The latest addition to our little tribe, Alexander Jacob Bonanno (some may remember him as "Googie") swam gently into the world at 4.43am on Thursday 1st April 2010!
He weighed in at 3.8 kg and measured 53 cm (or 8 lbs 6 ounces & 20.9 inches for the metrically challenged).
Mum Michelle, Dad James and big brother Dylan are all extremely happy to welcome him into our family.
Unlike last time, our stay in hospital was brief and was spent entirely at the birth centre (luxury as far as hospital rooms go!). Michelle's contractions began just after midnight and we arrived at the birth centre just after 2am, where she got into a nice warm bath as soon as she could. When Alexander's little head first started showing it took me by surprise! In less than half an hour his head was fully out, which mildly freaked both of us out as it was still under water!! A few minutes and a couple of pushes later, our new baby gently floated up to the water's surface. He was placed on Michelle's chest and immediately took his first breath with a good healthy cry and opened his eyes to look at the world. We had another baby boy! I cut the cord after it stopped pulsing and then held him in my arms. He looked into my eyes for the first time...then he grimaced! I hope I didn't scare him too much with my ear to ear grin :)
Michelle moved back to the bed and Alex had his first feed, resting comfortably and content in her arms. Dylan came to visit us later in the day and was immediately smitten by his new baby brother! He found it hard to control his excitement and was probably not as gentle as he could have been but we're still working on that!
Now I'm sure Michelle's side of this story would not make it sound so simple, but even she was surprised when everything progressed so quickly. She was extremely happy that she achieved the water birth that she was hoping for. A big thankyou to our doula Gwen (www.hunterdoula.com.au) and midwife Fiona.
The midwives had her on a precautionary drip to avoid any complications with bleeding and she was kept under observation overnight. We left the hospital on a very Good Friday.