The other kind of birthday..

You think he likes it?

With all the focus on the smallest member of the family, today is X's chance to be spoilt and doted upon. He turns seven today and has been the happy recipient of a large box of goodies acquired over the last few months. I myself have been scouring the stores since before xmas. It's really satisfying to see my efforts appreciated. 

As you can probably see, Lego is still the thing. Generic city or medieval sets have been replaced by something with a little more pep - in this case 'Ninjago': a sort of ninja meets Skeletor meets PG rated Mortal Kombat. Here X has just received Garmadon's Fortress and he's beside himself with joy. It's the reason I enjoy buying stuff for him, he's still young enough to be genuinely enthusiastic about stuff, not cool and aloof. When he stops getting all excited about his birthday and Xmas, I'll stop buying him stuff...

..just kidding...

Latest Baby News: little I continues to be the most rewarding creature I have ever seen. It's difficult to put into words to explain to the childless, but I just cannot get enough of every little expression, every little noise, every little gesture she makes. I guess the novelty will wear off one day, but in the meantime I'm drinking in how soft she is, her striking blue eyes, her chubby cheeks that make her look like a cross between Alfred Hitchcock and a bulldog and countless other features which just feel so right when I'm staring down at her. Of course she can only cry to get her point across, and nappy time will sometimes elicit the most heart wrenching shriek that strikes both E and myself to the core. 

Its still early days, I marvel at the number of nappies she gets through, and how warm and heavy they are when I chuck 'em in the bin. One day she will be so much more than the snuffling, pudgy little bundle she is right now. In the meantime I'm enjoying my first steps of parenthood.

A.

She's ready for her closeup now..

My camera has not been far from my side in the last weeks. Every eye-roll, every smile, every fart, has to be captured for posterity. It was ever thus for the parents of brand new children though, I guess.

Seated in her vibrating chair (22 days old?). Debating whether to fall asleep or scream in outrage for being put down!

You can't help but think your kid is the most beautiful child in the world. Are people just being polite when they are cooing over your little one? Or are they really as taken with her as you? It brings out a competitive streak which can was deeply hidden for years previous.   

Burping time: lean her forward, prop chin up on hand and rub back vigorously. A rattling belch is still unexpected but very gratifying to hear.

Having a bowling ball for a skull must be a drag. I watch with amusement as Isadora tries to raise her head, or it slumps to the side after a massive feed. She has strong little fingers, tries to slip out of your grip like a salmon would, but hasn't mastered holding up that big old skull of hers yet. 

A.

Bringing up baby

Firstly, thanks so much for the cards and well wishes. Seems to be fatigue and multiple errand running which keep me from getting in touch, it will happen, I promise.

Ok, we're two and a half weeks in now. The little bundle of confused looking poop and piddle has now become a larger, more aware bundle of poop and piddle. Isadora has passed her birth weight today and a young life of weight gain seems assured.

She pulls some wondrous expressions during her day. My particular favourite is the strained bulldog like face just before she's about to fart. And boy can she crank them out - its like Terrence and Phillip out of South Park. Of course the farting often precedes something more. She fills her nappies with a regularity which is impressive, but it's not the lake of liquid sewage I was dreading. Too be honest, with the milk diet it just looks like french mustard... and with that thought I shan't be eating french mustard again!   

Our baby continues to be a very mellow child. Normally the skittish sort, Maeve the cat sits nearby watching her scream at nappy changing time with mild interest. Isadora took the barium swallow at hospital with only the minimum of protest - would've been within her rights to scream the house down. As a sidenote a baby with a gobfull of barium reminded me of Ian Holm spitting up white stuff in Aliens.. these things come up at the funniest of times, don't they?

When she's awake, you can't help but watch her little eyes taking in the world. Mum gets an expression of total fascination (and rightfully so) whilst the rest of the world is regarded with dumb fascination. Her "Why the **** are you carrying me around? Where's mother?" expression makes my day everytime I see it. 

Anyway, that's my first meditations on living with a newborn baby. Will add more when they come to me.  

Cheers,

Alex

Tough week...but its' been worth it.

All the baby stuff we've acquired now has a use. This makes me very happy.

We're finally back at home, and what a week it's been. I watched my daughter breast stroke into the world at 1.25 on 28th February.. a memory I wont lose in a hurry. Three points spring to mind about labour and delivery of a child:

a) It looks f**king excruciating: being around X has sworn me of foul language (pardon the pun), but watching E's confidence turn into bowel wrenching agony after her waters had broken gives me huge respect and sympathy for womankind. Her gasps and whispers of "fudge" as an early doors contraction worked its' way through her became full throated bellows and screams of "F**K!!!" several hours down the line. When the midwives finally gave her gas and air to numb the pain I watched in some shock as she sucked it up like a kid with an enormous smoothie. I tried some too - bit trippy, but not my bag to be honest. E would like a canister to take home as a souvenir though..
b) The damaged wreaked is extraordinary: that three and a half kilo bowling ball knocks everything out of its way and brings a load of blood with it. The recuperative powers of the body must be remarkable to squeeze a baby down a gap only a couple of centimetres across and recover from it afterwards.
c) My first sight of the placenta was an eye-opener: we idly discussed the merits of taking placenta home to fry a piece up, I said I was game. It looked like an enormous bloody steak with a bicycle padlock cable sticking out of it so I decided to give that a miss.

Once Baby Isadora was out (her "what the hell did I just go through?" expression was particularly priceless), we discovered all wasn't as rosy as we had hoped. After passing a particularly uncomfortable looking poop she was admitted to the neonatal unit for a week. During that time she experienced reflux which drove us all to distraction, being cooped up on the midwife unit at Kingston Hospital took it's toll on E, especially after all we had gone through. However it has all worked out well in the end. We are home as a family, and are ready to experience our future together. I myself have been introduced to the world of nappies and baby waste and have not been filled with horror. This is a plus. Isadora meanwhile possesses a Zen-like calm which we just marvel at. She also happens to be the most beautiful child I've ever seen.

I'll admit I am biased and of course people always say the nicest things once they see your baby. However, she has the Old Lady Seal of Approval already - our hospital check-up today produced a clutch of elderly admirers.


... so we must've done something right.  

All feels good. We drove home from the hospital in the early spring sunshine and I couldn't help think that Isadora had brought it with her. However I've heard the first couple of months with a new wee-one are tough so I'll be tempering my joie de vivre with a sense of guarded realism. We'll see how things go..

A.

Pulling my last all-nighter.

Little Isadora Jean front crawled her way into the world at 1.25am on Monday 28th of February. She tipped the scales at 7lbs 7oz and is the most beautiful creature I have ever laid my eyes on.

Currently little I is under observation at Kingston Hospital neonatal unit. However she is pooing and crying with equal ease right now so all signs are looking positive.

More to come when I have it.

A.