The"babymoon" begins

We have a baby! We are back home! And we are so much in love! 
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With emotions still high and a day of many new experiences, we slowly begin to figure out our new lives. We also put a little something aside for the future!

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Medical Check: Midwife home visit
​Gifts: A second silver coin

Thursday 4th October

We had only just arrived home yesterday so everything still feels very much up in the air and we're still emotionally numb from the experiences of the last couple of days. 

Ron has not slept very well. . . The cot is still encumbered by the medical equipment that midwives had brought for the home birth so we had no choice but to put him into the Scottish Baby Box - luckily, it is designed to be used as a newborn cot for the first couple of weeks, so we didn't feel too bad. James was a little annoyed about Ron sleeping in a government-provided cardboard box and I have to admit, that sounds a rather horrific, but needs must!
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But I think Ron agreed with his dad and just wouldn't settle. . . Even if he dozed off in our arms, he would wake up soon after being put into the box and start making little baby noises. At first we thought he was just soothing himself to sleep but the noises would soon turn into a sad cry, as if he'd been abandoned and forgotten about - my mummy heart couldn't deal with such sadness and the baby would soon be back in our arms!
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So this was a night of many interruptions and then I woke up with a brand new problem - my breasts had become swollen, hard and painful! I am guessing that's what they mean when they say "milk coming in". . .Luckily, feeding the baby really helped get things under control - we developed a real symbiotic relationship: the baby was happy and fed and after feeding the baby I was no longer in pain.

Medical Check: Midwife home visit

Later that morning a midwife came to the house to check up on the baby. She talked about breastfeeding and we noticed the baby had developed a feeding blister on his top lip. She advised that this was totally normal and would go away in the next couple of days. I also asked if the little white dots on his nose were normal and the midwife said those were little milk spots and would too go away soon.
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​We told her that we both feel very dazed by the whole experience and feel as if we're floating on cloud nine. We then asked her, rhetorically more than actually asking, if this feeling of "babymoon" was ever going to pass and she replied with "it doesn't have to pass - you could be this happy forever!". I loved that. We were very happy.

As soon as Ron was born and we posted a couple of pictures to friends and family (naturally!). My Nan pointed out that Ron had a turned up button nose, just like all of her grandchildren did and some other people immediately said that the baby looks a lot like me. Others say they can clearly see "daddy's eyes" or little bits of "auburn hair".  I personally think that Ron is a lovely mixture of both James and I, but what is obvious to me is that he is our son - not just a cute little baby, he is very clearly our baby, carrying a strong family resemblance (whichever side that comes from)! What is also obvious is that he is, and will grow up to be absolutely gorgeous!
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Gifts: A second silver coin

In the afternoon, as I was hugging and feeding the baby on the chair by the fire, Alan came to visit. It was the same Alan that we met on the boat yesterday -  he was cycling past our house and decided to pop in for a cuppa and a chat! It was a lovely chat too, he is local to these parts and had many stories about all the other islands. As he was leaving, he insistently gave us a £20 note, asking us to buy Ron something nice. Reluctantly, we accepted the gift and thanked Alan for his thoughtfulness (thank you!) - and later that evening James had purchased a silver coin, a lovely long term investment, which was a perfect addition to Ronnie's collection (he already has one from us for his birthday!).
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​I spent the rest of the evening hugging my baby. Ronnie wanted to be close and I wanted nothing else but to cuddle him, so it was a real win-win situation. He was eating a lot too, so keeping him close and cwtched meant I could feed him as soon as his little face indicated that he was feeling that new sensation of hunger!

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