Archive for October, 2006 Page 2 of 4

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Introducing Evan Hughes

Published by
Dan
at October 21, 2006 in Pregnancy. 20 Comments

Our beautiful boy

Kerry was incredible throughout the whole labour. It was a lot more difficult than Amy’s delivery but she was exceptionally brave and got through it magnificently.

And now we have a son.

There is so much to say about the labour and the birth and how overwhelmed and ecstatic we are about welcoming our baby into the world; but all that will wait until another day. For now I have only this: Evan Hughes was born on the 20/10/06 at 21:47 weighing 8lb 10oz. Mother and baby are both doing well, and a new joy has entered our lives.

Well… here we go

Published by
Dan
at October 20, 2006 in Pregnancy. 3 Comments

We’re off to the hospital. Wish us luck.

The night before

Published by
Kerry
at October 20, 2006 in Pregnancy. 0 Comments

I’ve had lots of lots of phone calls and texts over the past 2 days, wishing us luck for tomorrow, which has been really nice. It hasn’t felt real to me yet, more like when you are preparing to go on holiday. You’re so busy finishing off your last minute list of things to do and it only sinks in when you’re at the airport.

I’ve just repacked my hospital bags as it’s an early start in the morning. Reality did start making an appearance when I was looking at the tiny nappies and thinking – I am going to have a baby very soon. Yes, I know I’ve had long enough for this to sink in, but it somehow doesn’t.

I don’t know if I’ll get much sleep tonight, however I’d best go give it a try. Hopefully I’ll be busy tomorrow, although Dan’s still convinced we’ll be waiting for this baby to arrive next week….

One step closer to world domination

Published by
Dan
at October 19, 2006 in General. 2 Comments

I’ve been accepted as a regular contributor on the communal blog Dadbloggers. I’ll be posting on the 19th of every month. My first effort is online now if you fancy having a look at it.

Before there were four

Published by
Kerry
at October 18, 2006 in General. 6 Comments

Dan is working tomorrow and we’re at the hospital on Friday, so today was the last day it would be just the 3 of us together.

Dan has previously written about how he feels guilty for Amy losing out when the baby comes, but I’ve never felt that way. Somehow this morning when he mentioned it was our last day together, I felt really sad. I know things are only for the better and I am really pleased Amy is going to have a sibling but today felt poignant.

Dan asked Amy what she wanted to do and she named a list of activities. We ended up editing this slightly but agreed we would take her to the toy shop to buy some cars, Tropical World and a play gym. We even threw in a trip to McDonalds at lunchtime. She seemed quite excited at the prospect but then managed to get progressively grumpy as the day wore on.

As Dan pointed out, starting the day in Toys’R’Us and not letting her buy everything in the shop was not the best idea. We then went to Next where she tried on some shoes but again we wouldn’t let her buy the ones that were 2 sizes too small, another black mark for Mummy and Daddy.

McDonalds went ok, as did Tropical World. We then had our next black mark when the pub with play gym was shut for refurbishment. I made several frantic phone calls to friends, relatives and directory enquiries to find an alternative venue whilst Dan tried to stop Amy from crying. Eventually we ended up at the Three Nuns Inn in Mirfield in a Wacky Warehouse. Amy seemed to like it but we weren’t so impressed with the sickly yellow lighting. Never mind, it was all about Amy after all.

Dan and Amy at Tropical World

Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet

Published by
Dan
at October 18, 2006 in Pregnancy. 1 Comment

My job can get a little intense at times so I generally need an hour or so once I’ve got home to unwind. Unfortunately, because I do thirteen hour shifts and I finish at around 11pm, it can mean I get to bed pretty late sometimes.

I generally potter around on the computer: surf the net, look for updates on other people’s blogs, and obsessively check my site for new comments. Occasionally I even get to eat into Greg and Deb’s precious family time by chatting with them on the webcam.

Usually Kerry is asleep during this whole process, but tonight I went upstairs to go to the loo and saw the bedroom light was on. When I investigated I found her sitting up in bed reading Number Ten by Sue Townsend.

There are two books in this world which have earth shattering significance for me. One is Quite Ugly One Morning by Christopher Brookmyre. This is a book that I was given by a friend on the same day that I met Kerry for the first time. We will quietly gloss over the fact that she chose to date my friend Craig on that particular night rather than myself, but I would like to state for the record that she has since told me she thought I was out of her league because I appeared too intelligent. All lies of course, but I appreciate the gesture.

The second book that is burned across my consciousness is Number Ten by Sue Townsend. This is the book that I read through Kerry’s labour with Amy. I must point out before I get stoned to death that I was reading it during the early stages, when it wasn’t hurting too much. During the latter stages of labour I had a pregnant woman supporting herself by hanging off my neck, so give me a break. Still; that book will always be associated in my mind with that day. When it was all over and they eventually kicked me out of the hospital I went home to my empty house and then was immediately witness to a car crash directly in front of our front door. For some reason that just made things even more… poignant I suppose.

Kerry and I were looking through some photos from our old digital camera today. We found the first photograph ever taken of Amy. I was in two minds whether to post it here or not; I don’t want any grandparents seeing it and having a heart attack because they think we’ve had the baby and we forgot to tell them. Eventually I decided I would post the photo, mainly because my parents don’t read this blog so it would only be in-laws I’d be loosing.

I look at that photo and then think of the wonderful time we’ve had watching that baby turn into the beautiful girl we have now; and just revel in how lucky I am to be on the verge of going through all that again.

Ready when you are Evan. We’re looking forward to meeting you

Amy's first ever picture

Caution: reading this blog may waste your time

Published by
Dan
at October 16, 2006 in General. 3 Comments

Many people dismiss the government health warnings on cigarettes as evidence of an over involved nanny state. Equally they scoff at “caution, this coffee may be hot” or “do not place plastic bag over head” signs printed on various consumer goods. But not me. I’m well aware that I’m a bumbling idiot and need all the help I can get to stay on the straight and narrow. I’m the guy who was emptying the mop bucket into the air vents of the cellar thinking they were the drains, then wondered where all the flooding was coming from. I’m also the guy who accidentally changed the language of his mobile phone to German then seriously considered throwing it away as the predictive text messaging was acting all weird.

So I’m in favour of warning labels. In fact I think there should be more of them. In particular I believe all children’s books over a certain length should bear the following advice in large, preferably flashing, letters.

warningWarning! This book is over 1000 words long. Any attempt to read this to your child as a bedtime story will result in you missing the first 15 minutes of that film you were planning on watching. You know, that one with the guy out of Friends in it.

Pack dynamics

Published by
Dan
at October 15, 2006 in General. 5 Comments

On my days off I try to take Holly our dog with me whenever I leave the house. This has less to do with the special bond between man’s best friend and its owner as it does my not trusting her not to piss all over the kitchen floor while I’m out.

I was driving along with both Amy and Holly in the backseat when, for a reason known only to herself, Amy decided that Holly needed to move.

“Get in the boot Holly” she demanded. “Holly naughty dog, get in the boot. GET IN THE BOOT HOLLY!”

The dog took absolutely no notice of her whatsoever.

Holly has always her place in the family pack pretty much figured out. Kerry is at the head, I am the rank and file, and she brings up the rear. I’m not sure where Holly places Amy in all of this. To be honest she rarely even acknowledges her existence. As far as Amy is concerned Holly adopts the policy of don’t ask, don’t tell. Oh yes, she’ll move out of the way if a over excited two year old comes thundering towards her, and will shoot us a pained look if she suddenly finds a woolly hat being inexpertly jammed on her head. But should the attention becomes too sustained she will generally skulk upstairs and hide under a bed until she has been forgotten about.

But things are changing. Amy is becoming increasingly interested in Holly as a being who I can boss around. On walks Amy insists on holding the lead, she gains great pleasure in helping us give her dog food, and she’s constantly getting out Holly’s toys and demanding that she plays with them.

Amy’s a loving and gentle soul at heart, and all this unwanted attention is lavished with as much tenderness as a galumphing two year old can muster (which, frankly, isn’t much). I am also confident in the temperament of our dog, and am secure in the belief that Holly would never turn on her. But it can’t go on like this for ever. There is going to be a time when Holly makes a decision that Amy is no longer a puppy and has graduated to be a part of the pack hierarchy. She will decide that Amy has to be acknowledged and her directions have to be obeyed.

I think this time is coming soon.

And just as I got a lump in my throat when Amy started walking, or when she began using cutlery, or when she graduated to the big room in nursery; there will be a bittersweet tear in my eye when Amy tells Holly to go and have a poo in the garden. And she does.

Holly

Not long now

Published by
Kerry
at October 12, 2006 in Pregnancy. 5 Comments

Dan and I have been to the hospital clinic this morning to find out what’s happening with the baby. The test results from Tuesday show that I’m not diabetic, which was both good and bad news, especially as she said that meant they wouldn’t induce me.

This is what we’d been expecting but not what I really wanted to happen. I know induction is not ideal but I’m already worried about the baby getting even bigger. Then everything changed 5 minutes later, when the doctor came back from speaking to the consultant. He decided that as the sugar was showing up and the baby is term now anyway, they might as well start me off.

The consultant examined me (I’ll spare you the details) and it appears that my body is getting ready of its own accord. However if nothing happens over the next week, I’m booked into the hospital for induction on Friday 20th October…

A monster called Duvet

Published by
Dan
at October 12, 2006 in Multimedia. 1 Comment

purple-monster-copy

Click here to hear all about Duvet the monster.

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