Dear Marms
With Billie Bump AKA Ezra-Mae now a week old, my memory of life BB (Before Billie) has slipped into the recesses of my mind. For those who might have forgotten how much time a baby takes up, I'll remind you.
There is the 24 hour rota of the feeding, the changing of nappies, the burping, the rocking to sleep and the worry. Between these are the infrequent opportunites to snatch a bit of shut-eye. Then there is the added worry that this weeny 3kg bundle of joy is NORMAL. Any part of this is exhausting and all together it probably feels like the end of life as we know it for Mum and Dad.
I have done my bit to help. I take Shads out for walkies and I take the little one for a couple of hours so that Danielle and Richard can rest. I even had time to have a go at drawing Billie badly. Until now, I had never imagined how much a father can do to help with babyhood. Richard has been brill whereas I never had more than a nod of support.
One of the high points of my despair was when Sammi was in hospital awaiting an operation at 4 weeks of age. I couldn't leave him alone on the ward in his little glass box so I asked Barry to get me some food for the day. He asked what so I said, some rolls and cheese thinking that would be an example of something I could eat with no preparation. He did exactly as I asked - literally. He brought along a lunch box with two bread rolls and a lump of cheese for 24 hours' worth of food. There wasn't even a knife to slice the chunk of cheese with. A fine example of thoughtfulness, to be sure. Fathers certainly take a greater share these days.
The houses either side of ours have also got newborns. To the left another girl, and to the right a boy - all born in the same month. The walls are thick enough for us to not know whether the other babies are crying. So this is all very good for neighbourly camaraderie - and potential play dates some way down the road, hopefully.
I have realised there is something about parenthood that loosens tongues. All body functions are now open topics of conversation. Let's start with the state of nappies. We talk about whether the nappy is wet or not, whether there was a poo or not and it doesn't stop there. Colour, consistency, frequency etc. are stock conversations with anyone and everyone. Phone up to find out how Bonnie Billie is doing and you will have a full graphic update. Her ability to poo is a point of pride.
While all this is going on, we have been without internet for a week. The broadband provider has been very helpful and once the BT Openreach engineer came to sort the issue, we were up and running in no time. the trouble was nothing to do with us, it was a green box quite some distance from us. Who would have guessed? I did all the usual bits of turning it off and turning it on again, swearing at it, etc. etc. but clearly this time it really was something I needed help with. The worst part of this is that our heating is linked to the central heating so we had to do things manually for a week and that was an added fag - an expensive one to boot.
So as you can see, Marms, we are coping. There is snow on the ground outside, the mortality from COVID has reached 100,000 in the UK this week. The government continue their shambolic control over BREXIT, COVID, education, and yet we are here to celebrate the joy of new life. We are truly blessed.
Missing you as always. Sending my hugs your way.
Love
XXX
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