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!