Darragh

Here he is. Darragh Davies, son of Tim and Adrienne Davies (nee O'Sullivan), grandson of Glyn and Bobbie Davies (nee Roberts) of Cil Farm Berriew, Montgomeryshire - and only cousin (so far) of Ffion. He was born on 21st Dec., 2009, by Cesarean section at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. This means that should Darragh turn out to be a wing forward of international standard, he will qualify to play for Ireland (mother), Wales (father) and England (birthplace). You will note that he has a wonderful head of black hair. Apparently its the fashion in maternity wards these days not to wash the baby's head, or comb his hair. Mrs D reminded me that Tim was born with the same lusty locks. We were in the ward for almost two hours, and he was as good as gold. Must write to my good friend, Tom Taylor, Chief Executive of the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals Trust to tell him that Adrienne has nothing but the highest praise for the way she's been treated. Mother and child will be returning home to us on Christmas Eve.

And here is seven pounds thirteen ounces Darragh Davies in full relax mode with his mum. Amazingly, despite the slow progress of the birth, and consequent move to the major maternity unit across Offa's Dyke, which all hoped would not be necessary, and the eventual Cesarean, Adrienne was the least stressed of all. It was poor Tim who was in a state and proclaiming "never again". He should have adopted my tactics when our four were born, and stayed well away from the action. I reckoned I'd done my bit nine months before, and there was no point in me getting in the way when Mrs D was doing hers. In those days fathers were not expected to be anywhere near the scene of birth. In fact, real men were not expected to deal with nappies etc.. We were onto our third before I realised how much a father misses by not joining in. Adrienne does look rather pleased with herself - as well she might.

And here is Taid, cuddling the new precious little life. The expression is one of wonder, I think. Just so hard to believe. Less than a day ago, Darragh was no more than an image in our minds (a bit more than that for Adrienne of course) and here he is today - a fully formed little person. Every birth is a miracle, and its only right that we feel a sense of wonder whenever we find ourselves close to miracles. If you look carefully, you'll see that Darragh's eyes are open in this one, just checking up on who's holding him. And that's not the Guardian on the bad table. Its the headline in the Daily Mail - something about guards. Its being kept as a reminder, in years to came of what the issues were in 2009. For us, Darragh's arrival will be the most enjoyable event of the year.