We are mom & pop !!

Pictures of Evelyne Grace Boucher

2007-03-25T17:33:00.000Z

Pictures will be added to our site during this evening but there are a couple of them there already !!

Vital statistics

2007-03-25T14:20:00.000Z

Mother and daughter doing fine.

3.3kg, 7lb 4oz. 53cm long.

Pictures later at www.flickr.com/photos/familyboucher

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She's a girl ! 3 mins ago !

2007-03-25T13:33:00.001Z

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First major swear word of the date

2007-03-25T13:33:00.000Z

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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Giggles

2007-03-25T13:11:00.000Z

Dominique is laughing her socks off between contractions. The gas is good !
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In the birthing suite

2007-03-25T12:34:00.000Z

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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Phew

2007-03-25T08:21:00.000Z

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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deja vu

2007-03-25T08:18:00.000Z

This is a long story... We're two days away from our second baby's due date and I got a call this morning from Dominique that her contractions started earlier at about two.

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....

Long time, no see!!!

2005-11-20T23:14:00.000Z

Yes, I know, it's far too long ago that Luc or I wrote a message in the blog. But tonight I thought I have to tell you quickly that last night we had the longest piece of sleep since a very long time!!!!!

Our little Thierry was asleep for almost 7 hours in one go. This is incredible. When we both woke up by his crying last night at 5am we couldn't believe it.

From 10pm to 5 am!!! This is very special because in the last weeks Thierry would not sleep longer then maximum 3 hours which drained my energy levels down to their minimum.

It's now 11pm on Sunday night. I just brought Thierry to bed and he's asleep. I have to take the chance and go to bed as well because you never know how long for I'm going to sleep next....but hopefully there is a chance to sleep as long as last night.

Btw, today is Thierry's 2nd month anniversary!

Feeding time

2005-10-17T05:58:00.000Z

Feeding time
Originally uploaded by familyboucher.

You catch Thierry and me at around five thirty on Monday morning. I have the office in a few hours time but at the point the photo is taken, the little one is gulping down 90ml of mum's milk.

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.

Dummies!

2005-10-13T15:15:00.000Z

A mother's perspective:

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!

Nach langer Zeit ...

2005-10-13T14:37:00.000Z

..habe ich endlich mal wieder Zeit um ein kurzes Update zuschreiben.

Seit meinem letzten Eintrag sind schon wieder ein paar Wochen vergangen ohne dass ich ueberhaupt merke wie schnell die Zeit vergeht.

Gestern hatte ich mit Thierry meinen ersten Arzt Besuch weil Thierry staendig am schreien ist und wir den Verdacht auf entweder Kolik oder Reflux (Problem mit Schlucken) hat. Als der Arzt sich mir vorstellte, stellte ich gleich fest, dass er auch Deutsch ist!!! Was fuer ein Glueck! Irgendwie traue ich den deutschen Aerzten doch mehr, aber wahrscheinlich deshalb, weil es mir einfacher faellt zu erklaeren was Sache ist. Tja, habe jetzt erst mal ein homeopathisches Mittel fuer Thierry verschrieben bekommen. Mal schauen ob das was hilft.

Im Anschluss meines Arztbesuches traf ich mich mit einer Freundin auf ein schnelles Glas Rotwein, was ich mir redlich verdient habe, und musste allerdings dann doch zwangsweise das allererste Mal in der Oeffentlichkeit stillen, da Thierry ausgerechent dann wieder anfing zu schreien.

Oh je, genau das was ich die ganze Zeit versucht habe zu vermeiden, da das bei mir ja noch nicht so gut klappt wie bei manch anderen "erfahreneren" Stillern :-)

Aber es ging dann doch und zum Glueck habe ich so meine Hemmschwelle ueberwunden.

In der einen Hand das Baby an der Brust, in der anderen Hand ein Glas Rotwein... Welcome back, after all!!!

Heute hatten wir dann gleich unser zweites oeffentliches Stillen!!! Thierry musste zu seinem Hoertest, und nachdem wir dort leider ueber ein Stunde warten mussten, fing der Kleine wieder zu schreien an... Aber zum Glueck bin ich ja jetzt geuebt, ein paar Handgriffe und Thierry ist gluecklich!

After bath time

2005-10-11T08:27:00.000Z

After bath time
Originally uploaded by familyboucher.

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.

Sleeping patterns

2005-10-10T03:40:00.000Z

You catch me at 3:35am on a Monday morning. I'm eating a Sainsbury's Strawberry Indulgence ice cream but more to the point, I'm completely wide awake. Such has been the change in our sleeping routine over the past few weeks that the irony of this moment is that for the first time at this hour Thierry is still fast asleep but thanks to my body clock doing an automatic all bells wake up call I am sitting here waiting for the little lad to wake up. The adrenaline of the moment makes me feel like I have the caffeine from a Starbucks triple shot grande skinny wet latte coursing through my veins rather than just the various flavourings and colourants from that over sweet frozen delight.

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)

On a good night he starts with a protracted wimper that is enough to wake me up and gives me a 5 minute headstart to do the above before he wakes up proper. Sometimes though he gets into full clarion mode screaming like a hi-de-hi announcer on speed.

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.

Two important firsts together

2005-10-09T19:10:00.000Z

It's been barely three weeks and Thierry and I have shared two important firsts together. Namely;

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 !!!

Visitors from around the world

2005-10-04T09:00:00.000Z

As Thierry continues to get visitors at home from afar including at the moment his Grandma and Grandpa from Germany so the visitors to this blog continue. So to answer an email received today, no you are not the only one ! So far we've had visitors from

United Kingdom
United States
Germany
Canada
The Netherlands
Denmark
India
Spain
Italy
Singapore
Ireland
Czech Republic
Mexico
Switzerland
Cyprus
New Zealand

Thierry's first stroll

2005-09-29T17:50:00.000Z

Thierry's first stroll
Originally uploaded by familyboucher.

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.

He has fans everywhere

2005-09-28T23:15:00.000Z

He has fans everywhere
Originally uploaded by familyboucher.

Shock, horror ! Recently seen at the Labour Party Conference and pictured on the front covers of newspapers such as The Sun and The Daily Mail, the wife of a very senior politician in the country was seen expressing her admiration of little Thierry. Thierry was too busy drinking his mum's milk today to venture an opinion.

Die erste Woche schon vorbei!

2005-09-27T22:53:00.000Z

Tja, so schnell geht das. Kaum zu glauben...

Unser kleiner Thierry ist heute auf den Tag genau bereits eine Woche alt und irgendwie kann ich es immer noch kaum glauben. Alle paar Minuten, wenn er nicht bei uns im Raum ist, muss ich in sein Zimmer gehen und nachschauen ob er wirklich da ist. Wenn ich ihn dann so da liegen sehe in seinem kleinen Bettchen, sitze ich einfach nur da, schaue ihn verliebt an und versuche zu begreifen welches Glueck wir haben.

Vor einer Woche habe noch ueber meinen dicken Bauch gestoehnt, von Muttergefuehlen keine Spur. Aber jetzt ist das alles ganz anders!!!

So ueberwaeltigt von Gefuehlen, dass ich am liebsten die Zeit anhalten will um jeden Moment zu geniessen.

A present from our local fox

2005-09-27T19:03:00.000Z

A present from our local fox
Originally uploaded by familyboucher.

This is a true story: We have a resident fox. He owns our garden. He decides which frogs live in our longer grass, he decides where he leaves his pungent excretia. He has a nonchalant swagger as he sniffs around our garbage bags, even to the extent that when the security lights come on his pride stops him scampering off immediately. This is his Manor.

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.

Flowers for mum

2005-09-27T16:57:00.000Z

Flowers for mum
Originally uploaded by familyboucher.

A lovely bouquet of flowers arrived from my office. Here's mom out in the garden getting some fresh air. Maybe tomorrow we will get to try our new Bugaboo Chameleon out ! What is it ? Check this blog tomorrow !

One week on

2005-09-27T12:52:00.000Z

Exactly a week ago Thierry was in the final stages of entering the world. What a huge difference one week makes.

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.

Cousins !

2005-09-25T20:12:00.000Z

Cousins !
Originally uploaded by familyboucher.

This weekend we had our first visitors to see Thierry. Here is his cousin Ellen.

Late night rumbles

2005-09-25T05:16:00.000Z

Thierry is back in his Moses backet and snoozing away. He's just had 50ml of his mum's milk from a bottle which makes a great start on this new day - welcome to a Sunday Thierry.

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.

Progress on day 4

2005-09-24T02:26:00.000Z

We were told on Friday by our midwife that because Thierry was born after midday on Tuesday that Tuesday is officially day zero of his life as far as the beaurocracy is concerned which makes today, Saturday, day 4. I've just finished his first feed at 2am using a 40ml of his mum's milk in a bottle. He really gulped it down with very few burps or wind on the way. Excellent. He's now back to sleep and all within an hour. That really is progress. I'm just making the most of this. I'm sure in the very near future his own idea of a schedule will kick in and then we'll be at his mercy ! At the moment mum and dad are in control... just !

First morning at home

2005-09-23T07:47:00.000Z

Hello, here is the new mother. I'm back again!!!

This is incredible, I'm still and totally gobsmacked. No words can express what the last days, especially the 20th (Due = delivery date) have been, for Luc and me.

It's the most wonderful thing that can happen to you.

I'd like to say "Thank you to you all" for all your nice messages and best wishes. I'm still so emotional that I start crying for happiness when I see all you lovely words. Thank you so much, it's such a blessing. I'd love to reply to you individually but I hope you understand that this is a bit too time-consuming at the moment. But sooner or later I'm sure we have the chance and time to speak or see you all.

Well, now I sit here in front of my laptop and take the moment to send you a quick personal update. It's 8am and I just had to express some milk to ease the pain I have in my breasts before baby wakes up. His feeding time starts again in 30 minutes. Unfortunately the expressing wasn't very helpful, although, against all my concerns I had about this, quite some amount came out. :-) Besides that I'm fine, but still in quite some pain. But I hope this will get better soon. My weight loss so far only 5 kilos, but I guess this will happen gradually.

Later this morning the midwife will come and show us how to bath a baby. This will be his first bath after birth and I can't wait for this. There are soooooo many things to learn now. Incredible how helpless this all makes you feel, but luckily we have good midwifes to help us.

Anyway, I'm ready for the baby now.

Making progress

2005-09-22T11:42:00.000Z

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 !

2005-09-21T17:19:00.000Z

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.

Sleeping through the night

2005-09-21T06:44:00.000Z

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.

Mother and son are very happy !

2005-09-20T19:52:00.000Z

Everyone happy !
Originally uploaded by familyboucher.

Taken just minutes after Thierry's birth. He was having a little snooze. How great is this.

Other vital statistics

2005-09-20T14:45:00.000Z

Length is 57cm ! Wow !

And just done an almighty black poo !

The weight !

2005-09-20T14:43:00.000Z

7 pounds 11 ounzes. 3.492 kg

It's a boy !!!

2005-09-20T14:00:00.000Z

Mother and child doing great. Born at 2:15pm. Having his first feed at the moment. Just fantastic.

Getting ready for the final push

2005-09-20T12:39:00.000Z

I've been asked to get the baby clothes ready ! We're getting into place

9cm dilated

2005-09-20T11:42:00.000Z

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

I've seen the head

2005-09-20T11:28:00.000Z

Not long to go now.

Taking a break

2005-09-20T09:51:00.000Z

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.

Sintosis drip being applied

2005-09-20T08:47:00.000Z

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 !

The lady with the trolley

2005-09-20T07:02:00.000Z

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.

2 contractions a minute

2005-09-20T06:58:00.000Z

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.

Epidural time

2005-09-20T05:52:00.000Z

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.

11 minutes to the hospital

2005-09-20T04:32:00.000Z

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.

Off to the hospital

2005-09-20T03:32:00.000Z

4-30am and we're off. Contractions every 2 mins

It's all starting

2005-09-20T02:45:00.000Z

Dominique's waters have burst and contractions are under way ! The Tens machine is all hooked up and we're looking at each other trying to remember what all the books said about 6 minutes delays between contractions !

The Boucher's In Print

2005-09-19T22:35:00.000Z

Hot on the heals of some of Luc's photo's being published in the forthcoming expected international best selling book Koalas: Moving Portraits of Serenity http://www.koalajo.com/bios.html ((for Luc's bio) comes more news from the publishing world. Even before BabyBoucher arrives on the scene one of our midwives have asked if we'd like our forthcoming baby to be photographed for a new book on pregnancy. From behind the camera to in front of the camera in one generation ;-)

1 day before my Due Date

2005-09-19T13:31:00.000Z

Hello, I'm back again. It's Monday afternoon and still no sign of any labour beginning. Jenny and Charlotte, my midwifes, have been here to see me this morning. They say everything is fine, but it might take a couple more days until baby is finally ready to come out!!!
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!!!

2 days before the Due date!!!!

2005-09-18T15:14:00.000Z

It's Sunday afternoon, Luc and I are sitting in the kitchen, both in front of our laptops, and trying to do productive things. But I can't concentrate on anything. For several days now i keep thinking that the labour will start any minute. But it doesn't! Every little pain or awkward feeling might be a sign of starting labour, I think. Are these contractions or not? I keep on reading my books about pregnancy to find out more, but I guess these books can't help either. I drink my raspberry leaf tea, which is supposed to speed up labour. Well, no success so far.
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?

Nappy thoughts

2005-09-12T18:43:00.000Z

Dominique and I talked today about the impending nappy explosion thats going to affect us.

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 !

Thirsty work

2005-09-10T11:41:00.000Z

Thirsty work
Originally uploaded by familyboucher.

Dinner with friends at Frankie Dettori's new restaurant. I waited twenty minutes at the table for this drink. Patience is a virtue in the place and don't arrive too hungry because the service leaves a lot to be desired

Playing a game of pool!

2005-09-03T09:16:00.000Z

Playing a game of pool!
Originally uploaded by familyboucher.

Dominique won the game. What a success.

Dominique on Hampstead Heath

2005-09-03T08:58:00.000Z

Dominique on Hampstead Heath
Originally uploaded by familyboucher.

We had a really nice walk on Hampstead Heath. Super view of London and Dominique looked great

First wedding anniversary

2005-09-03T08:53:00.000Z

Two weeks to go before baby is due to pop out into the real world and Dominique and I are celebrating over breakfast our first wedding anniversary