First Visitors
I had a planned caesarean as I have crohn’s disease, so we had grandparents-to-be waiting at the end of the phone. Or that’s what we thought! Turns out they got too excited waiting at home and decided to come up to the hospital ‘just in case’ (just in case what? – I don’t know).
Erin is first grandchild on both sides and first great grandchild and first great great grandchild – yip that’s five generations. So you could say there was a litte ‘extra’ excitement surrounding her birth. After her birth we had to go to the high dependency unit because I had pre-eclampsia and crohns and Erin was a little early (37 wks) so all the unexpected visitors were ushered in and out of there in twos, much to the dismay of the head nurse!
Leaving Hospital
I didn’t cry when Erin was born. I don’t know why not. I thought I would. Perhaps it was the shock of being able to see my abdomen splayed out on the operating table through a mirror-backed light on the ceiling (nice idea – not!).
Erin and I were in hospital for 36 hours. I remember getting all our things together with Alex’ help, double, triple, what I went in with + a baby of course, we traipsed out of the ward…..and then………VWOOOSH.
It hit me. This was it. She was our baby and we were taking her home to start our new lives….together……as a ‘family’. I cried.
(with happiness btw)
Back at Home
We arrived home. A bit sooner than expected (well about 3 days sooner actually). I climbed the steps to the fourth floor clutching my stomach, hoping I wasn’t leaving anything behind. Why does that journey home from the hospital feel like such a death ride? Alex was only doing 60mph (on a motorway) but it felt like that at any given moment we would go skidding off and become a tangled mass of metal, bodies, trees and …..well anythingelse that was in our path (sorry, but this was what was going through my head). The news would say something like ‘happy new family’s life ends in tragedy’ or ‘couple left babyless after horrific crash’…..come on you had these thoughts too right? When you were driving home from hospital……no?
Home in one piece with all internal organs safely stowed away behind the stitches (still in tact), Alex lay Erin gently in her crib (the one we had stared at empty.. imagining a mini-me….a mini-us in there). We both sat on the sofa and stared at her. We had a cuddle. I nearly cried.
Visit to Wales
When Erin was 3 weeks old we got up one morning, bleary-eyed, and I said ‘shall we go to Wales today?’ Alex said ‘yeah, ok’. We packed up and set off on the nine hour journey for Erin to meet my side of the family.
This makes the top five because at this point we felt empowered, coupledom had become familydom, almost seamlessly. We both realised that having Erin wasn’t going to stop us doing things, that she would fit in ‘just nicely’ (just as well I guess!)
Smiles in the Morning!
Every morning, without fail, a big gummy grin, arms and legs flailing with excitement – it’s enough to melt your heart! (and then she throws up on you….again, that reminds me, she puked on Alex’ head the other day, mash and sweetcorn bits in his hair…YUK!)