Some happy news to share:

A few days ago, Lauren and I arrived back from hospital, lowered the drawbridge, carried our precious cargo over the shark-filled moat and started adjusting to our roles as milk sommeliers, nappy changers and sleep-deprived sentries.

That’s right.

Baby Grundy has finally arrived at Fort Grundy!

The last few days have been a whirlwind.

Night-times in particular.

Baby Grundy has zero respect for the Fort Grundy guard schedule and she has the uncanny ability to launch a surprise attack with zero notice.

(good thing I have an archive of 500+ daily emails to use as bedtime stories to broker a peaceful truce)

These night-time ambushes haven’t been the only surprise though.

One of the most surprising moments from the last few days was when Lauren turned to me and said:

“Tom, I can feel the baby kicking”

I glanced up and saw Baby Grundy asleep in Lauren’s arms.

“But she’s asleep?” I replied.

“No. I mean I can feel Baby Grundy kicking inside me. Just like she used to kick when she WAS inside me”.

Lauren has felt this a few times now. It reminds me of a very similar phenomenon called Phantom Limb Pain.

Depending on which study you read, 75% to 95% of amputees still feel pain or discomfort in an amputated limb as if the feeling is coming from the actual body part which is missing.

Which is impossible. Just like giving birth then feeling a baby kicking inside you is impossible too.

Clearly there’s something strange going on here.

And it prompts the question:

If a new mum can feel a baby kicking when there’s no baby to kick, what does this mean for other feelings and sensations?

And, more to the point, how do we know when our perceptions are real and when they’re imaginary?

I’m not saying I have the answers. But I am saying these are interesting questions to ponder.

Answers by carrier pigeon to Fort Grundy please.

That’s a wrap for today. I can sense another ambush coming…