Erin at 2 weeks

Erin eats well, sleeps well & poo's well! She is very quite but lets us know when she is not comfortable. Bath times are great when she is in the bath. It's just getting naked before the bath and getting out the bath that is a bit of a noisy affair. She is not too keen on her dummy as it is not the real thing. Breastfeeding continues to go well and I predict in no time we will have another plump little cherub living in our house. The pink pig is resident in her cot in her room and piglet keeps her company in her "wieg". Piglet has gone AWOL a number of times but that is because big brother Owen decides piglet needs to live amongst his toys. Owen loves his sister and after the 2 weeks of ignoring all except daddy, granny and the maternity nurse insists on holding his little sister and smothering her with kisses and cuddles. Mommy is slowly becoming a hit with him again too.

More Visitors

And they keep coming with gifts in hand.

Erin Gets Visitors

Thankfully a week has gone by before the phonecalls started with people wanting to come by to meet Erin. Before this I was quite happy reclining on my bed and being waited on hand and foot by the maternity nurse. Erin (and Owen) got gifts and in return the guests got tea and pink & white muisjes (aniseed balls) on a sort of crisp biscuit. Owen was over the moon about all the visitors and made sure that he got to sit in the middle of them and eat his muisjes.

Day 6 - The Heel Prick & Hearing Test

Today Erin had a hearing test which she passed and a heel prick. The blood from the heel prick is used to test for 17 disorders that are hereditery. Some of the disorders incl. those of the thyroid gland and sickle cell anaemia. Little Erin was not happy to have the blood squeezed out of her foot even though her foot was warmed up with a hot water bottle. She wailed and wiggled the whole time.

The milk is here

Thankfully last night the milk arrived. Erin was in milk heaven. She slept so well and I even had to wake her after 4 hours to have a feed. What a delight to be able to sleep again! We had a good day today. Erin is much more content with food in her tummy. She had another bath but has developed a reaction to what we think is the bath soap so now we are going to try Owen's natural products to see if this is the case.

She picked up 60grams and is still plump and pink. The midwife came around for a check-up and was very happy with her colour. She has not turned a shade of yellow either. Her pooh's have changed from sticky tar black to runny bright orange. The pampers no. 1 nappy's are great as they have a urine indicator stripe on them that turns blue when wet or soiled. What a joy to be able to know immediately if there is anything in it. I always check anyway just to be sure. I continue to feed Erin every 2 hours (due to her 7% weight loss) until tomorrow when I move to 3 hours.

Day 2 & 3

The whole household is exhausted. I am waiting for my milk to arrive and in the wee hours of the morning we juggle Erin between us trying to console the hungry little mite. She has lost 7% of her body weight and I have expressed twice to encourage the milk to arrive.

Owen is over the moon about his sister but definately not happy with my attention not being focused on him. I have tried to involve him in some activities and he has watched her bath but he mostly gets up to no good when we are not looking.

Erin enjoyed her first bath but hates being naked and cold. She gets weighed and her temperature taken each day. I skyped granny Lynne in Eshowe via the webcam and she was ecstatic to see little Erin up close. What a joy to hear her excitement. All the oldies and staff gathered around to see 2 day old Erin. I am such a proud mama.

Erins Arrival

I woke up on Wednesday morning at 1.50am and had some cramps. A paracetamol should sort it out I thought! I went to the bathroom and my waters did not break so I thought that nothing was going on. I lay down again. After the 3rd time I had the cramps I decided to time them and they were 8 minutes apart. I called Brendon who had been resident in the guest bedroom the last 2 nights so that we could both gets some sleep. I phoned the hospital and I said that I was not sure if I was really in labour. They said just come in anyway for a check as I was past due date. I phoned Peggy to come over so that Owen would not be alone. By the time she arrived I knew I was in labour. We left in a hurry as I was not going to miss having my epidural. We almost forgot to take my hospital bag and did forget to take the maxi-cosi. But we made it to the hospital in record time. We got to the hospital at 2.15am. The midwife confirmed that I was already 3 centimetres dilated and that I was on my way up to the recovery room as the anaethetist was already there for another pregnant woman. So far so good. The epidural only worked in my left side again. I could still feel the contractions but they were a lot less painful than if I had had nothing. At 3.30am I was back in the deliver room and then we had to wait until Erin decided to come out. At 6.08 Erin arrived. I big baby. I could not believe her size. No wonder I was exhausted in the last month of pregnancy. Erin and I stayed until 9.00am so her blood sugar could be tested again and then we were discharged. In the meantime Brendon had gone home to fetch the maxi-cosi and to take Owen to his playgroup. At 10.30am the Kraamzorg lady arrived. She leaves on Wednesday the 24th March. I will be sad to see her go. She does the housework, makes us all lunch, helps with Owen and Erin and irons!