“Daddy…” my four year old daughter started to declare in the back of the car on the way home from work, “… in Dr. Zeus the robots say…”. I’m thinking right now, who the hell is Dr. Zeus? She then does the next bit in her best robot-like voice, “‘Extermalade. Extermalade. Extermalade…’“.
Ah, my wonderful daughter! 
For those unfamiliar with Dr. Who, this is a loose translation from the mind of a four-year-old to father-geek level…
“In Dr. Who, the Darleks say ‘Exterminate. Exterminate. Exterminate.’”
And the rain this morning really tops it off. I’ve spent the last two days going through all my emails, forum posts, web feeds and blog comments and I’m dozzed out with info overload. It really feels like I haven’t been away now at all, ack!
I didn’t do an inch of coding while on holidays and I’m all the better for it, loads of family time, sunny weather, no stress, no work and I even got to do some writing (for my “secret project” L___ H_____) and drawing (I’ll put up scans later). I’m hoping to keep the momentum up for writing, at least until work has worn me out a bit. I’m afraid this doesn’t mean more blogging but I’ll try and keep regular updates going.
One of the many “joys” of having kids is the family-communal-getting-sick-together weekends.
Kids get sick. It’s part of growing up, builds up their immunity. It is even more common if your kids are in creche or school as they’ll get sick “6 or 7 times in the year” (as our Doctor once told us) as they’ll pick up what ever is going from all their little friends.
What’s worse is, if they get it, you the parent will probably get it too and their siblings will as well. Which is what of course happened to us last weekend. Tristan (our six month old baby) got sick on the Thursday. Friday night and Saturday I was sick. Saturday night Alice (our 3 and bit year old daughter) got sick and on Sunday Sophie (my wife) felt off and today she’s out of work sick. Great weekend!
Maybe we should have called him Lord Oberon instead of Tristan. Sophie suggested Puck more than once. I think he must have a wicked sense of humour appropriate to Shakespeare’s Midsummer’s Night fairies. I think he looks a little like a troll too: all wrinkly, hunched and curled and with really long arms! I was tempted to make him a little paper mache club.
But he is so adorable: small, soft and cuddly, you can help but love him. When he tries to lift his little head, his motions are like those clay-motion monsters from the seventies/sixties (you know like Jason and the Argonauts). I just want to hold him the whole time.
(If you want to see more pictures of Tristan, see my wife’s page. You’ll need a password, but just ask (leave a comment, send me an email, call me, etc.) and you shall receive.)
We thought little Tristan would be born a week before the due date, which was Monday. Sophie’s waters were low and so we thought he’d be induced. Well when that day came, everything was normally! He wasn’t coming out early.
Sophie started to get a bit potty at home, not able to do much, waiting for him to come. The due date, 18th June, came and went. Tristan was doing fine and was not going to come then.
Sophie’s blood pressure started to rise. But still, he did not want to come. So we decided it was better to induce the birth and it was all planned for Friday morning. So Thursday comes: 21st June, Summer solstice, first day of summer (if you go by the French), Midsummer night, the day when lots of pagans dance naked in the sunrise… we get all the stuff ready, travel all the way over to Grannies with Alice, our three year old daughter,… when Sophie starts to get contractions. The day before he was to be induced, he decides to come out! I told you he must have a wicked sense of humour.
A slightly mad dash across the M50 (not too busy at 9pm on Thursday night btw), arrived in the hospital with Sophie dilated about 2cm. In about an hour, 5cms. He really was coming now. At about 11pm, the epidural started to take effect on Sophie.
Alice had been a completely different kettle of fish. She came out early after being induced. Sophie’s blood pressure had been very high and there had been protein in her urine. And the labour was long, I think 8 hours or so. And in the end she had to be suctioned out. She came out screaming, with red hair. This time I was able to watch his little head push through. He started to appear, I think, around 11.30 or so, half an hour to midnight. And…
Tristan popped out at 11.48pm, 12 minutes to go. He didn’t have much hair and we couldn’t tell the colour. Instead of screaming… he just went for a sleep. That’s my boy!
Update: Sophie has corrected me on a number of details.
- Tristan’s due date was actual the Tuesday 19th June (2007), not Monday the 18th.
- Alice’s labour took a total of 12 hours, not the 8 that I was present for…
- Alice was delivered used a forceps after the suction failed.
Okay, I promised some details. He was born at 23:48, 21st June. He’s a boy. We’re calling him Tristan. 4 hours labour. He weights 3.22kg. Story to follow…
Lost sunglasses and had to face the glare of the sun for a whole weekend. Lost my house keys. Discovered the car windscreen was cracked. Was so tired, nearly fell asleep in the middle of dinner but somehow managed to put my daughter to bed with a story and song before falling asleep completely. Work is the usual manic, little rest with everyone else on holidays. I’ve also got a sore throat, sore eyes and a bad cough.
All at the same time as waiting for the call! When I get the call I have do a one hour mad-drive across town and then back again (drop my daughter with her Granny) and then head directly to the hospital’s labour ward…
Oddly, the weather doesn’t help. The car is too hot, I’m sweaty all the time, it’s too bright when I drive and why the hell do I have a cold when it’s so god-damn nice… but I guess that’s just my current inhibition about relaxing these days.
Sophie, my wife, is equally tired. She’s just read for baby to pop, but there isn’t much else to do but wait. She’s at the spicy food stage… which is small blessing for me as normally Sophie can’t stand spicy or hot food. Well she still can’t stand spicy or hot food, but she’s willing to try it, hoping it’ll make baby come sooner.
Maybe this time next week, there will be no posts. This will probably be a good thing. I’ll be listening to the cries of my second child rather that shouting out to the echoing dins of the web.
It’s terrifying and exciting time. My biggest fear is that my cold will get worse and I’ll get light-headed during Sophie’s labour and, potentially, faint near the end of it. Last time, it was eight hours with Alice. I coped well (I think). When Alice was born it was the most emotionally charged moment of my life, it is simply impossible to describe. I think my first words were either “she’s got red hair” or “she looks like me”. But I remember those eight hours, while I couldn’t do anything but look on and hold my wife’s hand.
I’m not sure I’m ready.
Hopefully you’re aware that we are expecting our second baby. There is only two months left till the due date! Everything is good so far. Anyway, the last time I wrote about the baby, I put up a picture of the scan, which, to most people, is just a blob. Well, last week, we did a “4D” scan which are 3D renders of the baby based on the scan. It costs slight less than the Wii but is just as cool. See below the “cut” for some of them!
Read More…
Previously on thedeadone.net, I shared some of the amazing “facts” that Alice, our nearly three years old daughter, had discovered. I’ve got two four new ones for you.
- The kangaroos in her and Daddy’s bellies have gone.
- Dinosaurs are actually Dragons. Most monsters are, actually.
- All the air-planes in Dublin Airport are actually Robots. I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing.
- Oh and I nearly forgot, Swiper (from Dora the Explorer) is related to Firefox (the Internet Browser).
I’ll keep you updated on these astounding facts as Alice reveals them to us.
Cold and Stunning. We didn’t have a decent camera. Sophie’s camera’s batteries were dead. Bad timing. Still I tried to grab a photo with my (not as good) digital camera. This is the best shot and it doesn’t do it any justice.
Anyway, from our new house out here in Wicklow, we had an amazingly clear view of the moon and the whole cycle. We didn’t stand outside for the whole period but popped out every ten to twenty minutes. It made the transitions more dramatic and even more impressive. We were kind of surprised no-one else on the street came out to have a look or even a quick gander because it was such a great opportunity, normally when such things happen in Ireland, it is always cloudy. Well not last night. Read More…
