After a 9 month wait, a rather traumatic induction and eventually a forceps delivery, Eric Zachary George, to be known according to Dobson tradition as Zachary, made his appearance at 4.27 pm on Thursday 19th July 2012. The name Eric means 'honourable ruler' and was the name of one of my grandfathers (plus Swithun likes Eric Cantona!), Zachary means 'the Lord remembers' and George means 'earth worker', also the name of my other grandfather.
With the exception of a misshapen head, forceps marks and a dislocated shoulder on the way out, Zachary came out healthy with a big cry, weighing 7 lb 12 oz, which incidentally is the same weight as his dad was at birth. After a day in hospital, however, the doctors noticed the occasional jerky movement whilst he was sleeping and immediately began their tests, taking him away to the Special Care Baby Unit at Heath Hospital.
I was staying in the hospital at the same time, enjoying the delights of hospital food and sleepless nights, not, as I'd expected, due to a crying baby beside me (which would have been a lot more pleasant), but because of the incessant routine checks (especially blood pressure) made by the midwives and other staff throughout each night.
We waited for various brain checks, monitoring, lumbar puncture, and lastly (and the longest wait) an MRI scan, and just when 2 weeks in my hospital prison was getting a little too much to deal with, the consultant informed us that all the tests had been normal and they suspected he just liked to jerk around in his sleep from time to time, making me wonder what he dreams about.
So, with a spring in our step, we brought baby Zachary home for the first time, at two weeks old. I was greeted by a beautifully decorated house with 'Welcome Home Zachary' banners everywhere, courtesy of my wonderful previous housemates.
The first night was a long one with very little sleep, but most importantly, we were full of thanks that Zachary was doing well and we could enjoy him at last.
