The Edison Project Item #27 – Have Children

Whenever people are introduced for the first time to The Edison Project, they often ask me what the biggest item is on my list. The answer always includes ‘Item #26 – Get Married*’ and ‘Item #27 – Have Children’. These are both life goals that I suspect would be present on many of your own lists (if you have one). Whilst I have always seen myself fulfilling both items, the significant progress I have made on both goals in the last 12 months has come as a surprise to quite a few people. Especially those inquisitive friends looking to find the inside track. Unfortunately for them, I managed to keep both developments close to my chest.

Following the five month scan on the 1st April, me and Hana announced we were expecting our first child. The decision to announce the news on the 1st April was met with suspicion, especially given it was April Fools. The reality of it was Hana did not want me to announce anything sooner, and I could not wait any longer to broadcast the fact that I was due to become a dad. The 1st April would just have to be.

Come August and I return home from work to find Hana lying in bed not feeling great. This was around 19:00. Her initial diagnoses was a bad stomach, but by 02:00 in the morning it soon became apparent that Hana was going into labour. The contractions were getting stronger and more regular, but our first trip to the hospital was premature and we were sent home around 07:00 with the plan to return in 12-hours. Although Hana was in labour, her contractions were not regular or long enough, and her cervix needed to dilate further still. The 12-hours were not required and we were back in the maternity ward by 11:00 with back to back contractions and a dilated cervix. The problem was no matter how much pushing or how many different positions Hana tried, our baby would not budge. Around 19:00 on the following evening, the decision was made to move Hana to the consultant led maternity ward where she was rushed into an operating theatre to undergo a c-section. Whilst this was an extremely scary experience, it was very impressive watching the NHS staff working so calmly and in rhythm with one another. At 20:09 we heard the first cries of our newborn as she took in her first breaths outside the comfort of her mothers tummy. We were both overcome with emotion and an instantaneous love for our child. Baby Isla was born at 20:09 in August at Lister Hospital weighing 2.695kg.

Having a child has by far and wide been the best experience of my life to date. I appreciate that I am still in the early days of being a dad and there are still a lot more experiences to come, but the fact that my genes have created something so beautiful feels me with tears every time. Check out the photo gallery below and see for yourself how beautiful she is.

Raising a child requires a lot of time and energy. These factors will undoubtedly have an impact on The Edison Project. It is fair to assume that I may not progress as quickly as I have prior to having a child, but then there is no reason why The Edison Project cannot evolve to incorporate more child based items, items that are in better alignment with this phase of my life, and items that can be completed between father and daughter. For example, learn to change a babies nappy. Personally, this is not the greatest example as it is one I completed within hours of Isla’s birth, but you get the picture. I guess the ultimate goal would be to create a separate Edison Project list for baby Isla to pursue should she wish to. I also see the birth of my first child as an opportunity to  share my experiences as a dad following the same principles of The Edison Project. This will be introduced as a content series called ‘Playing Dad’. Becoming a dad will bring hundreds, thousands, quite possibly millions of new experiences from which to learn from. None will be considered a failure. I just hope that in sharing those experience it will provide comfort and support to other dads at this life stage.

Keep an eye out for the ‘Playing Dad’ series and check out a few snaps of my baby daughter.