A child shall be born

Although reluctant to divulge this news for a few months now, given data protection and all, I feel that given the season we're in, it is apposite to log the birth of a daughter to me and Altaa - Kimberley Narangoo (which is pronounced Narangor) Plumb.  I go on to transpose the tale as told to my friends and work colleagues closer to the time after she was born.

After a largely sleepless night for both parents in the Delivery suite of Medway Hospital, following a pessary inducement for Altaa on 5th September, she went into labour at 4.10 am the following morning.  Placed in a separate room where an epidural was administered, at 5.45 the midwife (Kelly) left us, promising to return at 8 am.  At just after 7 am, Altaa asked me to readjust the angle of the backrest of the bed, unsure of which buttons to press, I accidentally pressed the midwife alert button; Kelly appeared and within a minute realised something was wrong, the baby's heartbeat slowing dramatically (a fact which both weary parents had not observed as it has occurred slowly over the hour and a half).  

After detecting blood at the cervix, she called in several doctors (anaesthetist, surgeon and someone else) and Altaa was rushed to theatre, where she underwent a C-section.  That accidental button press proved fortuitous for who knows the consequences had Altaa not been checked for another hour.

At 7.49 am, our baby daughter was delivered.  I thought I would be phlegmatic about it but hearing the sound of our child for the first time brought tears to my eyes, tears of joy.  While mummy was being sewn up, baby had a chance to bond with daddy first of all, singing her a nursery rhyme to sooth her anguish.  Within an hour of coming out, she was being breastfed, displaying an innate idea of what to do, with not even the slightest prompting necessary.  Weighing 9lbs, 6½ozs, she is certainly a hungry baby half the time.

Suffice to say, delight does not begin to describe our feelings for our new addition to the family.