Letter to Luca

Well Tiny Guy, today is the day you were supposed to make your way into this world...instead, you are 2 weeks & 6 days old! You are such a relaxed baby! Well, you weren't last night, but if it was a one off, I'll let it slide, just this once! Think it may have something to do with the coffee mum had yesterday afternoon. Hoping that it was the coffee lol.

Yesterday you were weighed at the chemist, and you have gained a whopping 600 grams since birth! You have hit the 3kg mark (6lb9oz). You are still a fairly chunky bub, and yesterday was probably the worst you've been so far, so thinking perhaps mum drinking cows milk doesn't agree with you! 

We got a new hot water system yesterday (finally no more boiling the jug for yours or the kids baths!) so mum & I had to go to Aunty Erin & Uncle Craig's for a shower as the new system hadn't kicked in yet. That was the first time mum had been away from you! She did pretty good! She was gone for almost an hour! She said it felt really strange! On the flip side, you & I got to spend some time together :-)

You had a good little snooze, then a bath, which you now LOVE, but HATE getting out of. You screamed the house down! I'm surprised you didn't wake the other kids up! Then I gave you a bottle of mumma's milk, which I love doing! I feel kind of left out when it comes to the nourishment side of raising you! But I, so proud of mum for what she has been able to achieve when it comes to feeding! She's a trooper, that's for sure. Hopefully you let her get some rest today, because she doesn't do too well with lack of sleep. 

On Sunday we all went on your very first shopping trip, and bought you some new clothes that we thought would fit, but are still a bit big. Plenty of growing room though. 

I think winter has well & truly hit, and I think you like it as much as me...not at all! 

Tomorrow the kids got to their fathers house for a few days, which will be nice to just chill with you & mum for the first time since you were born. Long story short, their father decided he needed to take a holiday so they have been here for longer than normal, which was great that they were here when you were born and have had more time than they would have to get to know you, but they are going to be so out of whack when they come back! They always are, and this time is sure to be worse :-( We will try and make it as easy on everyone as possible, so just hang in there buddy!

Mum is healing well from your birth, and all her stitches are gone now. She has come up to the salon with you a few times and you just sleep pretty much! Everyone who has met you is so in love with you, which makes mum & I so proud :-) we did a good job growing you :-) 

I don't think your first real smile is too far off Tiny Guy! You are such an inquisitive little man! Taking everything in during your awake times. You love love love to be snuggled, and you still love to be swaddled nice & tight. 

We both think that your eyes are going to turn brown. They are so big and dark, but we could be wrong. They will either be brown or green, or perhaps like mum's and change between green and blue.

You are getting 2 very special visitors on Friday - Aunty Tracey and her beautiful little (well not so little anymore) girl Renai. They have to come down to the Royal Children's Hospital for Renai. I can't wait to see her reaction to you! And I know Aunty Tracey can't wait to cuddle you! I think she wants to take you home with her, but that's not going to happen ;-) 

Anyway, Tiny Guy, I have to get the girls to school, and go to work myself. You be good for mummy today and let her get some sleep.

I love you more than life itself Tiny

xoxoxo

2 weeks down!

I can't believe how FAST the past two weeks have gone :( Our little boy is growing so quickly! He'll be moved out and heading off into the world before we know it! But it is exciting at the same time.
He has slotted into our family sooooo well! He truly is a dream baby. He is content and happy and relaxed, and he even put himself to sleep last night! OMG where did this baby come from lol.

The kids have adjusted so well to having a new baby in the house. There were a couple of hiccups at the beginning with Ayla and feeling sad that she was no longer the baby, but that all seems to be smoothed over now YAY.

I absolutely HATE having to come to work each day and be without 2 of my favourite people. But I know I have to do it. Oh to win the lotto and live like a queen!
Channy is recovering so well too! She amazes me, although just quietly I think she may be trying to push herself a bit too much. She said last night that she hates not being able to do stuff for herself. Not so much now, but earlier when she couldn't even dry herself. She has turned into such an independent person since I first met her. I'm so proud of her :)

So feeding routine at this point is aprox every 4 hours during the day, sometimes 3, and he only wakes at around midnight & 4/5am for feeds! See, DREAM BABY!

Bath time is becoming more fun too! That is generally my job in the afternoon, which I look forward to all day long! The first couple of days, Luca would scream blue murder every time he felt the press studs pop open. He HATED being naked! Certainly doesn't take after Channy there ;-). But now he is quite content to lie on the change table for a bit kicking freely! He seems to have settle down on the peeing on everything in sight as soon as the nappy comes off too lol. Probably shouldn't speak too soon though hey! So anyway, the bath is now a fun time for him. He is so relaxed in there now, and happy to float around and kick his little frog legs naaaaaaaw <3
I can't wait until we have hot water again (whole other story right there) so I can put him in the shower! I think he'll LOVE it!

I am absolutely loving being a mum all over again. This sounds quite tragically sad, but I don't have much in the way of photos and mementos from when my kids were small, because a certain ex-husband has taken it upon himself to keep all of that :-( And I don't want to feel like I'm trying to replace all of that with Luca, but I really am cherishing every single moment! Taking a buzsquillion photos every single day too!

Actually I found this awesome app, which I'm excited to look back on, that is called Project365 which is like a calendar but you put a photo in each day! I have set a reminder for each day so that I don't forget (yeah right, like that's going to happen lol) so when Luca turns 1 I have a running view of how much he has changed! I love the idea! Seriously, check it out! Download the app and start snapping away!

Not much else is happening in our little world at the moment! We are all living harmoniously with a newborn in the house! I don't know how, but we just are :)

So at risk of starting to prattle on about the Federal Budget from last night, I'm going to sign off now, and go & have coffee with a friend & my 2 favourites! (Thanks Budget, for making my morning at work non existent!)

I'll leave you with a photo of perfection!

Be kind to yourself and love those around you just a little bit more than you did yesterday

Bel xx

Oh I almost forgot! I called my nana to wish her a happy Mother's Day & told her about Luca and she was genuinely excited 😄 I knew she would be but there was always that small amount of doubt in my mind! She was also quite concerned that Channy had to have a c-section, which was lovely! I love my Nana! I also spoke to Mum, and although I know she would know, nothing was exchanged about the baby situation! I know everyone probably thinks that's wrong because it's their grandchild, but that's how awkard our relationship is 😒

One week on!

WOW! I can't believe it has been a whole week since the whirlwind that was welcoming Luca! This time a week ago channy was being stitched up and I was in complete awe if what she had just done and the tiny guy that was in my arms!

And life since has been a dream! He's an amazingly calm baby, who sleeps even better! He only wakes for 2 night feeds, around midnight & 5! I know right! A trooper! 

He had his home midwife visit on Monday, and we were lucky enough that it was Jillian, the midwife that spent 15 hours with us last week! He passed everything with flying colours, and he was just 10g off his birth weight (2510) which is FANTASTIC! Channy is a machine!

Tuesday Channy ventured out with Luca for the first time, as he had a doctors appointment. We have a small practice in the centre where the salon is, so she came up to work with me and just hung around for the morning. Luca was a dream while there! He slept the entire time 😃 

He apparently pee'd all over the doctor, which is his favourite thing to do -nappy off means open shot for this kid lol.

We also went to visit Kenny on Tuesday afternoon, who is our tattooist. That would have to be the hardest thing for Channy to do the whole pregnancy - not get a tattoo! So we went to show him Luca, which only made Luca look even smaller, because Kenny is a BIG guy! Now this whole experience has left me a bit miffed...not the visiting of Kenny bit, but the fact that Channy booked in to get Luca's name tattooed on her, seems to be open for public opinion! So she posted on Facebook that she is booked in for the 2nd of June, and within a matter of seconds, people thought it their right to comment that if she is breasfeeding, she shouldn't do it! Last I checked, Channy & I were Luca's parents! Not anybody else! There is this modern day thing called expressing breast milk, that mothers sometimes do, and that is the intention when it comes to getting tattooed! Not that it is anyone's business, but I can assure you that if Kenny had have said that it was not safe while breasfeeding, then she would wait forever! NOTHING is more important to her than that little guy, and she isn't about to put him in harms way for something as minor as a new tattoo! This was Channy's first experience of public opinion when it comes to parenting. Not my first, and probably not either of our last! But all the same, when did it become ok to judge, criticise and ridicule somebody else's parenting choices? I certainly wouldn't do it, so don't expect to be on the other end of it. 

I am still in complete disbelief that he is actually here, and cannot believe how content and calm he is! Looking back on my own first baby and he was a ball or tense, screaming, cranky flesh! I think that has a lot to do with the fact that Channy is so calm as well though.

The other exciting thing that happened today was his cord fell off! And he has the cutest little belly button! I love the anticipation of waiting for it to fall off to see what it looks like underneath! There is simply nothing cuter than a baby belly button ❤️

I am absolutely hating having to go to work and leave two of my favourite people behind, but I know I have to do it 😔 so the deal is Channy has to send me a buzillion photos to keep me going! And this was one of today's photos...which had me in stitches! This is one of Ayla's toy babies that is just a regular size doll, and at 1 week old he is still smaller than it! Bless.

Be kind to yourself and love those around you just a little bit more than you did yesterday
Bel xx

What a whirlwind!

It's Saturday morning and we had our first night at home with Luca. I cannot believe it has all happened! He's here! He's actually here!

Being on this side of things makes it feel like it's never actually going to happen! But it did. And we have a baby!

I still cannot get over how tiny he is! It doesn't make me feel nervous or the need to be super careful, he's just miniature compared to my porker babies!

Now I said I would go back to the birth as soon as possible, but it was all such a rush I'm not sure I actually can. The thing that blows my mind the most is the idea that waiting 15 minutes of them testing his blood gases he was OUT! He was born. But to me it seemed like a life time. Everyone who has been through it says the same thing, but it really really really did feel like forever. 

So now he's attaching for feeds much easier, which I think has a lot to do with Channy feeling comfortable at home, and not have different people tell her different things. That and the fact that he now knows what he should be doing.

Channy is feeling sore, but the worst of it is she has all this phlem on her chest that she can't cough up properly because it hurts and I think that's worse than the pain in her belly. So last night we put the humidifier on so hopefully that will help break it up a bit. 

I'm a bit bummed that I have to go to work today, but if I don't, then the million bills that are due right now won't get paid 😞