Coming Home from Hospital

Rika and Hanna came home from hospital today.


When I arrived at Rikas room to pick them up, Hanna was sleeping on Rika's chest.


It was just a 15min ride home by taxi. Hanna is wrapped up in a sling and has fallen asleep.

Like this...

Rika's mum, Atsuko, and sister, Yasuyo, were waiting at our apartment.

Minimi and Sasuke were also waiting outside on the terrace. They had both turned 5-years old while Rika was in hospital. I have been putting them out for the last few days so that they will get used to it before Hanna came back.

This is Yasuyo holding Hanna for the first time.


This is Hanna's first feed at home. Note Minimi watching from the stairs.

At first Minimi didn't know what to make of this new cat-sized addition to the family. You can clearly see his worried look as he observes Rika feeding Hanna - watching intently with his head forward and ears back.

After that Minimi got quite clingy and demanded to sit in my lap. I had to give him lots of love to show he is still my 'top-cat' - even if he's no longer the top 'cat-sized-person' - until he fell asleep on my chest.

This photo shows Minimi sitting on my lap watching Rika, Hanna and Atsuko.

Hanna seems to have adjusted will to the change of scenery. But she has been crying a lot.

Fortunately she settles quickly when she is put in a sling. Here Yasuyo is calming Hanna, using Rika's sling.

We also bought a sling for me so we don't need to adjust Rika's all the time, and so I don't need to wear pink floral patterns. This sling is actually from a New Zealand company called 'Natures Sway', so it's nice and big and available in masculine beige canvas.

Here is the 'dads-eye' view of Hanna, fast asleep in the sling...

... and the dads-eye view of Minimi demanding not to be left-out.

We don't have a cot so for now we plan to change nappys and also sleep on a baby-futon on the floor...

while the cats are safely out on the terrace.

You can see Minimi has taken the 'power seat' on top of the cage, while Sasuke is patrolling. The cardboard boxes have cat beds in them and cork tile flooring so they should be quite comfortable, even when its no longer 25 degrees at night.