June 2007 - Welcome Angus

Eleven days overdue, and still in need of some prodding, we are proud to announce that Ailsa has a new little brother:

We welcomed Angus Andrew Boris Kennedy into the world on Sunday June 10th at 2:19 pm at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. Weight: 9 pounds 12 ounces (4.43 kg) /  Length: 22.05 inches (56 cm)

Labour (Labor) was short - less than an hour and a half once they moved me to the labour ward. A short labor is good, but also had the side effect that I didn't have time to get an epidural (at least he wasn't my first).

As I had been limping since the first week of May (after twisting back/hip on the tube), and had been basically housebound the last few weeks, I was kind of hoping for the epidural. My lack of mobility coupled with him being almost 2 weeks overdue meant that he was likely to be big....but I didn't think he'd be 'that' big (Ailsa was 7 1/2 pounds...so I thought 8 1/2 - 9 was likely).

Angus got perfect Apgar scores and was released after passing his hearing test and being given a once over by the pediatrician (He didn't want any lights in his eyes). We got home fairly late last night and Ailsa got to meet her little brother this morning, though she was more interested in the baby doll that arrived this morning as well.

Little one has now missed out on some cool birthdays (UK format is Day / Month / Year)...so could have been 05/06/07...or to avoid confusion between US and UK formats: 06/06/07....and I doubt I could get the hospital to 'accidentally' put the wrong date on the paperwork.

I'll write up a draft e-mail with all of the labour 'stuff' for anyone who is interested (prob the other mums I know ) Just give a shout and I'll send it over. At least it was over pretty fast. I was moved to the labour ward at 1pm, and had him at 2:19 - so the midwife had to write up all her notes afterward rather than as we went along.

When asked by my great aunt who he looked liked, we had to say that we 'didn't really know'. He's got such chubby cheeks it is hard to tell right now. We have said that he looks a bit of a bruiser - like a Rugby hooker or NFL linebacker....I'm sure it is just a phase. He has a touch of jaundice, but that should be clear in the next day or so....and the swelling around his eyes should go down soon as well.

The Name:
Angus - A nice traditional Scottish name, but not overly common these days.
Andrew - Paul has had a few Andrew's play key roles in his life.
Boris - We admit it...we like the name. It beat out Niall at the last minute. We used to live by Boris Johnson when we lived in Islington and we used to chant "Boris...Boris...Boris" when we passed his house:    http://www.boris-johnson.com/   Also see public persona section of wikipedia entry : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Johnson . If we have another girl, we won't name her Natasha - don't worry.
Kennedy - No real choice on this, but wanted everything to 'flow' quite well (thus Boris didn't come right after Angus) 

The name was quite difficult to come up with (but prob still easier than if it was another girl). We were originally thinking of Angus William Niall Kennedy, but then thought better of it as the initials could be re-arranged to form a British slang word...and kids can be cruel (once they figure it out). We thought we'd try to stick with the Scottish first name - I never realized that Cosmo was a Scottish name, go figure. We also had fun suggesting names to Paul's parents to see their reaction - Peregrine, Wolfgang, etc. I also looked up names associated with the Scottish Kennedy clan and came up with Carrick and Archibald (as in Angus Carrick or Angus Archibald). Also considered was Ellis, a Scottish name as well as being the county in Texas where my mom was born and grew up.

Heading off to the hospital to be 'induced'. Kind of weird to be going when not in labour.  Yes, it was a bit early. I wanted to be the first in the queue (didn't want to be turned away due to staff shortages, etc).
	In the delivery room - an hour or two old. Paul just confirming that he'd still be able to speak at a conference in Spain the next day (which he did as a day trip).
	He looks a bit blond in this photo. Very pink cheeks.
	About 6 pm (so about 4 hours old)
A few photos from Thursday, June 14th
Thought the socks would be effective to keep him from scratching his face. There is a little mark above his left eyebrow which should heal fairly quickly. No birthmarks that I've noticed. I'll be giving him his first proper bath tomorrow (but I did say that yesterday). I think he may just go blond like Ailsa did. His hair seemed dark when he was born, but looks more fair in other light. (Ailsa was born with very dark hair).