Stay at home Dad - Part 2

Ahhh.... the beauty of naivety! There was me thinking I'd have the time/energy/presence of mind to actually create a post on a daily basis with a new baby in the home and while being full time dad to the other two children.

I'm sure some people are able to... but for me it was such a culture shock that even lifting my hand to prod the TV control was an achievement after 7pm.

I did take a few notes though (on the back of breast pad boxes/cereal packets and the slightly torn credit card bill that our two year old had chewed on)... so here's summary.

Birthing day (Friday 26th January). 10 minute contractions throughout the day on the 25th... which we were so grateful for... Helen was due to be induced at 9pm on the 25th - we were so glad that it started naturally. My father-in-law had come over to baby sit so we sat around playing monopoly till the early hours and then all managed to get a few hours kip.

Helen woke at 4am with the contractions a little more purposeful... drove to hospital for about 5:00 (after a stop of at 24-hour tesco for 'supplies' - mostly chocolate!). We had the first two at home - but due to a blood test that warned of possible anaemia we had to do hospital birth.

We were checked into a beautiful, calm delivery room and left in peace. Helen had been to hypno-birthing sessions with her friend Becky (another first for us) and as the contractions started getting stronger it was impressive to see the way that Helen would calmly close her eyes and 'go into a zone' while the contraction past).



By complete coincidence we were in a room that had a birthing pool and as things progressed Helen asked if the pool could be filled up. The combination of the warm supportive water and
the relaxation from the hypno-birthing techniques meant the whole experience was very calm, controlled and a positive experience (and no other pain relief was needed). Jay Harry Wilkins was born weighing 9lbs and came home the same day.

The picture is of Jay just a few minutes after he and Helen got out of the birthing pool.

Saturday and Sunday are a bit of a blur... we stayed at home Saturday and just relaxed - older two kids got to watch lots of TV and eat what they liked. I did manage to get to church with the Lucy & Timothy on Sunday - which gave Helen some peace and quiet at home for a few hours.

Then on Monday morning my week had started...