Ta-daaaa!

Well, what a day that was.

Elizabeth was born at 9:30 this morning. She weighed 9lb 1 oz, but much of that is in the fluid in the exomphalos. She's a good-sized baby though!

There's nothing wrong with her lungs - she had a good cry as soon as she emerged. She's not needed any assistance breathing thus far, which is a great start.

She was assessed in a room close by Theatre to make sure she was comfortable. After being acqainted with her mother for a few mins she was then whisked down to the intensive care where she'll be for some time I suspect.

The baby's exomphalos has been bandaged up with compression bandages so she looks quite strange (see pic) but she's able to enjoy a cuddle - so her mum and dad have capitalised on this considerably. Her mum is doing really well, and I was able to wheel her the 3.5 miles (or so it seems) from her ward down to where Elizabeth is, much to their mutual delight. Chloe also visited and is very impressed with her (again, see pic)!

The consultant has decided that there won't be any surgery in the immediate future so it's wait and see. He expects the exomphalos to reduce in size as gravity (and the absorption of some of the fluid) does its work.

So, all in a promising start. We've been warned that we can expect ups and downs and it'll be a long haul - many months - but we remain, in her mum's words, quietly optimistic. Elizabeth sure seems like a little fighter.

Again, thanks to everyone for the lovely emails, texts and phone messages. We really do appreciate it.

Will update in a day or two - signing off for a (very deep) sleep now...