Marc is back home!

Morning all,

Here is a very quick update for all of you who have sent emails and SMS's about how it's going....

Fine thank you!

Both Mom and Marc are back home and are doing exceptionally well. Marc is eating and sleeping (and of course, the other thing that comes with eating) all the time, but is really well and picking up kilos, and is back to 3.21 kg this morning. He is chalk and cheese to Hanna so far (touch wood, pray to god, beg that this doesn't change) and we are really very happy.

Christine is going really well and she has recovered from the operation very quickly this time round. We have all settled into the new routine back home and all that needs to happen now is that Hanna needs to start sleeping through - then we will be like... well... really happy.

We hope that you are all well and thank you all for the wonderful presents, cards, flowers and well wishes. Love from the family gathercole,
Richard.

P.S: there are more photo's online if you want to look :)

Some more news....

Geez, some more news...is that even possible? After months of nothing then twice in the same week.... *grin*

Yes, Yes, I will try to be a better blogger, and am just fitting in one or two short stories to keep you all posted.

Firstly Marc and Christine are both doing very well. Marc lost the usual 200 - 400 grams but is fighting back strong - he is eating strongly but mostly he just sleeps. Christine is doing really well, and is out and about every day for her little walks. They will be coming home on Tuesday (if you wanted to know) and will remain there for another week or so before we can start moving about with any sort of freedom again.

Secondly, Hanna is moving on. Now that she has a little brother some things have had to change. First thing to go was the baby bed. She now has a normal bed (no bars) and is also big enough to reach all the door handles, so as a result - yup you got it - cold feet Hanna comes to join me at 6 am in the mornings - man I look forward to that *grin*. And she just can't sit still for longer than about....well...3/10ths of a second - so my mornings have just got longer (he says with a long face).

Thirdly, we (the royal we, as in Hanna) are moving towards potty usage on a regular occurance - regular means everytime I remember to put her on it - and then she (aaaaarrrrrggggg) pushes and "lo and behold" I need to clean the potty out again. We are actually quite glad about this as those throw away nappies really aren't cheap, so we save where we can.

Fourthly, I'm unfit and need to do something about it, but that story can be told on my other blog! No seriously I'm going fine, feeling quite tired, but looking forward to having the family under one roof from Tuesday onwards.

Hope you are all well,

Keep Well All,
Richard.

P.S: More photo's on the web album :) I'm sure you know where it is by now......

Marc Richard Gathercole is here!

So it finally took this big event force me to actually write something on our blog again. But news it is, and exciting news at that. Yes - Marc has arrived after 39 weeks (1 week early) of hanging around in Christine's tummy.

He was born on the 8th of April 2008 at 09h29 after an 5 min operation (compared to Hanna's 24 hours) it seemed quite short. He is well as is Christine (after her operation) and is already quite the big lad (again compared to Hanna). Marc was born 50 cm long and 3160 g, which was quite a surprize, as the doctors had measured only 2700 g less than 1 week ago. We are glad though that he is so big, and the differences to Hanna are massive and evident from the word go.

He is already drinking hard, and is trying to look around all the time. His vocals work well, as do all the other parts. He has blue eyes at the moment, and very definitely Christines facial features. Black hair all over is also a feature that he shares with Hanna.

Christine had the operation on the advice of the doctors, and everything has gone very well. She is recovering well but still has quite a bit of pain (which is normal). She has been able to get up and move around, and was even able to have a shower on her own yesterday. I have been visiting at regular intervals and will be going to the hospital with Hanna again this afternoon.

Looking after Hanna and Aisha without Christine is quite a strain, but it's OK - I didn't expect to get any work done this week anyway *grin* but at least I have been able to sleep quite well. Exactly at this time Hanna has decided to move from her sleeping bag to a proper bed cover and so I've been checking her regularly during the night to ensure she is properly covered. All very exciting - but it would be better if she decide to use the potty properly first :)

Anyway, this is the news, we are all well and really happy to see that Marc has arrived safe and sound. Thank you for the many emails and SMS's that we received and the great support. I'm sorry that some of you didn't get the SMS's I sent - next time I will just send text and not MMS (with picture). I'll write more information on the weekend!

God Bless, love from all of us,
Richard, Christine, Hanna, Marc and Aisha.

PS: More photo's to be found on our online Web Album. Comments most welcome!