There has never been any doubt that things work differently over here in England than they do in the States, especially when it comes to babies. This was obvious in the hospital when there was no nursery for the babies to be held. This was not a problem for me, as I preferred to have Caleb with me at all times. However, I couldn't help but think of former (and future) clients, who are being monitored by social services before their babies are born with plans to remove the child immediately, and yet they are left alone 24 hours a day with their infant and no monitoring by the midwives or nursing staff. Shady! But I digress.

The most common question that I have been asked by professionals since having Caleb is whether or not I have registered his birth. Unlike in the States, I did not complete any paperwork at the hospital with regard to the birth of my son. Instead, I have to schedule an appointment with the registrar to go to the main office to complete the paperwork and be issued his birth certificate. While this did not seem such a big deal at first, I have since changed my mind.

Last week I phoned to book an appointment to register Caleb's birth. They cannot give me an appointment until 13 OCTOBER! Until that time, there is no official record of Caleb's birth and he does not officially have a name. Therefore, all medical personnel (health visitors, doctors, midwives, etc...) who visit simply refer to him as "baby." I cannot tell you how much this annoys me. Most of them don't even bother asking his name! I essentially had to make the health visitor write "Caleb" on his red book (a book to track his development, weight, length, etc...) because it just had Baby McFaddin. And the saddest part was that she almost seemed surprised that he had a name already. He was a week and a half old!

In addition to the annoyance of my child being referred to as "baby," I am also unable to register him with the US Embassy, apply for his passport, apply for his visa, or apply for his SS# until I have a birth certificate. This also effectively means that we're grounded to England until all other paperwork can be completed. While we didn't have any immediate international travel planned, it makes me slightly anxious that I do not have the option to leave the country if I so desired or needed to, in the case of an emergency.

So that's my rant for the day. Apparently Caleb doesn't really exist until he is registered with the Council here. Therefore, I guess he is a figment of our imagination until mid-October, despite any photos you may see or any lack of sleep I am getting.