Photos of Preston

If you guys haven't noticed yet, I've put a gallery of Preston photos on the right-hand side of the page. I've done my best to add in a photo every day for the last month, and have only missed a couple of days so far :)

You can view the full gallery at http://www.flickr.com/photos/preston2 or just click on the pics to the right

My operation

As mentioned quite a few posts ago, I was scheduled to have an abdominal cyst removed last week, so here is my story for those of you interested!

I had a mesenteric cyst which would have developed before I was born, and it was kind of 'floating' around in my abdomen, although was attached to various places. It was not inside any organs or causing any problems, but after I gave birth and all my insides redistributed themselves, I could feel a big hard lump so (eventually) went to get it checked out. Both the radiologist and specialist were most curious about it and thought it was a great find as apparently they are not common in adults (they are normally noticed in children while they are young). The specialist said that in 10 years he had never seen one quite like mine and it was very interesting.

So despite having an unusual specimen, it was decided better to be out than in, so that's what happened. Last Thursday I had my plum-sized cyst removed, and now I am recovering. It was done by laparoscopy, so i have two small cuts (about 1cm apparently - they are still covered) on my tummy where they could insert the tools, and a small cut by my tummy button where they removed the cyst. They pumped up my abdomen with carbon dioxide so there is room to see what is going on and not disturb the other tissue and organs. Probably the processing of the co2 afterwards was the worst part as i had pain in my shoulders and really bad pins and needles for about a day in my legs and arms, but it all went away once the co2 got out.

Now i just have to wait til my tummy heals, but every day is significantly better and i should be able to lift Preston today. I haven't been able to give him a proper cuddle for days and days - he had started to forget me a bit. When he first came to visit me in hospital, he really didn't recognise me which was sad, but i must have looked pretty weird. But after i changed out of my blue hospital clothes and put on pink clothes, he knew who i was! He had fun at the hospital, charging up and down the hall and charming all the nurses, what a cute boy.

So that is it really. Nothing very exciting, but just thought I would update you!

Preston is so close to walking - he has really mastered his standing abilities and can even stand up by himself from a crouching position without holding onto anything!

Preston is all grown up now and has a backpack. He can stand without holding on to things, so hopefully he will start walking properly soon! We hold his hands and he can walk and run. Current words: Dada, Mama, Puss puss, (ba)Nana, and lots of sounds. He's just figured out how to make O sounds.