Minime

At 0241 BST on 29 May 2008 Samuel Aidan Streeter was dragged kicking and screaming into the world after a marathon 16 hours of labour. Actually, that number belies the longevity of the whole process: Lisa's waters broke at 0345 on Tuesday 27 May. She was induced after more than 24 hours of no progress. Unsurprisingly after such a long labour, the birth was anything but standard and the doctor to pull him out with a big pair of tongs. Afterwards we realised why: he weighed in at 8lbs 9oz! The ordeal was slightly more traumatic than expected, but everyone involved is happy and healthy. (It was really tough on me: drinking all those cups of coffee and yelling "push!" all the time! :-p )

I have attached a picture for the girls to coo over. To me he looks just like every other miniature-sized person (photos of which I have been receiving with increasing regularity from my extended family). Actually he looks a bit evil, like Stewy on Family Guy ("victory is mine!"). It was probably just hunger: this picture was taken an hour after the birth.

But I must now go and wet the baby's head. This is an important English tradition, which does not require a baby, or a head. But it does involve water. And hops. And barley. Mmmm..beer.