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Our new baby Connor is a lovely little boy. He looks exactly like Cameron did when he was first born. We compared a photograph of Connor taken 50 minutes after he was born, with one of Cameron taken when he was just a few minutes old. It is impossible to tell the difference between them, even down to the same red 'pressure marks on his face, in exactly the same pattern, particularly in the middle of his forehead. By 'pressure marks' I mean those red blotches on a new baby's face that disappear after a few months. Clare had an easy labour of only three hours, and came out of hospital only 20 hours after being admitted. A friend of ours [the local pharmacist] came out of hospital only 6 hours after having had her baby! Years ago in this country, women were kept in hospital for at least a week after having given birth. Connor's Arrival 10th August 1998. Happy Birthday son! You were one of the family Long before you arrived. You accompanied us everywhere. Jutting, projecting, restricted. Foetally crouched, Ready to spring Into a waiting world. You moseyed along Shopping - on holiday in Scotland To numerous car-boot sales. Like some fabulous unit Of cosmic relativity, You arrived before you arrived Straight from the foliage* In the garden At Burnt Norton. We talked about you In your interior days. We communed with you Through the warm membrane Of your mother’s body. We called you Connor. The accoutrements of your infancy Were acquired and assembled. Cameron’s abandoned cot Made ready The feeding bottles Washed and sterilised. The call came at 4.15am. Tenth of August 98 Your mother’s soft voice Announced your arrival Head first Into our small family. Into the house Of Mankind. I wept a welcome For you, for us, For the unborn millions That will spring from your Genetical material In the centuries ahead. *A reference to a line from TS Eliot’s Burnt Norton. Go, said the bird, For the leaves were full of children, Hidden excitedly, containing laughter. Go, go, go, said the bird: human kind |