Welcome to the world Mr Sean Michael Fenerty, born 24.02.2012 at 10:05 PM. Here’s a quick set of pics, I’ll post up an account of what the journey was like to get him here when things have settled down a bit and not using a horrible little laptop to post on.
On Friday, lunchtime, I got the phone call we all dread in this stage of life.
“Hey, can you get out of work? I need to go to hospital”
Oh shit…..
First off, there is no can you, it’s a pure case of, I’m leaving.
There were a few quick things I needed to organise before I left, number one was getting my bag as I needed the keys, being up the road getting lunch and doing errands was bad timing to get the call.
But leave I did and met Kate at the car in our usual pick up spot when heading home, I drove to the hospital and we discussed what was happening.
The symptoms were not really of labour but Kate actually called the birth suite and told them how she was feeling so we had to head in for a check up.
All was good in the end, but it turns out 8 months worth of “morning sickness” that lasts all day has a toll on the body.
Dehydration, it stimulates contractions, makes you feel like crap and affects the blood pressure, bad things when the little human inside you is trying to cook away normally ready for a March appearance.
So, five bags of fluids later, a night in the hospital and all is looking nice and healthy again. The nausea is still with us for the long term, but the little one is staying inside for a while yet.
It was a practice run for the main event at least.
That’s going to be the general outcry from most dad-to-be’s when the big day hits. That’s pretty much what my thoughts were, before last night.
I had the pleasure of attending a great night of information especially tailored for dads to be.
I attended at the Toxteth Hotel in Glebe, hosted by the concepts creator and Author of the companion book Cheers to Childbirth, Lucy Perry.
And I have to say if you’re an expectant dad, get you butt along to one of these sessions. The information that was provided was excellent and gives you, the dad and support partner of your other half, a wealth of information.
Things covered in a short point:
– Pain, what it’s like, how to deal with it
– What to pack, what not to pack
– Things you should never say during the birth
– Home Birth, Hospital Birth and C Sections
– Life after the birth
Lucy regaled us with her own birth stories, she has had three children herself, and was also a Doula (birthing support partner) herself.
On top of all this great knowledge, we also had a pub dinner, a couple of beers and a bunch of guys sharing an experience that is going to change all their lives.
One of the things I tried to do when moving into the new place was to de-clutter.
Success, I had none.
Dealing with an emotionally unbalanced pregasaurus was not easy, every time I made a suggestion of “do you want this?” or “what is this?” the outbursts started. As far as Mrs Fen was concerned if it wasn’t bolted down I wanted to throw it out. Not the case.
As you progress through life you accumulate stuff, it happens, but if that stuff is sitting in a box you haven’t looked in since you last moved and your about to move again, do you really need it?
Sure there are things that you don’t want to let go of that hold a great piece of your life within it, but re evaluate what you have every now and again. remove that useless clutter and have a clean out.
The challenge we have now is while where we have moved into a house with slightly more room to store stuff, we still have too much crap. With a baby on the way this ain’t a good thing, reduction of this needs to happen so we can have a room set up for the little bundle when they arrive.
What is the best way to deal with the clutter in your life? is a flamethrower the only answer?
As promised here are some progress shots of the Vege Garden
The blank canvas
Some of the temp plantings to start off the growth.
We have Chilis (not shown), Cos lettuce, Passionfruit, Tomatoes, Rosemary, Mint, Oregano, Tarragon, Basil, Zucchini and Cucumber.
A pretty important part of parenting is ensuring you capture and record your kids growth.
As a pressie to my Sister and Parents I took a photo of my Eldest niece when she was 18 months old
She’s now 7.
Her 5 year old sister also at around 18-20 months
and this little charmer is my newest Niece from the wife’s side of the family also at 20 months.
When my child is born the same will be done at the same time, plus the thousands of other snaps I will take in the process
Today, after another trip to Bunnings, I made the start on my new Vege patch, or pot plant version so far.
You see, we have moved into this new house which has a massive backyard, and the back section looks like it used to be a Vege Patch.
I aim to revitalise that area as a new one.
I previously had a Chili patch at a share house, and they went ballistic, but the Mrs. isn’t a big fan of hot stuff. So a few choice tomato plants, a couple of lettuce, Zucchini and Cucumbers shall be the starting point of the new batch.
A vege patch is something for the kids to get involved in when they are a bit older, and having those fresh fruit and veges to pick while wandering around in the backyard is a great little treat.
I’ll update the progress as it moves along, will have to start with a before photo of the great jungle that it is, until the poison I picked up today kicks in 🙂
Last night I had the pleasure of going to see the Foo Fighters live at Sydney Football Stadium.
All I can say is… Live music is alive and well. Dave Grohl and the boys perform like they record, with passion and skill, every one of their numbers sounds like you are listening to the CD.
This is my second time managing to see them live, and once again I was blown away.
A little taste of All My Life – Foo Fighters, Sydney Football Stadium, 9/12/2011
But this leads me onto my thoughts about children and music, encouraging the love of music, nurturing a talent and inspiring a kid to take up some kind of self expression. I wasn’t really prompted to do much as a child that I wasn’t showing an interest in, this came from my Fathers life lesson growing up where no matter what he did he would never be as good at anything as his old man.
That’s a harsh thing to teach a growing mind, so dad never pushed us to do anything, he saw no reward.
Having recently being introduced into the world of pending fatherhood, my thoughts are a little different on what I want for my child.
Music, I love myself, but can’t play much, I own a Keyboard, Bass, and Guitar…. yeah, they mostly gather dust.
I will introduce music into my child’s life, through appreciation for listening to it, and also the joy of being able to play. If they choose to persist with it good for them, if they want me to encourage them to try more I will. Same goes for a sporting bent, they can try different things and I will drive them to soccer at some ungodly hour on a Saturday morning.
I don’t begrudge my father for his choice, I understand his position, but I do feel that something of myself was let go in that I should have pushed myself, and my parents to encourage myself into a hobby of expression. It hasn’t been till my 30’s that I picked up a camera and decided to take photos, it wasn’t until 30’s that I got my Motorbike license.
Don’t leave those development opportunities too late, you absorb so much as you grow into an adult.
Today I caught the train from my new local station of Riverwood, a far cry from the hub that is Parramatta, cost is the same yet the conditions are worse, the 7:55 before had ample room and was an express, now it is sardine material, supposedly still an express but more stops.
I think a different time will need to be checked out for optimal travel comfort. Travel time is still way better than the car, and station to door is under 10 minutes.
