Joseph William Shingler, born 15:21 and weighing in at 7lb 3 (or 4) ounces…. he’s somewhere in between so his weight varies depending on your rounding! We got to hospital at 8am this morning, and due to delays we were sat waiting until around 2:30pm when Vicky was finally prepped for surgery. He came out ok though and seems quite healthy so far fingers crossed. Anyway I’m finally home and have (about 15 minutes ago) got Poppy in to bed. She’s enjoying having a baby brother and chose him a teddy bear (with a noisy bottom… which is a pull cord playing nursary rhymes). I’ve taken some video footage as well as the photos so I’ll post up a video as soon as I get chance to edit it down. For now, though, here’s a link to the photos which are on facebook. I’ve made them public so you don’t need an account: Click here for the album

We have to be at the hospital for 8am tomorrow morning, looks like it’s going to be a long day! Hopefully, if all goes to plan though Sprog2.0 will have been removed from the wife by midday. I’ll keep you posted as things progress – I have topped up my mobile with credit for data access.

We’re now well in to single figures on the daily countdown to Sprog2.0′s arrival. I’ve dusted off the old baby stuff: car seat, bouncer, pram, bath etc. and have started making a shopping list of things I need to get once he’s born. It’s strange to think this will all be happening next week….. well, scary I suppose. Anyways, in preparation for a pram I’ve been tasked with laminating the hall floor, but before that happens I wanted to decorate so yesterday afternoon I decided to make a start. Bloomin’ hall, landing and stairs type rooms are the worst ever to decorate it is official – you get the worst of all worlds – awkward bits to reach, paint brushes on sticks, lots of cutting in around doors and tons of woodwork to do. I’ve managed the first coat on the walls so far and will try and do the second over the next couple of days, but I’m not sure which task I’m dreading the most; laying the new floor or painting the 10 doors (11 if you count the front door, but that’s a different job).

Sadly no photos from today’s scan, but no changes in his condition. He’s measuring over 40 weeks now so it’s no wonder that Vicky is full to bursting. The caesarean is still booked in for May 13th so we’d better start getting all the baby things out of the loft and aired ready for use. Vicky’s overnight bag is all packed so I think we’re prepared… 13 days to go.

Today we had another scan and set a date for the caesarean. Sprog #2 will be born on Wednesday 13th May 2009… unless of course he arrives early. I’ve updated the countdown accordingly. My favourite picture today is this one showing the eyeball which we saw moving around:

Other than being a big bruiser of a baby, there’s no change in his health. The cysts are still there but they haven’t gained in number or size which is a good thing. Here’s the rest of the images: