Baby House

Grandma Lyn (that's my Mum for those of you who are getting confused by all the motherhood) caught the plane back home yesterday. The house is a little too empty today. (I had to cook my own breakfast this morning which was quite traumatic.)

James is getting more used to life in thin air. We went to a restaurant to have a goodbye meal and he slept from the time we put him in his new car seat to the time we took him out again back at home.

Owain is being as good as we ever could have hoped. There are no signs of jealousy (yet) but plenty of curiosity and affection.


In preparation for the upheaval, Heather bought Owie a new car track toy. I let him play for it for a few days before even inserting batteries. He's pretty chuffed ...


Heather is still writing about the birth. Expect an epic masterpiece any day now. No pressure, or anything. Heh.

Day Two in the Big Brother House

As I sit down to write, James has turned 1 day!

From James Douglas McFarlane

Right now, he's lying on the couch next to me breathing quietly. Heather is pottering around, trying to find her feed and make herself presentable. Lyn has taken Owain for a walk.


Heather is going to put aside some time to write an account of the whole ordeal soon. In the meantime, this is all the facts, figures and records for those of us who view life as an excuse to geek out to statistics and showcase multimedia technology. Lets begins with the stats.

• DOB: 2009/09/25 14:31PST
  
• Weight: 9lb 7oz!
• Chest: 13.75"
• Head: 14.5"
• Length: 21.5"

From James Douglas McFarlane

Here's a movie of the n00b. This is the first time I've cut the sound out of a video. You do not want to know why.


And here is Owain meeting his bro.


And finally, the Heather-sanctioned photo album - a tiny fraction of the full gory story!

James Douglas McFarlane

James Douglas McFarlane

2009/09/25 14:31. No weight yet. They do things differently at home.


He was born in the birthing tub and was in his mother's arms straight away. Both are well although Heather lost a lot of blood due to an enormous placenta. (Photo available on request.)


She needed a drip and a mask but is now as cheerful as she's been all day.

Tub Time

Heather was up all night having contractions. She's in the pool now. Contractions are every six minutes and getting more intense.

Grandma Lyn took Owie over to Ann's house a while ago.
Stay tuned!

Birthing Pool

Contraction Action

Heather drank some Castor oil and now she keeps getting contractions. Just so you know. It could all stop again but for now they're very frequent and 'very' uncomfortable.

Er, that's it for now!

(Incidentally, you could try to subscribe to this blog so that you get notified when there are new posts - instead of having to check back continuously. What happens when you click that link will depend on what browser/email you use.)

Baby News

Psyche! There is none. As of today I'm 10 days past my estimated due date. The midwives have decided that I just like to cook'em a long time. Some consolation! I must admit that I'm am not dealing with the waiting all that gracefully. I'm a wreck and totally sick of being pregnant! Today I had an acupuncture induction and a prenatal massage and got all the "go into labor" pressure points pressed. I suppose if you're going to go post dates this is the way to do it. All that pampering was very relaxing today and I'm feeling like I can go on a while longer. I don't think I could have managed any of this for one second without John's mom Lyn here. I'm sure will protest and be embarrassed that I'm gushing but she has really taken a weight off my shoulders this past week. She and Owain have developed quite a bond. She's even had to change dirty diapers which I vowed that the grandparents would never have to do! Perhaps one of the nicest things is just having someone to talk to during the day (and not to mention
AMAZING dinners cooked every night). That is all for now, there will be updates soon!

Live-in Nanny

No, the neonate is still hiding.

Grandma McFarlane arrived on Monday and has been cooking and dishing out G&Ts for most of the time since then. Here are some pictures from her camera including Owain in Wales being very bad at the dinner table.

From 20090916 Lyns Camera

Back in Ballard

Quite a bit to tell since last post. The funeral went OK. I had to do my eulogy whilst holding Owain who spent the service throwing plastic animals around. Outside, Dad was almost buried with two sheep and a horsie.


The remainder of the trip was a bit more relaxed

From 20090909 The Cayo

which was a good thing because the flight home was tough for the boy. He was very good overall and even let me watch some movies over the Atlantic. I've been meaning to see Moon since it came out, but not really for fun, so I was pleasantly surprised at how watchable it was. The latest Terminator - on the other hand - should have been sub-titled: 'Metal vs Wood'. I suspect that Christian Bale was told not to outdo Arnie's delivery.

No new baby yet. Today is the due date and there's little sign of an appearance so far. To paraphrase Heather: a watched pot belly never boils...

Home

Some photos of the trip so far. Don't really have time to write as I'm looking after Owie and it turns out that Heather was right: it's actually quite hard. Who knew?