News and prayer information from Richard and Pinuccia Wilson

It was a long day today. In the morning the hospital told us that also Luca had left the intensive care ward, was out of the incubator and in a heated cot, and that we would be able to pick him up and hold him for the first time. That was wonderful news for us, but then we had to wait the hours until we were going to go to the hospital in the afternoon… When we arrived, it got even better: we could hold Mattia as well. So we had a good time getting to know them. Unfortunately for the other children, Daniele had a fever this morning, so he and Stefania had to stay outside and watch through the viewing window. When we left the hospital, Mattia was transferred to a cot as well, so both of them do not need help breathing from the incubator any more. It can not be much longer before they arrive home.

Richard, Mattia, Luca, Pinuccia

A few improvements today. Pinuccia is at home now – she is feeling better than before even though still a bit sore, but she left the hospital more because her bed was needed than that she wanted to come home. But the surprise when we went to visit the twins in the afternoon was that Mattia had been moved from the intensive care unit to the neonatal problems unit. That is, he needs less help, even though he is still in an incubator. We might be able to take him and hold him when we visit the hospital tomorrow, which would be great and would make the experience seem more real. At the moment I feel more like a taxi driver than a new father.

Today everyone is a bit better – Pinuccia can now walk around by herself, and Mattia and Luca have less tubes attached and don’t make us cry every time we see them. We still don’t know when they will be leaving intensive care, let alone the hospital, although Pinuccia can come home tomorrow if she wants to, but hasn’t decided yet if she will

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Pinuccia and Luca

The twins are in intensive care, and it seems that they will stay there for a few days – there is no danger, they just need help to breath. At least this morning Pinuccia was physically able (just) to get out of bed so as to be able to go to see them, touch them, and talk to them. They were a few tears from both of us!

Luca (2210g, on the right of the photos) and Mattia (2185g) were born today at 4pm Italian time. They are a bit small, since they were born a month before the due date – there were not any real problems, just a belly getting too large for Pinuccia to carry. They are still getting used to the new environment and need help breathing, so they are still in an incubator, and will remain there until they don’t need it any more, whenever that might be.  Pinuccia saw them for only a minute after the birth, but when she has recovered a bit more she will be able to go and see them, as they have been moved to another section of the hospital.

The regular monthly after church lunch was a special one today, with the international group cooking for everybody, instead of the usual bring and share lunch. The point was that everybody made a donation for the food, with the proceeds going towards helping the several refugees from Pakistan that there are in our church. As well as the eating, there was also the opportunity to hear their story, although by that stage Pinuccia had reached her energy limit, and we went home. But it was great to see the Pakistan people beaming as they found a way to serve the church, distributing their food for us.