Welcome Sophie Emma...

Just over a week ago the midwife noticed protein in Katharine's urine. This can be a sign of something called pre-eclampsia which is associated with high blood pressure and can be very bad. Katharine was still very fit and healthy, walking over an hour a day and still active so it seemed strange that there could be anything wrong, However, the scary thing about PE is that it is commonly not associated with any external symptoms. So they started seeing her every other day and checking her blood pressure and doing blood tests.

Last Tuesday we went in for one of these routine checks and her BP was up, so they kept her in. By lunch it was still rising so they opted to induce the baby as giving birth is the only cure for PE. The induction process takes a couple of days and it is still possible to have a natural childbirth, something that Katharine has been working hard for.

By about 8pm the BP was still rising and given that our little girl was showing no signs of wanting to enter the World, they opted for an emergency C-section. At this stage there was about 6 -8 people around the bed all very busy but with an air of calmness that masked the seriousness of the situation.

An hour later we were in the surgery and while they operated on her tummy, I got to hold Katharine's hand and try and comfort her, she was very calm - all things considered. Twenty minutes later and very loud scream announced the arrival of our little girl into the World. Sophie was born at 22.48, weighed 3.1kg and was 50cm long. I got to hold her while the stitched Katharine back up.

Katharine and Sophie were in hospital for another 4 days while Katharine recovered from her ordeal and the doctors tried to regulate her BP. They got to come home last night and she is doing fine and making an excellent recovery, probably helped by the fact that she was so fit before hand. She will be fine and is already doing a fantastic job of being a Mum.

Sophie is obvilious to the chaos she has caused, she is of course beautiful and has a lovely calm manner. Let's hope it stays like that.

The midwives, nurses and doctors were amazing. They did everything right. PE is a nasty aligment and it is fair to say that if we had not been lucky enough to live in the west, with excellent medical care, built on years of scientific research, then the outcome would have been far less joyous. Watching the nurses and midwives over the last couple of days makes you realise how hard these people work and still they manage to remain cheerful and caring. The politicians and the arseholes who are so critical of the NHS wouldn't last 5 minutes doing that job, but such rants are for another time.

How does it feel to be a Dad?
It is of course amazing. I have never been interested in babies at all. I love kids but other peoples babies made no impression on me whatsoever. But its true, there is something special about your own. Holding her, watching her and loving her are the most natural things in the World. I know its evolutionary and that I am pre-disposed to nurture my offspring and to me that just makes it all the more fantastic. I can already tell that the coming months and years and going to be a lot of fun.

     Don't worry she does actually have hands!