Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Junior is growing fast



I can't believe it's been nearly two weeks since my daughter arrived. Time is flying and she is changing everyday. We were warned that the first few days are a nightmare and we would get no sleep at all and stuff. But so far Megan has been great. She is feeding regularly, sleeping for up to five hours at a stretch (during the night) and not crying unless something is really wrong. Basically she is an angel through and through.

It's hard to work out what her character is, but she seems to be a tough cookie and is quite happy being picked up and taken outside. She has a fascinating range of expressions when she sleeps, including this impish smile pictured below. She's getting stronger by the minute and has already kicked me in the teeth a couple of times during some fraught nappy changes.



I've been trying to work out how I'm feeling about being a dad now. It's a life-changing event and one that I would recommend to anyone. I wasn't that up for having kids until a year or so ago, but now I can't imagine my life without Megan in it. I sit there with her in my arms and can't stop just looking at her with a big smile on my face. I feel she is already interacting a bit with me and we have this great little pulling game going on. I also sit there an wonder what she must be thinking. I know she can't see very well yet, but what must she think some of the blurred images she gets are? As adults we have all of these ideas ingrained as to what is good/bad, big/small, pretty/ugly. But as a child you won't have any of that (or would you?). It'd be fascinating being inside her head for a while. I think that fresh outlook and innocence would be so rejuvinating. and I'm looking forward to being around that innocence as she grows up in the coming days, months and years.

Friday, June 09, 2006

The new Stancombe



On Saturday June 3 at 19.18 Megan Grace Stancombe arrived in this world. She weighed 6lb 15oz/3.156kg and was born naturally. The labour lasted about 16 hours, but mum has said it wasn't as bad as she was expecting. Mum and baby are both doing really well. They both came home after 48 hours in hospital (for checks - normal) and our new lives have started. She is proving to be an absolute angel and very placid. She feeds for England and does spectacular poos, but sleeps for decent periods of time. Mummy and daddy are settling into some kind of routine and we are really enjoying parenthood.
It feels kind of strange having her in our hands now. It's been a long build up to her arrival and I am really really happy to have her now. Being a dad is brilliant and I am really looking forward to seeing her develop. I'm under no illusion that things will be tough at times, but she is already showing signs of being a tough and strong little monster. And she appears to be adapting well to everything that is thrown at her.

Forgive me for being a bit absent recently, but I hope you can understand. Thank you everyone who has sent goodwill messages. They are so appreciated and have really lifted us during those sleepness moments. I'm on paternity leave at present so will hopefully have time to go and say hi to everyone online. But please bare with me!