1st August

6:05am
Tom awoke once again, because the thought of his son going into major surgery at just six days old was frightening. But for once, as he woke up, he couldn't feel Sam besides him on the single mattress, so as he turned around, he found that Sam was sitting on a chair besides Aaron's incubator and she was breastfeeding with her knees up, almost to her chest supporting some of her son's weight.

He slowly rose from the mattress, and padded over to Sam where he saw the chair next to her was covered by a calendar flipped to August and it was dotted with small phrases.
"Couldn't sleep?" Tom asked.
"No... It's just gone six, he needed feeding and one of the nurses woke me." Sam replied softly. She had a blanket wrapped around her shoulder so that barely any of her chest could be seen, and the blanket continued over her legs because in her midthigh length nightie, she needed to cover up. "I'm not really tired though, probably because of the naps yesterday." Sam stated and Tom smiled.

"Did he latch on okay?"
"Yeah, though I'm pretty sure it's just because he was hungry, because he is really going for it." Sam stated and Tom pulled back the blanket ever so slightly to see his son suckling away as though if he wasn't quick, his source of milk would be taken away from him. Tom then followed the tube that ran under his son's nose and down to an oxygen canister and he began to wonder about what was going to happen when either Aaron would probably be discharged first, when their other siblings were still on ventilators because either Sam or Tom would have to go home to look after them. But he decided against asking Sam because they already had enough happening on that day with Charlie's operation.

"Have you started that calendar I said about?" Tom asked as he picked up the calendar from the spare chair and then sat next to his wife.
"Yeah, we've got Leah coming off the ventilator on the 4th, you're going back to work on the sixth, Mr Solis said about trying Aaron off of the oxygen for an hour or two tomorrow so I've put that on there too." Sam explained. "And obviously... Charlie's operation is today." She added quietly.

"Are, you alright if I go and talk to him for a little while?" Tom asked.
"Yeah sure." Sam nodded as she pulled Aaron's white hat down a little bit to keep him nice and warm. Tom grabbed his chair and silently placed it besides his son who was the most poorly out of the boys by far.

9:45am
Sam and Tom were standing by Charlie's cot alone, after being given a few minutes with their child before he was taken to be prepped in theatre.
"You're gonna be a fighter, just like your brothers and sisters... And it doesn't matter if you can't walk or if you have learning disabilities because what matters, is that you're with us." Tom said softly as he held Sam's hand in one, and Charlie's hand in the other. The sedated and intubated young boy was the heaviest out of all of the babies as he was born at 3lbs and 4ozs, and he was propped on his side with the bulge on his back out in the open. "Me and mummy can't wait to hold you, and trust me when you're allowed to try some of mummy's milk, you'll be hooked for life. Ask Aaron, he loves it." Tom said to his son and Sam laughed at how it was so easy for him to talk to them unlike her who found it more difficult.

Sam had her hand, resting on Charlie's tiny foot as Tom was occupying his hand.
"I love you." Sam whispered.
"You hear that? Mummy doesn't say that very often." Tom smiled and Sam rolled her eyes but the movement caused an unwanted tear to escape. Before she could wipe it away, Tom brushed it away with his thumb and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Sorry, but we really must get him prepped now." Mr Solis said solemnly as he and a nurse approached the incubator.
"We'll see you soon." Tom said softly as he kissed his fingers and then gently placed them on Charlie's chest before he stepped back and let the consultant and nurse organise the various wires to make the incubator transportable. Tom wrapped his arm around Sam's shoulders as they both watched them for support.
"I promise, I'll send a nurse as soon as there's anything to update you." Mr Solis said kindly as he and the nurse wheeled the incubator out of the room, and Tom was surprised as Sam collapsed into the chair behind her and more tears rolled down her cheek.

"Hey, it's okay... Whatever happens, me and you are gonna get through this together." Tom said softly as he squatted in front of her and cupped her cheeks in his hands. "Look, I think the best thing to do is to keep occupied, so why don't we dress Aaron and Jonny? They could do with a change." Tom suggested. Reluctantly, Sam nodded as she stood up with caution and then followed her husband to the baby clothes cupboard...

11am
The three hour operation was only an hour underway and Sam and Tom were close to climbing the walls from boredom as they just wanted to be watching from the gallery of the theatre, but they know that that wouldn't help anyone, least of all Mr Solis who was operating upon their small child.

They were both sitting besides Megan's incubator, when suddenly, Jonny began to cry softly and they quickly heightened to cries of distress.
"Nurse!?" Tom demanded as he leapt up out of his seat, swiftly followed by sam and a nurse sprinted out of the side room, only when she saw where the petrified parents were, she saw no cause for concern as none of his stats hadn't changed. But nonetheless she approached the incubator and sense the problem immediately.
"Don't worry, in fact if this is what I think it is, you shouldn't be upset." The nurse said softly as she took the side panel of the incubator off and undone one of the side straps on Jonny's nappy. "Yep, this is brilliant, he's had his first bowel movement." She stated and Sam and Tom let out a sigh of relief simultaneously. "Who wants to change him?" She asked and Sam and Tom both pointed at each other.

"Tom... I'm not feeling very well." Sam lied unconvincingly as she hugged her stomach.
"Really? Because you were fine just now." Tom raised an eyebrow as he saw right through her. "Well I suppose I'd better take you to go and see Mr T then." Tom stated and Sam huffed.
"Fine. I'll change it." She muttered and Tom smirked.

Sam and Tom were sitting in NICU going bored out of their skulls whilst they waited for news. It had been almost 3 hours so they were due to be informed any minute, yet Sam was biting her nails and Tom was clicking his fingers to pass the time. Suddenly, the silence was broken as Mr Solis himself entered the unit and Sam and Tom jumped to their feet.
"I thought I'd come and tell you myself, that the operation went as well as it could've gone." Mr Solis stated as he pulled his theatre cap off. "He is in recovery at the moment, but it's best that you don't go and see him until he's back in NICU when he'll be more stable. In the meantime, we are going to keep him sedated for a few days before we wake him up so that he can heal before he starts moving around."

"And how long until he's back in here?" Sam asked impatiently.
"Um, hopefully he should be back in by evening tonight." Mr Solis stated. "But that does give us some time to discuss a new form of treatment for Jonny and Aaron." Mr Solis smiled.
"Which would be?" Sam asked impatiently.
"Co-sleeping, or sleeping in the same incubator. I believe that it will help them to gain weight faster and to sleep easier." Mr Solis replied wisely.
"I did want to ask about that actually." Tom admitted...

Because Aaron was more stable and used to being handled, he had been the one to be moved into Jonny's incubator rather than the other way around. And as soon as the two babies, in just their nappies and their various monitors - including the tube under their nose providing oxygen - had been laid next to each other, they were settled. And within minutes, both were fast asleep.

Clearly the distraction from worrying about Charlie, who was still in recovery, was working for the parents because both were smiling at their little boys getting along. Tom looked down and saw Sam's fingers twitching slightly so he entwined his fingers with hers and gave her hand a small squeeze.
"Just think, when you went into labour, you were panicking that it was too early. But they're all doing really well aren't they?" Tom said softly.
"Mm. Although Ellie isn't making much progress." Sam mumbled.
"It doesn't matter how small, just that she is actually making progress at all." Tom stated. "And Charlie made his operation, that's a big step for him. Aaron and Jonny have already had wet and dirty nappies, Leah is almost ready to come off of ventilation, Megan, Summer and Bella are still on ventilation but their lungs are getting stronger every day." Tom said reassuringly, and to hear it like that did make Sam happier because she was lucky for all of her children to have made it this far. She knew that if they made their first week, they'd have a fighting chance and at six days old, they had very nearly made it.

They spent a little longer, watching their children next to each other when Sam decided to break the silence.
"Once Charlie is back in here, I'll go and see Mr T about the iron tablets." Sam stated.
"I'll come with you." Tom stated and Sam tried to argue back but Tom stopped her. "No, I'm coming with you. The kids are stable, I need to make sure that my wife is okay too." He said sternly.

The parents had been warned that Charlie was on his way down to NICU, and so they were eagerly awaiting his arrival, because if he was able to leave the recovery unit, it meant that he was obviously doing well. It seemed like forever, however it had only actually been a few minutes, until their son's incubator was wheeled in by a nurse and Mr Solis. The little boy had a two inch row of stitches along his lower back and he was laid on his front to prevent pressure on them. He was still sedated, and intubated, and the row of stitches was inflamed as expected after only a few hours after surgery but the sight still startled Sam a little as Mr Solis attached his machines back to the wall and ensured he was settled.

"Don't worry, hopefully the redness will fade away within the next 12 hours, but he's on pain relief so don't worry about him being in pain." Mr Solis said softly to comfort the mother who looked worried.
"So what happens now?" Sam asked.
"Well like I said, we'll keep him intubated and sedated for the next few days, and then we will try to take him off of the ventilator and let him breath by himself if he can manage it." Mr Solis explained. "He's stable, and he did have a wee in recovery so his digestive system is beginning to function properly."
"He had a wee?" Tom asked happily and Mr Solis nodded.
"Yes, he's certainly getting there." The consultant stated.

"So, I know you can't really say but how long roughly, until you think Aaron can come home?" Tom asked.
"We'll see how Aaron deals with being off of the oxygen tomorrow and then I'll have a better picture of his health, but almost certainly not for another couple of weeks yet." Mr Solis stated.
"And, I'm guessing Ellie's going to be the last one discharged." Sam asked.
"Well, not for definite, but it is looking that way, yes." Mr Solis replied.

Tom had just returned from the toilet as he reentered NICU, and he found his wife had moved to sit besides Ellie and hold her hand.
"Right, seeing as Charlie's settled in, shall we go and see Mr T?" Tom suggested. Sam broke her gaze at Ellie and peered suspiciously at her husband.
"You're not gonna give up until I go and see him are you?" Sam moaned.
"Nope." Tom smiled smugly and Sam rolled her eyes.
"Come on then." She huffed as she got up and gently let go of Ellie's hand before they headed to obs and gynae.

Thankfully, Mr T didn't have an appointment so he was free to see Sam as she and Tom entered his consult room and sat on he he chairs in front of his desk.
"Right, what can I do for you?" He asked cheerily.
"I've been experiencing side effects of the ferrous sulphate tablets so I need my prescription to be changed to another form of iron supplements." Sam stated clinically.
"Right, and what side effects have you been having?" Mr T asked.
"Constipation followed by bouts of diarrhoea in an endless cycle every few days." Sam stated quietly.
"Right, okay. Well I don't think that changing the tablets will help because it's obviously your digestive system that has the problem and most other tablets can't be taken during breastfeeding, so I think maybe giving you injections will almost certainly fix the problem." Mr T explained. "Though, it's probably best not to breastfeed for a few hours after having the injection, and you'll need the injection once a week, for about a month roughly. So, the best course of action would be for you to go and express as much breast milk as you can in the next hour or two, then come back and I can give you the injection and the other three doses so you won't have to come back. Does that sound okay?"

"Yes, that sounds fine." Sam nodded as it was much easier than she had thought it would be. Though she was a little disappointed at having to miss Aaron's next breastfeeding time. Then again, she would be able to let Tom bottle feed him and she was sure that that would cheer him up.
"Okay, just come back whenever your ready becuase it'll only take a minute for me to give you them." Mr T stated.

Sam was sitting cross legged on the mattress in NICU, using a hand pump to express milk into the second bottle whilst Tom had been wandering around their children's incubators. After a while, Tom went and sat behind Sam, and began to give her a gentle massage for her shoulders to help her to relax which caused her to moan softly every now and then.
"Thanks." Sam purred.
"Don't mention it." Tom smiled. "And just out of curiosity, can I see your incision please?" Tom asked, and he felt Sam's shoulders suddenly go hard as she tensed up. He just wanted to see how quickly it was healing, and to check that she wasn't letting it get infected.
"I'm a little busy." Sam said as she gestured the pump that was attached to her breast, but she knew it was a petty excuse.
"So I can see it once you're finished?" Tom asked.
"Tom, I'm not allowed to shave yet." Sam stated quietly.
"So? It's not as if I haven't seen pubic hair before." Tom protested jokily. "Honestly, I'm not gonna judge you, I just want to have a quick look." Tom stated as he riskily slipped his hands around her waist from behind and he touched the bottom of her shirt.

"Fine." Sam huffed as she carefully took the pump off of her and placed it besides her in an upright position. She lifted her shirt up ever so slightly, and then pulled down her high waisted leggings and the top part of her underwear to reveal the six inch horizontal line of proof that she was the mother of those eight babies.
"Ouch, doesn't that hurt?" He asked stupidly.
"It did, now it's more numb than anything." Sam admitted as she redressed herself and then began pumping once more.

"Listen, I wanted your opinion on something." Tom began.
"Yes you need a haircut." Sam stated bluntly and Tom squinted his eyes at her.
"Very funny, now can I say what I want to say?" Tom asked and Sam just smiled to herself. "I don't know about you, but I've had quite a few offers for pictures of the octuplets because the only pictures of them, are the ones that we've got, there aren't any in the media." Tom stated. "And, seeing as they're gonna get pictures of them when they are discharged from hospital, I don't see why we shouldn't sell picture to the press because we really want to start saving money for when they're older. It says on the internet, the average cost of raising a child to 21 years old, is £225,000. And with this lot, that equates to £1.8 million." Tom stated and Sam's eyes flashed open in shock. "I mean, we've got the £500,000 from the picture court case settlement thing, £25,000 from the magazine for the interview, and that with our previous savings, our bank total is about £750,000.

"And we've got the vouchers for baby stuff too." Sam added. "But I know we're going to struggle with money later... And I've had offers as well for the pictures." She admitted. She knew that she wasn't helping by taking long maternity leave - she had already had 13 weeks off, and the NHS maternity leave pay package wasn't great, but she just didn't want to go back to work anytime soon.

"What was the most that you got offered for a picture?" Tom asked curiously.
"£200,000 for a picture of all eight of them." Sam admitted. "You?"
"The same." Tom stated.

"I didn't want to sell pictures of our children... But when you put it like that - that they're going to get pictures of them anyway when they are discharged for free - I don't see a problem in getting some extra cash when it will be for the benefit of our children." Sam stated as she continued to use the breast pump to fill the bottle whilst Tom gently rubbed her lower back with his thumbs whilst he rested his chin on her shoulder.

"Mm, I agree. And I'm pretty sure that if we do a couple of pictures, and I use my expert haggling skills, we can get a lot of money." Tom said smugly and Sam smirked.
"And if we get some extra money, we could save up for a possible Disney World holiday for when they're older." Sam added sheepishly.
"Ah we could, but who would the holiday be for? You or the kids?" Tom asked slyly.
"Oh c'mon, you'd enjoy it just as much as I would." Sam smiled.
"Samantha Kent? Wants a Disney holiday? Wow, motherhood has changed you so much." Tom smirked. "But yeah, I'd like that. And I think they would too. But that's only if we have the money." Tom said sternly.

6pm
Sam had already had her injection of iron into her upper arm and she was beginning to feel a bit sore but she didn't feel too bad.
"Right, it's time for Aaron's feed." A nurse announced cheerily as she entered NICU with a bottle of warmed up breast milk because she had been made aware about Sam's injections and that she wasn't to feed for a few hours after it. The mother was sitting besides Ellie's incubator and the father was besides Megan's.
"You feed him." Sam said softly to her husband.
"You sure?"
"Yeah go on, I know you're itching to." Sam gave a small smile as Tom eagerly jumped off of his seat and moved over to Aaron's incubator that now had an overhead heater only, so it didn't have a lid on. He used hand gel, and then carefully got Aaron's comfortable into his arms against his chest, before the nurse handed him the bottle and left them to it.

Sam watched as Tom tried with the bottle, but Aaron was giving out small cries as he moved his head away from the teat of the bottle and Tom was clearly upset that he couldn't do it so Sam got up to try and help.
"Try tickling his bottom lip a little bit." Sam suggested as she leant over the pair of males from behind. Tom tried with the tip of the bottle but did not succeed as Aaron pulled away once more.
"You do it, he obviously prefers you." Tom grumbled.
"No, no. Tom it's not you, he's never been fed from a bottle before so that's probably why." Sam said reassuringly. "Look, I normally have to do this, with - don't laugh - my nipple, and then he opens up." Sam said sternly and Tom had to stifle a laugh, but nevertheless, Sam briefly brushed the tip of her little finger against Aaron's bottom lip and he pouted and puckered his lips. "There you go." She said softly as Tom placed the bottle near the open mouth and Aaron latched on.

"Thanks." Tom smiled.
"You're a natural." Sam smiled too as she pecked Tom on the cheek.

Thanks for reading, will Aaron be okay when he's taken off of oxygen for a few hours in the next chapter? And how much money will they get for pictures? Please review :)