Baby V made her entrance into the world in a prompt and organised fashion - labour began twenty minutes after midnight on her due date of July 4, and Violet appeared ready for action at 8.31am. Despite her adherence to schedule (unlike her big brother), she did have a bit of a surprise in store - after labour had been progressing steadily but undramatically through the first stage for eight hours, she made a very sudden appearance, causing the second stage of labour (the pushing bit) to be recorded in the notes with an official duration of one minute.
After two nights in hospital and two in the surreal comfort of the Sofitel for Carolyn and Violet, we are now all back home in glorious chaos. At five days old, we are still establishing the finer aspects of Violet's personality, but we can say she is doing all the right baby things like eating, sleeping, crying and growing. She is a prodigious poo-er and weed on Carolyn twice in the first 24 hours, which is pretty good going. Ed has been wonderful in welcoming Violet, being both gentle and enthusiastic with his pats and cuddles.
It is a joy and a delight to welcome Violet into our family, with none of the sadness that accompanied the birth of Ed, when our beloved dog Rufus died two days after Ed was born. At the time we took some comfort from the idea that Ed and Rufus may have passed each other and maybe stopped for a chat on their ways in and out of this world - but if Violet bumped into Jesse Helms on the Great Cosmic Highway, we certainly hope she gave him a boot in the right direction on her way past.
Why Violet?
We both like it, which as anyone who has discussed baby names with us knows is a rare and wonderful circumstance. Neither of us know anyone that we don't like called Violet and neither of us have worked closely with one.
Like Edward, it's a name that appears on both sides of the family tree - both Paul and Carolyn's dads have Aunty Violets of varying degrees of great-ness.
There are songs called Bruise Violet by Babes in Toyland on the Fontanelle album (2 baby references) and Violet by Hole. Neither of these were the best albums by the respective bands, but at least one of them provided good role models for girls who rock. Indeed, Carolyn used to be in a band called Dog Tooth Violet.
Violet is obviously the name of a flower - the world can do with more greenery.
While Ed was the original standard text editor in Unix systems, Vi is one that subsequently attracted many passionate disciples. Rumours that a third child will be called 'Emacs' are unfounded.
VI is a nice way of saying our street address without drawing attention to our superior accents.
Baby V was very purple when she was born.
Nickname-wise, we are thinking Violet will be a 'V' rather than a 'Vi', though Ed has been calling her 'Olly'. Also 'Biolet' but we don't think that will catch on.
Why Erena?
Erena is a Maori name that we like (pronounced with emphasis on the first syllable, not the second). As with Ed, we wanted Violet to have a middle name that links her back to Aotearoa. We also knew a nice and helpful Erena in Palmy.
Although neither of us have Maori heritage, we intend no disrespect by giving our children Maori middle names. Carolyn's grandmother had a Maori middle name - Ehine - and although we don't know the reasons behind this, it's a precedent we're happy to folllow. The name is given with respect, love and thoughtfulness, and an intention to encourage our children to embrace Aotearoa and Maori culture.
Why Hirst?
Rather than enforce gender-segregated surnames (Hirst for the boys, Hicks for the girls), we figured we'd keep things simple and give the kids the same surname. If Carolyn gets sick of being the odd one out in the family, we may contemplate changing everybody's surname to Hirckst - although a surname with five consonants in a row could pose some challenges.
14 minutes after an 8 hour labour.
Big girl... 3.9kg or 8lb 9oz
After asking the hard questions, a new life form is discovered
First contact - you look after your sister and I'll play with the trains
Family photo
Baby V - photo by Craig
12 days old