On Wednesday, Ibolya and our baby boy got the all clear from the sdoctor and just over 48 hours after the c-section, we were on our way home. Just in the nick of time to see England play not badly and win against Slovenia and for Ruby to her meet her brother for the first time.
These images are from the Guardian's daily '24 hours in pictures' feature. I wanted to post them here so my boy can see what was going on in the world on the day he was born. These include World Cup football in South Africa, Summer Solstice celebrations at Stone Henge, the first day of Wimbledon, a mass yoga session in Time Square, New York. Pandas resting in Shanghai, British troops on paroll in Helmand Province, Afghanistan and dead fish, consumed by oil off the coast of Louisiana.
Our little boy's second day. A beautiful sunny and hot day in London and he and his Mum are doing ever so well. One of the two surgeons who carried out the c-section was so enthusiastic about their progress, she's given them the all clear to come home tomorrow morning. Another Doctor came by to check everything was normal with my boy. He counted fingers, toes and even testicles and said that everything was normal. He carried out reaction tests - making sure that all those instinctive, evolutionary throw back, automatic reactions are intact. It's reassuring that if Ibolya was many meters up a tree, he'd be able to cling on to her fur and wouldn't fall. Another person checked his hearing and eyes and all are completely normal. My boy's had lots of visitors today too, my twin sister this morning and Jerry, Samia, Robyn and Jess tonight. I can't wait to have all my family back at home tomorrow. To see how Ruby will react to her little baby brother and having her Mum back home. My son and I might even watch our first game of football together; England versus Slovenia in the World Cup. Just one footnote I wanted to mention that yesterday was not only our boy's birthday, the Summer equinox, the longest day of teh year and the start of Wimbledon, but it also marked the untimely passing of that great British institution, who I've admired for many years; Frank Sidebottom. If you're not familiar with Frank's work, here he is, with Little Frank, as I'm sure he'd like to be remembered, going bobbins in his beloved Timperley.
It's been one of the strangest and happiest days of our life. At 10.39 this morning, to our enormous surprise and astonishment, a beautiful little baby boy was lifted out of Ibolya's tummy. 'Walking in Memphis' by Marc Cohen, wasn't quite the song we wanted playing on Magic FM, on the theatre radio. But it was soon followed by 10cc's 'I'm Not In Love' and the Beatles 'Hey Jude' - which is the first song this little boy heard his father singing along to, outside the womb. Ibolya and I have talked about boys names for the past nine months but so sure we were having a girl, we didn't feel the urgency to agree. We'll try and few out in the next few days and see what suits our little boy the most.
Today's the last day of Ibolya's pregnancy. Tomorrow morning, around 10.00, our second child, the forth member of my family and my Mum and Dad's eighth Grandchild, will arrive (by cesarean section) at St Mary's Paddington.
Our last weekend as a family of three and we spent Saturday being entertained by friends. Breakfast in Bayswater with Laura and Shiri. Lunch in Maida Vale at Jerry and Samia's. Dinner and fire-side wine in Harleseden at Kate and Dan's.
It's 10 years ago today, probably around 11.00 tonight, that Ibolya and I had our first snog. It happened, quite out of the blue and very unexpectedly, outside Latimer Road tube station. Little did we know the incredible chain of events it would unleash, which would include; falling in love, setting up home together, going on some amazing holidays, buying a house, getting married, having a baby and having another baby - on Monday! Here are a few pictures of us, from a few trips, to Vienna and Dubrovnik (honeymoon), Havana, Kerala and Paris.
