The Beginning

On a stormy Thursday, in the tropical north of Australia, on the first day of November, Bowie Daniel arrived in the world.

And we were delighted.

It was the culmination of months of anticipation and planning and changes for the two of us. We came home from living in the UK to have Bowie in Darwin because it is closer to our families.

The waters broke on Tuesday morning with no real contractions and an internal examination at the hospital confirmed that nothing much was happening so we went home to wait and see. On the Thursday morning we went back in and we're put on a drip at about 11.30 am, the midwife called it Jungle Juice. The labour then progressed quite swiftly and just under six hours later, after two hours on the gas 'little' Bowie was born at a 5.15 pm in the Royal Darwin Hospital. He weighed 3,965g and was 55cm long. He's going to be tall like his daddy.

Because he had so much vernix still on him the midwives thought he was probably pre-term and recorded his gestation as 38/40 even though his EDD was just a day later - 2nd November 2007.

As well as Chris, there were the two midwives who delivered him and Bowie's Oma and Opa (my parents) present at the birth. It was wonderful to have so much support there and and to share Bowie's first moments with them all.

Unfortunately we both had a temperature during the labour and that combined with the early breaking of the waters meant that there was some concern about infection. So we were both put on antibiotics and had to stay in the hospital for 4 nights. Bowie started on the breast from shortly after birth and has fed well since the beginning.

We came home on the 5th of November, just in time for Chris' birthday on the 6th. It was exciting and a little scary to be coming home with our little tiny boy.

In the first month of his life Bowie was visited by his Dharma, Grandad, Tante Kiki and her boyfriend Matt, Tante Inge and her boyfriend Tim and various friends living in Darwin.

His nicknames in the first month included, Little Moose (from Mooseonthemove), Jungle Bum (because of his nappy covers), Little Man and My Little Love.

Despite us putting him down on his back to sleep, his favorite position in the early weeks was on his side with his head tipped right back towards his bottom and his back arched. It was amazing to watch him contort himself into seemingly very uncomfortable shapes. At times the only position he was comfortable in was lying on his tummy and we let him have his day time naps on his front on the play mat that the Ryans gave him.

Right from the beginning he threw his head around while we held him and we had to be careful to catch it. Within the first couple of weeks he was making attempts to lift his head while lying on his tummy and by a month old he was able to lift it, turn it from one side to the other and put it down again with a fair degree of control.

When Bowie was nine days old we took him to the Parap markets on Saturday morning in his stroller. It was very very hot and he got quite red so when we got home we took him for a 'swim' in the pool. It was a bit of a shock for him and he didn't enjoy being in for very long. Little Moose was one month old exactly when we took him in the pool again and this time, other than a surprised squawk as we got into the water, he seemed to really enjoy it. He kicked and sighed and looked around and enjoyed himself. Opa filmed a few short clips on our camera.


We had to learn all kinds of settling tricks and amongst the most successful were bottom-patting while he lay on his tummy, Chris walking and talking with him in his arms, him lying 'lion pose' on an arm, jiggling the bassinet, sshhhh - ing, and singing. When he came home, Bowie was given a copy of Puff the Magic Dragon by Oma and Opa which included a CD of the song and the two of us quickly learnt all the words. Among the other CDs we played him were the Best of Peter, Paul and Mary, The Mozart Effect and a Baby Massage CD from John. Another favourite song went something like "Bowie, Bowie, Bowie, Bowie, Bowie, Bowie, Daniel" and although it lacked in melody it proved to be sufficient distraction to stop crying on the change table.

Bowie was initially captivated by a painting of a giraffe I'd done for him which stood by the change mat but at about three and a half weeks of age we noticed that he'd started to play with his Mortimer Moose from the Weeks'. It was hung by the change mat and he went from watching it to starting to bat at it with his fist. The little bell in one of it's feet tinkled with only a tiny movement and was kept him entertained through many nappy changes.

Carols by Candlelight in the Botanic Gardens Amphitheater on the 2nd December offered an occasion to gaze at candle light, which he did, and while he seemed to enjoy the singing he was less than impressed by the fireworks. It was very, very loud and while I tried to cover and protect his ears he did his best to scream louder than the explosions.

It's quite amazing how different he is at the end of just one month in the world. The lovely soft down on his shoulders has mostly gone and the skin on his back doesn't wrinkle as much when you stroke it. His hair is getting thicker and his eyes are lighter, though still a very dark blue. It's been a real learning curve for us, trying to decipher what his different cries mean, perfecting the terry nappy folding (it's a little like floppy origami), getting attachment right and learning when to worry and when not to worry.

This is such an adventure and we're loving (almost) every minute.