At 14:14 (BST) on the 28th September 2010 in the hospital of St. Peters, Chertsey, Surrey our second child Amélie Iris was born, weighing just over 8lb 5oz (3.784kg). Like her sister Éowyn she has the Badger family ears and the Bagnall nose (another that needs to learn the Bagnall nose rub!). However, unlike her sister she has dark hair.
Unlike Éowyn, Amélie’s birth was straightforward and as easy as a birth should be. Lucinda woke at about 04:30 with very mild contractions, they got steadily stronger and more regular through the morning. We arrived at St. Peters at 12:16 (according to the car park ticket) and went straight to triage. The midwife there took us straight to the labour ward. We had to wait for 45 minutes for a birthing room and within 45 minutes of being in the birthing room Amélie was born. The only pain relief that Lucinda had was one paracetamol, a TENS machine and gas and air during the delivery. I am very proud of her.
The only reason that I have come home alone tonight, is due to the ward being so busy and a number of sick babies (my heart goes out to those parents) which meant that we were left longer than we should have before being admitted to the Ante-natal ward. At least that is better than coming home alone 7 nights in a row, as was the case when Éowyn was born.
So, tomorrow at 08:00 I should arrive on ward and hopefully it will not be too long (before 12:15 please as my car park ticket will run out) before my girls are discharged and we can introduce Éowyn to her new baby sister.
Again, before people ask about our choice of name there is no psuedo-history or importance behind the name Amélie, we both just like it. Iris, on the other hand is in honour of my Great Auntie Iris (Amélie’s Great-Great Auntie Iris) who passed away last year.
Amélie is of Latin origin and is associated with French speaking countries (also a great film), while its variants Amelia and Emily are more common in Germanic and English speaking countries. All have the same meaning of ‘hardworking‘, ‘industrious‘ and ‘striving‘. Interesting coincidence: Amélie (d’Orléans) was the name of the last Queen Consort of Portugal, and she was born on the 28th September (1865).
Iris on the other hand is of Greek origin and has the meaning ‘Rainbow‘. Obviously, it is also the name of a flower. Iris was a messenger of the gods who rode rainbows between heaven and earth to deliver messages from Olympus to mortals thus linking the gods to humanity.
Éowyn will now have to share this website with Amélie and I will keep you all regularly updated with the growing pains of both my daughters. Lucinda and I would like to thank you all for your kind messages and look forward to introducing Amélie to you all in the coming weeks and months.
A special thank you to Lucinda’s parents who looked after Éowyn today, I hope she behaved herself. And a happy 30th birthday to my baby sister for tomorrow.
Peace and Love
Baggie
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