She's here!!!

Finally I've found some time and motivation to give this blog an update.

Wow, what a month it's been! First the birth and now we have a crying, pooping, breast-milk guzzling little girl – Anna!

After all the classes and reading, you'd think we were over prepared for the birth. But of couse, things didn't happen the way we'd imagined. First of all, Anna was 8 days late. And let me tell you, those were 8 long days – after 40 weeks of waiting, I was ready to get her out! We were trying everything – spicy food, raspberry leaf tablets and were enquiring into acupuncture. On the eve of the big day, we invited friends over for a pizza night to kill some extra time. Before they left, my friend April decided to do a little birth dance as a joke in front of my belly and 6 hours later my water broke!

We'd prepared for early labour to last quite a few hours so when I told David that my water had broken at 4.30 am, his response was: “Great! But can I go back to bed now?” But my contractions came on straight away and were strong, lengthy and regular. I knew things were progressing too fast but I needed to convince David and the midwife (of course, our midwife Alex was on leave, so we had her colleague Kate instead). We stayed at home for about 5 hours, using the TENS machine and hot shower for pain relief. Finally, I was begging to be taken to hospital as I knew that I didn't leave home soon, I wasn't going to be able to move.

At 9.45am, we met Kate at the birthing centre. She had drawn a massive hot bath so that's where I stayed for the next 3 hours. By 12pm, I was fully dilated and was told to start pushing. After 2 hours of pushing (along with cave-woman howling, and squeezing the crap out of Dave's hands) Anna was still stuck so they had to intervene before she became too distressed. I was wheelchaired to the delivery suite and a doctor came in to help. By 3pm on the dot, Anna was born with the help of a vacuum.

I'll never forget the way she felt in my arms – warm, sticky, slightly shivering, crying helplessly. She's my little girl! Our beautiful little girl! Since so many people had told us we were having a boy, I asked to check again to make sure it was a girl. We were also pleasantly surprised by her beautiful blue eyes. We've always said: wouldn't it be nice if she had dark hair and blue eyes and sure enough that's how she turned out! Fingers crossed that they'll remain blue. Most people say that she looks like David, but I think she looks like me when she's asleep and she also has my fingers and toes :)

So the roller-coaster begins. The first 2 nights were spent in hospital. It was so strange to be away from David after the most important event in our lives, especially since we haven't spent a night apart for about 6 years. The midwives in the hospital were fantastic! Always patient when I had to ring that bell to ask for help. In those 2 days I learned to breastfeed, comfort and settle, burp, and bathe Anna. David was very hands-on, staying with us during all available minutes of the visiting hours, eager to change her nappy and whatever else he could help with. And on the third day it was home coming time!

My parents had stayed over after the birth to cook and clean our place, which was great help. So with the fridge stocked to the bream and all our bits of junk tucked away, we sent them back home with the aim to learn to take care of little Anna on our own.

The first 2 weeks were quite challenging – especially on the second night when she cried for 6 hours straight and nothing would soothe her. We'd take turns, each settling her for 2-3 hours and slept wherever and whenever we could. There were lots of watching late night tv and having her sleep in our arms – David even stayed up one whole night holding her hands so that she'd sleep through the night. I think we were so focused on getting her to sleep that she wasn't getting enough food and didn't put on weight fast enough. It didn't help that she was slightly jaundiced which made her even more lethargic.

Midwives Alex and Kate took turns visiting us, every couple of days, as a part of the postnatal care. They were great help – always giving tips and reassuring that we were on the right track. Alex also put us onto a 3-hourly feeding routine which eventually helped her with weight gain and also better night sleeps – in fact, she's been a great night-sleeper ever since, able to fall back asleep by herself after each night feed which means I'm the only one getting up to feed her and David is getting a good 8 hours of sleep a night.

As we gain more confidence, we started to take Anna out for short walks, and eventually taking her to the beach and other outings with the car. She'd always find it fascinating to be outside, often looking around with a curious look on her face. And riding in the pram/car/sling would always put her to sleep – this girl loves movement! In fact, we found that walking her in the sling is often the only way to put her to sleep during the day but we'd always struggle to fish her out to put her in bed after she's fallen asleep – there's gotta be a better way!

After 4 weeks of leave, it was time for David to go back to work. I was a bit worried at first – he's been my rock during all the difficult moments, would I be able to cope on my own? So the day before he returned to work, we took the bus to the city with the pram which I handled mostly on my own as practice. We found that bus drivers and other passengers were always happy to help with us getting on and off, and as long as we were near shopping centres, there'd always be a convenience parents' room for me to breastfeed or change her nappy.

So on that Wednesday, with Anna aged 4 weeks and 3 days, I took her to the weekly local mothers' group meeting on my own. It wasn't the best of days to be out – raining and windy, which meant I'd have to push the pram with one hand and hold the umbrella with the other – but I was determined to do it. Well, she was happy enough with the bus ride but started to cry as soon as we got off. But what I've learned over the last few weeks is that: if all else fails, give her the boob. And sure enough, she was happy to feed each and every time. The mothers' group was designed for babies 0-8 weeks old, after which you are 'graduated' to form your own social group. We'd go around in a circle, introducing ourselves and our babies and talk about what we've been through. On hand are 2 experienced midwives, answering any questions and giving tips along the way. The meeting is held at the local Early Childhood Health Centre, which is also a place for regular check-ups and weighings.

This first outing gave me a great boost of confidence and I've been out a few more times with Anna since. Earlier this week I also attended a Sleep and Settling class at the Karitane Centre (a postnatal centre offering free parenting classes and a 24-hour helpline) and we've been practicing some new techniques so that Anna learns to fall asleep in her bassinet – so far it's been going very well.

Anna's first-month birthday marked one of her first major milestones – in Chinese culture a 'full-month' party is held to celebrate the completion of this most challenging of times for both baby and parents. Anna met most of my relatives, including great grandma, and received lots of red pockets with money – so much in fact that we're planning to start her own savings account!

And on exactly 1 month and 1 day of age, Anna smiled for the first time! She had always smiled as she fell asleep but they were more like a reflex for her to practice using her facial muscles. But this time, she smiled at us! It was just the sweetest sight but of course when we tried to get a video of it, she just wouldn't do it again. She's been smiling (and even laughing for the first time yesterday) ever since, she's just the happiest little girl – especially after she's fed and changed.

So this brings everyone up to date for the past month. We'd like to thank everyone for your gifts, cards, and well wishes – she's the most loved baby on earth! Our Anna is thriving and she's changing all the time. We're proud of everything that she does – including poo explosions! We hope to be able to keep up with this blog to give you more updates and also to keep a record for us.