First Time Father At 50

[cnmltd]

Congratulations Gerry,

I expect it will be one of the best things that has ever happened to you.

I know it was for me.

Colin

[GrahamF]

Congrats to the OP! I am curious about the name Benedict, is that a family thing? Very papal.

[MrHammer]

Congratulations!

Now get a few more!

[Carib]

Congrats to the three of you !!

[Maizefarmer]

Benedict was born at 14:41 this afternoon and weighed in at 2.75 kg. Thanks for the wise words and congratulations. Really kind. I am not quite sure what lies ahead as my wife is a filipina working here, as do I. But we are both thrilled to bits with our new son, he is healthy and mum is making a good recovery. There are some pictures posted on my blog. www.gerryb-inthailand.blogspot.com . In truth it is a fairly daunting propsect but I feel really positive about the whole thing. I cannot describe the feeling of being left alone in the nursery at the hospital with the boy in my arms, while his mother was in the recovery room. Very happy with the medics and nursing team at the hospital. Once more many thanks. I don't care immediately about the prospect of not sleeping

... oh man, oh man - is your life about to change!!! Sleepless nights will be but a small part of the chnages that are coming your way!

Congrats and wish you both all the best.

Er .. giving thoughts to issues like citizenship and choice of nationailty for "junior" (?)

[mahtin]

Congratulations.

My firstborn was just one month before I turned 52.

[normy]

You will experience a new and different type of love that you never thought was there!

[Garry9999]

Hi folks I am just about to take my wife to the hospital in Ratchaburi and later this afternoon our son will come into this world, my first child. I would be very surprised if I was unique in having my first kid at this age and am sure there are a number of guys out there who were late starters. Any advice or suggestions from your experience? Many thanks. Will be back afk for the next several hours. Once more many thanks.

Congadulations: I had my first at 42, it's a life changing experience.

[Chris Lawrence]

Congratulations mate, where is the cigar.

Garry, I am 51 with a 3 year son and 5 yr old daughter. My other two sons are 23 and 25.

I am enjoying and I feel able to put more time into the younger ones. Always busy before, still busy but more tolerant. Its just great to watch them grow and enjoy their experiences from birth an on. Did you go in for the birth; they wouldn't let me in at Chiang Rai Hospital, but were there for the birth of the others.

The best advice, is just enjoy and show as much love as humanly possible to your son and wife. When your wife comes out of hospital she will need some help, don't neglect that need. Be aware of post baby blues with your wife it may or may not come. Just be supportive.

You have a bundle of joy.... I hope you understand what I mean.

Good luck to you and the family

[roamer]

Congrats Gerry.

You've worked a miracle. You have bought a dissenting rebellious cantankerous

grouchy petulant fault-finding hypercritical persnickety exigent pestiferous irritating provoking disturbing disagreeable group of individuals together.

Oh and congratulations on the kid too

[gerryBScot]

Once more many thanks for your kind words. I just left mother, Luna, and son at the hospital (04:15 Thailand), both doing really well. He seems to be a very sweet little boy and likes to be kissed and likes to hear our voices. The nurses adore him likewise Luna's filipino chums.Yeah this is strong stuff. Answers to some questions. Yes Benedict is very papal! We are both Catholics so that's part of the reason for the name, but the real reason is the child is a great blessing for us both and Benedict means that in Latin. We reckon he was a wedding night conception too and with my wife aged 35 and me just turned 50 when we married, an immediate pregnancy was what we wanted. The priest who married us, a Thai national, he's called Panya, which I believe means wisdom in Pali, so he's going to be Benedict Panya with my wife's family name and then my surname. The boy will be able to claim British & Filipino citizenship but not Thai. We see ourselves staying in Thailand for the forseeable future as we both work here and are fairly settled and really love it here, especially here in Ratchaburi. So he's going to get exposure to quite a bit of linguistic variation :Tagalog, Ilongo, Thai, English and our home helper is from the Karen tribe speaking Kariang and Thai! But I agree with just about everything that has been said and believe you me, I am such a happy father....better get some sleep now while I still can!!!!

[gerryBScot]

Congrats Gerry.

You've worked a miracle. You have bought a dissenting rebellious cantankerous

grouchy petulant fault-finding hypercritical persnickety exigent pestiferous irritating provoking disturbing disagreeable group of individuals together.

Oh and congratulations on the kid too

Hehe that's me you are describing! Nothing to do with me, that's what the little boy has done!

[roamer]

Congrats Gerry.

You've worked a miracle. You have bought a dissenting rebellious cantankerous

grouchy petulant fault-finding hypercritical persnickety exigent pestiferous irritating provoking disturbing disagreeable group of individuals together.

Oh and congratulations on the kid too

Hehe that's me you are describing! Nothing to do with me, that's what the little boy has done!

Gerry, thats all of us. Try to get some sleep mate, its a commodity that might be in short supply in the days, weeks, months, years ahead. Nice one.

[AnnieLim]

Don't forget to post some pictures. We are all waiting.

[Vang2x]

^{_{My Congratulations to the new dad and mom!!!!!}}

[GrahamF]

What are the Thai laws concerning citizenship, lot's of countries grant citizenship if the child is born in the country regardless of the parents citizenship.

Thanks for the Benedict explanation, although I keep flashing to Howard Stern's "Pope Benedict Bela Lugosi" imitation. Sorry!

Anyway......Congrats!

[gerryBScot]

Don't forget to post some pictures. We are all waiting.

Annie thx the pics can be viewed on www.gerryb-inthailand.blogspot.com

[gerryBScot]

Ok here is a pic....an incredulous fatherwith his new born son

[ThaiBasil]

I'll never forget the first 30 minutes alone with my son in the nursery. All I did was holding him and looking at him. I have never felt any better in my life.

Congrats again and I love his name by the way.

[gerryBScot]

What are the Thai laws concerning citizenship, lot's of countries grant citizenship if the child is born in the country regardless of the parents citizenship.

Thanks for the Benedict explanation, although I keep flashing to Howard Stern's "Pope Benedict Bela Lugosi" imitation. Sorry!

Anyway......Congrats!

don't worry Graham i can imagine and look forward to checking out the Howard Stern Bela Lugosi Pope reference online. Benedict would need to have a Thai parent to claim citizenship. I guess he is in a lucky position though as he will be able to stay here with us in Thailand for as long as we're here, and he will be able to take British and Phillipine citizenship. There are no prizes for guessing which one he will be taking! One thing that is interesting is that under Philllipine immigration laws I get a year's residence free with no further questions asked on entry to the Phils so long as I enter with my wife and have a copy of the letter issued by the Phil Embassy in BKK when we registered our wedding. But we are going to stay here for a while as we are so happy here in the LOS. I got all this information here on TV, free, and now I am getting top tips on being a father! Pretty dam_n fine I say.....cigars all round!

[imaneggspurt]

Fantastic, had my daughter at 51, if you are anything like me you will love it, she is now almost 7 and my buddy, we go off for a macdonalds breakfast every sat morning and i surprise her with pick up from school sometimes,.i now have 2 females in my life that i love, for me anyway after reading about babies crying and the terrible 2s, we have been so lucky as we have had neither,...enjoy, we are unfortunatly not here for ever and speaking again for myself i know im a better dad now than i would have been in my 20-30s, good luck,.

[imaneggspurt]

Congrats Gerry.

You've worked a miracle. You have bought a dissenting rebellious cantankerous

grouchy petulant fault-finding hypercritical persnickety exigent pestiferous irritating provoking disturbing disagreeable group of individuals together.

Oh and congratulations on the kid too

Aint that the truth, no bickering, goes to prove all that negativity is just a front and thai visa members are a bunch of softies !,

[gerryBScot]

Fantastic, had my daughter at 51, if you are anything like me you will love it, she is now almost 7 and my buddy, we go off for a macdonalds breakfast every sat morning and i surprise her with pick up from school sometimes,.i now have 2 females in my life that i love, for me anyway after reading about babies crying and the terrible 2s, we have been so lucky as we have had neither,...enjoy, we are unfortunatly not here for ever and speaking again for myself i know im a better dad now than i would have been in my 20-30s, good luck,.

Thanks for that. I'll definitely be a better dad, no doubt there. If I had the boy 25 years ago or 15 or 10 or even 5 years ago I dread to think what I would have inflicted on him and his mother....I am a sober drunk. I am going to stay sober too and it's nice no one has to tell me about what I did at my wedding and now it is the same: I can remember the day my son was born. I was able to be there for both the boy and his mum. I think his mother would take him to MacDonald's every day if she could! And yeah we are all softies really. Thanks and take care