LILA MARIA

Well I'm back and here are the first pictures of my brand new beautiful daughter Lila Maria. Thanks to Phillipa for announcing the news, but for those that didnt hear, she was born on Friday 21st June at 8.06pm, weighing in at 3.716kg and 50cm long. Its taken me this long to get my act together and post, but I am sure you all understand. I have been quite busy...

It all started ( well not really) on Thursday (20/07). I went to see my Obstetrician only to have him tell me it would be a while and to come back and see him after Tuesday. I was well over it by then and didnt really want to wait, but I figured I would probably be in hospital from Tuesday, which meant I would be there for my birthday on Wedensday. My darling hubby suggested we go out for a nice dinner as an early birthday celebration and last hurrah before the baby arrived, so he booked a table at Cafe Sydney which is one of our favourite places. I got all dressed up in my sexiest pregnancy outfit - the tight black dress with my boots and my cream coat and picked him up after work.

We had a lovely meal and some wine (just one glass for me) and he said he wanted to give me my birthday present. He gave me a lovely oi oi nappy bag and I was quite content with the lovely meal and the thoughtful gift. Then he tells me that he bought me another gift because it was a special birthday and I deserved it, tells me to close my eyes and pulls out a ring box - with a stunning white gold ring with 10 diamonds! I was totally shocked and super impressed that he had such perfect taste and could be so thoughtful. I then found out he had been planning it for 3 months and I had NO IDEA!! What a man! I am so lucky...

Anyway, we got home, I 'thanked him' for my diamonds and went to sleep, only to wake at 1.00am with strange pain. It wasnt awful, just a little uncomfortable, but I couldnt sleep, so I sat up and watched some bad TV. At about 6.00am, I woke my hubby and said to him 'I think we are having a baby today' and he looked at me confused. I got him to time my contractions for a while and then we called the hospital. By then they were about 7 mins apart and still uncomfortable, but not awful. I spoke to the midwife and she told me to come straight in - we started laughing. It didnt seem real... I leisurely had a shower and packed some stuff and we got to the hospital at about 9.00am. By then I was 6cm dialated and a bit uncomfortable, but it wasnt awful. The midwife was determined to get me to make a decision about pain relief then and there. I was always going to see how I went, but decided to get the gas ready. We put some music on (bjork, radiohead, jeff buckley) and just hung out - working through the contractions and talking and laughing in between - it was actually quite fun. Unfortunately, the action had stopped and I wasnt progressing.

By about midday, they suggested they try breaking my waters. I was not loving that idea and told them I had to think about it. I think it was about 2.00pm when they did and thats when it all got a bit yucky. They broke my waters (which was awful), the pain got worse and worse and I decided that I couldnt cope and didnt want to play anymore. I needed the epidural.

I have a fear of needles. I know most people do, but they make me cry. As soon as the anaesthetist came into the room I lost it and was a wreck for about an hour while he did his thing. But as soon as the drugs kicked in, I was calm and almost serene. By this time it was about 4.00pm and I was fully dialated by about 6.00pm, but my obstetrician was busy delivering another baby - so I had to wait... I was so exhausted from no sleep and the exhausting day that I fell asleep waiting for him. Just incase you dont know, you can feel the pressure of the contractions, but not the pain, so it was OK. At about 7.30 he arrived and I he got me to push. She was a bit twisted around, so it took longer than expected but it wasnt too bad. Hard work though. I have no idea how women cope with no drugs - if anyone out there has managed it - big respect!!

When she was finally delivered, they held her up for me and I still had no idea if she was a boy or a girl. I was POSITIVE I was having a boy, so the shock of a girl took a while to sink in. She was born at 8.06pm. I got to hold her straight away and it was completely surreal. I couldnt believe I had done it and my baby was here. We named her Lila Maria. Lila is a name that I really liked and Maria is after my mum who passed away 21 years ago the day before she was born. Some kind of full circle I think...

She is a lovely baby. We are so thrilled to have her. Her sleeping is a little erratic and my boobs are REALLY sore, but she is just adorable. Will write more soon, but I just wanted to get her birth down in writing.

take care

vxx

waiting...

Ok, so I officially have 6 days before this baby is due, but I was positive that it would come early and now that the time is getting so close, I am not so sure the baby realises that I want it to come early! Am feeling fine, but it really doesnt feel like anything is happening. I have had a little bit of back pain, but thats about it. So, I am starting to get a little bored - not working and not having a baby - kind of in limbo land. I know I should just relax and enjoy the quiet time, which is what I will try to do today, but I do feel like I am going a little stir crazy.

My lovely hubby took some wonderful belly shots on the weekend. I cant believe how huge I am at the moment. Its quite frightening. I will try and post some of them this week. He even took some 'nudey' ones - but I am not sure if I am game to put them on here - I will see how I feel on the day!

The strange thing is that my friend LM - whose baby was due 2 weeks after mine, had hers 4 weeks early. Her lovely little boy Harvey is fine, but smaller than estimates of my bub, so I have no idea how they cope scrunched up in that small space, or more importantly, how they get out!!
Its going to be an interesting journey to say the least, but I am ready for it (I hope!!)

The kitchen is in. It looks lovely but its not 'finished'. We need to tile the splashback and add some finishing touches like plants and maybe some kind of blackboard or pin board. It feels very white and stark, but its lovely! We were saving all our wedding presents for the 'new kitchen' so we have all new stuff - saucepans, appliances, cutlery, glasses - its like Christmas over here. Very exciting. Will post some pictures when its done, but that could be months away!

Finally, I wanted to send thoughts to Emily and Jonny. I just heard the heartbreaking news that they lost their precious baby and am devastated for them. We are all thinking of you...

Will update again when I have some news.
vxx

update

My first week of maternity leave is almost over and quite frankly, I dont know how I had time to work. I have been so busy with appointments and housework and cleaning that I am seriously run off my feet. Its been fun, but I am amazed at how little lazing around I have actually been doing!

Just thought I would check in with a bit of an update. I am feeling huge, but fine, and the doctor says there is no indication that the baby will come early, so I still have 2 or so weeks to go. I am sure they will fly by, but it is hard to believe that by the end of the month I will have a child! I have been stressing slightly that we are not 'ready' in terms of having the right 'stuff', but it turns out since the baby shower, we have plenty of stuff and I have nothing to worry about. Once I unwrapped and sorted everything, I realized we have more than enough clothes, nappies, lotions, wraps and the like to last me a good couple of weeks, and I am sure we will get more once bub is born! So we are fine! I am feeling really calm about the birth, so I hope this feeling stays with me and I dont start freaking out. I am quite looking forward to seeing how I deal with the wole experience. Should be an interesting and wonderful time!

The kitchen update - looks like it will be going in this weekend! All the yucky sanding and painting were done last weekend, so its just the actual fixing of the cabinets that needs to be done and it doesnt look like a huge job, so I should have my kitchen by the end of the weekend. I know it will look fabulous and I know how eager my lovely hubby is to finish it, so it will be a joy for the both of us once its done! I will keep you posted.

Thats all for now. Tomorrow my mother-in-law wants to take me shopping and out to lunch. It will either be fabulous or scary. I will let you know. We have never done anything just the two of us before, so it will be interesting. She is so excited about being a grandmother, so it should be fun enough!

I just wanted to send a big hug to Phillipa. She is a very brave and inspiring woman and I just wanted her to know that I was thinking of her!

Hope you all have a great weekend!
vxx