Day two and beyond

Henry is doing the newborn thing, eating and sleeping and making his parents believe he’s the perfect child and will always be this easy going. 

Daisy and Clara are smitten, arguing about who gets to hold him first. Daisy has perfected her baby multi-tasking technique, as illustrated below.

Now, into the future as a family of five!

The birth

So, this is how it went down. On Monday evening Dwayne was putting Daisy to bed and I was putting Clara to bed, sitting on the floor next to her. She took a good half hour to go to sleep, but after a dozen rounds of ”Round and round the garden” she finally drifted off at about 8.30pm. I had time to think ”Yay, Netflix time!” before I felt a strong braxton hicks contraction, a POP, and a gush of water. Huh.  Bugger. No Netflix time.

I went in to get Dwayne, and luckily Daisy had also fallen asleep just minutes before. We got organised, Lisa from next door came over to watch over the kids until Anna could get here from Narara to stay the night. I had a quick shower and change (by the time I got to the bathroom ALL the water was out and I was standing in a puddle). I called the midwife and explained that even though I didn’t have any contractions to speak of I’d rather come straight in, because of how quickly Clara came and how quickly things could escalate.

As we drove in to Gosford hospital, regular mild contractions 3 minutes apart started in the car. We arrived around 9.30pm, waited half an hour or so at the brand new birthing suites for a room to be ready for us, and then got to meet the midwife on shift. Contractions were regular at 2-3 minutes but short, only about 40 seconds each.

Long story short, between 10pm and midnight we hung out in the room, I rested for half an hour or so on the bed, Dwayne had a sandwich (which the midwife got for him, he was too scared to leave the room this time!) and a power nap, contractions got a little more intense and regular at 2 minutes apart but still short.

I paced the room and commented on the rubbish timing. I am SO not a night owl, I prefer to sleep in the night and work in the day. I just wanted to go to bed and get back on it in the morning really.

Around 12.30am the midwife asked if we were happy for her to go on a break and have a rest. Everything was going steady and contractions were not too intense, so I said of course, no problem. She went to get me a heat pack and a bottle of water first.

While she was out of the room I asked Dwayne to come stand with me so I could take contractions with my arms around his neck for support, not so much because I needed it yet but because I wanted the closeness and it’s nicer than hanging onto furniture in any case. We took two or so contractions like that together before I felt a weird sudden movement in my pelvis, very similar to what I felt when Clara suddenly decided to be born. The midwife came back in the middle of the next contraction to find me hanging around Dwaynes neck, humming my way through a contraction which had intensified by the double and added some downward pressure. Once it was over, I advised her she probably shouldn’t take that break after all. 

I said I really need to be on my knees RIGHT NOW, I got my trousers off  and got on my knees on the bed hanging over the risen headbord. And that was it, my body instantly started pushing the baby out and half an hour later at 01.11am he was here! And I saw him underneath me right away and realised he was a boy. A boy!

Henry Hjalmar Cassidy. 

He’s here!

He’s here, and he’s a BOY! 3820g and 56cm, born at 01.11 this morning. A big and tall BOY. (The boy part hasn’t quite sunk in yet).

Birth story to follow.

Swedish midsummer

Celebrated Swedish midsummer in Fountaindale yesterday. It was a fantastic day, even with mostly grey skies and a top of 14C outside and the torrential rain that finished the day off. It was also Daisy’s 6th birthday! And it reminded me of the fact that we were meant to be at a similar celebration in Sydney on the very same day, six years ago... and instead we ended up having Daisy on the rainiest day of the year. 

Hedgehog stayed put though.

Am I nesting? Or just being practical?

Attempting to take it easy on my first day of maternity leave. Instead, I am sorting through the MOUNTAINS of toys and dress-up clothes the girls have acquired over the years. Need to get rid of some stuff, especially since it’s Daisy’s birthday on Sunday and we all know what Nana will be bringing to the party...

Home-stretch

We’re clearly coming up to the home-stretch. I can tell both because tomorrow is my last day at work (finally!), and because my poor body is starting to retain water like there’s no tomorrow. 

I can barely make a fist for my swollen fingers (would need an angle grinder to get my rings off) and my ankles have this squishy puffy quality to them, with decorative sock marks at the end of the day. My usually bony and sinewy feet haven’t quite disappeared yet, but they’re well on the way.

37 weeks

Baby shower

My lovely, lovely friends arranged a baby shower for me yesterday! I haven’t ever had one before, and it did feel a bit awkward at first to be center of attention, but it turned out to be a marvellous day. The girls had prepared some baby crafts and I got some presents (mostly hand-me-downs) a beautiful henna tattoo on my belly. 

35 +1 weeks

My body is coming apart ever so slightly. I need a 50 metre start up to go from sitting to my normal walking speed. An aching pelvis here, a sore hip there. My whole body contracting and making it hard to breathe if I walk to fast. Nothing severe and nothing consistent, but always something. And then there’s Hedgehog, stretching with his/her head in my left hip his/her feet under my right hand side ribs, until the little feet slide off the bottom rib with a PLOP! Marvellous.

Other than that, still feeling great! Starting to turn my thoughts to the actual birth of this little creature. Can’t wait to find out how it goes this time.