At 05.25 (GMT) on Wednesday 13th March 2013 in the hospital of St. Peters, Chertsey, Surrey our third child, and first son Ezra John Bagnall 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 and so will be another that will have to learn the Bagnall nose rub.
His arrival in this world was relatively straightforward. Tuesday 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 had in the womb – and one that will probably be his family nickname) 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.
It was 0130 and we were in labour. Although triage was full the labour ward seemed relatively empty and so 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 Ezra’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 Ezra) 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.
Now for the first two days of his life little Ezra didn’t have a name (apart from his pre-birth nickname of Bilbo Bump), but after a poll on this website and the same question on my Facebook page we opted for Ezra John Bagnall. So why Ezra John? Simply, we decided to name our first son after his grandfathers. Lucinda’s father’s name is John and my father’s name was Victor (I say was as he passed away in 1987). So why Ezra? Ezra Bagnall was a locally famous pianist and organist in West Bromwich when my dad was growing up and for some reason, lost in the mists of time, it became his nickname. Some people only knew him as Ezra in the same way as some people only know me by my nickname Baggie. Now since our other two children have unusual names, indeed Éowyn is extremely unusual, it would therefore be a little strange and certainly be out of character for us to have christened our son John. In addition Ezra John seemed to flow better than John Ezra and Ezra seemed to fit with his sisters’ names: Éowyn, Amélie and Ezra. Unfortunately his name doesn’t contain an acute accent but you can’t have everything.
But what does his name mean?
Ezra is of Hebrew origin and means ‘help’ or ‘helper’. Ezra is also a book of the Old Testament and Ezra the Scribe was a High Priest who lead 1500 Judean exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem and reintroduced the Torah to Jerusalem.
John is also of Hebrew origin and means ‘God is Gracious’. John is also a book of the Bible (New Testament this time) and the name of one of the Apostles of Jesus. John and its variants is one of the most common first names in the Western World
Ezra 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.
I leave the below as prosperity for the journey:
My wife and I are pleased to announce that she is pregnant for the third time. The new addition to the family is due on the 10th March 2013 and will turn our family into a family of five shortly before my 40th birthday.
To welcome Baguette number three to the family here is it’s own special page and please see below for its first ‘photo’, its 12 week scan, and stand by for more updates…
Update 1
The announcement of our good news was slightly delayed due to the fact that we opted to have a chorionic villus sampling (CVS) test conducted on the little one’s placenta to check for chromosomal abnormalities because Lucinda’s blood samples indicated a raised risk. Therefore on Friday 14th September we headed, with heavy hearts, to St. George’s Hospital in Tooting (South West London) for an extended ultrasound test and the CVS test.
We were told that it would take 4-5 days before we would receive the results and so when the phone rang earlier than we expected we feared the worse. However we were pleasantly relieved and extremely thankful to find out that the tests indicated that there were no chromosomal abnormalities and we were to treat our pregnancy as a normal third pregnancy.
One pleasant side effect of chromosomal testing is that one can determine the sex of the baby. We were offered the choice and we decided to find out. Therefore we are pleased to announce that we are expecting a son, a little brother to Éowyn and Amélie. A third child that will make our little family complete. Please read here for a more detailed write up about the CVS testing.
Update 2
Drama struck our family in the early hours of Thursday 11th October 2012 Lucinda woke with discomfort in her tummy. She knew it wasn’t anything to do with the baby and so dismissed it a little. It got progressively worse through the day and so I left work early and made her go to the walk-in clinic. They told her to go straight to the local accident and emergency department (at St. Peter’s in Chertsey, where he is due to be born) as they believed it was her appendix. Appendicitis was indeed the prognosis and so she was wheeled into theatre and it was removed. Thankfully it was as by the surgeon’s admission it was fit to burst when he opened her up. A burst appendix is a serious condition for any healthy adult for a pregnant woman it is significantly worse, for both the mother and the unborn child.
The good news is that it is now out and can cause no more damage and, more importantly, Lucinda is on the road to recovery. Obviously this is only a précis of that day’s events for the full gory details please visit here.
Update 3
With both the planned CVS test and the unplanned appendectomy our unborn son’s world had been invaded twice in ways that neither Éowyn’s nor Amélie’s worlds had and so the 20 week scan took on an almost sacred reverence. We knew that the bubba was alive and kicking after the CVS for we had seen him on the ultrasound. We knew he was alive and kicking after Lucinda’s appendectomy because we had heard his heartbeat. Indeed with the enforced rest that the appendectomy had forced on Lucinda she had begun to feel the first flutters of movement. However even with all this reassurance we both wanted to cast our eyes, once again upon our little one.
The scan itself was a little uncomfortable for Lucinda due to her operation scar but the sonographer had read Lucinda’s notes and was as keen as we were to ensure that all was well with our son. He has proved himself a little wiggler thus far and this scan was no different and just to make it even more difficult he was hiding behind the placenta for the majority of the scan. However the sonographer was more that up to the task and quickly completed all the measurements.
The good news is that all indicated that he is strong and healthy and currently weight 13oz (370 grams). Despite the invasions into his territory he, seemingly has been unaffected. Please enjoy the latest scan (it is not the best of images because of his position behind the placenta):
