - ours included. He will not be forgotten.

Our thoughts are with Nicola, Gary and Lucas at this time as they try to deal with this loss.

A new experience every day....

Yesterday we took Summer swimming for the first time. The pictures show her in her first swimming costume. She loved being in the water and was only slightly bemused by all the noise of the other children. This felt like a big achievement for us as we didn't think that we would be taking her swimming so soon. The skin over her tummy has healed so well the doctors said it was fine for her to go in the pool - mummy and daddy enjoyed it as well!!

On Wednesday Summer got her second tooth - so she now has two perfect white teeth at the bottom. Two down , eighteen to go!!

Summer was weighed this morning and is now 15lb 1oz. Thought I better check on her weight as I am now weaning her and wanted to check she is getting enough each day to continue to grow. The health visitor is happy that she is continuing to grow correctly although she is still classed as small for her age.

More pictures of Summer....

Summer playing with her "shapes bus" with Granny Bradley

Summer is certainly enjoying her food as you can see from the above picture.

She'll be crawling soon - look at those strong arms

Summer having fun with her two aunties - she enjoyed spending time with them!!

Summers special day....

Mummy , Daddy and Summer in her gorgeous dress.

Uncle Stuart, Auntie Lia and Summer


All the Grandparents and Summer (Bob, Linda, Roger, Penny and Andreas)



Auntie Sammy and Auntie Mandy with Summer.

Yesterday was Summers Naming Ceremony. We wanted to arrange it to celebrate Summers birth and to officially welcome her into our family. It was such a lovely day from start to finish. We had great weather and we were so pleased to see so many friends and family members. Summer spent the whole day having cuddles from everyone and seemed to enjoy every minute of it! Stuart, Lia, Mandy and Sam are Summers Godparents and along with her Grandparents played an important part in the actual ceremony. The wording of the ceremony was beautiful and brought a tear to my eye! Afterwards we all sat down to an afternoon tea of scones , sandwiches and cake.

We would like to thank everyone who came and helped to make Summers day so special.

Latest Hospital Update....

Summer in her new door bouncer which she loves! Giggles all round.

Summer reading one of her new books that she got for Christmas.


Today was Summers latest appointment at Southampton Hospital for a check-up on her tummy. The doctors were so pleased with her progress they have decided they do not need to see us again for another six months. At that stage they will decide when they will perform the closure operation depending on how strong her tummy muscles are. They were also happy with how her scar from the operation has healed and also with her weight gain. She is now 14lb 7oz.

A friend I made through the GEEPS website - Nicola - gave birth to a little boy on Saturday 10th January . Theo James is eight weeks early and has a giant exomphalos so please all send as many positive vibes to him as possible to help speed along his recovery. He is currently in intensive care but is stable and doing well.

Leaps and Bounds....

As you can see from the two pictures Summer is coming on in leaps and bounds. She is developing as any baby her age should be. She is starting to sit up on her own and as you can see from the top picture is getting ready to crawl at some point!

Her first tooth came through on New Years Day and today she had her first taste of food - baby rice - didn't look very appetising but she gulped it down straight away and seemed to be waiting for more!

Next hospital appointment is 13th January - Matts Birthday. They will be checking her tummy and may give us some indication of when they want to operate.