#2

Saturday 7th January

6.00am ish - Noelle lets me know that she thinks her waters have broken

8.46am - Work call out about an hour out of town to a country retreat motel with very poor phone reception

4pm ish - Get home having done a quick shop along the way - Noelle is having regular soft contractions about 7 to 10 minutes apart.  We have kept in touch throughout the day by text message.

4pm to 8pm ish - We get the last few things sorted, both car seats in the car, bits of tidying around the house, some more baby things down from the loft.  The power in the house goes out twice and we can't find out what is causing it.  As we get ready to go to bed early (knowing it will likely be a disturbed night), and Noelle tries to get a hot water bottle to help with the pain, we discover it is the kettle tripping the power.

Sunday 8th January 2012

1am Noelle wakes me, tells me that she is ready to go to the birthing centre, they have got the bath ready and are expecting her.  I get Balin up, give him some food, jump in the shower, and we all head to the Hospital.

1.22am - We arrive at the Hospital A&E entrance, I was hoping to get Noelle out quickly and then move the car, but she struggles to get out so we have to move again to let an ambulance out while they get a wheel chair organised.  As it is night, we have to wiggle our way around locked hospital hallways to get out to the back of the hospital, and through to the birthing centre.

1.32am - Still struggling to get out of the wheel chair, the midwife gets a heart beat reading, as Balin and I move from the delivery room to the lounge to watch The Lion King, I go back to check Noelle has everything she needs.

1.44am - #2 arrives, a boy, healthy and no problems.

3am - Balin and I head back home to bed.

10.30am - After an extra feed we all leave hospital and head home, with a quick stop off at church first.

A 12 minute delivery is still clearly exhausting ...

In my family we had a tradition that the new baby brought each of the existing children a gift when they arrived which they received at the hospital.  I have very few early childhood memories, so only remember the Penny Racer toy car that my youngest sister Selima brought me when she was born.  #2 brought Balin a Bumblebee Transformer crash car that transforms when you pull it back, let it go and it crashes into things - this seemed to be more than acceptable to Balin - #2 has already made a good first impression on Balin, smart kid!

Cooper boys all together just before we left the hospital this morning.

 More info and better photos when we have all had a bit more sleep ...