I decided to make my appearance a little bit earlier than mummy and daddy expected to keep them on their toes. Mum finished work a week before I came along, she decided that today could be the day so she rushed around getting all the things done she needed to do and then lay down for a rest after lunch. I thought I had better give her a bit of warning, so I sent the water out with a big gush! Mummy phoned the hospital and they told her to come in straight away.

Mum went along to hospital expecting the contractions to start at any moment but nothing happened. The midwives gave mum a sleeping pill at 11.30pm that night and she was dozing off when I decided now was the time to kick in. Mum had her first contraction and several more and then went to see the midwives to ask them to ring for the anaethetist, because my mummy doesn't like pain. They told her it was too soon to call one and that she had to be in established labour for at least half an hour.

Half an hour later they came in to examine mummy and she was already 8cm dilated. They quickly called the anaethetist but by the time he arrived it was too late, mummy had started pushing. She used gas, not that it did any good but the mouthpiece was great for her to bite down on. The obstetrician arrived, pulled on his gloves and sat on the end of the bed, cracked a joke and then said to mummy to give another push, which she very nicely did, and out I popped, just like a pea from a pod. Around about a 2 hour labour everyone thought, really no one knows, I was born at 1.30am on Thursday 1 August 1996, I weighed 7lb exactly and I was beautiful.

Mummy said if the next one was going to be that easy that she was definitely going to try again, I try to please!! I started breastfeeding straight away while Daddy rushed around taking video and photos of mummy which she doesn't like to show anyone.

ABOUT RICHARD

Richard doing some drawing

I am now 2 years old, I don't walk anywhere, I RUN. I'm always on the go from the time I get up in the morning until the time I go to sleep at night. I don't talk very much, I don't really need to, everyone understands what I want and my big brother David talks for me!

I love my big brother David, I want to do everything he does, he is very clever and I'm going to be just like him! We love to play together although sometimes he can be a bit mean to me. I love our cat Annabelle too, she is soft and cuddly and lets me pat her, I have to be gentle though or she might scratch me.

I like to help my mum do things around the house, she says I am a big help. I love helping in the garden, especially stamping on all the caterpillars and snails that eat my mum's plants.

I love to visit our neighbours, they all have dogs, and I love dogs, I wish we had one. I love to dance to the Wiggles and I think the Bananas in Pyjamas are very colourful. I love to go to the beach and play in the waves, I have so much fun. I've put a photo of me at the bottom of this page, Mummy will update them whenever she can. Or you can go back using the HOME button and look at our Family Album which is jam packed full of photos of me and my big brother, David.

My favourite food is chocolate (I call it chock-chock).

If you would like to see some photos of me, my family and friends, just click on the link below.

OUR FAMILY ALBUM