The new baby

Thankyou to everyone for all the good wishes about the new baby. Things didn't really go according to mum's birth plan (which said that in the most extreme case she'd take the gas). She ended up labouring for 22 hours, had every drug offered and ended up having a caesarean. The most effective pain relief was the bath with a high(ish) pressure shower nozzle on her back and stomach. This was more effective than even the epidural, which didn't work. I repeat, she had a c-section and the epidural didn't work. So delivering baby hurt. A lot. My heart goes out to her for all she went through, and all she wanted. But when it was discovered that he was 4.6kg (10lb 3oz) and 51cm long, with a HUGE head, everyone soon figured that this child was never going to enter the world the conventional way.

Many big babies have problems maintaining their blood sugar levels and this little (big) guy is no exception. He's been on a glucose drip since a few hours after birth and, all going well, he'll be off that by tomorrow night. This picture may look nasty, but it's just the canula on his tiny hand. He looks like a mutant in the special care unit because all his room mates are at least half his size. Though this doesn't mean their lungs don't work just as well....