Tue 15/1

So – there we were with the newborn… He opens his eyes & looks around a bit, wrapped in his towel, fresh to the world.
Sigh.
It was only when he born that we knew he was a boy by the way. When Louise went to the midwife a week before she said that girls usually have faster heartbeats & that her baby had a good fast heartbeat… but that was proved wrong. Louise was more inclined to think a boy while he was being born.
I nipped off to try Louise’s mum again, but still no answer. I decided to do more phone call stuff later on (it was too early in the morning). We just settled into things. The midwives did the checking up of things, & Louise got herself sorted. You get toast & tea laid on. The toast is nice, but I’m not sure it’s real butter. The tea is in plastic cup that has a space between the internal & external cup – so you don’t get an idea of how hot or tepid it is. We were moved off to another room – the delivery suite would need to be occupied again. Darn – just as we decided to turn on the radio – radio 4 starting with Sailing By. They were expecting us to let them know when we were moving room, but we just moved ourselves. I think that they were thinking Louise would want a wheelchair or something.. No, not really required. Into a room with no radio. We had not much to occupy ourselves. The paediatrician was supposed to be coming round about 10:00 – & after that we could go home – wheee! Never ones for hanging around! We have to be back for the kids as well. I eventually got through to Louise’s mum who sounded thrilled & said she’d set off for our house to take over looking after the kids. Called Andy to let him know what was going on, my parents (my mum admitted that she had been reluctant to call in case she thought we might feel pestered! – noooo – I cannot think we would!). Work – to let them know I won’t be there for a bit. Duties done. Time to sit back.
Louise, Jude & I in a room with a cot, bed, chair, table, lamp, sink, 2 soap dispensers (red alcohol gel – blue foaming soap), orange wallpaper with subtle orange stripes, window, with curtains (orange) & a door to where the shared toilet (shared with another similar room) was. Jude fed on demand & slept a good while. We stared at the soap dispensers a lot. 10:00 took a while to come & went, as did 11:00, 12:00, 13:00, sometime around 14:00 we saw the paediatrician. Jude got a clean bill of health. We waited a good while longer for paperwork, ordered a taxi which arrived about 15:15, & we got home before 16:00. Within 12 hours isn’t so bad. The taxi driver drove noticeably safely – which was much appreciated in our heightened tired state.
Kids & grandma agog & all over the place… The kids seem huge after being in the presence of one so small.