Keira Charlotte

Keira is 12 weeks old - yep - 3 months already!!! Unbelievable! She is such a little girl now, hard to imagine that in such a short time so many changes can happen to little babies. She is sleeping 12-13 hours a night, which makes for a very happy family unit! We can even have dinner and open a bottle of wine...luxury!

One of the cutest times is when Keira wakes up in the morning and she 'calls out' to us she just lies there and chats away happily to herself for a little while. If you leave her to long though – watch out! Her face starts to crumble, the bottom lip quivers then she bellows like a air horn! She seems to have a pattern emerging now and is going to bed about 8pm and waking between 8.30 & 9.00 in the morning! This amount of sleep is making for a very happy little family!

She seems to sleep in only small amounts during the day but I prefer that she does that during the day if she needs to than at night!We are still receiving gifts! So many people have sent us cards and beautiful gifts and we are overwhelmed by the kindness & thoughtfulness of our friends and family. Keira is a little slow with her thank you cards as she can’t write them yet but we are ‘helping’ her.

And we now have 4 scrapbooking albums to fill so I had better get creative in my ‘spare time’ and had better get cracking with that!

Dave has been reading stories to Keira after she has a bath as apparently babies need to hear the male voice for certain sounds that females do not make. Suits me as I talk to her all day anyway..haha Dave was just about to start to read the Little Miss Brainy book to her last night but little miss brainy was snoring before he read out the title! Dave is well, he just got over a cold which for him is pretty weird, I don't think I can remember the last time he was unwell. Must be a guy thing.

We have started sadly packing away her little 0000 & 000 baby clothes as she has finally hit the 5kg mark. I really didn't think that would bother me so much but it does as some of the outfits she barely put on! Before we know it she will be running out the door in some inappropriate outfit with some young guy with a hotted up car!

We got the TICKETS !! We got the TICKETS !! We got the TICKETS !! We got the TICKETS !! We got the TICKETS !! We got the TICKETS !! We got the TICKETS !! We got the TICKETS !! We got the TICKETS !! We got the TICKETS !! We got the TICKETS !! We got the TICKETS !!

Yep - we got two platinum tickets to see Billy Joel in Melbourne on Nov 10th - 6 rows from the stage !! And another two gold tickets for the second show Sunday 12th Nov. Looks like Keira will be having babysitters that weekend !!

We are finally starting to make some changes to our back yard and the landscaper will hopefully start next week. It will take some time to finish as the landscaper is putting in all the garden beds and we will be doing the choosing and planting of plants. Very expensive this building a house idea. I have never appreciated how costly plants, turf, fences, driveways etc are!

We have been going to out Mothers Group and there are quite a few mums that we hope to catch up with regularly. With my neighbours who have all had babies since Keira was born, my friends, my friends from the antenatal classes & the mothers group we are not feeling isolated that’s for sure! In fact it is hard to just have a lazy day!

Keira has had a white coated tongue since she was born, I read that most new babies do not make enough saliva to clean their mouths for the first 12 weeks so didn’t worry too much. I asked about it recently to the Child & Maternal Health Nurse and she didn’t know what it was but did say however that she didn’t think it was thrush. I then took Keira to the GP who told me “I cannot tell you what it is but I can tell you not to worry and that it isn’t thrush” Hmm if a doctor doesn’t know what it is…how can they know not to worry??? Well it now has me puzzled as it seems to be spreading so I am going to have to go back to the doctor. It is so hard to find a doctor these days that you can ‘keep’ as a family doctor and that’s what we would like to have for Keira.

We have been taking heaps of photos but we are slowing getting more controlled! In the first month I think she barely blinked without a flash going off!

Whilst we've not updated the blog here for a while...we've just added 3 weeks worth of photos. And a small video here!

Keira's last weigh in was 5.270 kg and she's managing to get about 4 wears of an outfit before it becomes too small!

Welcome to the new site design!

We've added more photos now including Engagement, Bucks Weekend and Wedding photos as well as separating Keira's into week by week.

We hope you like the new layout.

Wow time sure is flying along. It's been a few weeks since we last posted. Where does the time seem to go?

Keira is starting to be more aware of her surroundings, focusing on those who are giving her cuddles or feeding. She's also starting to be awake more often between feeding. We've had a couple of nights where she's slept for 5 hours in between which has been absolute bliss!

We thought we'd look up some meanings of Keira and Charlotte and were amazed at what we found given that we didn't know the background before deciding on her names.

Keira - "Little dark haired one" with an Irish Origin

Charlotte - "little and womanly" of French origin. It is the feminine dimunitive of Charles, used in England since the 17th century, and made popular by Queen Charlotte, George III's wife (19th century).

When Sian rang me to tell me when the cesarean was booked in I burst out laughing. This of course didn't go down well and Sian was wondering what on earth was so funny. The reason I was laughing was that the date, 9th May, is of course Billy Joel's birthday!! Anyone who knows me will know I've been a huge fan of Billy Joel over 20 years. Once I explained this Sian understood perfectly.

Sian has now started at the local Mothers Group where around a dozen new mums get together for a couple of hours each week and chat. It's been reported that she's really enjoyed this and has even volunteered to take morning tea next week. Hopefully this week Sian will start to find some time to take an afternoon nap when Keira sleeps - just to give her that extra bit of energy she's needing more and more these days.

Now I will actually write some of this....(Sian) ...We are starting to become more mobile and are learning lots of things that we didn't know before Keira arrived. For example - not all aisles in the supermarket fit a pram! Go figure! Once you have tried it a few times and look quite silly you soon learn.

We have also never realised how many shops you simply cannot enter with a pram - imagine a large jogger in JB Hi Fi! Yikes!!

Keira is also a bit more fun now, she is more interactive and loves having bubble baths with us. I am however living in fear of the day she poops in the bath while we are in it - I know that day will come and it grosses me out! I am feeling physically better than I can remember for a long long time. We are walking more and loving the fact that we live opposite a lake with a walking path & plenty of wildlife. I even saw a Pelican opposite the house one day - I thought I had truly lost the plot and that sleep deprivation had me halucinating! For all of you thinking that I was - I took a photo..so there!

We are all adjusting well, the dogs are great with her (we supervise closely if she is at their level). Joan is still enjoying spending the time with her precious grand daughter and we are loving being a 'family' now.

Time really flies! When am I supposed to be watching the midday movies & Dr Phil? Can other mothers please advise.......please please please.

Keira is now 3 weeks old, and I'm starting to find a little time to add some bits and pieces here.

Keira was delivered by elective caesarian. During the pregnancy we were made aware of many factors which would have made an caesar a likely event. Rather than end up having some horrid experience like 20 hours in labour then being raced off for the caesarian anyway - we simply said yes to the caesar but we kept it a secret for the surprise factor. In the words of our obstetrician during the delivery "it was fate as the baby was breech and also had the cord wrapped around her neck twice". So we were really relieved as a normal delivery would have been virtually impossible.

The delivery itself was absolutely amazing - almost a carnival atmosphere. There were about 12 people in the room with Dave included of course. I was given the epidural which wasn't painful or scary at all and aside from my head and arms nothing else had any feeling at all. I described it to Dave once by saying that when you are in bed and the warm doona is right under your chin and you are ultra relaxed that is what it felt like.

The anaethetist even mentioned that "they were in" at one point and I didnt believe him. So Dave was 'invited' behind the screen and was right into the whole event down the 'business end'. Out of the two of us I am the one who isn't squeamish but boy did Dave amaze me by getting right into the whole thing without a care in the world and I even considered saying no when they asked me if I wanted to see the baby born as they would take the screens down. I did look, and I was so amazed at this little girl waving her arms in the air and screaming her head off covered in goop that I forgot that I even might have been queasy.

During the time in the hospital (which was fantastic - like a hotel!) Keira was diagnosed with Jaundice so she had to be put in the little isolette boxes in the Special Care Nursery. She was under the lights for 24 hours wearing just a nappy and some weird sunglasses. She was tested again for Jaundice after 24 hours and she had deteriorated so she had to stay in for another 24 hours this time under double photo-therapy lights. We were allowed to take her out to feed for half an hour every 4 hours. In between that time we expressed breast milk to give her as she needed as much fluid as possible. Because she stayed in the nursery for 2 days we stayed at the hospital an extra day/night to enjoy her while we had the support.

Before she was born I read a few books on breastfeeding, and to be totally honest even up until the day before she arrived I almost decided just to bottle feed. It sounded like a tiring & painful experience which was awkward for weeks before it got better. Not to mention all the thoughts of sore, leaky boobs didn't instill me with warm fuzzy 'mother earth' type feelings.

The nurses at the hospital were great at showing us how to get going and we struck it lucky with a baby who at the end of the day taught me what to do. Dave has also been so supportive it makes it easier to manage - he gets up at night to either settle her or bring her to me for a feed. We have even hired a breast-pump (ohh the joy!) and aside from not being a glamourous activity it is great for many things. I can either sleep all night and let Dave feed her, have a few glasses of wine or even feed her in a public place without fear of flashing the goods or feeding formula.

I do not know how people could do this alone. On one hand people think the mums do all the 'work' but if it wasn't for Dave and his Mum who have been cooking, cleaning, shopping I would have been unable to cope with the feeding schedule. Generally it works like this - Keira during the day is woken for feeding every 3 hours. This way at night she can 'feed on demand' and wake up when she is hungry. Because she is not able to sleep for more than 3 hours during the day she sleeps for longer during the night (sometimes 4-5 hours) and we are all happy!!!

All in all - a fantastic experience! She is almost 3 weeks old and Dave and I still find ourselves standing over her cot totally amazed at how perfect she is (and how relatively easy she was to create!)

So our rating is 10/10 for the whole experience and we want you guys to definitely try this out for yourselves!

Here's a few photos of Keira during her first week!!

We've put together a few minutes of video footage here too for you all.

Yesterday 9th May baby Keira Charlotte arrived at 2.03pm weighing 3.5kgs.

Mum and baby are doing brilliantly.

More photos to come.....

Since not a lot is happening now I thought we could try something different. I have selected ten questions and Dave and I will answer them independently. Then we have sworn that we will put them on the site as they were written. Personally it gives us both a insight into the overall experience.

Here we go....

#1 What was your first reaction to the news of the pregnancy?

Dave
Initially I was surprised, then I became excited. I remember the following day buying Dad to Be books. I never got around to reading them until a month or two before the birth. Throughout the pregnancy it’s felt rather surreal……but as we’ve only a few days to it’s tremendously exciting.

Sian
Absolute shock! Numb & excited at the same time!

#2 Name three highlights of the pregnancy?

Dave
#1 Making the trip to the UK to tell Mum & Dad. We gave Mum a charm for her birthday. It was a tiny dummy – we were hoping she’d put two and two together and figure it out. Just in case she didn’t we had a backup pressie – a jewelled Swarovski pram. She figured it out on the first go asking “Are you trying to tell me something?” - we replied “Yes” and she burst into tears. Then oddly, she got up to grab the phone to ring her best friend Margaret followed by Aunty Betty. Dad was sitting in the other chair unaware of the present that had been opened. Sian suggested that we should tell Dad what was going on. He piped up, “I know what’s going on – you’re having a baby!”

#2 Telling Jez and Lisa – Shortly after returning to Australia we had to invite Jez and Lisa around to tell them. I opened a bottle of bubbles and proceeded to wish Lisa a happy belated birthday. I must have timed it badly as Jez had taken a mouthful of sparkling bubbles when I announced “…and we’re having a baby”. He proceeded to spray the contents all over the kitchen– what a shock it must have been !!

#3 The journey of knowing you’re to become a father. From the start when we knew and we hadn’t told anyone else I was listening to a podcast (BabyTime) on the way to work each day. It was a special time, our little secret. I’ve enjoyed the chats at work between the recently new dads, and those of with more year’s wisdom. I’ve been told it’s a life changing experience. I’ve been told there’ll be lots of dirty smelly nappies. My answer to both is – I can’t wait. I’m so looking forward to the good and the bad.

Sian
The 12-week ultrasound, watching & feeling the baby kick & squirm & shopping for teeny-weeny little clothes.

#3 What would you prefer – a boy or a girl?

Dave
I’ve had mixed feelings about this from the start. The way I see it – there’s pros and cons of each. If it’s a boy, we’re going to be skint……well have you seen how many great kids toys there are? Train sets, racing sets, computers, batman, spiderman, superman.

If it’s a girl then we’re going to be skint….well have you seen how much girls wear, makeup, shoes, bags, accessories?

If it’s a boy then there’s kicking a footy, playing cricket to look forward to, yet I believe there’s always a stronger bond between girls and their fathers and boys with their mothers. All in all I don’t really mind.

Sian
I have always had a gut feeling it will be a boy but I do not mind either way. In fact girls clothes would be more fun to dress the baby up..

#4 Has your relationship changed during this experience?

Dave
Yes – I think I’ve become a lot more patient!. I think Sian and I have become closer – I think we’re even more of a team than we were before. We’re both looking forward to being family and doing all the those family things together.

Sian
It has definitely made us closer & happier than ever. The planning for the baby has been great fun and we feel truly blessed.

#5 What is your favourite item purchased for the baby?

Dave
I think the most favourite item must be the jogger – until we get around to buying that train set anyhow! They’ve thought of everything for that piece of equipment – I really appreciate the thought gone into every little detail.

Sian
This might seem like an item more for me than the baby but the most invaluable item was actually a gift from a friend and it is a pregnancy pillow. As my belly got bigger it became more and more necessary for support during rest times.

#6 What was the downside to the pregnancy?

Dave
I guess the downside to the pregnancy was the fact that Sian had to finish work earlier than what would have been ideal. It meant that she’s been off work for 3 months before the baby has even arrived. Not a lot happens at home during the day and it was hard for me to realise how bored Sian got, since I’d been stimulated by going to work every day.

Sian
Feeling & being physically sick until 24 weeks of the pregnancy! At the time I didn’t think I could continue. Feeling ill for a few days is horrid but for months just drives you mad! Keeping the pregnancy a secret whilst being so ill is also not easy!

#7 What do you hope the baby inherits from your partner?

Dave
Her sense of humour

Sian
Dave’s deep brown eyes, temperament, I.Q, sense of humour & morals.

#8 What is your biggest fear about being a parent?

Dave
I think guys struggle against the females in many ways when it comes to being a parent. Females seem to have this inbuilt ability to nurture and care, and know what to do with babies. My biggest fear is related to the fact Sian used to be a nanny for several years, and that I’ll be too afraid to make a decision in case it’s the wrong one. I don’t want to have to defer and ask Sian’s advice every time I need to do something.

Sian
Ending up with a teenager that that is out of control has no respect for anyone and that you cannot understand. But then that’s impossible right?

#9 What is something you look forward to doing as a family?

Dave
Overall I’m looking forward to doing being there for each other, sharing the moments., sharing the good moment, and sharing the bad ones. After all, without the bad ones, we have nothing to compare the good ones to. I look forward to days in the park, days at the pool, days at the beach and rainy days cosy and warm at home. Most of all, it doesn’t matter where so long as we’re all together.

Sian
Waking up everyday to crawling babies in your bed, Christmas mornings & holidays in England.

10 Any advice for other couples?

Dave
Yes – hurry up and have kids so you can babysit for us.

Sian
Keep sharing the new experiences, especially about the baby’s movements, try to maintain a budget & resist some of the opinions pushed upon you by well meaning individuals.

Baby development info –

Length is now about 49cm from head to toes. Weight is about 3400gm

I have been getting increasingly weary with the weight of the baby and getting quality rest is difficult. I am actually considering moving out of the bedroom so that Dave can get better nights sleep as I toss & turn awkwardly & breathlessly. Some tingling down my legs is the result of the baby’s head being engaged.

Getting restless & anxious about the big day now. I often find myself open and closing the drawers in the nursery just playing with the miniature outfits in there and trying come to grips with what is about to happen. Dave taking everything in true Dave style – unfazed and just in a hurry with excitement to have it all begin after such a long wait.

This is going to be a long wait from here…time seems to have slowed down considerably! We will keep you posted.

Before I forget – Thank you to those that have signed the guest book, it means a lot to us as this will be a souvenir us and our baby to keep. And to those that haven’t – Please do!