In the end we were unable to travel to Sydney for my Great Aunt Edna's (Auntie's) 100th birthday celebration. A district nurse visited yesterday and said that he was a little under the minimum weight he should be at this stage and that we should be feeding him more. Then last night he brought up some impressively fluorescent yellow vomit just before feeding time and then refused to feed. We checked the internet and called Health First, with both saying that it's something we should get checked out. So we went back to Calvary where we were reassured that he was doing fine, and as long as it didn't become a common occurrence it was nothing to worry about. Since then he's been feeding much better, but Soph and I decided that it would be best for all of us if we stayed at home.
So it is a real shame to miss such a momentous occasion and the chance to show Liam my extended family. There is also a very impressive display of longevity genes on show at the party today. Auntie will have three of her siblings in attendance: her older brother Norm who is 104, her younger sister Snow who I think is 97, and her younger brother Ray (my Grandad) who has just turned 91. There's probably not too many people who can turn 100 and celebrate with so many of their brothers and sisters!
That's definitely one gene I hope I've inherited, and I hope I've passed it on to my son. I like the thought of Liam celebrating his 100th birthday in 2107!
Showing posts with label Sophie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sophie. Show all posts
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
My Firstborn
My son, Liam James Waddell, was born at 4:27 yesterday morning.
It all started at about 7:30 on Monday evening with Soph getting her first contractions. Although I didn't find out until about 8:30 as she wanted to be sure. By 9:30 the contractions were a regular 5 minutes apart, and the birth clinic told Soph to have a shower and then come in. We arrived at Calvary at about 10:15, and already Soph was in a lot of pain and quite keen for some pain relief. However our midwife, Jennifer, had another birth to finish up with so it was a while before she could examine Soph and see which painkillers would be suitable. I'm pretty sure the midwives try and hold off on the painkiller as much as possible due to the risks associated with them all.
The next four or five hours were incredibly tough on Soph as she was in terrible pain each time the contractions hit every 2 or 3 minutes. Although it obviously bears no comparison to what Soph went though I was having a terrible time too, seeing Soph in absolute agony for hours on end and not being able to do anything about it was just awful. Soph was just amazing to get through it all, and she even managed without an epidural. She asked for one a number of times but Jennifer delayed, and suggested using nitrous oxide instead and soon enough Soph had made it through Stage 1 and an epidural was then out of the question. I just wasn't really prepared for how hard the contractions would be for Soph, I had assumed that the second stage of delivery would be the most painful but I was a lot more worried during the first stage. Given that Soph thought the same thing, I think they should stress this more during the ante natal classes! Although I guess it's different for each birth.
When Liam's head finally came out about an hour into the second stage, I wasn't prepared for how pale he was, and I certainly wasn't prepared for the shape of his head! He had come out on his side, and I'm told he most likely hit his head on Soph's pelvis on the way through, so his head was very elongated and asymmetrical. I was quite worried and had to be assured a number of times that it was perfectly normal. So the poor boy wasn't at his most attractive when born, but the swelling started to recede within a couple of hours, and this morning it was almost perfect and he looks wonderful. So the whole misshapen head thing is something else I wish I'd picked up in the classes and the books that I've read, it would have saved a few moments of worry!
Liam managed a small feed straight after birth, and he was then cleaned up a little and measured (he was 3.32 kg and 49cm, although that includes the swelling!) before being swaddled. After that he didn't really wake up until after I'd left last night. So he's certainly been easy to look after so far! For me, anyway, I imagine Soph has other thoughts on the matter as I think I got triple the amount of sleep she got last night.
One of the (many) amazing parts of the night and day was the fact that Liam was born on the same date as my Great Aunt, exactly 100 years apart! Her 100th birthday celebration is on Saturday, and with Liam being a good boy and following his instructions to come out early, the three of us will now be able to attend.
So it was just a magical day yesterday! And at least next time we'll be a little bit better prepared...
It all started at about 7:30 on Monday evening with Soph getting her first contractions. Although I didn't find out until about 8:30 as she wanted to be sure. By 9:30 the contractions were a regular 5 minutes apart, and the birth clinic told Soph to have a shower and then come in. We arrived at Calvary at about 10:15, and already Soph was in a lot of pain and quite keen for some pain relief. However our midwife, Jennifer, had another birth to finish up with so it was a while before she could examine Soph and see which painkillers would be suitable. I'm pretty sure the midwives try and hold off on the painkiller as much as possible due to the risks associated with them all.
The next four or five hours were incredibly tough on Soph as she was in terrible pain each time the contractions hit every 2 or 3 minutes. Although it obviously bears no comparison to what Soph went though I was having a terrible time too, seeing Soph in absolute agony for hours on end and not being able to do anything about it was just awful. Soph was just amazing to get through it all, and she even managed without an epidural. She asked for one a number of times but Jennifer delayed, and suggested using nitrous oxide instead and soon enough Soph had made it through Stage 1 and an epidural was then out of the question. I just wasn't really prepared for how hard the contractions would be for Soph, I had assumed that the second stage of delivery would be the most painful but I was a lot more worried during the first stage. Given that Soph thought the same thing, I think they should stress this more during the ante natal classes! Although I guess it's different for each birth.
When Liam's head finally came out about an hour into the second stage, I wasn't prepared for how pale he was, and I certainly wasn't prepared for the shape of his head! He had come out on his side, and I'm told he most likely hit his head on Soph's pelvis on the way through, so his head was very elongated and asymmetrical. I was quite worried and had to be assured a number of times that it was perfectly normal. So the poor boy wasn't at his most attractive when born, but the swelling started to recede within a couple of hours, and this morning it was almost perfect and he looks wonderful. So the whole misshapen head thing is something else I wish I'd picked up in the classes and the books that I've read, it would have saved a few moments of worry!
Liam managed a small feed straight after birth, and he was then cleaned up a little and measured (he was 3.32 kg and 49cm, although that includes the swelling!) before being swaddled. After that he didn't really wake up until after I'd left last night. So he's certainly been easy to look after so far! For me, anyway, I imagine Soph has other thoughts on the matter as I think I got triple the amount of sleep she got last night.
One of the (many) amazing parts of the night and day was the fact that Liam was born on the same date as my Great Aunt, exactly 100 years apart! Her 100th birthday celebration is on Saturday, and with Liam being a good boy and following his instructions to come out early, the three of us will now be able to attend.
So it was just a magical day yesterday! And at least next time we'll be a little bit better prepared...
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Full Term
Sophie is 37 weeks pregnant today. Depending on who you ask this can be considered to be full term, despite our due date still being 18 days away. So we've now reached the four-week window where our baby could be born any day, from today until 10 days after the due date when Soph would be induced.
Ideally Bean will be born very soon, as it is my Great Aunt Edna's 100th birthday party on December 8th and all my family are flying in to attend... but it's in Sydney so Soph and I can't go if she is still pregnant. It would be perfect to be able to take Bean up to the party and show off our new baby to everyone at once! However we probably don't want to freak out Bean too much after just coming home from the hospital, so it would have to be in the next couple of days for it to be possible.
If the baby doesn't arrive early we then have to avoid the 18th December which is Soph's birthday (she doesn't like to share). After that, we're both desperate for our baby to not be born on Christmas Day , so if Soph is still pregnant by that stage she will be 8 days overdue and it will be a rather stressful day! Christmas Eve and Boxing Day aren't too much better, but probably acceptable.
So wish us luck as we navigate the calendar over the next 4 weeks!
Ideally Bean will be born very soon, as it is my Great Aunt Edna's 100th birthday party on December 8th and all my family are flying in to attend... but it's in Sydney so Soph and I can't go if she is still pregnant. It would be perfect to be able to take Bean up to the party and show off our new baby to everyone at once! However we probably don't want to freak out Bean too much after just coming home from the hospital, so it would have to be in the next couple of days for it to be possible.
If the baby doesn't arrive early we then have to avoid the 18th December which is Soph's birthday (she doesn't like to share). After that, we're both desperate for our baby to not be born on Christmas Day , so if Soph is still pregnant by that stage she will be 8 days overdue and it will be a rather stressful day! Christmas Eve and Boxing Day aren't too much better, but probably acceptable.
So wish us luck as we navigate the calendar over the next 4 weeks!
Friday, November 02, 2007
Last Hurrah
A few months ago it was announced that Canberra would have a new public holiday on Melbourne Cup Day (the first Tuesday in November). Apparently under the new Workplace Agreement laws an old union family & community day was now illegal, so they needed something to replace it with. Given no one does any work on Melbourne Cup Day anyway it was clearly the best choice!
At about the same time the release date for a game I've really been looking forward to, Hellgate: London was announced as November 2nd.
And Sunday November 4th is my and Sophie's first wedding anniversary.
So it was fairly obvious that this would be the perfect time for one last hedonistic celebration before I get down to the serious business of raising children. I'm going to take Monday off and have a fantastic four days! Here's my plan:
Saturday will be the warm-up day. I'll be sleeping in, doing some shopping, playing some Hellgate, and watching the Arsenal vs Manchester United Premier League game.
Sunday is our anniversary and Soph has planned a brilliant day for us! We'll be sleeping in, having a decadent breakfast of fried food and pancakes and watching DVDs, all before a dinner at the Hotel Kurrajong, where we were married last year.
Monday I am proclaiming Justin Day. I'll be sleeping in, watching TV, movies and sport, playing Hellgate, eating as much junk food as I can get my hands on - I'll be pretty much doing whatever I want for the entire day.
Tuesday I'll be, of course, sleeping in, followed by Hamish's touch football and BBQ event. I'll then watch the big race, and I'll finish off the weekend with my favourite pasta from Zeffereli's.
This will be the last occasion I will be able to devote entire days purely to myself, and I plan to enjoy it as much as possible!
At about the same time the release date for a game I've really been looking forward to, Hellgate: London was announced as November 2nd.
And Sunday November 4th is my and Sophie's first wedding anniversary.
So it was fairly obvious that this would be the perfect time for one last hedonistic celebration before I get down to the serious business of raising children. I'm going to take Monday off and have a fantastic four days! Here's my plan:
Saturday will be the warm-up day. I'll be sleeping in, doing some shopping, playing some Hellgate, and watching the Arsenal vs Manchester United Premier League game.
Sunday is our anniversary and Soph has planned a brilliant day for us! We'll be sleeping in, having a decadent breakfast of fried food and pancakes and watching DVDs, all before a dinner at the Hotel Kurrajong, where we were married last year.
Monday I am proclaiming Justin Day. I'll be sleeping in, watching TV, movies and sport, playing Hellgate, eating as much junk food as I can get my hands on - I'll be pretty much doing whatever I want for the entire day.
Tuesday I'll be, of course, sleeping in, followed by Hamish's touch football and BBQ event. I'll then watch the big race, and I'll finish off the weekend with my favourite pasta from Zeffereli's.
This will be the last occasion I will be able to devote entire days purely to myself, and I plan to enjoy it as much as possible!
Monday, October 22, 2007
My First Ante-Natal Class
With under two months to go until the birth of my first child (well under 2 months if Sophie gets her way) I'm going to be experiencing a lot of things for the first time. And I thought I should probably start keeping track of them all, which is what this blog will be all about. Plus anything else that takes my fancy, of course!
Tonight was my first ante-natal class. It wasn't Soph's first class; she went to the first class last week. I didn't go as Soph told me that the night's program was geared towards exercises to reduce soreness during pregnancy, and to learn about birthing positions, so it wasn't really going to involve me and she'd just tell me about it when she got home. I obviously didn't require too much convincing to stay home. However it turned out she was the only pregnant woman there without a partner... oops.
It wasn't the most organised class - it was in a different room to last week and there were no signs so a lot of couples were late after wandering around the hospital for 20 minutes. And the midwife had brought the wrong set of course material so it ended up being more of a group discussion than a lesson. The primary topic of discussion seemed to be "all the things that can go wrong with the pregnancy and labour, and what you should do about it". Things like the baby deciding to come out feet first, and... well lets just say that was low on the scale of terrifying things that could happen. So not the most uplifting evening I've had, but it's all information we need to know.
It was funny going around the room and hearing everyone's expected birth dates - most were in mid to late December, just like us. It seems likely that one of us will draw the short straw of Christmas, I just hope that Soph's visualisation techniques work well enough for it to not be us!
Tonight was my first ante-natal class. It wasn't Soph's first class; she went to the first class last week. I didn't go as Soph told me that the night's program was geared towards exercises to reduce soreness during pregnancy, and to learn about birthing positions, so it wasn't really going to involve me and she'd just tell me about it when she got home. I obviously didn't require too much convincing to stay home. However it turned out she was the only pregnant woman there without a partner... oops.
It wasn't the most organised class - it was in a different room to last week and there were no signs so a lot of couples were late after wandering around the hospital for 20 minutes. And the midwife had brought the wrong set of course material so it ended up being more of a group discussion than a lesson. The primary topic of discussion seemed to be "all the things that can go wrong with the pregnancy and labour, and what you should do about it". Things like the baby deciding to come out feet first, and... well lets just say that was low on the scale of terrifying things that could happen. So not the most uplifting evening I've had, but it's all information we need to know.
It was funny going around the room and hearing everyone's expected birth dates - most were in mid to late December, just like us. It seems likely that one of us will draw the short straw of Christmas, I just hope that Soph's visualisation techniques work well enough for it to not be us!
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