Australia Day

It was Australia Day last Thursday (the 26th of January). Australia Day is a Public Holiday for everyone in Australia. It is traditional to have a get-together with family and friends and have a barbeque at home or at the park, and watch the fireworks in the evening. It's a very relaxed holiday right in the middle of Summer. In Canberra the Prime Minister and Governor-General make important speeches about how great it is to be Australian, the Australian Of the Year is announced (this year the actor Geoffrey Rush), there are lots of music festivals on, sporting events and the Triple J Hot 100 is revealed - an annual round up of the best music of the last year.
Australia Day commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet, Captained by Arthur Phillip, at Sydney Cove in 1787. Though it is a celebration of all things Australian there is some controversy surrounding it - some aboriginal groups have renamed it Invasion Day, and some redneck groups see it as a celebration of a White-Only Australia.

As you can imagine, Julia and Isla and I did very little on Australia Day this year - it was too hot to be out and about with a little baby, but we did have a bbq in the evening and watched the tennis and fireworks on TV. I went for a walk round the block and came back through our local park - it was nice to see so many big groups of people out having picnics and playing cricket.

Our new life has now settled in to a nice little pattern. Because Julia is up throughout the night I try to let her get an extra nap mid-morning while I take care of Isla if she wont settle. We try to get out the house or get some jobs done in the afternoon, and in the evenings we have some nice playtime or bath-time with Isla and then try and put her to bed. Putting a baby to bed is hard! Just when you think you've got it sussed her little routine and habits all change again. Have you ever seen 'The Hurt Locker'? Putting a baby to sleep is like trying to defuse a very dangerous bomb. You must be methodical, gentle, careful and oh so oh so patient. The slightest wrong move leads to disaster. Her eyes flick open and she starts to struggle and you must begin all over again, all the time trying not to let your immense frustration show. We are starting to get more confident with our baby settling techniques and trying not to pick up any bad habits in the process. Any suggestions would be most helpful though!

Isla thinks she is the Great Houdini (is this true of all babies?) We wrap her up extremely tight, put her in the cot and tuck in a sheet and blanket extra tight. She is completely immobilized, with only her little head capable of bobbing about. We creep out the room and then half an hour later hear her grunting an groaning. On going back in we discover she has thrown off both sheets, managed to completely undo the wrap and is now wriggling and flailing around with complete freedom. I don't know how she does it. It only seems to happen when we are not looking.

There are good days and nights and there are bad ones. Julia has done well so far coping with the lack of sleep. I now seem capable of sleeping through even the loudest of cries. We are enjoying watching her change and develop from day to day. Already she is more active. Also she already seems bored by my long stories and prefers to watch the lights and shadows flickering on the wall.

In other news this week, I have started job hunting. I've been to look at one practice so far and applied for a few other jobs. The job market is quiet at the moment what with it being the end of the Summer holidays, but things should pick up in the next month. There are lots of jobs for dentists about but it's just a matter of finding the right practice in the right location - ideally somewhere I can travel to on public transport to begin with. The rest of the week was mainly baby stuff. Our friends, Martha, Penny and Nat were kind enough to come round one evening and bring dinner with them. We were very grateful for that. I've been being quite domesticated myself and cooking lots in the last week - especially Indonesian Food. I've been back to the physio and she is happy with how my shoulder is going, and I've been at the swimming pool again. This week we might try and get up to Ballarat for a few days for a change of scenery.

Last night we were at Mark and Nicole's house for dinner. Mark made us lovely Thai food (calamare, prawns and then Thai beef salad). Their three little girls are now Isla's biggest fans and they can't wait to see her. They were disappointed when they realized Isla was just going to sleep for hours and hours and not be able to play with them. We had a nice moment though when Isla was lying out on a rug on the floor, she had been having a nice kick about but was starting to get tired and grumpy. The girls launched into a very cute rendition of "Three Little Ducks" and straight away Isla settled back down. Every time they stopped singing Isla would start to cry and every time they began again she would settle down. They managed to make it through such classics as "Mary Had a Little Lamb" "Old Macdonald" "The Watermelon Song" and "Twinkle Twinkle" before Isla conked out. We've booked them in for baby sitting duties as soon as they're old enough.

Our First Week

The standards of hygiene and behavior in this house have really gone downhill since Isla came along. Now it seems that is perfectly acceptable to spend all day in your pajamas burping and farting, eating when you want and snoozing on and off. I've got to admit that I've enjoyed this new routine but I draw the line at spewing on myself or soiling my pants.

It's been a week now since Isla came home with us. Isla has settled into the swing of things really well; it's been Julia and me that have needed to do some adjusting. Isla has been feeding well and sleeping well with only the odd grizzly moment so far. I'm sure there will be plenty more of those to come. She is more alert every day and I look forward to our chats - it's a great opportunity for me to get some stuff off my chest and she seems absolutely fascinated by what I've got to say.

Now there are three of us! And that is taking some getting used to. Daily life revolves around the baby and I have been learning lots of ways to cope. Sleep when you can and eat when you can. I've always been a super fast eater (I was trained by the best - thanks dad) but now that skill has finally come into it's own. I can race down my dinner just in time to pick up a crying baby or grab a towel for her to be sick onto. Julia has managed well so far, especially with having to feed Isla every 2 or 3 hours through the night, while I am in bed happily snoring away. I've got up a few times to help out but I've discovered there's not much more you can do as a man - just try and give support where you can. So much of Julia's time is now spent feeding Isla there's not much chance for her to catch up with anything else. At least we've been lucky and there's been lots of tennis on TV to watch (the Australian Open).

Our first week has been quite eventful. We had our first big adventure together as a family. The health visitor came round on Thursday to check on Isla's health and feeding. She weighed Isla on her scales and then told us that Isla had lost 900g of weight in the last 10 days! What! According to the scales our baby had lost almost a quarter of her weight since birth. We talked about feeding and Isla being sick and whether she had any other signs of ill health. No, we said, she appears healthy and happy but the scales don't lie do they - there must be something wrong. The health visitor said she maybe wasn't getting enough to drink so we should  feed her more often and Julia should express extra milk to feed her with on top of that. She then arranged a visit with our local doctor for the next morning and another visit at a health centre across the other side of town to have her weighed again.

It was a very stressful and anxious night as we both ran around trying to make our sick baby better. Julia was constantly feeding her and then expressing extra milk. I was sterilizing bottles and pumps half the night on the stove. We didn't get much sleep; we were too busy and too worried. Isla was oblivious to all the fuss and just carried on eating and sleeping and looking every bit the healthy baby.

The next morning, very tired and concerned, we walked down to our local doctor to see what the problem could be. The doctor put Isla on her scales and our eyes almost popped out. Now she weighed 3.7kg! She had actually gained a good healthy amount since birth. She was a fit, thriving baby girl. She wasn't going to peg it in the night after all. It turns out that the health visitor had made a hash of weighing the baby. We were incredibly relieved and also a bit angry. What a night!

Since then we've just been trying to enjoy our family time together as much as possible. We really appreciate it. We managed to get to the park on Saturday with Isla and we all enjoyed the fresh air and sunshine. Julia was very happy to be out of the house.

And we're both convinced that at 1 week old Isla has said her first word. Isla was coughing and gagging and when she recovered Julia held her up and said, "Are you alright?" and this noise/burp came out of Isla's mouth that sounded exactly like, "Aye." Her first word is scottish!

Isla Comes Home

It's nice and quiet in the house. Isla is sleeping peacefully in her cot and Julia is snoozing on the couch. Outside it is another hot and windy day in Melbourne. Inside we've got the air-con on again and the TV is murmuring in the lounge - we've been watching the Australian Tennis Open. So I thought I'd take a moment to tell you the story of how Isla came into this world.

As you all know or can imagine it's been an incredible week. Our world has turned upside down! But in the most wonderful way. Julia woke me up on Tuesday morning at 6am to tell me that her contractions had started and were already coming 7-8 minutes apart. We'd been booked in to have the labour induced on the Wednesday so for some reason we'd almost given up thinking that labour might begin by itself. We were very excited and terrified. After contacting the hospital for advice we stayed at home till mid-afternoon. By then Julia's contractions were coming fast - almost down to 4 or 5 minutes apart and we could hold off no longer.

We made the journey to the the hospital in the center of Melbourne with poor Julia suffering every time I hit a bump on the road. Julia survived another 4 hours in the delivery suite on only the gas and air, but after an examination at 9pm we were told that it could be another 8 hours or so before the baby would come. That was when we decided to go for the epidural and seeing the pain Julia was in I could sympathise, especially when she reached out to grab me in the middle of a contraction and got a hold of my left nipple - it took all my reserves not to shout the place down. Her contractions by that time were already every 2 minutes and lasting for up to a minute and a half - she was getting no time at all to recover. She definitely made the right decision.

The anaethetist soon came in and set about the epidural. He was being a bit sarcastic and Julia threatened to slap him. The epidural turned out to be a good one so we forgave him his bedside manner. After all the pain Julia could now recover a bit. She was exhausted by this time and we both ended up conking out for a few hours. Our Obstetrician, Amber, came back in at 4am in the morning and said it was time to get the baby out. She didn't want Julia pushing for a couple of hours at this point as the baby might get too distressed. I was amazed how quick the next bit happened. She decided it would be a forceps delivery and after just three more pushes for Julia and a tweak with her tongs Isla was born.
I can't really describe the emotions at this point but you might know what I mean: disbelief, shock, wonder, indescribable happiness, a giant grin came over my face that I could not control.

My first look at Isla was strange. She was a floppy, blue-grey, slimy bag of bones!
I was allowed to cut the umbilical cord and then Isla was plopped down on her mother's chest for her first cuddle. We spent the next hour or so just staring in amazement at this little person we'd created. Nurses and midwives and paediatricians came and went and we were then allowed up to our room in the Maternity Suite.

The days after Isla's birth were a blur of visitors and checks. Julia's room in St. Vincents Hospital was great, and she was able to stay for 4 more nights with the support of all the health staff. I went home each night to our house in Essendon but was able to stay over the final night with Julia and Isla - my first of many sleepless nights to come. Though the main reason I couldn't sleep was that I was just too excited. We've been lucky with Isla so far - she is very healthy and is feeding really well.  Julia has been amazing - the nurses in the ward kept commenting on how relaxed she was about it all. Relaxed or just still in shock? Hard to say! She is sore and tired but is over the moon about being a mum - it already suits her.

We checked out the hospital on Sunday. That was a funny moment. There were another four couples and their babies checking out at the same time. After the babies had been transferred to car seats the men had the jobs of returning the hospital cribs to the reception. It was as if we'd all just done our shopping and were returning the shopping trolley to the bay. Some tourists who were passing stopped to take a picture of this bizarre baby factory.

We're happy to be home now and it is pretty special the first time you all sit down together in your home. Now there are three of us! And the reality and responsibility kicks in. We can no longer just buzz the midwife if we've got a worry - it's up to us to take care of things and cope by ourselves. I think we'll be alright.

And what can I tell you about Isla? She weighs 8lb 1oz and is 50cm tall. She has very fair skin that turns pink when she yells. Her hair is blonde. She  has Priestley ears, a Gourlay forehead and a Walsh chin. When she sleeps she makes a little peep like an oyster catcher. When she's awake she's all arms and legs like a spider monkey. She spews and  poops and cries. She likes to sleep A LOT. She looks particularly good in purple.

We had a nice moment after we'd got home, when Julia and I were cuddled up in bed and Isla was asleep in her cot. She was making lovely gurgling and chirping sounds as if she was talking to the birds outside and we were all lost in a magic moment until Isla ruined it by letting off a big ripping fart.

It's great to be a dad.

Thanks for the whisky Larry. I've had a celebratory tipple and it's very nice -
a sweet and smooth Speyside malt

More Baby Pics

Isla Rose

Baby Isla Rose was born on Wednesday 11/1/12 at 4.33am, weighing 8lb1oz or 3.6kg.

I'm glad to say both mother and baby are doing well.

We are all incredibly happy and floating about on cloud 9 (perhaps that was the nitrous oxide).

I'll give you the full story when I've more time but what you really want to see now is PICTURES!

and lots more pictures to come soon.

Scorchio!

This week it has been HOT. Hot as in 2 days of about 37C and one day of 40C. 40C is a crazy, mind melting, blood boiling heat. In Scotland a heatwave is announced when we have a few days above 20C - men strip off their shirts and women apply cooking oil to their skin to soak up every precious ray, everyone gets out on the street to make the most of the nice weather. When they have a heatwave in Australia fires start to spontaneously break out in the bush, people die due to heat stroke, there are power cuts and water shortages and the streets are eerily deserted. No one in their right mind would be walking around on a 40C day.

Monday was the worst day, when temperatures peaked and Julia and I stayed in again trying to keep cool. I now quite enjoy these quiet days of sheltering in the cool and dark inside the house, reading books or watching tennis or cricket on TV while outside the pavements are melting. Though on Monday our resolve was tested. Even with the air conditioning on full blast for the whole day it was a struggle. Julia sat drinking big glasses of icy water, with her feet soaking in a bucket. I stripped down to just my pants and cleaned the toilet and bathroom (apologies for putting that image in your head). I had three cold showers that day. I once ventured outside to see just how hot it was. It was ok for the first 60 seconds. It was sunny and pleasant and hot. Quite hot. Really hot. Really bloody really hot. Sweat began pouring off me as I stood doing nothing. Each breath of air singed my lungs. My skin began to tingle and prickle with the heat. Looking up and down the road there was no one around, just row upon row of silent parked cars shimmering and glinting in the sun light. It was creepy. I quickly went back inside.

I also discovered, to my own personal cost, the dangers of trying to drive on a hot day. On the following day when temperatures dipped to a chilly 37 I jumped into the car to drive to the swimming pool.
DO NOT jump onto the seat of a hot car when you are wearing shorts. It's like a blow torch being applied to the underside of your thighs. You know the little metal bit on the seat-belt that clicks in to the holder? On a hot day it becomes an evil burning metal ingot. It will seriously burn your hand if you reach out to grab it. And if you do get as far as starting the car and getting out the drive you will discover that the steering wheel is now a mass of molten sticky rubber. How do you control a car when you can scarcely touch the steering wheel? By flapping your hands about in between corners, blowing on your fingers and yelping. I am going to invest in one of those big silver sheet things that cover the windscreen. A good idea. Fortunately the weather has returned to a pleasant mid 20s for the rest of this week.

Oh, and the baby stuff . . . because that is surely why you are reading this - to find out if there has been a new arrival yet. Not yet! The doctor had thought the baby might come this week but we've decided that because I've been cooking such delicious meals the baby is quite happy where it is and isn't ready yet for the harsh reality of the real world. Julia says things are definitely moving around in there and stuff is kind of happening but we are not yet in proper labour. We saw the doctor again yesterday and she still seems to think it is immanent but we'll just have to wait and see.

One more silly car story: we had borrowed Larry and Ange's old Hyundai for this period, so we would have our own transport to the hospital when the baby does come. Sadly, I got in it yesterday evening and it wouldn't start. The RACV man came out and it turns out the fuel pump is broken. So the Hyundai has gone off to the garage. In the meantime I rented a hire car this morning - a little Nissan Micra. Except I didn't realize until I got in to drive away that it was an Automatic. I have not driven an automatic for many years but I figured it couldn't be too hard so I didn't bother asking for help. Instead I kangarooed around their garage for a few minutes, giving myself whiplash and just about pranging their other cars until a nice man came over and showed me where I was going wrong. I was still kangarooing much of the way down the road but by the time I'd reached home I think I'd got the hang of it (the secret is you only use 1 foot for both pedals, not 2 which means you end up with brake and accelerator pressed at same time) so hopefully Julia will not have too much of a rough journey when I do finally have to drive her to the hospital.

Once again - I'll keep you all informed if anything does happen.