Hotel Home!

Before we got to bring Orion home, we were having a few slightly minor technical difficulties with the AC panel as you can see. (Too cold!!!)



After a long day at the end of last week, we came back to the hotel to relax. One glass of wine later, my mom started to fiddle with the panel and then it wasn't too much longer until we noticed the floor was melting (condensation) as well as the mirrors and windows. Oops! Thankfully we have that under control now as Orion is home!!! (Hotel home). Last night was a long night on the couch, his first night with us. Long as in I don't think I ever went to sleep. However it was a fair trade off as I introduced his soother "binky" to him and he likes that so his efforts and energy is focused on that.



Lastly, here is an adorably cute short video clip I took of him last night. I haven't shaven in several days so needless to say, Orion reacts when my stubble touches his face. He's not too impressed! Check out the clip below "No Stubble Kisses"

See you in a bit!

Introducing Baby Orion

The last three years (and my whole life, in fact) has finally led up to this. I am over the moon to let everyone know that my son, Orion Preet MacDougall Morrison was born on Tuesday July 26 at 6:25pm, weighing in at almost 8 pounds! He's still in the NICU and we haven't been able to bring him home yet (well, back to the hotel). We're told he will (hopefully) be discharged tomorrow. As well, it is expected that I'll get his birth certificate as well which is great.

In the meantime though, we've been visiting him everyday and I've been feeding him, holding him, talking to him, etc. I miss him and hope he can come home tomorrow. He hasn't been taking the bottle; he's not sucking or he'll suck for a bit and then fall asleep on the bottle. Hence I've nicknamed him my little lazy lug. Hopefully he'll come home with us tomorrow and we can spend more time with him practicing.

The last few days have been quite the whirlwind. On Tuesday when we got the call about Orion, we got into a taxi and drove to the clinic. Following that, we went to the hospital where I began filling out paperwork. A few minutes later, the doctor came in with a big smile on her face and said, "Congratulations!!! You're the father of a baby............... boy!" I was not even on this planet at that point. We followed her into another room where Orion was and as we got closer, I could hear him crying. I was just so happy. My mom started crying. My adrenalin was going too much, I could not feel anything other than excitement and joy. The next day, I'll never forget when he looked at me for the first time. It's just so awe-inspiring to see him look at me and his surroundings for the first time. I haven't shaven in a few days so when I go to kiss him, he makes this funny face from the feel of my stubble.

We'll be able to take more pics of me and Orion together tomorrow when we bring him home. In the meantime though, I included a few pics! Orion and Beau can be penpals :)



I love when he looks at me... makes my heart melt.



He was making the cutest whimpers today.



Daddy and baby.



Daddy feeling just pure bliss and happiness.



Om nom nom!

Baby Alert!

This morning as my mom and I were eating breakfast, I was thinking to myself what we were going to do today. A few minutes later, we got the call that baby will be delivered this afternoon. We are just waiting for the green light to hop in a taxi and drive on over to the hospital!

Yesterday was a busy and long day for us. It began early with a scheduled appointment with the doctor at the clinic. We got into a rickshaw and made our way there. I had showed the driver the address and everything was seemingly going well. However, the driver brought us to what he thought was the destination but it clearly wasn't. So I got the doctor on the phone and they spoke to the driver to give him directions. A few more calls and a few more stops later, the driver stopped to ask another person on the street. The guy told us to get out and he'd walk us there. It was just 2 minutes down the street. We thanked him and the driver and went inside. Once inside, I showed the doctor the address I had written down and she laughed. She said I had written down the address to her home and not that of the clinic! Oops! Sorry rickshaw driver! Apologies for torturing you with that confusing and frustrating drive.

Inside, we were reunited with our SM who had just woken up and got to see her tummy. The doctor told me we'd celebrate the birth of baby, perhaps next week once our SM can leave the clinic but before she goes home. So we'll be having a little celebratory function next week with my mom, baby, the doctors, our SM and my dad once he arrives on Tuesday. I'm really looking forward to that, that'll be special. It will be the perfect opportunity for me to give her the little extra gift I got her.

After we left the clinic, we headed back for the hotel... in a cab this time since it was raining intermittently. On the way we back we saw someone walking an elephant down the street as if they were walking a dog down the street. The elephant looked pretty, it had cool neon pink henna painted all over it. We wanted to take a picture but couldn't get our cameras ready in time.

Once we got back to the hotel, we rested for a bit, ate lunch and then went back to InOrbit mall. Love it there! I had some delicious mango and pineapple ice cream. Mmm mmm mmm!

Anyway, I'm going to head out for some lunch now so my next update might be a "baby is here" update with some pictures! See you in a bit!

First Class

Greetings from Mumbai! We're finally settled now but there were a few ups and downs along the way. The flight was amazing, that really worked out well. We ended up scoring first class seating because the airline had overbooked from Frankfurt to Mumbai so we were able to be comfortable and sleep in first class. Was a nice treat and we really needed the sleep for what was to come next...

...so we arrived at our accommodations that I had booked months ago. Upon arrival though, it was clear that what we were expecting and the reality of the situation was not matching up. This is my third time to Mumbai and thankfully I've only ever had positive experiences with the accommodations I've booked. These "suites" however that we arranged for us and baby would not be acceptable. There was literally nothing in the rooms. The fridge was not working, appliances for baby were nowhere to be found... and the breakfast the next morning was... well, even I passed on it and I eat anything.

Unfortunately it took most of the day to get our deposit back (they had to write us a cheque, which we had to come back for 6 hours later) but we found a great suite at another hotel for a reasonable price and we're settled in now. We have a fridge, a microwave, kettle and staff has provided a crib for us.

Today we went to InOrbit mall (which I love), bought a few things for ourselves, baby and some groceries. My mom also took her first rickshaw today! Woot woot! She loved it. We'll take one again tomorrow and I'll try to snap a pic or two to upload but I think that will pretty much be it for rickshaws (boo!) as we think the baby will be delivered tomorrow (yay!) We're going to the clinic in the morning and then after lunch I'll write another update to tell what's happening. This is my mom's first time to India and she is doing quite well so far. I am very proud of her. You can follow her updates here: Anybody 50+

Destination > BOM

Update! So I'll be flying off, Thursday by myself to hopefully get there in time. My parents will have to join me as originally scheduled on Aug 2. To change all 3 tickets, pay the difference in prices on top of outrageous fees it would have been thousands of dollars. I don't expect anyone to be able to afford that. Obviously I have a heavy heart now and am disappointed/sad that I won't be able to share my baby's birth with my mom and dad but they will be there soon, days afterward to be with us. My parents have done/are doing so much for me that words will never express enough how I feel and I've been blessed with everything that I've been given so far but I just had a certain idea in my head of how we would all be there together for when he/she is born. I know everything happens for a reason... everything about this journey in the last 3 years has happened for a reason when I look back, leading all up to this and this is just another part of that.

Early Delivery?

This morning I got "the" call that baby may be delivered in the next few days!!! I may be joining my buddies Adam and Michael earlier than planned! Baby is not supposed to be due until Aug 8-11 but he/she is already 6 pounds and my SM was taken to the hospital a couple of hours ago. So I may be on a plane to Mumbai in the next few days! Hopefully the baby can wait but I'll let everyone know when I have a better idea of what's happening.

*faints*

The Little Things

...I am looking forward to them.

Also in nursery update news, I'm about 80% done! This weekend we put the crib together, most of the wall art up, the drapes, etc. Just waiting for a few other things to come in the mail and then I hope to post pics in my next post which I'll put up next weekend.

Baby Shower Part I

Yesterday I had 2 close friends take me out for a mini baby shower lunch. I got a few gifts, one of them being a joke/gag gift:



Yikes! I hope I won't actually be needing to use any of those o_O