Eclipse Magazine

I am fully aware that I left my loyal readers on a complete cliff edge waiting for the birth at Christmastime. I am so sorry for the long long long long wait and I thank everyone especially Eclipse Magazine for being so patient and understanding whilst waiting for this!

 

These past three months I have experienced every emotion a human can experience I think. Love, excitement, fear, elation, happiness and last but definitely not least tiredness, it has definitely been the best time of my life so far.

 

The arrival of our tiny baby William finally happened after a very long and hard labour (50 hours and then forceps!) at Cheltenham Hospital at 6.04pm on 30^th December 2010. He was eight days late in the end and I was about to pop!!

I could not have done the long labour without the help of my precious Choc and amazing Mummy by my side; they both went for two days and two nights without sleep too and supported me every step of the way. It got quite scary toward the end of the labour as I was so tired and the poor baby was stuck facing the wrong way so they rushed us into theatre and used the forceps to pull him out.

Poor baby William had a bright purple head from all the bruising, we could not touch his head at all because he would cry poor little thing. The fantastic midwives and nurses kept us in hospital for three days to keep an eye on us both and catch up on some much-needed sleep.

On New Year’s Day 2011 Choc was riding at Cheltenham (whilst I was in the hospital) and he had a great winner on Blazing Bailey to finish off a very emotional week for us all. I watched it on the telly in a ward with my new baby. It was so exciting, the first time William watched his Daddy ride a winner.

We were eventually allowed home (once they were happier with Will’s sore head) so aunties, grandparents, friends and of course Puppy could all meet the handsome little man. Since then we have settled into our little routine and we are all doing really well. William is such a good boy, he sleeps and feeds very well, so I think we are very lucky. Choc and I truly love being parents, it’s fantastic! Every day it gets better and better. We highly recommend it.

On the racing front Choc has gone from strength to strength since returning from his knee injury. He had worked so hard at getting the movement back in the joint and I am happy to report that it’s 100% better. Alan King's horses are running brilliantly again and the yard seems back on track this year, so things are looking good all round. Tuesday of Cheltenham Festival saw Choc on Bensalem ride a close but brilliant finish to win The Stuart Family Chase. A great start to the week and enabled everyone to relax and enjoy the rest of The Festival, especially Choc.

This week William had his first proper day out at the races to watch his Daddy; we all went to Towcester in Northamptonshire in the glorious sunshine. Choc was on 999 winners so far in his riding career and he was hoping to have his 1000th. He rode a winner in the first race and was cheered in by an ecstatic crowd. What an amazing amount of winners to reach in a lifetime, it’s a fantastic achievement and one that only a few jockeys in Britain have managed to do. We are so proud of him, although Baby William did fall asleep just as daddy crossed the finish line, all the excitement was obviously very tiring for him!

So I hope that brings you up to date on what’s been happening in our lives over the last few months. I will write again soon and I promise to be more punctual next time.

Meally xxxxxxxxxxxxx

PS Note William with his first horse (pictured)!!