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WOW…I am the proud father of a gorgeous baby boy! Can you imagine me a father? It’s hard to believe I know and I’m just coming to terms with it myself. The last few weeks have been a roller coaster of emotions for my wife and I but what a fantastic experience it has been.

Alfie was born on the 29^th June a healthy baby boy. It was a little unusual the way it happened though. We were at home when Anna-Lena my wife started to get the contractions, she called the barnmorska and they said not to come in till the contractions were 3 minutes apart, so for the next 6 hours I was responsible for timing them which is not as easy as you think, especially when they go down to 3mins apart. Anyway, at 3 o clock in the morning we called the barnmorska and she said come in. Well I had my doubts whether we would get to the hospital, as soon as we were outside the apartment Anna-Lena got another one, it felt like they were coming every minute. The cab driver was very quite through the journey, probably not wanting to disturb us for fear of having a baby in the back of his car. As soon as Anna-Lena was outside the hospital she got another big one and then proceeded to get sick just outside the entrance. At that point I thought we were going to have it there and then, it was 3 in the morning and no one in sight and I thought dam why didn’t I go to those pre-natal classes. Eventually Anna-Lena straightened up and walked into the hospital. Just over two hours later Alfie was born and without sounding to sentimental he’s the most gorgeous baby in the world!! My question is why did they want to leave us at home till the very last minute. I’m all for staying at home as long as one can but I must say that was a little to close for comfort.

I thought the service that we received at the kvinnokliniken was exceptional. Remember I’m from London and used to the NHS. Nobody was rushed, the nurses had time to talk to us and it was all very relaxed and professional. I thought the hospital was friendly and welcoming without being to intimidating. In the UK the nurses wouldn’t have the time to stop and talk with you and the delivery rooms would more often than not resemble dark, dingy spaces more conducive to an addict’s drug den than a delivery room. The aftercare was superb to. The room we stayed in was the size of a small ward that would sleep six in London and for a small fee I could stay with Anna-Lena and sleep in a proper bed…like I said…an amazing experience!

I’ll keep you updated on the ups and downs of being a father.

Thanks for reading.

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Tags: fatherhood

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 5th, 2010 at 2:47 pm and is filed under Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.