Hello Beautiful

Here are the first few minutes of Sophie Helen’s life.

Sophie was born at 11:23 PM, Monday October 6th at Puri Bunda Hospital in Bali, Indonesia.

…first image, Dad (that’s me) is cutting the chord. Everyone had told me the chord would be surprisingly difficult to cut so, of course, I overcompensated slightly — you could probably hear the SNIP! from a few miles away.

Then Sophie Helen meets her mother for the first time on the outside…

…she must have been surprised because at this point, all she did was wail, howl, weep & cry.  Athina on the other hand is tired but delighted.

The last (and biggest) image, shows mum & Sophie Helen just after baby has been whisked away for a little personal hygiene & grooming. Sophie Helen’s not crying any more and Athina can’t stop beaming with pride. Sophie Helen Puspita Hynes is now about one hour old.

Here she is again later in the morning — around 9:00 AM — October 7th being held up to the camera by her grandmother…

Athina is there in the background totally wiped out and I can’t remember if I’m taking the photo or if I’ve also slumped into the next bed.

At some point, anyway, we slept. 

Here’s Sophie Helen having her first “proper” bath and getting prettied up for the cameras. Note she’s posing but there’s nothing really on display.

In my opinion, a remarkably precocious display of social awareness and elegance — proof positive that not only is Sophie Helen beautiful, she’s also a genius. Amazing.

Freshly bathed, dressed & accessorized, little baby Sophie Helen takes a few minutes out of her busy schedule to be photographed with fans… in this case Auntie Galih and Grandma.

The next day, October 9th.

Here I am, I’m sure everyone will agree, on the WRONG side of the camera.

Some people might mistake that fixed glaze as the expression of a proud, new dad but in fact I’m just poleaxed and during the course of the day could be found in various nooks and crannies around the hospital staring just like that at tiles, vending machines and old cigarette boxes.

The other chap is the doctor. Athina, you’ve already met and, just at the bottom of the shot, Sophie Helen.

Later that day (just after we meet the doctor) we’re allowed home. Which gives us all the excuse we need to start playing dress-up with our new toy:

So there you have it: the opening hours of Sophie Helen’s life after a gruelling 41 week wait.