Moolies

Thank you Yoz, thank you everyone

This is just a short note to say thank you for all the lovely good wishes and we're all sorry (believe me) that I couldn't report back before now - particularly over the period of the labour.

I'm not going to write the warts and all her of the birth of our beloved daughter. It's too traumatising to think about everything that happened. Even the thought of writing anything has just made me burst into tears. But then that's the overtiredness of someone who has lost just about all sleep for the last 4 days, and been to a place beyond any I thought my endurance could tolerate.

I said out loud to her today that I loved her, and it felt different to anything I have ever experienced before. Attempts to ask "Was it worth it" or "Would you do it again" would be absolutely ludicrous at this or any other point. There was a pregnancy, there was a labour, there was an outcome. Luckily for me, it was the right outcome. That and to say that Mackay is a man whose determined, reasonable and tender care was the only thing that held me together. He too can't really articulate or talk about the events that took place over 42 hours of intense labour.

I think that's the end of this blog for the moment. It may transform in to a Motherhood yarn, but to be honest, at the moment there is one important person in my life. And she needs everything I have all to herself right now.

So, Tara for now.

Cait & Nora.
xxx

Another message from Cait

... received at 9 am this morning:

"In hosp overnight to check Nora's ok. She was very, very stressed by everything, unsurprisingly. Currently asleep!"

"Nora Jessie Mackay...

... was born at 14.08 on tenth December, after a very stressful forty-two hour labour, by ventous. We are both recovering."

(In other words, don't phone them just yet. Someone will post here when they're both comfortably awake. In the meantime, post your congratulations to Cait and Mackay below!

-- Yoz, his fingernails gnawed well past the quick)

In for the long haul

(Hello, everyone. Yoz here. Cait's given me the keys to her blog while she's, um, busy sprogging. I'll be posting news as I get texted it by Cait or Mackay.)

SMS received at 10am: Hardcore contractions since eleven last night. Midwife reckons it might be as long as tea time. We're both shattered so far.

Update (6:30pm, Wednesday): There, er, isn't any actual news yet, I'm afraid. No, I know it's been over 40 hours since she went into labour, but I've pinged by SMS twice, no response since the message that Danny posted in the comments, I figure they're probably busy...

Beginning?

Started vaguely at 6. Bleeding which I'm a bit concerned about at 11. Pains every 5-10 minutes not to heavy but geting heavier.

I'll be right back. After this word from our sponsors.

Monday evening. Nope. nothin' doin

Bit fed up, frankly, today.

McK not around, so haven't really been out today in case I got too kackered or whatever (you know. Pains in the middle of Streatham High Road? No ta).

Tell you what though, I'm sure that Raspberry Leaf Tea is making me in to windy city. Can't sleep at all now, I might as well just give up. 2 hours last night then wide awake from 2 onward. Piss.

Sunday. No news

Pah.

Been to the cinema twice in the last two days to help pass the time. "Kill Bill" at last, annnnnd it's good, but empty, basically. It's as if the Muses gave brilliant direction skill and a talent for witty dialogue to an eighteen year old fanboy who never grew up. "Master and Commander" meanwhile was bleedin' awful. McK of course loved it to bits, but the script was cheesy as hell. In its favour, the Cape horn scenes were almost unbearable. Anyway. Avoid.

Anyway. So more time filling activities tomorrow no doubt.

She's very active - she was trying to "Alien" her way out from midnight till 3 last night. How delightful. She really doesn't want to be in there anymore. Good, baby - come out, come out!!!

Saturday. No sign.

She's decided to go back out of my pelvis for a while.

Meanwhile, had a lovely view a few moments ago of one of the Jay's that live in the back garden area, sitting by the window. The picture here is abysmal, but the info is good. Jays are beautiful and the pair that live close by are very welcome visitors.

McK often asks me how I know about birds, when I've never been birdspotting or anything. My Mum used to have an 'Observers book of British Birds', which because of its various colour plates I used to look through often as a child. It still strikes me as being bizarre that sometimes we can be somewhere, I'll see a bird that I've never actually seen in the flesh before, and say, "Oh look, there's a Yellowhammer", or a Sand Martin, as happened when we went to the North East for a walking holiday with Mackay's parents once.

I don't even know if these wee reference books are still available anymore, what with the advent of the interweb. There's a tactile, physical difference in leafing through the pages of a book like that, and happening upon the information on a web page, as you're strolling through looking through a billion other things. Perhaps I'll see if I can rebuy some of these little books just so sprog can lie on the floor, turning the pages and looking at the pictures when she's bored.

Friday. No news, plus donnie Darko, at last

I think I've said just about everything in the title!

No more contractions today. Have upped my rasberry leaf tea drinking by 100% in the hope that will help things. Went to Balham to check out new TV's (in an attempt to escape the green screen horror we currently have) and found out along the way that the "Into the Void" chain has gone out of business - which is terrible! How did that happen? Perhaps it's the way they put themselves across. I mean, if they sold more knick nack crap to kids to subsidise the comics? However, "bloke", whose name I can never bloody remember, who is the manager of the eminent Streatham branch is trying to go it alone, so I gave him some post MBA business plan advice and maybe I'll have a think about what else he could do to promote the store - get him some easy 'net CRM plans together and help him out with that side of things. He's a nice bloke, even if I did have explain to him who "Drawn and Quarterly" were.

So yeah, after the epic trip to the video shop we actually saw Donnie Darko at last. Until I realised the extent of Drew Barrymore's involvement, I was very nonplussed. How couild such an obviously idiosyncratic and ostensibly "indie" type film get such good distribution and studio backing? How the hell did it end up with Drew Barymore, Noah Whiley and Patrick Swayzee for chrissakes doing semi-cameos? Ahhh. Drew Barrymore, Executive Producer. Nice one.

I can forsee a solid future of DVD and video sales to a generation of "alternative" teenagers for that film. And it really is as good as everyone said it was. Very verrry tired now given that whilst out, I managed to convince myself my wallet had been stolen and spent a good half hour making freaked out phone calls to 5 different bloody companies to halt my cards....

Which of course I found in my wallet left on the arm of one of the sofas. Sigh.

Thursday, plus extended L&H ramble

Slept pretty well, as it goes. Didn't even need too long for dozing in the morning. Mackay spent part of the afternoon deconstructing the birthing pool (ah well), but also working out how the amazing all purpose travel centre works. It really is extraordinarily fab. It even has bleedin' coffee cup holders at the front for when you take sprog out for local walks - that as well as it not being a complete pavement hogger. Alex really did us a huuuuge favour lending it to us.