Mother and daughter doing fine.
3.3kg, 7lb 4oz. 53cm long.
Pictures later at www.flickr.com/photos/familyboucher
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Dominique asked me to remove her tens machine pads. The machine was still on and I got a shocking stab of electricity across both arms and chest. My hands are tingling 10 minutes later.
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Dominique is laughing her socks off between contractions. The gas is good !
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Erica and Marc have just picked Thierry up from the hospital.
Dominique is 4-5 cm dilated and we're now having a chat with the midwives about the birth plan. Everyone is relaxed especially Dominique who has already started on the air and gas.
Contractions every 2 mins.
Mel just called ! Hiya.
Dominque is just creased up laughing. She wants her epidural now but can't bring herself to ask.
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Back at the hospital now and Thierry is still fast asleep. We're waiting for the consultant to bring us up to date with his condition.
Dominique is getting increasingly regular intense contractions !
The time is now 9-10 am.
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Thierry and I have spent the last few days in hospital because he is being treated for an infection in his arm and lungs. He's in good spirits and spent a lot of yesterday kicking a ball up and down a corridor. He's mastered quite some words lately including "mummy", "dada', "football", "up", "kick" and "bulldozer".
I left him sleeping in his little room at the hospital and now I'm going to take mum to the maternity ward.... ¶ 8:18 am 0 comments
Thierry is currently sleeping as I write this. He's in his pram in the lounge. I have the pram at a slight angle so his head is a bit higher than his stomach. That seems to reduce the chances of him bringing his feed up.
It's a bit of a funny sight. The pram is safe with it's brake on. The front two wheels sitting on top of an eclectic mix of books. The left wheel is supported by Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and a paperback call Genome. The other side of the pram sits atop a biography of Karl Marx and a book about the Lake District. All very surreal.
¶ 5:58 am 0 comments
Well, here we are now, we have to use a dummy to get a quiet moment with the baby. Against all initial advice and tips from various books and midwives not to use a dummy in the beginning, we are now so far that we have found out how calming (especially for our nerves :-)) a dummy can be.
Our poor Thierry is showing signs of a collic, reflux or at least terrible wind. Therefore he's more or less constantly crying, especially in the evening and during the night. This is his way to communicate with us how painful that is. The only way to calm him down a bit, especially when we have done all things one could do to stop a baby crying, like changing nappy, rocking him, feeding him or singing lullabies, seems to be the dummy.
In beginning we were afraid that Thierry might forget how to suck on a real teat as soon he's sucking on a dummy teat, but he's so good that he can suck them all!
He's already such an experienced sucker that the newborn dummies are too small for him, he's already on those for 3 months old babies.
Thanks the dummies!
¶ 3:15 pm 0 comments
Thierry had a bit of a bad day yesterday. Our health worker thought he might have reflux because he was feeding a lot but also being sick. We treated to him to a bath later in the evening and he just loved sitting in the water and was so relaxed afterwards.
He had a feed around midnight and another between 3 and 4 in the morning. Once again, Classic FM came to our aid and he was soon asleep.
¶ 8:27 am 0 comments
It's funny how we have adjusted to the lack of sleep and twice a night feeds. During the daylight hours this weekend I've felt a bit jaded but when Thierry's lungs provide us with that night-time wake up call heralding an imminent feeding need the adrenalin kicks in and I scamper around the house to;
- boil water to warm up his milk bottle
- remove milk bottle from fridge and find one pint empty jug (always the challenge)
- switch Classic FM on in the kitchen in advance of feed
- back upstairs to fill his cotton wool dish with warm water to clean him at nappy change
- arrange nappy and change of clothes in case he's wet
- (boring point for would be parents: getting all this done in advance of lifting him out of his basket halves the amount of time it takes with baby in arms and is whole lot safer than juggling a tetchy baby)
One of the by products of the change in sleep pattern, apart from a sweetened tooth and more snacking is that I dream so much nowadays.
Last night I had my wierdest and most vivid to date. In a wood panelled room in Windsor Castle I was having afternoon tea with the Queen and Prince Philip. It was very convivial and we were talking like old friends. We were even discussing the merits of a Breaking News story on the TV about one of their grandsons. ¶ 3:40 am 0 comments
- that very first Arsenal game on TV. We watched Arsenal on 27/9 beat Ajax 2-1 in the Champions League game played in Holland.
- that very first England game on TV. Not a great game to talk about as England beat Austria 1-0 in a world cup qualifier on Saturday 8th October.
An important postscript to this story is that later in the evening England's qualification to the World Cup next year was confirmed when Holland beat the Czech Republic. That means, with a bit of luck that Thierry and I are off to the World Cup next year !!!
¶ 7:10 pm 0 comments
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Germany
- Canada
- The Netherlands
- Denmark
- India
- Spain
- Italy
- Singapore
- Ireland
- Czech Republic
- Mexico
- Switzerland
- Cyprus
- New Zealand
¶ 9:00 am 0 comments
Somewhat tongue in cheek: So there I am wandering along my local high road when suddenly a paparazzi photographer leaps from inside a florist shop and snaps a few photos of the first Bugaboo Chameleon ever to be seen in the vicinity !
This pram/stroller is the brand new model succeeding the Bugaboo Frog which during the last year become all the rage with many celebrities wanting to be seen with one. On one website alone someone put together (believe it or not) the following list of C to A-list celebs.
- Fran Cutler ( meg matthews posse)
- Gwenyth Paltrow BLACK
- Liv Tyler NAVY
- Matt le blanc AUBERGINE
- Mariella Frostup
- Heidi Klum
- Charlie Brooks ( janine of eastenders)
- Anna Friel ( 1st to have cameleon? )DRK GREY AND GREEN
- Angela Griffiths BLACK
- Sara Cox NAVY
- Courtney Cox ( has a stokke too why who knows, cos she can) NAVY
What makes me smile is a quote in BusinessWeek Online from a New York dad who talked about his Bugaboo in the following manner "It's a stroller I'm not ashamed to push," said one father. Made in Taiwan and available in 21 countries, the Bugaboo is the Mercedes-Benz of strollers: practical, built like a tank, and very expensive.
Imagine that ! My son being pushed around in a Mercedes-Benz-like pram. His mum will be pleased.
More details from an article a month ago in The Daily Telegraph;
( http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?xml=/health/2005/08/25/hbuggy25.xml&sSheet=/health/2005/08/25/ixhmain.html )
In the meantime, back to the 'surprise' photographer, well, Thierry was fast asleep (again) so missed all the action.
¶ 11:15 pm 0 comments
Of late, Freddie Fox http://www.flickr.com/photos/familyboucher/47194938/ has been doing more than just leaving the remains of the nights dinner in our garden or killing off the local amphibean life. Our garden has started to resemble the backyards of Steptoe and Son.
For some unknown reason Freddie has been carrying an assortment of items into our garden and storing them there.
These items range from numerous plastic balls, dogs' toys, pieces of rope and of course garbage debris. Today we had an incredible delivery.
The wierd, almost eerie arrival is a pink rabbit left in the middle of our lawn. What does it mean, what does Freddie know, what is his game. Or is he just a happy fox bringing a present to our new arrival.
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He's now very engaged with his surroundings. At 4 this morning, after a full 50+ml feed, he and I seemed to walk miles around the house (well I did the walking). He would go through quiet almost sleeplike 60second breaks then get very hectic letting the neighbourhood know he had arrived. But it was during one of these strolls that he opened his eyes wide open and stared intently at the long palm-like leaves of a plant we have in the lounge. He seemed captivated by its shadows that played across the walls.
This morning he's been great. Some more feeding and now sleeping. Charlotte our midwife has said that he is almost back up to his birth weight and the blood test she took by pricking his heal showed that he was very healthy.
We're considering a stroll along the High Road today if his mum is up to the walk. Everything is great and we've been blessed with a super son. ¶ 12:52 pm 0 comments
Cousins !
Originally uploaded by familyboucher.
¶ 8:12 pm 0 comments
It's currently 4-38am and I've just finished a marathon session with him. I'd woken at 2am to hear him in grizzly mood. He'd been put to bed an hour earlier by Dominique after another good feed. For the best part of an hour I struggled to keep him happy. He would wimper, scream and then go subdued, lulling me into a false sense of security. I knew he needed a feed within the hour but my plan was to give him some more rest. But still he cried. Then a bright idea ! Nappy change.
After the pampers change, his old one was only slightly wet, we wandered downstairs to see how much milk was waiting for him in the fridge. I'd just got to the kitchen with him facing me own my right shoulder when I felt Thierry tense up and then something happened. You know what i mean ? Something that perhaps the Richter scale was designed to measure in the early days before Mr Richter decided that his invention could also be used to aid the study of tectonic plates.
Anyhow my little Teutonic friend lying only inches from my face unleashed a rumble of such magnitude that Ali's Rumble in the Jungle all those years ago was by contrast a mere Rattle in the Jungle. I don't jest. But Thierry was saving the best for 2 seconds later. That's when I felt his nappy increase in volume by a fifth. The new nappy had lasted barely 3 minutes. Time to return to the changing pad.
Dominique had joked earlier that the tar like merconium poo's had finished and we had moved onto a new phase, I won't go into detail here suffice to say imagine gooseberry stew....
But all this pales into insignificance compared to the emotions that are stirred. Thierry and I have just had a great two and half hours together. It's quite the most wonderful experience being able to look after your child when they are at their most vunerable. While trying to get him to sleep earlier I put Dido on and for a couple of minutes he became entranced with 'Here With Me' and stared with his eyes wide open at one of the speakers. Just an amazing moment. ¶ 5:16 am 0 comments
Thierry is still tired and was a bit slow overnight with feeding. Today we've had the feeding specialists in to help. Boss Vicky, did a wonderful job to help Thierry. One of her staff, Norah now has Dominique, somewhere in the hospital hooked up to an electic pump! Norah makes me smile. She's been with us since yesterday and can't seem to get Thierry's name right. The last rendition she called him Terrine !
¶ 11:42 am 0 comments
What a day. We've had the best part of 10 hours trying to get Thierry to make the effort to take milk from his mom. He's been very sleepy which may be an after effect of the opiates in Dominique's pain killers she had during birth. It should wear off within 48 hours.
However to get him to get some energy he's had a little bit of supplement. That said, we think he's now getting the knack of what to do ! Not sure he was totally into the supplement - it caused his first official puke of his life.
On that point he also filled his nappy today with a pretty gruesome tar-like payload called something like merconium.
At the moment it's just him and me in the room. Mom's gone for her first walk and fresh air since comng in here. He's fallen asleep and not too interested in listening to his first bedside read - an article from yesterdays Times newspaper about Arsenal's 2 - 0 win over Everton.
¶ 5:19 pm 0 comments
What an amazing night. Thierry eventually fell asleep wrapped up in my arms at about one thirty. He'd had a hearty meal from mum but was a bit tetchy until I'd got him burped and winded.
Its now nearly eight and the little nipper is still asleep. Which is more than can be said for the parents who have spent the last ninety minutes awake waiting for him to start yelling. All a bit ironic given the undoubted sleepless nights we have ahead of us.
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Length is 57cm ! Wow !
And just done an almighty black poo !
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Mother and child doing great. Born at 2:15pm. Having his first feed at the moment. Just fantastic.
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I've been asked to get the baby clothes ready ! We're getting into place
¶ 12:39 pm 0 comments
We have both Jennie and Charlotte here now. Dominique is on the air and gas again. Baby heartbeat at 125bpm and we're getting ready for the final push. My heart is racing. Now 12-40
¶ 11:42 am 0 comments
Domnique is hooked up to a multitude of drips and now in bed. The epidural is working wonders so she's very relaxed and in no pain. I've tried the air and gas when no one is looking. Pretty heady stuff if you takes enough deep breaths. But I need something stronger. With my iTunes playing in the background, I'm just going to take the first coffee of the morning.
¶ 9:51 am 0 comments
To quicken up the dilation and contraction process the consultant has just recommended another kind of drip. They have also topped up the epidural fluid.
We're also in our third room of the day. I'm missing the view of Wormwood Scrubs prison that the last room had !
¶ 8:47 am 0 comments
Toast, cereal and tea in a styrofoam cup heading our way! But there's a starbucks just around the corner at the BBC and given Charlotte just said that we're in for the long haul they'll be a starbucks run later this morning.
¶ 7:02 am 0 comments
Charlotte just explained that we should be up to 4 contractions a minute so once she does the next dilation check at nine she will talk to doctors about another kind of drip to move things along. The baby is currently posterior so the drip will help it turn.
¶ 6:58 am 0 comments
6-35am and Dominique has just had her epidural and feeling a lot more happy with herself.
She's just cracked a joke about the baby arriving on it's due date being a sign of German punctuality.
¶ 5:52 am 0 comments
We caught about every red light in west London on the way to the hospital.
Now we're here and it's five thirty. Dominique. Is just about 3cm dilated and contractions every 5 minutes so quite some way to go. In fact Charlotte our midwife says another 7 hours to go.
¶ 4:32 am 0 comments
What a shame. I was so hoping to hear someting different.
Anywy, what can I do? I wait and wait and try to make best use of the time, doing nothing....!
Luc just told me that a friend of ours, Olga, from Madrid is pregnant too. Her due date is the 26th of September. Funny. I did not know. Good reason to contact her and see how she is. Antonio and Olga got married 4 years ago and they have invited us to their wedding in Madrid. We had a great time. Unfortunately we lost contact more or less, but this is now a good reason to get in touch again.
I wonder what sex their baby has....??? All the girls I know from my Antenatel Classes, who recently had their babys, they all had boys, even Britney Spears and Heidi Klum had boys.
So the odds of us getting a girl are quite high, aren't they?
But according to old women tales and everybodys comments, the shape of my belly looks like I'm getting a boy.
Well, you have still a chance to place a bet!!!
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I know, the due date hasn't even arrived yet, but I just don't want to wait any longer. I'm getting inpatient, my belly is in my way for all the things I'd like to do and I also can't wait to see if there you for the first time.
Who are you? Are you a little boy or a girl? Are you ok? ¶ 3:14 pm 0 comments
We've hoarded about 80 nappies in the nursery. Having read another of our baby books we realised that 80 of these disposables only equates to 5 days of new born baby pee & poo production. We struggled with the environmental challenge that a whole bunch of our baby's used nappies will have on the environment. but given the workload of the equivalent 'terry's' our considerations didn't take long !
But consider this. According to my bible, Marcus Berkmann's book "Fatherhood - The Truth" a recent survey reckoned that 8 million disposable nappies head to UK landfill sites every day. And nappies take between 200 to 500 years to decompose. I figure that means that in 343 years there'll be one trillion nappies in various states of decay across the UK. Stretched end to end (why would you do that to a used nappy) they would reach to the moon ! ¶ 6:43 pm 0 comments
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Playing a game of pool!
Originally uploaded by familyboucher.
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