Alexander Sidney Morris
Son of Victoria and Rob Morris
Born on the 11th of November 2011, at Watford General
Hospital, weighing 8lb 1oz, Brother to Charlie, 3½
ob and Victoria have been a couple ever since they spent the millennium together in Thailand, and they’d always planned to have two children. “I didn’t want there to be a huge age gap, but I wanted to be able to devote time to both of them,” says Victoria. When their first child, Charlie, was old enough to start nursery, the couple felt that the time was right to start thinking about a second.
“We were totally ecstatic about the pregnancy. You never know whether it’ll take a long time to happen, and thinking that this would be the last one for me made it feel even more special. I even bought extra pregnancy tests just to see the blue line a few times over!”
Rob and Victoria have a toy business, Happy Hopperz, making inflatable bouncers in the shape of animals for pre-school age children, and Victoria found that this pregnancy was more tiring than her first. “I had a toddler to run after and also a business to run, so I couldn’t just sit on the sofa with my feet up whenever I felt that I needed it.”
Charlie had been born at 38 weeks, so Victoria was prepared for another early baby, but this time she went a few days overdue. “I’m pleased about it now, because Alex has the most special birth date.”
At the time, however, Victoria was keen to bring on her labour. “I tried everything – fast hill walking, clary sage oil, reflexology.” When it finally happened, Victoria wasn’t sure whether her first twinge was a proper contraction so she carried on with her planned trip to the supermarket. On arrival at the store, though, she realised that this was no false alarm, and called husband Rob. “I thought I’d better time the contractions, and they were five minutes apart. Rob drove Charlie home, and I drove my own car, contracting all the way home, with Rob following me, just in case!”
Having left Charlie with his grandparents, Rob and Victoria set off to hospital, right in the middle of the rush hour. “At this stage, my contractions were two minutes apart. When we arrived they sent me to triage and said that they would monitor me. As the midwife left the room, I felt the urge to push. I was rushed to my own room, and the midwife had just enough time to examine me and determine that I was fully dilated when my waters broke.”
Alex was born shortly afterwards, just 45 minutes after Rob and Victoria had arrived at the hospital. “It was all very quick. I was in total shock, and so was Alex – they had to take him away to be resuscitated. I’d planned to have an epidural but everything happened so fast that I only had time for gas and air.”
“After ten minutes of sheer panic, we were able to get our new baby boy back for our first cuddle, and we fell totally in love with him.” Just to make the moment even more special, Alex’s birth date was 11/11/11.
Back at home in St Albans, The Morris’ have had to adjust to being a family of four. “Coming home for the first time was very emotional,” says Victoria. “Seeing Charlie in his new role as the big brother melted my heart. I spent the first night just staring at Alex, and hoping that he would wake up, so we could have a cuddle. The next morning all four of us stayed in bed until midday, having breakfast in bed, watching Mickey Mouse and having cuddles. It’s a time that I’ll never forget.”
Alex has slotted right into the family routine, and running their own business means that Rob and Victoria get to spend plenty of time with their children. “We’ve got a little ritual, where we all pile into our bed in the morning for warm drinks and lots of play before Alex has his morning nap and Charlie goes to nursery. It’s very special being able to do this and work from home at the same time.”
“Charlie is besotted with Alex, and Alex adores Charlie,” says Victoria. “Second time round, you know how quickly they grow up, so I’m trying to live in every moment with Alex and take as many pictures and videos as possible. I love being able to make my children smile, and giggle uncontrollably, and give them the confidence to grow as individuals.”
