Firstly, apologies for the long overdue blog... it's fair to say I've had my hands pretty full with juggling 24 hour a day baby care, keeping a check on my own business, helping my husband and step-dad set up a new building business (City Coast & Country), general running of the house (something usually James does the majority of but as I'm home a bit more I've taken on a few more chores so he can spend more time with India when he's not out at work) and of course a fair amount of socialising with friends and family. Whoops that sounds like a list of excuses doesn't it!!
Anyway I'm here now, poised with my laptop in front of me and the gorgeous India sound asleep on a pile of cushions beside me after her morning feed, so before she wakes let's see how much of this blog I can get written... Now you must appreciate that everything takes longer than normal now, that's one thing I've established since being a Mum, and not necessarily for the reasons you're thinking. For me it's that I often find myself staring at India not being able to believe she's mine and wowing over how perfect she is. If I'm not doing this then I'm probably kissing her head, cheeks, lips, ears or stroking her hands - it's totally addictive. Babies are so super scrummy, especially when they're yours!!
Ok so having had a good stare and tickle behind her ears between paragraphs here goes, my account of the first ten weeks of motherhood...
It's been the most diverse and colourful ten weeks of my life. As you have probably guessed from the gassing above my heart has been melted. From the moment I took my little girl into my arms in the birthing pool and fed her whilst she was still attached and in the water with me the bond I have felt has been immense. Coming home with her was a little strange, as it was less than 24 hours previously that I was pregnant and we were deciding what to have for dinner and now we're sitting in the lounge with a take away to eat after an exhausting day and a tiny newborn baby that we, between us, have created - how amazing is that!! I'm pleased how confident James is at holding her already, it's so different and so much easier when they're your own. We had James' parents, my Mum, step-dad, sister, brother and his partner James all come and visit that evening for a quick cuddle with their new granddaughter and niece. My brother lives an hour and a half away but couldn't wait until the next day as was so excited, bless him! It's safe to say that from that first evening we know she is going to be a very loved little girl, how lucky we are to have such a great family!
Over the first few weeks we had heaps of visitors and went through what seemed like hundreds of tea bags and gallons of milk. I'd imagine India was held by about 40 different people within the first two weeks, so she is already used to lots of different voices and smells etc. Lots of people hold back on visiting to start with as assume you'll be so busy and perhaps a little stressed trying to see everyone, however in actual fact we rather enjoyed the constant company and introducing our new addition to everyone and we're lucky that we have big families and lots of friends so this stream of people remained constant for a good while, keeping us entertained and India regularly cuddled!
We were lucky in that before India was born James had been sub-contracting for the same building firm for a while but their work had dried up so he had no work to go back to - you're thinking 'lucky??!!!' and don't get me wrong usually this would have been a worry for us, however embracing our new arrival and the opportunity for James to spend time with us as a family for much longer than most fathers get the chance to (5 and a half weeks in total!) we got on with it and had lots of fun. Plus during this time James and my step-Dad decided to set up City Coast & Country and they've had heaps of work ever since so it's worked out much better for us and he has far more flexibility to be able to spend time with us. We're so lucky both being self-employed and the future for us is exciting, with building our businesses so in the future we can spend even more time together as a family - we're certainly one step closer to the dream so will just keep working hard to get there.
After ten weeks we are getting a decent amount of sleep each night now, as India has got herself into a rough routine and each night is sleeping slightly longer stints. At the moment she goes to bed after a feed at around 8ish and goes about 5-6 hours until she wants feeding again so wakes at around 1am-2am and then wakes again roughly 3-4 hours later. When she does wake, James gets up and changes her nappy whilst I usually nip downstairs to put some washing on and then I feed her and James goes back to sleep. She is only ever out of her moses basket for a maximum half an hour during the night now and goes straight back to sleep once I put her back. I don't think it will be long where we're just getting up once in the night, so that will be fab! I must tell you though it wasn't always this easy! To start with for the first couple of weeks at least she would not sleep in her moses basket, in fact the only place she would sleep was in our bed and quite often on my chest (I know! The midwife would have one mad but I'm a light sleeper and know my instincts would have made sure she was safe). This meant that James was on the floor for the first week as he moves about alot more in bed than me and also there just isn't room for the three of us. These in bed cuddles were lovely to start with but did start to take their toll and I didn't want James on the floor and he wouldn't sleep in any of the spare rooms as wanted to be near us, so we had to persevere with putting India in her moses basket and deal with the crying and her not settling. We didn't get much sleep at all for the first month to six weeks I guess, however for me this was probably more than I was getting before giving birth as at least my restless legs were not quite as bad. James however, was very tired and struggling. Now though things are great and we're used to getting up a couple of times each night so even if this carried on for months we'd probably be happy with it.
She has been a bit of a poorly little thing in her short life so far with two horrible colds and an upset tummy, she's been to the hospital once and doctors twice! We felt really bad as one thing we don't want to do is be fussy parents so when she was poorly we were probably a bit too relaxed about it, not realising how essential it is that any signs of illness with newborns must always be checked out by a doctor. We felt terrible at one point and I had a few days of feeling like a totally crap parent, which wasn't helped by continual advice about obvious things that of course we knew, but as I was feeling inadequate at the time made me feel all the more rubbish as a Mum. Touch wood now she's totally healthy and we're confident that we know what were doing, so no more feeling like a failing parent, it's all a learning process and everyone does things differently!
In terms of a routine, we're not big fans of a strict routine as feel that she will fit in a lot better with the different and exciting things we do as a family if we do things a bit more ad-hoc. This may not work in the long run and we appreciate once school starts etc we will have to have a bit more of a routine, but for now she's just a baby and it's going well - we've been out to many restaurants and pubs for lunch and dinner, we've taken her on a sponsored walk, to a wedding, engagement party, BBQ in Herts, evening walks on the beach, late evenings at other peoples for dinner and at each she's slept in her car seat, bouncy chair or on sofa's or piles of cushions and she's happy as larry and very used to noise around her. There was no way we were going to tip-toe around her, making a rod for our own backs when she's sleeping at home, so we're so pleased how easy going she is in these situations.
I think my favourite day was about a month ago when India gave me her first proper smile, it was amazing and the best feeling to get something back as apart from snuggles, sleeping, crying, feeding and soiling nappies newborns don't do much, so by 5 or 6 weeks you are gagging for them to interact with you. Now you can't stop her smiling and quite often chattering away in her own little baby language and she looks all the more gorgeous!
In terms of her activity she is showing signs that she'll be an early crawler, as by about three weeks old was pushing her head up when laying on her front and is so strong that she also moved herself around 90 degrees and now she wriggles right across our bed when on her front - cushions around her and on the floor at all times now!
I had her weighed last week and she was 11.4lbs so she's piling on the weight well and hasn't lost those lovely chubby cheeks. Her hair is still lovely and dark, as is her skin tone and her eyes are really blue, although I've been told they can change colour up to 6 months old (it would be weird if she had blue eyes as I've got green and James hazel, blue is lovely though). It was obvious when she was first born that she was James' daughter but she's changing all the time and I'm pleased to say that she looks very like my sister Yaz and me when we were babies, so hopefully she'll be a good mix. I love nothing more than when someone says she looks like me in some way, so thank you especially to the lady at Titchwell Manor who was the first to say she looked just like me, you made my year! ;-)
The overall point I would like to stress is that if you are contemplating having a baby and are in a good relationship ready for a secure upbringing of a child then 'do it!' - from someone that didn't think I wanted children I can confidently say that this is the best thing I have ever done and as soppy as it sounds I feel as complete as I'd imagine I ever can, so thank you India (that's a song isn't it?!).
There is no doubt heaps more to say but I've been writing for almost two hours and she is starting to stir so I'll publish this now and write again soon when there will be even more to tell I'm sure...
P.S. Having spent a lot of time taking photos of India I have decided that I am also going to make the most of my photography A-level and my love of the hobby by turning it into a small business, taking portrait and action photos for families at cost effective prices so they can afford some decent photos, helping them avoid the rip-off companies charging thousands for prints in some cases. The ones in the blog are just using my iphone but below is one that I took of India and my nieces and nephews for my Mother-in-Laws 60th last week, which we had printed on a 12"x 48" canvas! If you're interested in having some photos taken then just email me on kaori@visionodyssey.com and we'll sort something out...
Anyway I'm here now, poised with my laptop in front of me and the gorgeous India sound asleep on a pile of cushions beside me after her morning feed, so before she wakes let's see how much of this blog I can get written... Now you must appreciate that everything takes longer than normal now, that's one thing I've established since being a Mum, and not necessarily for the reasons you're thinking. For me it's that I often find myself staring at India not being able to believe she's mine and wowing over how perfect she is. If I'm not doing this then I'm probably kissing her head, cheeks, lips, ears or stroking her hands - it's totally addictive. Babies are so super scrummy, especially when they're yours!!
Ok so having had a good stare and tickle behind her ears between paragraphs here goes, my account of the first ten weeks of motherhood...
 |
| Yep, she'll sleep anywhere! |
Over the first few weeks we had heaps of visitors and went through what seemed like hundreds of tea bags and gallons of milk. I'd imagine India was held by about 40 different people within the first two weeks, so she is already used to lots of different voices and smells etc. Lots of people hold back on visiting to start with as assume you'll be so busy and perhaps a little stressed trying to see everyone, however in actual fact we rather enjoyed the constant company and introducing our new addition to everyone and we're lucky that we have big families and lots of friends so this stream of people remained constant for a good while, keeping us entertained and India regularly cuddled!
We were lucky in that before India was born James had been sub-contracting for the same building firm for a while but their work had dried up so he had no work to go back to - you're thinking 'lucky??!!!' and don't get me wrong usually this would have been a worry for us, however embracing our new arrival and the opportunity for James to spend time with us as a family for much longer than most fathers get the chance to (5 and a half weeks in total!) we got on with it and had lots of fun. Plus during this time James and my step-Dad decided to set up City Coast & Country and they've had heaps of work ever since so it's worked out much better for us and he has far more flexibility to be able to spend time with us. We're so lucky both being self-employed and the future for us is exciting, with building our businesses so in the future we can spend even more time together as a family - we're certainly one step closer to the dream so will just keep working hard to get there.
After ten weeks we are getting a decent amount of sleep each night now, as India has got herself into a rough routine and each night is sleeping slightly longer stints. At the moment she goes to bed after a feed at around 8ish and goes about 5-6 hours until she wants feeding again so wakes at around 1am-2am and then wakes again roughly 3-4 hours later. When she does wake, James gets up and changes her nappy whilst I usually nip downstairs to put some washing on and then I feed her and James goes back to sleep. She is only ever out of her moses basket for a maximum half an hour during the night now and goes straight back to sleep once I put her back. I don't think it will be long where we're just getting up once in the night, so that will be fab! I must tell you though it wasn't always this easy! To start with for the first couple of weeks at least she would not sleep in her moses basket, in fact the only place she would sleep was in our bed and quite often on my chest (I know! The midwife would have one mad but I'm a light sleeper and know my instincts would have made sure she was safe). This meant that James was on the floor for the first week as he moves about alot more in bed than me and also there just isn't room for the three of us. These in bed cuddles were lovely to start with but did start to take their toll and I didn't want James on the floor and he wouldn't sleep in any of the spare rooms as wanted to be near us, so we had to persevere with putting India in her moses basket and deal with the crying and her not settling. We didn't get much sleep at all for the first month to six weeks I guess, however for me this was probably more than I was getting before giving birth as at least my restless legs were not quite as bad. James however, was very tired and struggling. Now though things are great and we're used to getting up a couple of times each night so even if this carried on for months we'd probably be happy with it.
She has been a bit of a poorly little thing in her short life so far with two horrible colds and an upset tummy, she's been to the hospital once and doctors twice! We felt really bad as one thing we don't want to do is be fussy parents so when she was poorly we were probably a bit too relaxed about it, not realising how essential it is that any signs of illness with newborns must always be checked out by a doctor. We felt terrible at one point and I had a few days of feeling like a totally crap parent, which wasn't helped by continual advice about obvious things that of course we knew, but as I was feeling inadequate at the time made me feel all the more rubbish as a Mum. Touch wood now she's totally healthy and we're confident that we know what were doing, so no more feeling like a failing parent, it's all a learning process and everyone does things differently!
 |
| After our first family sponsored walk ;-) |
I think my favourite day was about a month ago when India gave me her first proper smile, it was amazing and the best feeling to get something back as apart from snuggles, sleeping, crying, feeding and soiling nappies newborns don't do much, so by 5 or 6 weeks you are gagging for them to interact with you. Now you can't stop her smiling and quite often chattering away in her own little baby language and she looks all the more gorgeous!
In terms of her activity she is showing signs that she'll be an early crawler, as by about three weeks old was pushing her head up when laying on her front and is so strong that she also moved herself around 90 degrees and now she wriggles right across our bed when on her front - cushions around her and on the floor at all times now!
I had her weighed last week and she was 11.4lbs so she's piling on the weight well and hasn't lost those lovely chubby cheeks. Her hair is still lovely and dark, as is her skin tone and her eyes are really blue, although I've been told they can change colour up to 6 months old (it would be weird if she had blue eyes as I've got green and James hazel, blue is lovely though). It was obvious when she was first born that she was James' daughter but she's changing all the time and I'm pleased to say that she looks very like my sister Yaz and me when we were babies, so hopefully she'll be a good mix. I love nothing more than when someone says she looks like me in some way, so thank you especially to the lady at Titchwell Manor who was the first to say she looked just like me, you made my year! ;-)
 |
| Most recent photo from last week |
There is no doubt heaps more to say but I've been writing for almost two hours and she is starting to stir so I'll publish this now and write again soon when there will be even more to tell I'm sure...
P.S. Having spent a lot of time taking photos of India I have decided that I am also going to make the most of my photography A-level and my love of the hobby by turning it into a small business, taking portrait and action photos for families at cost effective prices so they can afford some decent photos, helping them avoid the rip-off companies charging thousands for prints in some cases. The ones in the blog are just using my iphone but below is one that I took of India and my nieces and nephews for my Mother-in-Laws 60th last week, which we had printed on a 12"x 48" canvas! If you're interested in having some photos taken then just email me on kaori@visionodyssey.com and we'll sort something out...
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