Well, after being wonderfully calm on Sunday and Monday, a marathon of endurance then ensued when my waters broke on Monday night and Reuben Jack Arthur Hope was born at 12.46pm on Tuesday. It was all round an incredible, traumatic, scary, painful, and yet truly wonderful experience. Tom's put some pictures on his blog and flicker accounts so you can check them out there rather than me repeating them all here.

Needless to say I am in love!

It must be stated for the record and so that I don't forget: during labour there was a moment when I felt the Lord so clearly in the delivery room, with His peace and His assurance that he really did know what it was like, with a profound new depth of understanding of the humility of the Creator of the Universe to pass through the birth canal in such messiness and noise and pain as a baby. Truly a life-changing moment for me.  The Christmas story seems suddenly more poignant for me, for us, this year as we relate much more now to what it all was like. Unto us a son is also born. Not the saviour of the world, but a glimpse of an aspect of Him...