Birthday

Daddy’s 40th

Thursday 21st March 2013Monday 25th March 2013Baggie

And so the Bagnall family celebrates its second momentous event of the month, indeed the week: my 40th birthday. On the vernal equinox 1973, the joyous strains of Slade were sitting at the top of the UK single charts and I made my appearance in this world. There have been plenty of ups and downs over the past four decades and anyone that has lived this long will have their own stories and this website is mine.

The day before my birthday we spent a quietish day mostly at home. We ventured as far as the other side of the village to Nanny and Granddad’s for tea and buns to allow Nanny an Ezra cuddle while I gave Granddad his latest computer lesson on his laptop. Then in the evening Ezra finally met his last Uncle and Auntie (Michael and Cristina) who had been on a snowboarding holiday when he was born. He is well and truly a fully paid up member of the Cathrall-Bagnall clan.

The next day was my birthday. So this is fortieth birthday I have celebrated, some have involved beer, some have involved tears, most have involved cake this is the first that has involved a week old baby. Quite often one has a long list of wants for their birthday, this birthday was slightly different all I really really wanted was a good night’s sleep. Thankfully Ezra is a very contented baby, he has not been too much trouble so far (I hope that hasn’t put the collybosh on that). He sleeps, he eats, he poops and he only cries when he is hungry. He is a very different newborn to both Éowyn and Amélie, in a good way.

So how did I celebrate this momentous occasion? After a relevantly good night’s sleep (thank you Ezra) and after the girls gave me my card and presents I took Éowyn to school and the little egret that we first spotted the day of Ezra’s birth saw us off. While I was taking Éowyn to school Lucinda cooked me a full English breakfast while I opened my cards and presents. The pick of my presents was from my family and it is a super car driving experience at Chobham test track. To be booked for some time this years I get to tear round a race track in one of six cars that I can only ever dream of owning. I think I know which one I hope to drive but after the success of the naming poll I may just open it up to my readers to see which one you guys would chose.

Then the excitement of my birthday moved up a notch as we left Amélie at Nanny and Granddad’s while the three of us (Lucinda, Ezra and I) headed for lunch in Windsor after buying a new vacuum cleaner (not a hoover, as some may call it, a Dyson to be accurate, a DC34 Animal to be precise). We know how to live.

The evening saw us at Nanny and Granddad’s for dinner, we were joined by Uncle Michael and Auntie Cristina and Lauren. Unfortunately the evening was cut a little short as Amélie wasn’t feeling very well. Indeed by the time we got her home she was running a temperature of 39.4ºC – scarily approaching the 40ºC when you should be heading to hospital. We put her to bed and dosed her up with Calpol and monitored her temperature every hour. The Calpol did its job. She was still hot but at least her temperature was coming down.

Ezra slept well the night of my birthday again, going 5 hours between feeds, unfortunately Amélie did not. She was still feeling the effects of her illness. This could be a precursor of our future lives. Even if the youngest member of our family sleeps there are still two older children that may not.

Thursday seemed to disappear. Again Éowyn went to school while we took Amélie to sing-song time at Staines library. She still wasn’t fully herself but she really enjoys the sing song time and so we thought it was important to take her. She seemed to perk up after that but the illness had one final twist before bedtime. Without going into all the gory details part of me was quite glad that she was wearing tights for it was contained. However part of me wished she hadn’t been wearing tights for it was contained. I cleaned her up and a quick bath followed by Calpol and she is back in bed. Hopefully she has now turned the corner and hasn’t passed it on to any of us, especially Ezra who she delights in holding and kissing.

Although Thursday did seem to vanish quickly we did manage to make a number of important appointments including organising a time for the Health Visitor to check in and at the local registry office so that we can officially make Ezra a member of our country.

So I hope I haven’t bored you, with a week old baby it was never going to be the most adventurous of birthdays but nevertheless I have probably never been more happy. Before I leave you to view the photos here is one anecdote that might raise a smile. On my birthday morning I said to Amélie, ‘Who’s Daddy’s gorgeous girl?‘

Amélie folded her arms stamped her feet and replied, ‘I am NOT a gorgeous girl! I’m a cheeky monkey!‘ This may change when she is a little older.

Peace and love

Baggie

Sleepy close up

Snow White and Ezra

A kiss for my brother

Sleeping baby

Who woke me?

No photos please

Little Egret

Cheeky Sister

Happy birthday Daddy

Auntie Cris

Rainbow baby

Daddy and his kids

What’s in a name?

Wednesday 13th March 2013Monday 18th March 2013Baggie

At 05.25 (GMT) on Wednesday 13th March 2013 in the hospital of St. Peters, Chertsey, Surrey our third child, and first son was born weighing 8lb 13oz (4.01kg). Unlike his sisters he doesn’t seem to have inherited the Badger ears but does have the Bagnall nose as so will have to learn the Bagnall nose rub.

Now usually this is where we would officially announce his name and explain any meanings (if any) behind the choice of name. Unfortunately Lucinda and I cannot agree on a name. Now you may think that we have had nine months (and at least 5 knowing that he was a boy!) to make this decision but the names we had on the shortlist don’t seem to suit him. That may sound a like strange and maybe it is the sleep deprivation that we are both experiencing but we will take a few days to reflect but rest assured you will be the first to find out.

His arrival in this world was relatively straightforward. Yesterday afternoon Lucinda started feeling some discomfort that she likened to period pains. We were not convinced until later that evening that this was it. Yes, he was a couple of days late but that means nothing. However Lucinda’s parents were put on standby for baby sitting duties I explained to Éowyn and Amélie that it was possible that Bilbo bump (the nickname that he has had in the womb – and one we are fighting against it becoming his real name) wanted to come and meet them. If he did then Mommy and Daddy would go to hospital and when they woke up Nanny and Granddad would be here.

It was about 23:30 when we decided it was time, Nanny and Granddad came round and we drove to St Peters. Maternity triage was full and we had to wait for over an hour before Lucinda was examined. The midwife recognised Lucinda and so when the examination confirmed that it was action stations she took us up to the labour ward and managed to secure us a pool room for the water birth that Lucinda had craved.

So it was 0130 and we were in labour. Although triage was full the labour ward seemed relatively empty. Thus the student midwife (Georgina) that was accompanying the midwife was able to spend a lot of time with us. She was very bubbly and gained our confidence which was crucial during the birth.

With a water birth it is very much hands off for the midwives and so it was with Bilbo Bump’s birth. Lucinda was guided through the birth by Georgina, who was excellent, but it was down to Lucinda who once again went through the whole of her labour with her TENS machine and then when she was in the water: gas and air, it is not a good idea to use a TENS machine in water! The birth was relatively quick, even without the assistance of gas and air and we were soon holding our son. Once again Lucinda was immense and I was very proud to be her husband.

The beauty of having an early morning baby is that we were able to be discharged by early afternoon and so for the first time, Lucinda (and the baby) did not have to spend a night in the hospital and we were able to be a family straight away. So we left St Peters in the bright sunshine of a cold March afternoon (indeed our arrival at home was greeted with a short sharp snow shower!) and headed for Nanny and Granddad’s to introduce the new addition to his sisters, his Nanny and Granddad and Nanny Fran, who had driven down from West Bromwich as soon as she heard that she had a grandson.

So Baby Bagnall was born on the 13th day of March, in the year 2013 and weighed 8lbs 13oz. With all these thirteens flying about I don’t think that he will suffer from triskaidekaphobia. Indeed he has been born on a rather auspicious day, not only was the comet Panstarrs visible in the Northern hemisphere but it was also the day that the Roman Catholic Cardinals chose a new Pope to lead the Roman Catholic Church. Jorge Bergoglio the Archbishop of Buenos Aires was voted Pontiff and has chosen the name Francis I. He is the first Pope from Latin America and with the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI it means that for the first time in nearly 600 years there are two living Popes. A momentous time.

So Éowyn and Amélie will have to share this website with their brother and I will attempt to keep you all up to date with the growing pains of our growing family. Lucinda and I would like to thank you all for your kind messages and look forward to introducing our son (and announcing his name) to you all in the coming weeks and months.

Peace and Love

Baggie

And here are the photos I am sure you have all been waiting for:

I can hear the sea

Yes, it is comfy

Nice and relaxed

Éowyn’s Fourth Birthday

Monday 22nd October 2012Baggie

So after an unplanned update due to Lucinda’s appendicitis and subsequent appendectomy we are back on track with one of the few updates that are planned years in advance. The whole raison d’être of this website, or at least it’s initial conception was you keep you, my dear readers, up to date with Éowyn’s progress. As she was our first child and there were so many of our friends and relatives that are spread across not only the country but the globe too, it seemed the easiest way to ensure you all had a window to glimpse the antics of this branch of the Bagnall family tree. That was four years ago. Yes, our oldest child has just celebrated her fourth birthday.

Usually the weeks between Amélie’s birthday and Éowyn’s birthday are quiet and uneventful, this year was far from uneventful however Lucinda’s appendectomy could not have happened at a more fortutious time in terms of either the development of our unborn son and to coincide with a quiet(ish) time at work. Obviously the most important of the two is the fact that our unborn bubba is seemingly well and healthy (our 20 week scan is in the coming week so stand by for yet another update). With an international break weekend the number of football matches coming through my work world drops from >70 to around 20 and hence although there are still lots of things to do at work my presence wasn’t as missed as it would have been on a full-on weekend of sport.

However, the five days I had off from work were necessary to look after the family while Lucinda begun to recuperate and just as work did not miss me that much neither did I miss work. Obviously it is not possible nor practical for me to take off Lucinda’s complete recuperation time off but neither is Lucinda up to looking after the children, this is where living in the same village as the grandparents comes in very handy. So the plan for this past week has been dropping Amélie off at Grandparents, followed by dropping Éowyn off at school. Then take myself to work. Granddad has been picking Éowyn up from school, then on my return from work, pick up both girls before heading home and cooking for the family. Then put the girls to bed and relax!

Wednesday saw Éowyn actual birthday. She was allowed to open some of her presents before school and insited on wearing one of her new dresses and another of her birthday pressies: a tiari and magic wand. This was the first birthday that Éowyn has spent at school (last year we took her to Peppa Pig World, something we should perhaps try and squeeze in before the end of the year) and was also the first of my children’s birthdays I have spent at work. However I did manage to make it a short day and get home before rush hour to take Lucinda to Nanny and Granddad’s for a birthday dinner and a muppet themed birthday cake.

Éowyn really enjoyed being the centre of attention and made Nanny light the candles three times so that she could blow them out, again, again and again. We got home and opened the rest of her presents and she seemed incredibly pleased with everything she got, indeed telling Lucinda, ‘Mommy, this is the best birthday ever.‘ It is nice to know that a home cooked meal with Nanny and Granddad and some presents surpassed the trip to Peppa Pig World from last year! Will it always be like this? I doubt it.

The week continued in the same vein, with Lucinda recovering well but still not strong enough to look after the kids, me at work and Lucinda’s parents looking after Amélie each day and Éowyn after school. As the week wore on the strain of looking after two young kids was becoming more deeply etched on Nanny and Granddad’s faces and although they would never say anything I decided that an alternative needed to be found for the weekend, especially since I would not be able to get out of work early on either Saturday or Sunday to help put the girls to bed. Call in Nanny Fran.

Lucinda’s parents live within a two minute walk, Nanny Fran lives a two hour drive away. Lucinda’s parents are retired, Nanny Fran retires at the end of the year so getting Nanny Fran involved take a little more organising. So Friday saw a similar start to the day as had happened all weeklong. Amélie at Nanny and Granddad’s, Éowyn at school, then a 15 mile drive to work. I got out of work a little early and then picked up the girls from Nanny and Granddad’s. Back home for roast chicken, then get the girls ready for bed, pop them in the car and then a two hour drive to West Bromwich. I got to Nanny Fran’s just before 10pm and put the sleeping girls straight to bed. They were now in Nanny Fran (and Auntie Liz’s) care.

Woke up the next morning, said goodbye to the girls (who seemed to be very excited to be on an adventure at Nanny Fran’s) and drove the 130 odd miles to work. It seemed very strange to head back to home with just Lucinda there (and to drive a car with no child car seats in the back). Obviously it was nice to see my wife but the house seemed oddly empty without the girls, even though had they been there then they would have been asleep. It was also strange to get an uninterrupted night of sleep, I can not honestly remember the last time that happened. Then back to work on Sunday for me while Nanny Fran brought them back down Sunday afternoon.

Not sure who had more fun at Nanny Fran’s, Éowyn and Amélie, or Nanny Fran and Auntie Liz. From the photos and the stories probably Nanny Fran and Auntie Liz just edged it. At least next year when Nanny Fran has hung up her last file of photocopying then there can be lots of adventures for the girls (and the new addition to the Bagnall family) in West Bromwich! Indeed when I asked Éowyn if she wanted to go back with Nanny Fran, she became all excited.

Hopefully Lucinda will carry on recovering as well as she seems to be and so the reliance on Nanny and Granddad (and Nanny Fran and Auntie Liz) not to mention the extra taxiing and workload that I am carrying will lessen. You realise when something like this happens just how much teamwork is involved in raising kids and looking after a house, especially since the majority of that side of the family tasks is done by Lucinda as I tend to be at work up to 6 days a week (oh, for the correct six numbers this week!). You also realise how precious life is and how quickly it can be put in danger. It puts in perspective what is important in life and what is just flimflam and although no doubt the flimflam will begin to creep up in pseudo-importance over the next few months, I just hope we can both remember what this episode has taught us and hopefully it will also help you to realise the flimflam in your own lives.

Peace and Love

Baggie