28th July 2014

7:30am
Tom slowly opened his eyes and realised that Sam already had her bed sitting up and she was expressing milk into an almost full bottle by hand.
"Isn't it easier to use a pump?" Tom asked as he rubbed his sleepy eyes.
"I don't know, I'm only doing it by hand because it takes longer and then it passes some time before I can go back down to NICU." Sam stated.
"Oh okay... Wow, you really are a milk machine aren't you?" He smirked as he saw the other bottle that was already full on the bedside table.
"Well the more I express, the more I produce and when the others are switched to breast milk, I need to be making a lot. NICU is already freezing any excess milk to keep it fresh for when they introduce it to the others." Sam explained.

"Right, I'm gonna go and get us some breakfast. What do you want?" He asked.
"Some fruit?"
"I'm sure I can manage that." Tom nodded.
"And can you get some bottled water? The water they put in the jugs tastes weird." Sam stated.
"Yep. Sure."

8am
After eating their breakfast, Sam was just having her first obs of the day (well, the first whilst she was awake anyway) done by Mr T, when Mr Solis entered the room.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Sam demanded quickly.
"Calm down, it's nothing to do with your babies." Mr Solis stated. "I just came to see if Tom wanted to come with me to do another press conference." He stated.
"I thought you did one yesterday." Sam stated confusedly.
"We did, but we didn't finish because you were rushed into theatre." Tom stated.
"Oh..."
"So, I was thinking that maybe you wanted to come and announced he babies' weights and time of birth." Mr Solis explained.
"And then can I go back down to NICU?" Sam asked.
"Not quite. Well actually, if Tom goes down with you Mr Solis, then I can get a nurse to come in and help you with a shower, and you can get changed into your own clothes if you want to. Then you can both go to NICU." Mr T stated. "How does that sound?"
"Fine." Sam and Tom nodded eagerly.

"And when are we going to get names for your children? Because it's getting rather mean to be calling a baby by a letter every day." Mr Solis asked.
"We were gonna discuss names when we go down to NICU today. Honestly, I told Sam to think about it and we're gonna do it today. Hopefully." Tom stated.
"Okay. Well, you know where I am, and I look forward to seeing you. Tom, just come down when you're ready and we can go to the entrance where the journalists are." Mr Solis smiled before he left the room.

"Don't bother about the nurse, I'll help her in the shower." Tom said to Mr T.
"Okay, but you'll need to wash her hair for her because Sam, you shouldn't be lifting your arms above your head. And you'll need help washing your legs too because you shouldn't be bending over that far." He stated. "Okay, can I just check your incision please?" He asked as he put on a pair of gloves. "We can take the dressing off of it now." He stated as Sam pulled her gown aside to show her stretched, saggy abdomen that she suddenly felt really self conscious about. Sure, she had carried eight babies, but her stomach looked awful, there was even more stretch marks than there was before they were born.

"Do you want him to rip it off like a plaster?" Tom joked.
"You can take it off if you want." Mr T offered.
"No, no you do it." Sam ordered as she grimaced, awaiting the pain that would soon come...

Tom and Mr Solis had just arrived on NICU, to find Sam standing, and peering into an incubator. Instead of wearing she hosptial gown which had become the norm for the last week, she was in a black maxi dress with black flip flops and her hair was down and wavy.
"Sam?" Tom queried because he didn't like that she was alone after two major surgeries. He also couldn't believe what she was wearing.
"It's alright. Mr T brought me down in the wheelchair and he said that I could get up." Sam stated as she nodded to the wheelchair by the door.
"And the dress?" He queried happily.
"Stop grinning." She ordered. "It's only because dresses don't press on the incision like trousers do." Sam stated.
"Well, you look beautiful." Tom smiled as he eyed her up and down.

Suddenly, an alarm started going off in the unit, and Sam and Tom jumped out of their skin.
"Wh- what's happening?" Sam asked eventually as Mr Solis approached Baby A's incubator and a nurse came in from the side room.
"Get a 10mg dose of IV caffeine now." Mr Solis ordered calmly as he took off the side panel of the incubator. Sam and Tom stood helplessly as they watched the little boy squirm and bawl his clenched fists about. Thankfully, six of the eight babies were incubated and sedated so they weren't bothered by the loud noise, however it was clearly distressing Baby B who was beginning to cry.

The nurse returned with the small syringe and Mr Solis injected it into the boy's cannula in his arm.
"Just give it a few seconds... There we go." He concluded because the monitor stopped and the baby began to settle. He carefully put the side panel of the incubator back on and then went back to the parents. "You mustn't panic when an alarm goes off in here. It's usually only because one of their wires has come off or something small like that." Mr Solis said sternly to the parents. "He just needed a bit of caffeine to settle his breathing pattern because sometimes premies leave it a bit too long between taking breaths. Now, I think that little boy needs some comforting." He suggested as he pointed to Baby B who was still unsettled by the loud noises. Sam went over, used hand gel and opened the side flap before she caught one of the baby's flying fists and shushed him.

"It's okay... Sshh, mummy's here... you're okay." Sam whispered slowly and the baby began to settle down again.
"You're a natural." Mr Solis smiled. "Now then, I'd better be getting on so I'll leave you to discuss names." He said encouragingly before he left the unit.
"How can he say not panic when an alarm goes off?" Tom moaned.
"Well, he's done the best for out babies so far so I don't see why we shouldn't trust him on that. Look, he's okay now isn't he?" Tom said as he nodded over to Baby A who had fallen asleep again. "Right, let's chose names. And, we've got these for them." Tom stated as he put two chairs by Baby A's incubator and then grabbed the box of eight soft toys.

Sam held her hand against her stitches for support as she slowly sat down besides her husband.
"Right... Okay I give up, how are we suppose to name eight babies?" Sam moaned after thinking for only a few minutes.
"Well we've got all morning." Tom stated. "In fact, we've still got days to name them so there's no rush." He added. "Right, let's get things straight. First of all, are we matching names at all? Like letters?" He asked.
"No. If we give them similar names then they wont be independent and I want them to feel individual not just 'one of the octuplets'." Sam replied confidently.
"Okay then. Got any ideas for this little one?" Tom queried as he smiled at the little boy who was almost fast asleep in his incubator.
"Not really..." Sam admitted. "I want one of the boys to be called Charlie but he doesn't look like a Charlie." Sam stated.
"Charlie? Yeah, I like that name. Charlie Kent." Tom nodded as he got up and wandered in between the incubators of Baby B and C. "What about you? Do you like Charlie Kent?" Tom asked, though he expected no response from Baby C because he was sedated for his spina bifida.

1pm
"Right, I hear that names have been decided." Mr Solis announced as he entered NICU.
"Yep." Tom nodded as he wrapped his arms around Sam's bare shoulders - he was still admiring her in her strapless dress. "It took a bloomin' long time but we got there in the end." He smirked.
"Care to introduce me to them?" Mr Solis asked as he offered the father a marker pen because each of the babies had a small whiteboard behind their incubators but they had been empty since they'd arrived.
"You wanna do the honours? I'll only get moaned at for my handwriting." Tom stated as he handed Sam the pen.
"You can't deny, your handwriting is awful." Sam state bluntly as she walked over to Baby A's incubator. "Right, Baby A, is now Aaron Kent." Sam smiled as she proudly wrote the name on the whiteboard. "Baby B, is going to be called Jonathan Kent for definite on his is birth certificate, but we're not sure whether nickname him Jonny or not." Sam admitted as she paused by the second whiteboard.

"Well why don't you ask his opinion for it?" Mr Solis suggested and Sam looked at Tom for help.
"What do you think? Jonny? Or Jonathan?" Tom asked as he leant over the incubator so that the baby could see his face. "Jonny?" He said slowly and the baby made a small noise. "Or Jonathan?" He repeated, to which the baby made no noise. "I think he prefers Jonny." Tom smiled and Sam nodded as she wrote Jonathan 'Jonny' Kent on the whiteboard.

"Baby C, is called Charlie Kent." Sam stated as she wrote the name.
"And Baby D, is called Leah Kent." Tom stated.
"I haven't heard Leah in a while." Mr Solis admitted. "It's a beautiful name, but not a very common one compared to others." He added.
"Baby E, is Megan Kent, and Baby F is called Summer Kent." Tom stated as Sam wrote the names on the boards. "And these two little girls, are called Isabella Kent, or Bella for short." Tom paused so that Sam could catch up on the writing, before she reached the final board.

"And Baby H, is called Eleanor Kent, or Ellie for short." Sam stated proudly. "It means light, and she's so small and the lightest out of all of them." Sam concluded.
"Well those are all excellent names." Mr Solis stated. "And between us, I'm glad you have given them different names, not matching names." He admitted and Sam smiled.
"I just don't want them to feel like an octuplet, they're all different." Sam stated. "Plus, if they all had matching names I think we'd get confused quite a lot." She added and they laughed a little.

"Right, well I'll leave you two to it. Um, if you want, I can pop up to your room later and we can sort out all the birth certificates, but you will need a form of ID each, I know it sounds silly but I have to." Mr Solis offered.
"Yeah, that'd be great." Tom nodded before the consultant left. "Aaron, Jonny, Charlie, Leah, Megan, Summer, Bella and Ellie." Tom listed. "I'm gonna forget them, I know it." Tom concluded and Sam smirked.
"Don't worry, I will too. And just imagine when they're not in incubators and we take them home, how are we supposed to tell them apart?" Sam joked and Tom smiled because she was being optimistic by saying 'when' they take them home, rather than if.

"We'll just have to keep their ID wristbands on." Tom shrugged his shoulders. "C'mon, why don't we dish these toys out?" He asked as he picked up the box of small toys and held them. "Go, you chose who gets who. Hey, shall we name the toys too? Then we'll have 16 names to confuse." He joked and Sam rolled her eyes as she took the small bunny rabbit toy out of the box and then placed it with her little girl in the corner of her incubator, to which Tom smiled.
"What?" Sam protested innocently. "Ellie's having the bunny." She stated before she grabbed the duck and went over to Aaron.
"And how exactly are you deciding who gets what toy?" He asked curiously.

"Ellie wrinkles her nose up sometimes even though she's sedated so she gets the bunny, Aaron is the loudest so he gets the duck." Sam stated.
"So there is actually some logic, I though you were just winging it." Tom smirked.
"Jonny gets the... horse, because he makes that noise with his lips and shows his gums off. Charlie can have the meerkat because... He cocks his head sometimes, even though he's sedated. Summer should have the teddy because it's got a red bow around it's neck, and Summer has rosy cheeks. Bella can have the lamb because her hair is really light and fluffy, Leah can have the panda because she's got little tufts of darkish hair, and Megan can have the penguin, because she doesn't have bowed legs like the others and she's laid with her arms to her sides." Sam concluded as she dished out the toys and then took a few deep breaths because she had moved rather quickly, compared to the last few months when she had been on bed rest.

"Right, we've been down here for hours now, I think you should go back to your room. In fact, we've missed lunch so why don't you go back, and I can grab something for us. I'll have to go back to our house to get out passports for ID for the birth certificates, so what do you fancy?" He asked as he got the wheelchair out for her, and helped her slowly sit down in her dress.

"Um... Why don't you go to tescos and get a fairly big-ish shop because we're gonna be here for a while and Mr T keeps on going on at me to eat and drink properly and the food here is rank." Sam suggested as Tom slowly wheeled her down the corridor.
"Alright then, you'll have to write me a list though." He stated.

6pm
Sam was sitting upright on her bed, and Tom was sitting cross legged on the end of her bed as they enjoyed each other's company, when Mr Solis came in with eight folders and lots of paperwork.
"Right, is this a good time?" He asked.
"Yeah, sure. Have a seat." Tom offered as he pointed to the chair besides Sam's bed, so he sat down and placed the paperwork on his lap.
"Right, so we can sort out the birth certificates now. And if I've got time, I'll hopefully be able to talk you through what's going to happen with your babies' care in the next few weeks." He explained.
"Okay." Sam nodded. "Oh, and here's our passports."

Mr Solis opened them to the page with their details and picture on it, and he had to force himself not to laugh as he saw Tom's picture.
"It's okay to laugh. I did." Sam stated smugly as she smirked at her husband.
"It's not my fault I have a cold that day." Tom protested because his picture looked like he was milliseconds away from sneezing.
"Anyway, let's start with Aaron's shall we?" Mr Solis began to change the subject as he pulled out an incomplete birth certificate. "Okay, I just need you to confirm with me, that his full name is Aaron Kent, born 26th July 2014 in Holby City General Hospital at 2lbs 11ozs to the parents of Samantha and Tom Kent."
"Yeah, that's right." Tom nodded.
"And Sam, what is your maiden name?"
"Nicholls. N-I-C-H-O-L-L-S." Sam replied.

"And finally, Eleanor Kent, born at 1lb and 8ozs... Done." Mr Solis concluded. "Now here's your copies of the birth certificates. You need to keep them safe." He stated as he placed the 16 sheets of paper, 8 A4 and 8 A5, on her bedside table. "Now then, your babies' care. Now, I know that it's hard with so much going on, but you need to understand that there are going to be some days where nothing happens, and other days where a few things could be happening at once because the babies are all going to be treated individually and we can't change their care, just for one of their siblings." Mr Solis explained.

"Some events might happen on the same day, but you'll try to make them happen at different times right? Because we can't be in more than one place at a time." Tom asked.
"I will do that to the best of my ability, of course, but I cant promise you anything. Now, Charlie's corrective surgery is first on the agenda because I have booked his surgery for 1st August, that's in 4 days. And of course, I need your permission to perform the operation." He stated. "Aside from that, Leah's lungs are developing very quickly compared to her siblings so, we might be able to look at bringing her off the ventilator in a week's time."
"That's great news." Tom smiled.
"Mm, she's making real progress." Mr Solis nodded. "And another bit of news, which I think you may be please about, is that - as long as his stats continue to improve at the current rate - you'll hopefully be able to hold Aaron in the next couple of days. I mean, he'll still be attached to all the monitors, but you'll be able to use gentle kangaroo care by holding him inside your shirt to keep him warm, and Sam if he's okay with being held, you'll be able to breast feed him for the first time." He stated and Sam and Tom's face lit up light a lighthouse.

"Really?!" Sam smiled.
"Yes. But you will have to be very gentle." He warned.
"That's... That's just, brilliant. Thank you so much." Sam said.
"I'm only doing my job."
"No really, you've been amazing for all of them and we're really grateful." Sam said sincerely.
"Well thank you. Anyway, it's thanks enough to be able to be head of the team for your octuplets, it's such a rare opportunity. But I'd better get going, I'll see you soon." He smiled before he left the room with his abundant pile of paperwork.

"I can't believe how lucky we've been." Sam admitted. "There's only ever been one set of octuplets in history, that all of them have survived for longer than a week, but it looks like there's going to be two now." She said proudly.
"I know. It's probably because they've got your stubbornness." Tom retorted and Sam smiled to herself.

"Good evening." Mr T announced as he entered the room. "Just a quick check Sam, how heavy is the bleeding now?" He asked.
"Um just like a normal period I suppose." Sam replied.
"Okay, and how's the pain?"
"It's alright when I'm sitting or lying down, it's just moving about that causes me pain." Sam explained.
"Okay. Well, I think we'll be able to discharge you not tomorrow, but the day after." He stated.
"Really?" Sam asked reluctantly becuase she didn't want to be discharged. Sure, being a patient meant that Mr T could tell her what to do and when to rest etc, but if she was discharged then she wouldn't have a bed in the hospital while her babies weren't allowed to leave.
"Yeah, I don't see why not. You're healing well and you've had plenty of fluids to counteract the heavy bleeding. Have you had any dizziness at all? Or light headedness?" He asked and Sam momentarily thought to herself about lying just so that she could stay for a little longer. However, if she did have to stay, then she wouldn't be able to get out of bed of she said she had been dizzy so there was no point.
"Nope." Sam replied eventually.
"Okay. Well, just keep getting plenty of rest and you'll be out of here in no time." Mr T stated before he left the room.

"Right, I'm gonna go for a wash and a shave because I stink." Tom stated as he smelt his shirt and pulled a face.
"No wait. Tom where are we gonna stay once I'm discharged?" Sam asked worriedly.
"Um... Well we can speak to Mr Solis about maybe letting us sleep in NICU, I know some hospitals allow parents to stay overnight but I'm not sure about this one." Tom admitted.
"And what if he says no?"
"Then we'll sort something out. If all else fails, we can always stay in the oncall room down in the ED." He stated as he pulled out a clean set of clothes and his toiletry bag from his holdall. "We can ask him tomorrow Sam." Tom said to put the new mum at ease slightly before he slipped into the ensuite bathroom.

A little while later, Tom opened the bathroom door so that Sam wasn't by herself, whilst he stood with just a towel around his bottom half, and shaving foam around his neck and chin.
"Just imagine, I'll have to teach my boys how to shave one day." Tom said proudly as he begun shaving his facial hair where stubble had began to accumulate.
"Mm. I can imagine all four of you standing in hand bathroom with bits of toilet tissue stuck to your chin where you've cut yourself." Sam joked.
"Ah, but I only have to deal with shaving and girlfriend problems, you've got periods, boobs, hormones and mood swings, boyfriend problems and broken hearts to deal with." Tom retorted and Sam pulled a face. "What?" He laughed.
"But they teach that stuff at schools now don't they?"
"I don't know do I- ow!" Tom shrieked as he raised his hand to his chin and inspected the damage inflicted by the hospital's disposable razor in the mirror.

"See, how can you teach people to shave, when you can't even do it properly in the first place?" Sam laughed.
"Take it back, or I'll give you a big snog." Tom threatened as he approached his wife still with his face covered in shaving foam, with a few small dots of blood.
"I take it back. You can clearly shave properly." Sam said sarcastically and Tom rolled his eyes before he headed back to the bathroom.

Thanks for reading, will Sam and Tom be able to stay in NICU once Sam is discharged? Or will they encounter even more problems than they already have face? Please review :)