Jack’s Blog

Well the blog updates have slowed as was probably predicted..

Been really busy looking after and enjoying time with Jack. Aswell as really busy with work, theres a few bits of work i could blog about, but i’ll save that for my own blog if i ever get time to update it again!

Time with Jack just seems to fly by, changing, feeding, bathing, burping. Its all good though and he really likes being hugged and kissed. The few days where i have had to work away from home, i’ve missed both Sarah and Jack, and it always appears when i get back that Jack has missed me too Got most of the non home stuff out of the way hopefully now, so back to working at home and playing with Jack!

Jacks been out and about lots since i last updated the blog, lots of visits to the harbour, beach, DVD shop!

We also took him for his first checkup at the hospital, he has gained weight but apparently lost height, i’m not sure babies can actually loose height, so we are assuming the initial measurements where a bit wrong to begin with.. or now!

Anyway for those that are interested his current statistics are as follows:

Tuesday i had to drive to Nicosia to pick up a projector, (long story) as its a 2 hour drive i wanted a bit of company, Sarah wanted to come with me, at first i was a little bit unsure about taking Jack all that way.. what if we got there and he wouldn’t stop crying or had a problem etc.. Amway we decided it would be ok and got all his things together, nappies, bottles, milk, dummy, blankets. All the way there he was so good and quite and just slept or chilled in his seat. We stopped once to feed and change him and to stretch our own legs a bit, but apart from that it was a smooth trip.

We decided to stop off at IKEA (yes we have one here) and pick up a few bits that we needed. Again he was really good and sat in his sling (backpack thing) and just bobbled about IKEA, after we had a quick look around the mall and then headed back to the car.

On the way back to the car he started stirring and was showing signs of being rather hungry, so Sarah gave him a little feed when we got back in the car. He then needed changing, so we moved the car to a slightly lighter spot and sorted him out.

A couple of seconds after removing his nappy however Jack decided he still needed to wee! So the car seat got a little wet.. as we stopped laughing about that we realised that he was still armed and dangerous and had now done a little more than just wet the seat! After even more laughing (well you have to laugh) we decided to sort him out..

Wipes, check, nappies, check, change of clothes… DOH!

So i popped back into the mall and got him a “As yummy as my mummy” little baby thing whilst Sarah cleared everything up.

On the way back he was a little unsettled, but still nice and quite. We stopped off at Governors Beach, which we saw for 2 minutes and then Jack finally decided he was hungry again, so back off to the car to sort him out.

Got home and everything was good, got him nice and settled and fell asleep!

Right that finishes off another blog, Jack is asleep and has been for a good hour now, so time to spend some time with Sarah.

Lastly, to all the people who we may have not thanked yet for buying us presents/cards.

THANK YOU

We will try and get it touch with you all.. just been a bit busy!!

So we’ve had Jack at home for a good few days now.. hence the lack of updates to the blog!

He’s really content and only makes a bit of noise when he sleeps, drinks or poos! The rest of the time he is either asleep or looking around and taking in his surroundings, he really enjoys looking about although gets a bit upset if you leave him in one spot alone for a bit.

I’ve started doing work at home during the day, its hard trying to mix looking after Jack, Sarah, work and the house. But i think we are all managing, Sarah feels almost back to normal but still must be careful!

Our days currently consist of, waking up and spending a fair bit of time in bed with Jack just cuddling and looking at him. Then we usually change him and give him a feed, Sarah first then me.

We usually manage to sneak a bit of breakfast in here!

After that is bath time, (although we think we might start bathing him at night instead) i think i may have mentioned it before but he loves bathtime, although cries a bit when hes taken out!

Once he’s all dressed he usually settles down in his moses basket and we get ourselves sorted. Shortly after Sarah getting in the shower each day he will start crying.. so i pick him back up and get him settled!

The rest of the day i’ve been usually working from home whilst Sarah naps on the sofa, taking breaks every now and then to feed him or just hold him for a bit. He’s very good during the day and as i say only really shouts us if he needs something!

Nitetimes he settles well and then usually wakes up twice throughout the night, which Sarah (bless her) attends to and feeds and settles him. I usually attempt to wake up and help but fall asleep before i get anywhere!

When the weekend came we decided to break the day to day stuff up a bit and take Jack on his first trip out. We ensured he was changed, fed etc and then figured out how to get his pushchair into the car (its a huge pushchair ) and set off for the supermarket to pick a few bits up. After an uneventful trip to the supermarket we popped down to the harbour and pushed him around the back of the mosaics, they’ve almost finished paving it all so it was nice and easy with the pushchair. He woke up a few times and was a bit confused and needed his dummy, but all in all was as good as gold! I think the walking did Sarah some good too, although we decided not to do too much for Jack and Sarahs sake.

After the harbour we took a trip down to the Nature Bar, yes we did take him into a pub.. but its not at all smoky and has more of a hotel reception feel to it. The reason we took him here was to show some mates who worked their and also to get them to help us translate his birth registration form. (as it is all in Greek) We got all that sorted and after 1 pint he was ready for a feed, luckily we had come prepared and sorted him a quick bottle out to tide him over till he got home.

So that was Saturday, he slept really well Saturday night.. must have been that sea air!

Today, Sunday we took him to see some people at the Latin club who had brought him clothes/playmats etc. They where really pleased to see him and commented on how perfect he was, which is nice

After that we popped over to Daves, he was having a BBQ, we only expected 4 or so people to be there but everyone appeared to be there.. a lot of them people i’ve done websites for! So he got lots more attention that we thought he was gonna get and after a soggy nappy and a little feed we decided to get him out of there and home.

Just had a take away Pizza whilst he’s been sleeping and about to go chill out with them both

The only other event that sticks in my mind of the blur of the last weeks is his first little accident! I change Jack some of the time, but even so Sarah is usually close by just incase! The first time i decided he needed changing whilst Sarah was out of the room and he decides to wait till after i’d took the nappy off to finish! Thankfully i’d had the sense to place him on his changing mat.. otherwise we would have needed a new sofa! Lets just say it was a bit messy and he needed an extra bath! Ahh well.. i ALWAYS use the changing mat now!!

Off to spend some time with my Family

Jack is a week old today.

Although yes i am aware that it is Day 8.. work it out though :-/

Today we got up and gave Jack a little sponge bath as we hadn’t got any alcohol to clean around his belly button after a proper bath, we have that now though.. so tomorrow i will get to bath him for the first time, should be an experiance.

He’s been really good again today, Sharon and Gary came round to see him, although he just slept through their visit!

He’s been really good at breast feeding today and taking to it really well, although he’s a bit greedy and still needs topping up with a bottle!

Had a really nice time with him lying on my bare chest, feels so nice to have him just alert but so content where he is. We tried him in a few random places on my chest and he appeared comfy wherever!

This afternoon he became a bit unsettled and we couldn’t work out what was wrong with him, he didn’t appear to want anything and everything we tried settled him for a few minutes then he would start crying again It’s really upsetting when he cries and we can’t figure out what is wrong with him, he must think we are so stupid for not knowing! Eventually some milk cheered him up (surprise, surprise!)

Today i’ve started seeing him in a different way, whilst he was at hospital i saw him as a baby that looks like me and is mine and Sarah’s to look after and to love.

Now i see him more as his own individual little man, with his own thoughts, needs, personality and little face. He’s got so much character already and so many questions that will be answered.. when will he crawl, take his first step, what will he do as a job, etc.

Its all just so much fun and such a great experience.

Hopefully he will sleep well tonight, but i’m sure i will update everyone on that situation tomorrow!

Off to watch South Park now, although Jack is starting to stir so i think we might feed him again first

Today we finally managed to bring Jack home, i woke up fairly late, around 8:30 as i’d been up late the night before with excitement about Jack and Sarah coming home.

Once i’d had breakfast and that i found a text from Sarah saying that she could already come home.. so pick me up quick!

Rushed over to the hospital (getting a bit bored of that drive now) and found Sarah packed and ready with Jack in her arms! So after checking we knew when we had to come back for checkups and everything we left.

Jack slept like, well a baby, as we carried him down to the car. Once the car that was parked directly behind my car (the carpark at the hospital is a little how shall we say.. disorganised!) had left we where on our way. I really expected Jack to wake up and start crying especially with the amount of bumps in the road over here, he was peaceful all the way home and settle nicely in his moses basket.

After a while he finally started to stir and was a bit confused as to where he was and also a little peckish. So i sorted him a nice bottle of milk whilst Sarah gave him a bit of her milk. He settled nicely until it came time to give him milk from the bottles we had brought him, turns out that there is a LOT more to a baby bottle than meets the eye!

We had initially just picked some that looked good and they also had handles on so when he got a bit older he can help and hold them himself. Turns out that these also don’t really work that well as the teat has a fairly large hole, this resulted in milk constantly pouring out and drowning the poor fella! Luckily, or so we thought, we had been given a Chicco bottle for newborns, so i made another bottle.. SAME thing happend!

So after a bit of testing and thought, was we doing it wrong.. did all new bottles do this.. maybe the lid is too tight.. maybe the milk isn’t thick enough. Nothing we tried would make it work though and all the time poor Jack was crying for food which we couldn’t give him without it pouring everywhere.

We eventually decided the only way we will make it work is to get some decent bottles that he is used to, so i quickly drove to Mothercare and got a pack of Avent bottles as this is what they used at the hospital. After a bit of a fiasco over tightening the bottle and it doing the same as all the other damn bottles, we finally got there and managed to feed him!

So our first piece of advise to people who are expecting.

• See what bottles your hospital uses and buy some.
• Ensure that your bottle has a air valve to let air enter/exit from the sides of the teat rather than the hole, as this interrupts the flow to your baby and can cause Colic.
• Test the bottles that you buy and figure out how tight the bottle top should be.. as it appears that too tight makes the milk just shoot out.
• The final thing to check i guess would be the size of the hole, as unknown to me.. but obvious now is the teats come in various age ranges with varying sized holes.

So that caused a bit of fun and messed up Jacks feeding times a bit, although once that fiasco was out of the way he was fine for the rest of the day.

That evening we settled down and watched a film (trainspotting) not exactly child friendly, but Jack slept through most of it although managed to wake up during a few key points!

He slept really well and only woke up to be fed, which was twice. Sarah fed him and i offered to help but then quickly fell back asleep!

Well day 5 flew by!

I went to see Jack and Sarah in the morning and then popped off to sort a few bits and bobs again in the afternoon, think i ended up popping into Fitzgeralds to do some work and also doing a little work at home, just to keep onto of everything.

When i got back Sarah was a bit upset again, she’s getting a bit down with being in the hospital and the food! It doesn’t really help that its a shared ward with people with other problems, they don’t appreciate that babies DO cry.. although its also easy to see why they get annoyed.. i wouldn’t want to be sat next to a baby if i was ill and in hospital!

Managed to find a nice comfy position for topping him up with his bottle after Sarah has fed him, which you can see in the pics Doesn’t he look cute!

Nothing majorly new happened on the 5th day, Jack was peaceful, Sarah was fine.

A few things did happen on the ward later on in the day though, two girls had babies (both boys). They had them naturally and the birth room is just down the corridor. I think its safe to say its put Sarah off a natural delivery and reassured her that the doctors where right and a section was the best way to have Jack. It sounded VERY VERY painful!

One girl was up and on her feet within half an hour of giving birth though, which is good, she had a little 2.5Kg boy! Soo tiny compared to Jack. The other girl was in lots of pain and even had to be taken to surgery that night.. her baby is also still in the incubator a day on Must be so hard.

Didn’t do an pic updates that night or a blog update as was so tired, had a quick play on the Wii (a bit of Dad time ) then bed!

Day 6

The day we are coming home… or so we thought
The midwives and doctors decided that it would be best to keep Sarah in overnight as she was only getting her stitches out today. A bit upsetting, they did say we could sign her out if we wanted, but better safe than sorry so they are currently probably cuddled up in bed together!

I thought that her having the stitches out would be really painful, but it looked like she managed it ok and didn’t look in any pain.

Not sure if i’ve mentioned it, maybe it happened in day 5, Jack had some blood taken from the back of his hand… Now if that was me i think it would be a bit painful, Jack didn’t cry, he just woke up then dozed back off again! He had a little cotton bud taped to his hand, which i took off for him the day after. I took his blood to the post office today and it gets sent off to Nicosia i think for tests etc.

As Jack is coming home tomorrow now i decided that it would be a good idea to clean the house (mainly kitchen) as it had gotten a bit messy with my living on my own and being constantly busy!

So i left Jack and Sarah after he had settled after his feed, think it was about 11:30 and dropped his blood off, brought him some of the same brand milk he is drinking in hospital (i wonder if they are on commission?), then got him some sheets that actually fit his cot! Last minute i know.. but hey!

Got home and realised that i’d used nearly every plate and knife and fork in the house, so did a bit of washing and tidying.. Tried to do some laundry but the water is off, turns out that during the week i’ve been rushing around its been rather big news in the papers that due to the water shortages out here Paphos is having its water cut off for 3 hours a day. It was off when i left the house and is still off! bit concerning but at least we have the storage tank on the roof.

Popped back up to see Jack and Sarah once the house was ready with Gaz. Then we changed, fed, burped him and i went with Gaz to get some food. Popped back to the hospital, had about half hour with Sarah whilst Jack was sleeping, then changed, fed, burped, then came back home!!

Been another nice day though.

Everytime i see Jack even if i’ve seen him that morning and then 3 hours later, something has changed. The last two days he just appears to be getting stronger, he tries to hold his milk bottle now, pushes you away if he doesn’t want it anymore!

I was even holding him next to me on my shoulder and he was trying to stand up!! He can almost sit up with a little support! I reckon he’ll be crawling soon!

Sorry if the above is a bit of a jumbled ramble! my brain is tired!

The last thing i will say is that i REALLY can’t wait to get him home tomorrow, i bet i drive so slowly with him in the car and then get really excited when we get near. I’ve got all his bits ready, cot made, moses basket ready (if he will fit) Bouncy chair setup. Just need a baby now to go in them all! Soon.. Very soon!

Got to the hospital this morning around 9:00 and Jack was calm and asleep, Sarah looked a little more tired than yesterday so we chatted for a bit as i caught up on what Jack had been upto over the night.

Turns out he didn’t sleep too well and thats why Sarah ended up taking loads of pictures of him throughout the night.

He fed ok, Sarah managed to change and burp him ok.. but everytime he settled when she put him back into his cot after a few minutes he would wake up and start crying He ended up spending most of the night asleep in Sarahs arms, although he does look really peaceful there!

So in the end Sarah only got about 2 hours sleep and it was a bit of a noisy night all round.

Popped home again around 2 ish for some food (first meal i’ve cooked since Jack was born) played about on the web trying to get his videos uploaded and popped into work as they where having problems with the projector!

When i got back Sarah was sat in the chair with Jack on her and she was crying I felt so bad that i hadn’t been there and when i got back she was crying I wish i could stay up at the hospital 24/7 but i have to pop off and do a few bits throughout the day.

Once Sarah had cheered up a bit and Jack had settled in his cot, she explained why she was crying. Basically one of the other women on the ward, (the ward appears to be shared with gynaecology) we believe she may have sand in a wooho. Anyway she had basically complained to one of the nurses that Jack was crying all night, one of the nurses then asked Sarah about this, which upset her a bit as due to the language barrier it sounded a bit like she was accusing Sarah of not knowing how to look after Jack.. Which she does.. he just wanted a cuddle that night!

So after a sleepless night, we decided to play with Jack lots today. He’s getting really strong now and really alert and aware of what is going on. He’s so cute when he looks around and we’ve come to the conclusion his eyes are brown with a blue circle around the edge (lots like Sarahs).

Had lots of fun with him today, kissing his head, stroking his fingers and holding him!

Breastfeeding is getting better, although conflicting advise from the midwives isn’t helping, either for Jack or for Sarah’s emotions!

Some midwives will tell us to let him feed from the breasts and wait till he wakes up before topping him up with the bottle, others will tell us to feed him the bottle straight after. I guess either will do and i personally prefer letting him sleep, but we go for a bit of an inbetween and let him have a rest then give him the bottle.

Just before i left we fed him and he only took about 20ml from the bottle i gave him.. we tried to give him more but he was having none of it! So he must be getting lots from breast feeding now Maybe he will be off the bottle permanently tomorrow (Daddy will probably still like the odd bottle though!)

Everything got a bit emotional when i left as Sarah and me really wants to just bring him home, so we can just do the routine we want with him and if he crys its only disturbing us and our neighbours!

My love for him and Sarah are getting stronger everyday, everytime i hold him or kiss him it just feels amazing and its amazing watching Sarah with him.. she’s a natural! and as we both said earlier.. Jack is a natural baby! As daft as that sounds, he just appears to be taking to everything really well. He doesn’t even cry when being bathed!

Thats all for today… still Monday for the day we can bring him home..

Todays been a really nice and good day.

Woke up at 8:15 when my alarm went off and realised that i said i’d be up at the hospital for 8:30! So a bit of a mad rush around and got there about 9:00 but missed Steve and Yana who had just been to visit.

Spent the morning staring at Jack again, he had just been fed and washed so was nice and content.. we stipped him to see if he needed changing then when swaddling him back up he ended looking like he had a hoodie on! see pics.

Sarah was so much better today, able to get up and move around and have a shower etc.. Jack has started breast feeding aswell and both baby and mother have taken to it well, although he prefers one over the other!

Had to pop away from the hospital to sort a few bits and pieces at various works today, wasn’t gone too long although was all a bit strange being back doing my usual stuff when i have a little boy waiting for me to come back up at hospital.

Got back and before long he was ready to be fed again, all went nice and smootly and he was a happy chappy lying on Sarah.

Took a few videos of him today aswell so people can see him moving, they should be in the gallery if eveything worked ok.

I’ve just left him and really didn’t want to, after his feed tonight he was really alert and lively. He keeps scratching himself a little bit, so when he starts moving his arms about i stick a finger next to him and he grabs it!

He’s opening his eyes more and more.. although apparently its unusual that he’s opended them at all in the last two days, but even on the second day you could see him focusing on moving things.

Overall just a really nice day.. and Sarah had a few nice visits whilst i was doing my bit of work.

Ooo.. they also told us when they expect us to bring him home… Monday thats 3 days and he’s all ours to look after! REALLY can’t wait.

First couple of days i was still unsure how to hold him, what to do when he crys etc.. i don’t think i’ve even held a baby until a couple of days ago! Getting my confidence with him now and we are both starting to learn what he wants by what his face is telling us.

Tommorrow we are going to try and learn to swaddle him (wrap him up like a mummy) properly! Then we can sleep safe and sound knowing he won’t scratch his little nose!!

Till tommorrow…

Day 2 started early!

6:30 - Sarah was already up and text me saying that baby had woke up twice during the night and that she had just had an injection for her pain.

After a few texts i got up at about 7:30 and over to the hospital for 8:30.

Sarah already had Jack on her bed and he looked so peaceful lying there ontop of her. I said good morning to him and i think he had a little cry! typical!

We spent most of the morning with Jack out of the cot just holding and kissing him and he was nice and comfy! That morning he had got a bit upset before i got there as apparently he’d done a rather large poo! (lovely)

Later that day he appeared to be getting a bit upset again and upon inspection needed changing! Sarah was already sat-up and reasonably mobile (despite still having a drip in) so we undressed him and changed him for the first time It felt really good.. although when we had JUST finished cleaning him he decided to wee on Sarah! shortly after spitting some milk at me! bless him.

Eventually we got him dressed again and he stopped crying, he started as i struggled to get his suit back on and was playing more peek a boo and covering his eyes than actually getting him dressed!

He was fairly chilled for most of the day, Sarah managed to get up out of bed and take a little walk around aswell which is good progress.

I popped off to pay the rent and sort a few bits n bobs out whilst Sarah had a few mates from work up to visit.

I got back and Jack was sound asleep on Sarah, although Sarah looked a bit uncomfortable on the edge of the bed. Kirsty had come up with me to see Jack. I took Jack of Sarah so she could get comfy and he started balling and wouldn’t stop.. after a little while of trying i gave him back to Sarah who eventually calmed him down. A midwife brought us some milk cos he started crying again, she changed him REALLY fast and then passed him to me to feed him.. awww he was so cute gulping down his milk! I struggled burping him a bit.. although he doesn’t appear to like burping! Between all 3 of us we got there eventually and put him back in his cot to rest.

Meanwhile both mine and Sarah’s phones are ringing resulting in me turning mine off as i was busy! sorry! So we got Sarah ready to get up again, we had tried previously but thats when Jack started crying. Just as she gets half up, little Jack starts balling agian.

A really nice lass that has had 3 c-sections and is currently on the ward suggested that maybe he wants some glucose water.. so she showed me how to make it and i gave him a little drink.. he guzzled it up and after a little burp was nice and content!

After than Jack stayed fast asleep and i was able to finally get Sarah up and take her for a little walk around the ward.. i think it did her good.. but she looks in so much pain when she first stands up and isn’t able to get up on her own yet

She just txt me to say they have put Jack in the ward as she can’t get up to feed him or give him cuddles on her own yet, hopefully she’ll feel a lot better after a nice sleep tonight and little Jack can sleep next to his mummy.

Really can’t wait till we can bring him home, although i think its going to be at least a week.. I know Sarah will try to rush home.. but i’ll keep her there till she is well enough to make the trip back

Wonder what tomorrow will bring….  more excitement.. more of Jacks eyes.. he likes keeping them closed at the moment.. although had a proper look around when we where changing him.. aww he even waved goodbye to me today aswell (although i don’t think he knew it!)

I’m writing this blog mainly for me and Sarah, although maybe other people will read it to track little Jacks progress.

I used to write my own blog to keep track of what i was upto.. but have been so busy i haven’t been able to keep it updated, now i have a baby i think i have time!! we’ll see!!

Both me a Sarah have been a bit worried about having the baby at the General hospital and not going private as appears to be the norm with most English over here.

The first day we went for a scan/checkup Sarah was around 4 months gone! Crazy as it sounds neither of us realised that the reason she was so tired was because she was pregnant, after the initial shock of it all though we where both exstatic!

Anyway back to the first scan, we got up there at about 9:00 in the morning and stood around with lots of other pregnant people. After a while one of the midwives talked to us in Greek and then eventually English, she vaguely explained what we needed to do and so the process began.

So this is how it works here

• Wait in a queue and pay €2 at the administration desk, everyone who visits the hospital must do this before seeing anybody… which is an interesting idea that causes interestingly long queues.
• Go to the maternity clinic and queue to have your blood pressure taken (Sarah’s not mine) whilst the blood pressure is taken they work out how many weeks you are using a little circular bit of card (rather than adding a week to the last week you where there!)
• Queue to go and get weighed, sometimes the weight will be said in Greek and i would have to glance in and get the weight for her, sometimes they would say it in English it all really depended on who was doing it.
• Queue to get the babies heart checked out (this is the best bit!) also whilst here they write down your weight and ask YOU if your urine sample was ok!
• Then join the slow queue to be scanned and your done.

By the time we where going every week, the last month or so we had got this down to an art and could get everything done in an hour or so.. but the first day and the first few weeks we always appeared to be at the end of every queue and never move forward and sometimes we wouldn’t leave until 12 after getting there at 9!

It was a bit stressful, some of the Doctors and Nurses where really nice, some where a bit abrupt, but it was more the language barrier i think that their personality.

So onto the birthday.. well the day before. well the week before we went in for a checkup and was told to come back on the Tuesday and go straight to a Midwife as it was bank holiday and the doctors would be off!! We went up, they checked the babies heart and then we came home, bit of a wasted trip.. but also turned out that Jack was luckily not born on the 1st of April!

Went up on Wednesday the 2nd and managed to get everything done and into the scan room in about 40 minutes, for some reason it was not very busy.  Whilst in the scan room the doctor informed us that Jack would be too large for a natural delivery and Sarah will more than likely have to have a C-section. We where then sent onto the Ward.

Sarah had a few different checks.. one she describes like being hooked up like a car battery :-/ whilst this was happening they sent me home to get her night stuff and some things for baby.. they didn’t however tell me what time they where going to perform the operation.. so i quickly (but legally.. ish) drove home and picked up all the stuff that i thought we would need.

Made it back within about 40 mins after being stopped at EVERY red light, Sarah was just sitting on the bed in the ward and her mum had come up to sit with her.

After a while of waiting we where told that Sarah couldn’t eat or drink and that she would go into the operation room at 5:30, Sharon went home and i stayed with Sarah. About an hour later they decided that 3:30 was a better time for the operation.

All of Sarah’s family came up to the hospital and Sarah went down to the operating room at about 3:45, she looked so scared and worried I went down to the theatre with her, but wasn’t allowed in.. A few nerve wrecking minutes passed as i was sat outside waiting, after about 15 mins Sarah’s family managed to find me..

and then 5 mins later i heard little Jack cry…

It felt so amazing.. i could hear him but couldn’t see him.. was it my baby boy.. or was their someone else having a section in one of the other rooms, i almost wanted to run to the doors and fling them open to find out. After three or four loud crys he appeared to stop, then the midwives appeared at the door with him wrapped up in a blue blanket and rushed him into the lift to get him onto the ward.

I followed him in the lift, eyes filled with joy and excitement, part of me thinking is he ok.. he’s so peaceful all i can see is his head and how long his body is.. does he have all his fingers and toes!

Once upstairs they placed him in the incubator (standard practise here for a c-section) and i saw my beautiful baby boy for the first time.. he was bigger than i expected! and a lovely chubby little face, he’d scratched himself just above his eye but apart from that everything was perfect.

I spent the next god knows how long about 30-45 mins just looking at him and touching the plastic of the incubator trying to get him to reach out to me.. he spent a good 15 mins with his eyes closed, i knew he was mine as he looks lots like me.. but found it a bit hard to relate and understand really until he opened his eyes and looked at me. At that moment it felt so good to have him looking at me, he looked so confused… is this my dad.. have i really got to depend on this man to feed and clothe me! I think he eventually realised that maybe i’m not that bad and he started sticking his tongue out a bit!

One thing that did hurt whilst he was in the incubator is after they weighed him (9 pounds 4 ounces) and gave him an injection.. he was balling and i couldn’t do anything to help him as i couldn’t touch him

Eventually Sarah got out of the operating room and me and Gaz helped her onto the bed by lifting her sheet.. which was agony and she is only just forgiving us for i think! She was still really drugged up when she got back on the ward, i showed her lots of pics of Jack on my phone, but i don’t think she really remembers.. eventually she came round and looked again and thought he was soo cute!

I spent the next few hours between Sarahs and Jacks side, they where only down the corridor from each other but it must have been awful for Sarah. After a while a doctor came to check on Jack and gave him the all clear and put him in a little cot next to the radiator, a bit later then let me wheel him into Sarah..

He was soo peaceful at this point and didn’t even stir as i pushed him into the room.. Sarahs face was one of amazement and love when she first saw him! Although she was sad that she couldn’t pick him up or touch him yet as we didn’t want to disturb him.

We spent the rest of the hours of the day just starting at Jack sleeping and looking at him pulling faces, such an amazing experience.

9 rolled around and the other lasses, 2 of them, wanted to get some rest and Sarah needed it! So i pushed Jack back into the nursery so that the midwives could look after him that night and left Sarah to get some rest..

When i came home i got home and couldn’t sleep at all.. Gaz came round and we had ONE beer! then i decided to setup this site so that we could both remember everything and everyone could see the photos in one easy place!

Facebook also annoyed me that night! but this isn’t the place to rant about that.

Eventually i went to bed 2:30

Best day of my life

Welcome to the world little Jack