Note to Self: November 2014

This is Freddie. He was born two weeks ago. And what a two weeks it's been!

So Rosie went into labour and everything went crazy in the space of an hour and all our planning and stuff went out the window. This was when I was waiting outside the operating theatre while Rosie had a caesarean section under general anaesthetic.

We had parked in an emergency spot in front of the hospital. After they took Rosie in, they told me to wait out here. I asked if I should go down and lock the car (when really I wanted to get my camera) and they said alright, but be quick.

These sliding doors would open every once in a while when this guy who was polishing the floors walked through. I couldn't hear anything for about 15 minutes, then one time he walked through and I could hear a baby crying! 'That must be Freddie!' I thought. Well, he wasn't called Freddie at that point, but I thought that must be our kid crying, mustn't it.

Before I knew it, out came the cool midwife called Sophie with this little chap! I liked him immediately.

This is when they weighed him. He had only been out and about for 10 minutes or so at this point. Looking good!

Then I followed him upstairs to a room where a woman fussed over him and checked him out to see if he was a functioning human. Turns out he is! Didn't stop them from taking blood tests and stuff - not what you're after when you're less than an hour old.

This was the first time I had a proper look at Freddie's foot. That's where they like to take the tests from.

Then we went to wait for Rosie in the birthing suite. It was just me and Freddie in there for an hour or so. I got to hold him on my chest with a heater on above us - it was quite lovely. When Rosie came in she was all woozy and drugged up, but she was very happy to meet Freddie and the feeling was mutual. Well, they already knew each other pretty well.

The next day we all just hung out.

I got to stay there overnight, on some gym mats that are usually used for giving birth on. I was loving it on those things! Meanwhile, Rosie was emerging from her drug haze and was really loving hanging out with Freddie. He still wasn't called Freddie yet, at this point. There were a few different names we ran up the flagpole, like Max Jr., but Freddie's the one that stuck. Sam's suggestion of Noreaga was never really on the cards.

Here's me looking pretty tired (and a little bit grunge, what with the cardigan) with Freddie. This is after they moved Rosie to another smaller room,one where people recover from having a baby, rather than actually have one. They didn't have any gym mats in there so I had to leave at night and come back in the morning.

Oh yeah! This was in Freddie's 'Chairman Freddie' period. Touch of the jaundice.

Here's Chairman Freddie again, this time relaxing in his perspex crib while Jason's sunflowers look on approvingly.

This is a classic Freddie in hospital shot. He doesn't look like this anymore, really. Or maybe he does. I've discovered that while most babies look exactly the same to me, Freddie is a source of great fascination and joy. I'm also quite proud of my swaddling skills in this shot - note the tight wrap.

The whole time they were in hospital, both Freddie and Rosie had to take antibiotics via a drip. Freddie had this boogie board thing stuck to his arm as well. It was pretty grim. He even smelled funny. Those days are over now. They wouldn't even give me a cup of coffee! I had to go downstairs, walk over the road to the 7-11 and buy one like a sucker. It was hard for me.

Here's Rosie with Freddie on the day they got to leave the hospital. Look at them, happy as clams. It was a crazy experience and Rosie did a really amazing job of staying very positive and excited the whole time, even though she was in pain and being poked and prodded every 10 minutes, and stuck in the same room for five days and on drugs. They did give her free cups of tea though.

And here they are again, just a few days later, back in Brunswick West. Happier than clams.

I know what you're all wondering, and the answer is yes, Tess is fine. She's a bit weirded out and tends to sleep on my pillow a lot, but otherwise she is playing it cool and cute - as per usual.

Rosie's mum Helen came over to help us adjust back to home life and meet Freddie. Here he is holding her finger, while praying to his god.

We've had quite a few visitors, which has been lovely. Riley and Sam were among them. Riley even went to the trouble of making us cheese cigars! Freddie farted on Sam, which went down well.