In Five Year's Time

In the blog world I’ve been blogging for an eternity. Most manage a week to a month before losing the blogging urge. OK, while I’m not a prolific Blogger in the slightest (last year’s count fell drastically ho-hum) I can certainly claim to have a good bit of longevity.

Today marks my fifth anniversary in the blogosphere. It actually gone quick but, really, it’s a looong time.

A lot has changed in those five years too. Back in 2004 I was still very much in student mode. I’d been out of uni for just over 18 months and beer and pot noodles was still my way of living. Since 2004 however I’ve taken my first step on the property ladder as well as my first step on the radio ladder. That rung loosened though and it’s only in the last 6 months that broadcasting has become a regular part of life again.

Those hazy days of 2004 were all done on Dial-Up too – no high tech broadband back then. In fact the whole web 2.0 bubble was very much in its infancy. Flickr, Facebook and Twitter were unheard of and Lycos was still a popular web destination. Heck even blogger itself was in its pre-google buyout infancy.

Other changes in my life include becoming salaried – a huge change enabling me to better budget for mortgaged life and for the biggest, and most recent change in life – fatherhood.

Where next? I really can’t predict what I’ll be doing in 5 years time. The world is more unstable these days. It seems were heading for economic or climatic meltdown so rather than plan for the future I’d rather seize the moment. One thing’s for sure and that’s that the web doesn’t stand still. Who knows where blogging will go in 5 years. 

See you then?

Push

Wow.

That’s the only word that can sum it up.

At 21.55 this evening I became I father.

You’ve all seen childbirth on screen before. Sci Fi fans may remember Worf’s awkward delivery of Molly on the Enterprise. For most though, the TV version of childbirth best remembered will be that of Damien’s on Only Fools & Horses. That’s what I had in my head. The waiting, the swearing, the joyous crying.

Well it’s kind of like that but nothing can prepare you for actually experiencing it.

What no one has ever told me about is the fear and helplessness you feel as the male. There you are watching the person you love go through sheer agony and there’s nothing you can do about it. Well, there’s superficial things like soothing gestures and brow mopping but that’s it, that is all you can do and it is heartbreaking. Then there’s the boredom. You’re in that delivery room for a long time. It was a relief to get out of the room for 10 minutes for my own *ahem* delivery. Finally it’s the fear that kicks in. You realise that a lot can go wrong – especially when it gets to the point that epidurals and c-sections are being discussed.

Still, this long slog is totally worth it for the moment when you meet your child. The image of the midwife whipping him out and over onto Miss Smeg’s chest will forever be etched into my mind. Then there’s the moment I cut the cord before mini-me was cleaned down and, still screaming, placed into my arms. He stopped crying instantly, I however, didn’t.

Here we are, two hours later and I’m still on a high. It’s amazing and I wish words could capture it... oh and Miss Smeg only swore once.