Simon先生の英語ブログで学ぶ使える英語表現ーThe New Arrival pt 3/3 「新生児」

Hello everyone,

This is Simon. This is the third part of my blog post “the New Arrival”.

It seems we had dodged a bullet again (we were thrice blessed?) According to the doctor there were no defects in the heart. He did however he find a small hole, but said at this stage it is nothing to worry about. Though I did have my doubts, I took his word for it. I called my mother with the good news. She told me she knew a guy that had a hole in his heart his entire life, and it never gave him any problems. Yes, apparently that’s a thing. Needless to say hearing that made me feel relieved.

Fast forward to a few months later. It was about a month before the due date and the baby was getting close to 3 kilograms in weight. We were worried because our daughter was just over 4 kilograms when she was born, making the birth quite the ordeal. Fortunately, our doctor knew about this and decided to induce the birth two weeks early. At the final checkup, the baby was 3.3 kilograms, so we hoped for an easier birth this time.

It turned out to be more of an ordeal though. My wife was in hospital for four days on birth inducing medication before finally starting contractions. On that day, I got the call to go to the hospital and raced there as fast as I could. This time seemed so much tougher than before, as my wife was exhausted from the four days of medication, and the baby just wouldn’t come out. However, just as I was starting to worry that we might need surgery, the little bundle of joy decided to enter our world.

It was a baby boy! But, he was no little bundle of joy, he was a great big bundle of joy: 4086 grams, both bigger and heavier than our daughter. No wonder it was so hard on my wife. I really do take my hat off to her.

I looked forward to doing all the baby things again. I wasn’t nervous like the first time, because I had done it all before. I was experienced. “It should be child’s play, like taking candy from a baby.” I thought. But, starting it all again, suddenly I felt wet behind the ears. It was like I had forgotten everything and was a complete novice again. And also, no two babies are alike. Our daughter, right from the start, would guzzle down a bottle of milk in minutes and then sleep for 3 or 4 hours, our son on the other hand likes to take his time, occasionally stopping to space out and stare vacantly at the ceiling for long periods of time. He could well be a chip off the old block.

He is also a lot more sensitive, so doesn’t sleep anywhere near as soundly our daughter. He is a joy in every sense of the word, but we are now discovering the true meaning of sleepless nights. I think it will be quite some time before we get to sleep like a baby again…

 

To “dodge a bullet” means to narrowly avoid a difficult or dangerous situation (e.g. The wildfires were headed straight for our town, then at the last minute, the wind changed direction. It looks like we dodged a bullet this time.)

The phrase “that’s a thing” means that something actually happens often. It is often something unexpected or surprising. In my case I found out that there are people live their entire lives with a hole in their heart.

To “take a person’s word” for something means to accept or believe what they say, even though you may have doubts (e.g. He promised me that wasn’t late for the event, so I took his word for it.)

The phrase “child’s play” means something that is very easy to do (e.g. I thought this test was going to be difficult but it turned out to be child’s play.)

If something is “like taking candy from a baby”, it is very easy to. It is often used to describe doing something that is a little unfair or underhanded (e.g. Getting him to pay double the price was like taking candy from a baby.) However, it can also be used for normal everyday things.

To be “wet behind the ears” means to be young and lacking experience (e.g. The new recruit thinks he knows everything, but he is still wet behind the ears.) Of course in my case it isn’t completely applicable, unless you consider 50 to be young, but I thought it would be a good expression to introduce.

The phrase “a chip of the old block” means a child who has a very similar character to his/her parent, but usually the father. It is often said jokingly with a sense of pride (e.g. He is in trouble again for arguing with his teacher. It looks like he is a chip off the old block.)

To “sleep like a baby” means to sleeps very well.

 

For this entry, I tried to include some more idioms or phrases related to children and babies for your study. I hope they come in handy.

 

See you next month!