I'm a bit slow on this posting... but it's taken me a couple of weeks to get used to doing everything one-handed :-)

Simon Angelo was born on August 27, 2005 at 5:47 AM(at 41w1d). He weighed 8 lbs, 2 oz when he was born and was just under 21" long. He's been an absolute joy - super mellow so far about everything. I'm really looking forward to having the next year off from work to get to know him and watch him grow up and discover everything.

Labour and delivery was a bit of a long haul with complications popping up off and on over a couple of days. Our midwife and the hospital medical team worked incredibly well together through all of it. There is a part of me which is amazed that I made it (until the emergency surgery at the end) without any drugs whatsoever. It's incredible the degree to which skilled coaching can help you to manage pain and your perceptions of it. And (of course) a special thanks to Linda for being such an amazing partner in all ways.

In the spirit of TakingITGlobal, I also wanted to note how truly global the whole birth was... Our midwife (from Winnipeg) was trained in Wales. The second midwife (originally from Ghana) also trained in London (her aunt, also a nurse at the hospital, was previously a midwife in Ghana). The charge nurse (who helped with labour coaching) was from Zimbabwe. The emergency team that took over was led by a Chinese ob/gyn. In the meantime, my parents from the US and Linda's dad (from Egypt), and his partner were all waiting anxiously in the waiting room.

It's amazing how much babies can pull the world together....

More pictures and details on the birth can be accessed through Simon's Web page. Please sign the Guest Book while you're there!