September 2002

October 2001

June 2001

Dear all,

Well, we have a baby girl!!! Her name is Nicola Elizabeth Mathieson, and she was born at 10.15pm on Wednesday, 29th November.

I was induced at the end, as she was two weeks overdue. Labour was about 18 hours long. Quite exhausting, and painful enough to need gas and two doses of Pethedine, but no major complications. A small episiotomy needing a few stitches, and we finally welcomed Nicola into the world. 4.12kg and 53cm (multiply by 2.2 for pounds and divide by 2.5 for inches.)

She is absolutely gorgeous (a completely unbiased opinion), with a small pixie face and long, thick black hair. She also has huge feet and hands with long fingers and toes. Because she was late, her skin is quite dry, and cracked on her feet (so Peter says she has "dinosaur feet.")

Sorry it's taken a while to get this e-mail out, and sorry some of you have missed out on phone calls, but the last few days have been a bit difficult; she's had problems feeding, and we've just come home today. Hopefully Nicola will start to feel more at home and settled, and feeding will improve.

Wish us luck! Love from Helen, Peter and Nicola.