Labour, truly a Fiat of endurance!!

They say that good things come to those who wait... But beware... Sometimes you can wait too long. For example if you delay going to the hospital when in labour. Although in fact, we went to the hospital alright, to be told to go home as nothing was happening. An hour later, we were careering back in our fiat punto, after sarah felt the urge to push whilst lying in our bed at home!! By the time we got there, the baby's head was out, but luckily Sarah's tights kept the baby off the car floor, and then a midwife dashed out and delivered the rest of baby Emily Mirembe Crow! Within 10 seconds, sarah had turned to Tim and said: "oh well, at least it's good for the blog!". Nice to see we have our priorities right! Mama & baby well... Fiat punto less so. 

On a completely unrelated topic, we have a high quality item to sell - the front passenger seat of a Fiat Punto, nearly mint condition, slight (ahem) discolouration, giving it an original and quirky appearance. Viewing really not necessary!

Still Waiting...

We’ve now been back in the UK for a month and are, quite frankly, getting fairly keen to meet our new arrival, but no sign as yet (due date has now come and gone).  So I’m afraid this is the visual that the world is having to endure…

DOWN ON THE BABY UNIT...

Sometimes a bit of encouragement can go a long way in our Baby Unit, so when Juliet was struggling to see a future with her tiny new arrival, who had been born in poor condition (APGARS 1 +3, at one and five minutes respectively), and weighing just 860g, Cathy decided to ask Babirye to come, with her baby Grace (who you will remember was born at 820g), to encourage Juliet.  Well it’s been quite a few weeks since then, and Juliet’s little baby Pamela has been at home a couple of weeks, and is doing very well indeed! 

We’ve also seen a bit of what can only be miraculous healing, for a little baby Kellen.  This little fellow had experienced difficulties during his birth, and had had convulsions since (though these had stopped with medication).  In addition, he was continually oxygen dependent with intermittent low oxygen levels despite high flow oxygen, for no obvious reason (no heart murmurs, chest sounded ok etc).  Things were not looking good.  Well, I think it must have been prayer, because a week after he was transferred by ambulance to Kampala (sent for further investigation), he was off oxygen, breast-feeding well, and was even sent home (all the investigations having been ok).  Apparently his parents had been continually praying for a miracle, and a miracle is what they got!

SYNERGY CLOSE IN ON BIG LEAGUE SURVIVAL

It has been quite a turn around since Christmas when Synergy FC looked sure candidates for relegation from Big League. An excellent run has seen us win 5, draw 1 and lose only 1, pushing up to 4th in the table with even a possibility of reaching the play offs! Considering the challenges we have had to overcome and the fact that this is only our first season in Uganda's second tier, it is a great  achievement! We have also managed to gain 30 new scholarships for Synergy players for 2015, taking the total to 80 players who now have educational opportunities they would otherwise have lacked. 

Madi, first Synergy player to be
signed by Super League Club!

And Synergy has also reached another exciting milestone: the first signing of a Synergy player to a Super League Club (top division in Uganda) Madi, a player we started working with when Synergy first began, has been signed by SC Villa, one of Uganda's top clubs. What is even better is that they have loaned him straight back to Synergy as they are happy with the way he is developing with us. That means he is getting paid by Villa, but he is still playing for us, until they feel he is ready to move to their senior squad, either next season or in 2016/17. Awesome!

And on a final note...

...being people that are always looking for ways to save a bit of dosh, we have come up with a novel way of transportation that overcomes the high price of petrol in Uganda. The only problem is that Noah loves it so much it is something we are having to continue here in the UK (albeit just round the back garden!)