And then the smiles arrived

So here I am, attempting to type with one hand, whilst supporting a hiccuping nearly-6-week-old, who is partly resting, partly grumbling, on my chest after his afternoon feed.

Yes, the latest (last?) human member of our family arrived on Saturday 14th May, claiming a birth date all to himself, not sharing his birthday with any family members, had he actually arrived on his due date (6th May). A week and a day overdue, he made his way into the world quickly, with the aid of an induction (which clearly proved that once the gates were unlocked, there was no stopping his entrance) – disproving the midwives who expected a reasonable labour length. Not he – a 3 hour labour was enough, thankyou. Quite a difference to the length of labour his elder brother needed. And quite a difference to the weight – 8 pound, 2 ounces – to that of his brother – 9 pound, 6 ounces. And, given the labour – no pain relief because it was so quick – I was glad he wasn’t bigger than his brother. I can’t imagine the pain – or the amount of tearing and subsequent stitches – that a larger baby would entail.

I had meant to blog earlier – considering I managed to do so not long after his brother arrived 3 years – but somehow time passes far too quickly and it seems I have far less time to do things, and have far less ability to do things with a 3 year old and nearly 6 week old. Today’s amazing achievement - 2 loads of washing ON THE LINE (and not just getting the machine going and then forgetting about the load afterwards until a couple of days later... oops) as well as doing the grocery shopping. Yay me!

And whilst the fanfare of his arrival is a little less subdued – no baby shower (my decision), no houseful of congratulatory floral bouquets, no spotlessly clean house on arrival home (yes, this did happen after the birth of first baby) – he is much loved already. And the last 5 weeks of erratic feeding, sleeping, nappy changing and undeterminable cries have rewarded us this week with our first little grins and smiles. Worth the wait despite our lack of sleep.