You have a fantastic vagina!!!!!!

Wow what a big meal. I'm full now.

So lets get back to it.

Not quite sure how far I got upto last time but I will just start from here.

12:00am Saturday 12/08/06. We were sent home from the hospital as Sharon was not in established labor. I drive home and to be honest I am a little pissed off because I want it over for Sharon. Its typical, she has contractions all day and the minute we get to the hospital they stop. I tell Sharon to go to bed and try to sleep. Before getting home I stop at the 24 hr garage down the road to pick up some pain killers. What is it about 24 hr garages at that time of day. It was full of foul mouthed 16 yr old piss heads searching for a pot noodle and a crunchie to satisfy the munchies. The queue was huge, it was time for me to take some action. I spoke in my best Cardiff accent and said " O bruv, can I skip the queue, my bird is having nuff pain in the minge, labor an all tha". They responded well by saying " safe spa, nice one" So I jumped the queue and headed home.

Sharon tried to sleep but it was not happening, after 3 hours of pacing Sharon told me that she wanted to push. Enough now I thought, I called the hospital and away we went.

03.05am 12/08/06

We arrive at the hospital and are greeted by the fab midwife called Tatyana. She is a former Russian Olympic handball player. She was 3 days overdue on her first child. The other midwife was called Claire Bowden, fair play they were both fab. tatyana was the best because Claire reminded me of a child killer. Its amazing what goes through your head when you are really tired. They check out Sharon and establish she is 10cm dilated. They told me they could feel her moving at Sharons cervix. Enough info for me I thought.

Now to the title of the blog. Sharon is in established labor and pushing like a good one. Tatyana is sat at the bottom of the bed making notes, she looks up and says in the most serious tone " Sharon, you have a fantastic vagina" I look surprised but happy that she thinks these things. Fucking weird though don't you think.

For all of you that don't know, labor is broken into 3 phases.

Phase one - Early Labor - Contractions and such
Phase two - Delivery
Phase three - Delivery of the placenta - DON'T WATCH THAT BIT

We are now well into phase 2. Sharon is pushing away and Tatyana asks if I would like to cut the cord, I say of course you crazy Russian vodka drinking bitch. She also asks if I want to tell everyone what the sex of the baby is, I also agree.

4.30am - Its here. I am holding my wifes hand and after 45-60 minutes of pushing I actually watch the baby come out. I witnessed her first breath. WHAT AN AMAZING SIGHT. It is the most beautiful thing ever.Sharon was awesome, just amazing.

We had a girl, I could not believe it. I was so prepared for a boy. We picked Cai James as his name and I was getting the Liverpool shirt ready. When I saw her little bits I was so shocked I had to ask the muff loving midwife to tell me what it was.

She weighed 5lb 13oz. very small but perfect. Her name is Erin-Rose, that's one name. Rose is not her middle name. Rhys( my number one son) picked Rose.

I am going to attach a pic for a short time. This was taken seconds after the birth. My wife looks amazing!!!!!!

Enough for now, I am tired.

God bless you all.

A Surprise arrival and a blast from the past!!!!

Hello again - My house is quiet so I thought I would update you all.

My last blog explained all that has happened in the last few months. I can now give you further insight into the world of the Rickman ( not ) sound a like.

Firstly let me welcome my new addition Miss Erin-Rose Leach. Due to the fact that some sick bastards live in this world I am unable to post a picture of her but I can tell you she is beautiful. I want to give you a mans view on labour, child birth and being a father to a girl.

The baby was due on 18/08/06. I had planned my time off in military style. I was to have the week leading up to Sharon's due date off in the hope that she would go early. My plan worked a treat.

FRIDAY 11th AUGUST 11:30am

Call from Sharon explaining that she is out berry picking with my boy and my sister. During the journey my sister went over a bump that seemed to have caused sharon's first contraction. I am in work relaxing on a Friday. Everyone around me in work is going nuts - " go home, go home" they say. I decided against going home and stayed until 4:30pm. When I arrived home Sharon is cleaning like a mad dog. She is mopping and polishing and brushing and scrubbing. Some things she evens cleans 2 or 3 times. Thankfully the outlaws have agreed to take the boy for the night. This was planned before we knew Sharon was close to drop so as it happens great forward thinking by myself.

20:15pm

Big Brother final is on and Sharon is now eating all she can find. She has eaten a whole blackberry crumble that she made earlier, she is now eating a chocolate mousse whilst dealing with the pain of a 38cm thing trying to get out of her. After hours of pacing up and down the room she tells me she wants to go in.

11:45pm

We leave the house and head to the car. I have already called the hospital to advise the of our arrival. I help Sharon into the car and head off.

REALITY CHECK - A MANS VIEW

8 1/2 months of pregnancy. I can count on one hand the number of times we had sex during this time frame. The moods, the constant collection of food, drink, phone with the excuse " I'm Pregnant" AM I READY FOR THIS, IS THIS RIGHT, CAN I DO IT.

Now reality kicks in. Look at your wife, she is in pain, she has had no tablets of any description, she is going through a trauma. You are ready because you have prepared well, you can do it because you have Rhys and he is fine and It is right because I say so.

But how did I feel about the prospect of loving another child, I mean I love my son but can I love another. Can I share my life with another child.

The answer to these questions can be found in the concluding part of this blog that will be published after I have eaten my dinner.

Love out!!!!!

Births, Deaths and all in between!!!!!!

Hello again,

Sorry it's been so long. what can I say. A lot has been going on in the world of The Antony.

I really do not know where to start. I want to try and make this a funny one to exploit peoples interests again but I can't think of many funny things to say.

Don't know how long it has been since my last blog but it feels like ages.

You are probably aware that I have a new baby coming soon. This has been taking up a lot of my mental energy. I know it is an exciting prospect but man it is daunting. As a father of one I am quite content. A father of 2 is something else. The material things are in place, the mental side of things are far from ready. Am I able to deal with two children and a wife. Watch this space I guess. Either way it will be here within the next 2 weeks. I am hoping for a boy but will take anything that comes out. As long as my wife's sex drive returns I don't care. By the way, we have none at the Mo so any offers maybe accepted.

We have had another death in the family. That was hard to deal with. My cousin Elliott was only 23 years old. He went to bed one night and did not wake up again. He has a massive bleed on his brain. According to the Doctor he was born with this condition and it was only a matter of time before it went. The funeral was amazing. None of this religious shit just music and readings from his friends and family. What a few weeks that was. When someone young dies it makes you question your own life and how long you have left. I don't want to die, not for a long long time. James spoke with me a few times over that few weeks. It made me think how lucky he is also. He was good for me over those troubled days. He speaks sense. Top man is James.

One good thing has come from the whole death thing. Elliott has a brother called Leigh. We used to be so so close. We called each other brothers. We spent every weekend together. Really close. Anyway, we fell out and did not speak for years. 8 years to be precise. We are meeting tmw to have a chat and see how the land lies. I don't expect anything amazing but I think we owe it to Elliott to make up and resume contact.

I have also moved since my last visit to this world of blogs. Nice house now, not that I lived in a hole before. This house is more family friendly.

So in brief. Things have been nuts but now I am back. I am not promising a blog everyday but I am here for you all.

I have missed you, esp James and his female friend whose name I cannot spell, the Princess.


Take it easy peeps.

Love all