Hello, cruel world

Greetings from the hospital. One of us has been here since Friday morning, two since Friday night, enduring an ordeal that makes the Odyssey seem like something much shorter and less arduous, whilst the third member of our party did not arrive until early Sunday morning. High blood pressure at the regular appointment led to [unnecessary detail deleted - Ed]. Suffice to say, the whole process was rather like traversing the Atlantic on a delayed flight - no idea of the time of arrival, with your life in the hands of others, food served on a tray, and drinks in those weird plastic pots with the silver lid you have to peel back. The whole process was somewhat tedious and drawn out, and we could've done with some free booze, but as with a long flight, there was an extremely worthwhile destination in the end. Appropriately the weather outside was a thunder and lightning storm, and quite dreadful.

Hold the Front Page

After a trip to the OR, baby Corse Collins was born at 2:43 am on the 17th April in the same way as Julius Caesar. Noble beginnings. She cried before she was even out, as the doctors exclaimed

"we have a big baby in here" with some surprise

Weighing in at 3.4 kg (or 7.5 lbs and 19 3/4" tall in old fangled measures), we had our new baby. And she seemed so very small and very delicate. And after so much waiting in the hospital, it was all slightly strange and overwhelming. And a great relief that she was finally here. The weather had turned much nicer.

What we learned first was that she likes to stick her tongue out. This turns out to be because she is very good at eating - almost certainly a sign of future greatness. She also passed her first exam, of hearing, which I am sure is a unique achievement at the first attempt. You can find out the progress of this child prodigy in our future round robin Christmas letters*

 *Note, due to unforeseen circumstances, we will be unable to send any Christmas letters detailing childhood achievements this or any other year.

So yes, she is very small, and very cute as you can see from the myriad photos here. She appears to have my hair and Emily's nose, with dark blue eyes. The doctors and nurses keep telling us how cute she is, and I'm sure they don't tell everyone that. So far, she's been mainly well behaved, not crying too much, unless there really is something wrong (i.e., she is hungry). 

So, the next thing she needed was a name with which to face the world. My two suggestions (Wilhelmina Kate, as a tribute to the upcoming royal nuptials, or Siobhan, pronounced as spelled, rather than the more conventional 'Shivaughn' were quickly vetoed.)

And instead, she will be called Bluet Corse Collins, after a flower found at the Sam A. Baker State Park in the Ozarks of Missouri, a favourite family holiday destination of Emily's, and also a character in a book by Eudora Welty called 'Delta Wedding'. Everyone tells us that it is very pretty. We certainly think that it is, and unique too. Which is great, as I was unable to secure ben@gmail.com.

More news and photos to follow.

PS all the links in blue above are informative and worth visiting.