Right about now my youngest turns 10 years of age. Philip Daniel Kelly is officially in his double digits and as a mum I cannot help but to be a little bit melancholic realising how quickly my children are growing up…….

However it also lets me bring back so many memories of this little mites journey in becoming the little handsome boy he is today.

There are two stories in particular that just makes this guy that extra bit special.

How the name got picked!!

My dad passed away less than two months before Philip’s birth.

During one of my last times seeing my dad the name Philip was chosen and this is how. As I was about to leave Sweden and head back to Ireland my dad was resting on the bed. He was quite weak at this time. He was talking about how he wished I could stay until it was all over. He tried to cover up what he had said by saying he meant until I had had the baby but I knew that he really meant until such time as the cancer had beaten him………..

Ok I am back…. This is hard to even write about so a few tissues needed.

As I had given my dad a hug he put his hand on my belly and said…… Philip.

As you can imagine that meant game over when it came to picking a name.

He could have been called Radisson……

The second story, even more dramatic than the first, was how he arrived into this world.

So about exactly now, 10 years ago, our Mazda made it as far as the gates of the Radisson SAS in Limerick leaving us slightly short of reaching County Limerick.

My first contraction had come at 5.22am at which time I got up and started pulling together my packing, having a shower and pottering about before wakening Joe to get him to go milking before we headed to maternity.

With my two girls I had a long time to get organised and ready so I was in no hurry…… Should have know better when I by 7.30 was on all fours in our sitting room not managing to keep up straight with the contraction.

However still content we set off for Limerick shortly after that and even made a pit stop at the petrol station in Darragh where Joe could get himself a breakfast roll. He did ask if I wanted one too but I felt full enough and I was having a chat with my mum at the time.

Going around the roundabout in Ennis I remember hearing a story on the radio about this man who had just delivered his baby at the side of the road, somewhere in Wexford if I remember correctly. I was laughing at this fact……. But not for long.

In around the Newmarket on Fergus sign, for those of you not familiar with County Clare roads this is about 8 minutes later, I turned to Joe and said “We are not going to make it”.

Like a true Irish man he rang…… his mother to tell her to call he Gardai to escort us. He hung up and followed this by ringing her straight back saying “forget about the Gardai, ring the ambulance”.

That was that…… the morning dew was still settling over the fields and trees when Philip was delivered in the front seat of the car at the entrance gates to the Radisson SAS.

It was only once we heard his lungs open that slight panic set in trying to figure out what to do next….. oh and when we realised we actually had a Philip in our hands. Because it is also worthy to add to the story that we didn’t know we were having a boy…… only my dad knew that.

A true test to superstition!

Happy Birthday Philip!