Cairo Update
Hi,
Well
Esther is now two days old and we're starting to get used to having
two demanding attention! Actually we have noticed a difference
with Esther already compared to Hannah at the same age. Esther
is sleeping much more than Hannah. I think that maybe Esther is
going to be quieter and more laid-back.
Alison
is coping much better after the birth, she's not nearly as sore
or drained as she was with Hannah, which is why she was able to
leave the hospital about 8 hours after the birth. The labour time
lasted for about 7 hours altogether (the worst time was during
the last 3 hours). Loads of people have offered to bring meals
round each evening so we are all being well looked after (we should
do this more often!)
At
the moment Esther is with me while Alison is having a sleep. Last
night Esther woke up about every two hours to feed, Alison wasn't
able to get some sleep during the day so she went to bed early
tonight to get a head-start. Esther's cries are more like whimpers
(I'm sure Hannah was much louder!) and I'm sure that she is going
to be even easier to look after than Hannah.
During
the night of the 5th Hannah heard that both me and Alison were
up so she had a suspicion that something was happening. We didn't
want her to see Alison having the contractions just in case it
confused or frightened her so I stayed with her in bed. I lay
down beside her to pretend to go to sleep, hoping that she would
copy. I closed my eyes and started to do slow, rhythmic breathing
as if I was fast asleep and soon afterwards she was doing exactly
the same. As I thought about leaving I opened my eyes to see that
she also had her eyes open and was only pretending to be asleep
too!
She
asked me where I was going and I said that I just had to go out
and do something. I went out and checked that Alison was OK, then
I put on my clothes ready to go to hospital when the time came.
When I went back to lie beside Hannah she immediately asked me
why I put my clothes on if I was going to sleep. Hmm, no fooling
this one! I explained that Mummy might be having the baby and
we lay down and talked about what was going to happen. We had
already told her the plans about her being looked after by Fadia,
my Arabic teacher, then afterwards to go to our friends Brian
and Vivian who have four children of their own. Hannah already
knows Fadia from previous visits. By about 5am Hannah went to
sleep again (this time for real!)
We
called Fadia at 6:30 and she was here at 7 while Hannah was still
asleep. After we went Fadia told us that it wasn't long before
Hannah was awake. She wandered into the kitchen to see who was
doing the washing up and got the fright when she saw that it wasn't
Mummy or Daddy! After Fadia gave her a cuddle everything was fine
. . . they had a great day together! Fadia took her to her Arabic
lesson where I met her after the birth. I picked her up then explained
that Mummy had the baby and now she had a sister. I'm not sure
that she fully understood until we acutally went into the hospital
room. First of all she wasn't sure what to make of Esther, probably
because she was so small (like a doll) and yet moving! After a
few seconds she reached out her hand, touched Esther's hair very
carefully and smiled. Afterwards we took some really nice pictures
of them together which you will no doubt be receiving a copy of.
Well,
since I started writing this I now have Hannah on my lap and Esther
crying behind me, excuse me because I have work to do!!
Bye
for now, lots of love,
Jason,
Alison Hannah & Esther
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Return to Cairo
Update Index
|
