A Day In The Life of Holly

Today was Holly's first full day at home and being a weekend it also meant that the two boys were on hand all day. So the objective was to try and settle back into some sort of routine and to try and make things as normal as possible for Joshua and Brandon. That meant all the usual football clubs, swimming, tennis etc in addition to looking after little Holly. Fortunately Holly had a really good night and woke at about 3 o'clock and 6 o'clock for feeds, so surprisingly everyone pretty much had a good nights sleep. When she did wake up for a feed, her screaming did not seem to disturb the boys in anyway what so ever. So a very positive first night at home.

 

Joshua was the first to wake up today and he was dead keen to see his little sister and to wake her up (he hasn't yet learnt that you NEVER wake a sleeping baby!). Whilst they were both in our bed I managed to get this nice little picture of Joshua holding little Holly's hand whilst she sleeps.

 

Holly clasping Joshua's finger whilst she sleeps.

Once everyone was up, dressed, washed and fed we decided to try Holly out in her new bouncer / rocker chair. She seemed to really enjoy this and was very comforted and relaxed once the soothing vibrations were switched on.

Little Holly testing out her new baby bouncy / rocker.

Peek-a-boo in between the penguin and lion,

She seems so comfortable and content.

Brandon loves the bouncer because of the giraffe on the back padding (he loves giraffes).

 

Once me and Joshua left for football club Brandon decided to read Holly a little story. So he got his favourite book, "You Choose",  down from his bedroom and then sat next to her in her bouncer chair reading to her. Just how cute and adorable is this.

 

 

Brandon reading his favourite book to his little sister. How adorable.

After both boys finished football me and Brandon built up Holly's new play mat / gym and despite this being for babies - both boys were very keen to climb inside and check that it was all OK for their little sister.

Little B climbs into Holly's new play gym first.

Then big Josh decides to fold himself up like an accordion and have a try!!!

Cuddles with Mummy.

After dinner tonight we wanted to start getting Holly into the routine of getting washed, changed and pyjamas on at around 7pm like the two boys do. However instead of a wash we decided to give her a bath for the first time. I pre-warned the boys that a first bath can be a bit overwhelming for a new born baby and both of them absolutely screamed the house down on their first baths and needless to say they did not stay in the water very long. So we got everything laid out and prepared in advance and then me and Brandon filled the baby bath. Brandon was checking that the water temperature was correct.

 

To all of our amazement Holly absolutely loved her first bath. The only time she cried was if you stopped splashing water and pouring it over her body. She even seemed to enjoy having her hair shampooed. So her first bath time was a major success and made me look daft after telling the boys they were in for a screaming session.

Holly absolutely loved having her first ever bath tonight.

This was the longest I have seen her eyes open all day long.

Our teddy bear baby bath has done well having lasted for all three kids.

Joshua was getting involved and helping me splash water over Holly.

The bath absolutely exhausted Holly and as soon as she was dried and dressed, she was sound asleep. So by 7.30pm tonight we had all three kids washed, in bed and sound asleep (hence why today's blog is getting done at a sensible hour ). It seems really bazaar ti have most of the jobs done, the house semi-tidy, all the  kids asleep and some quiet time to sit down and relax. Something tells me I need to make the most of this time as it can't be this easy!!!!

Holly sound asleep after an exhausting first bath.

Overall we have had a very good day today and Holly has been a little dream. Joshua is still playing the caring big brother and absolutely loves his sister. Coming back from football he was telling me that he missed her and that he was going to marry her. So we had the chat about it being the law that you can't marry family members!!! Brandon is showing some signs of jealousy especially whenever I go near Holly. He doesn't seem too bad with Tina, however he has tried to pull me back a few times when she has cried and I have gone to attend to her. We always knew Brandon would be the one most put out by her arrival so we need to make sure he gets plenty of loving and attention.

1 Day Old and Finally Home - Holly Amber Susannah King



As I have 2 weeks paternity leave and Tina and Bubba were still in hospital, my first job for today was to do the morning school run. Once Josh and B were in school I had a few hours on my own to get some jobs done in the house in preparation for Bubba's home coming and then to do some shopping. Now previously I have had zero interest in shopping for girls/pink stuff and thus having two boys was perfect. However I have to say it was really refreshing to go out shopping looking for little girls things and buying as much pink as possible. One thing for sure is that I certainly did a good job of spoiling our daughter today as you can see in the picture below.

 



My world is turning pink after a morning shopping for Bubba.

Next job on the agenda was to get the house decorated with a few banners and balloons in preparation for my little girls home coming.

It's a girl banners (pink of course) stuck on various doors.

A had to get Bubba this lovely "Its a Girl" pink teddy bear balloon.

At this point I should probably confirm that we have now agreed on Bubba's official name which will be Holly Amber Susannah King. Anyway after a lot of waiting around I finally got a phone call at around 3pm saying that Tina and Holly were being discharged from hospital. So me and the boys raced up to the hospital as fast as we could. On route we called Tina on the hands free and Brandon seemed very concerned about Holly's hair asking if it had grown much overnight.

Joshua and Brandon were keen to carry the baby car seat from the car to the hospital.

Once in the hospital the boys stayed with Holly and Mummy whilst I dashed back to the car with all the luggage and then brought the car outside ready to bring them all home. 

Joshua and Brandon cuddle Holly whilst I dash off to get the car.

Holly puts on the lovely teddy bear coat that both Josh and Brandon wore home from hospital and then settles into the car seat for her first car ride.

Holly in the middle seat with Joshua and Brandon keeping lookout either side.

Holly with two of the little teddy bears which she has been bought. The one on the left was my little gift for her.

We wasn't home for more than half an hour and Tina decided she really wanted to go to the school winter wonderland which we had bought tickets for some time ago. Personally I was not sure it was the best of ideas for both Tina or Holly to be walking around a Xmas Fair only 1 day after being born, but who was I to argue with Tina. To be honest I think she was just enjoying being outside and showing off her baby to all the school Mum's. We took a nice slow walk to the school which meant dusting off the old Graco push chair which has served us well for both Joshua and Brandon previously. Joshua and Brandon took it in turns pushing their sister to the school, but for Brandon the steering is a bit difficult and he cannot see over the top meaning he had no sense of direction. 

Joshua and Brandon pushing their little sister to the school.

The Abacus Winter Wonderland was a bit of a blur really with loads of parents and kids wanting to see the new born baby. Holly pretty much slept through the entire event without so much as opening an eyelid once. Once we arrived there we initially queued up to see Father Christmas so Holly achieved something quite remarkable really by seeing Santa at only 1 day old (bet not many people can say that). This was also an opportunity for our first family picture with all 5 of us. Joshua was having a really good chat with Santa about the names of the reindeer's and what food and drink he was to leave Santa and the reindeer's. 

Our first family picture of all 5 of us. The boys showing us their presents from Santa.

The rest of the evening was spent with visitors wanting to come and see baby Holly and bringing her lots of gifts thus spoiling her even further. 

Auntie Lisa with Joshua, Brandon and Holly.

Auntie Lisa, Uncle David and Holly (ignore David's ugly looking Movember!).

Big cousin Matt holds gives little Holly a cuddle.

Once Lisa, David and Matt were gone our next visitors was Holly's Nanny and Granddad. Again loads more lovely presents for little Holly in addition to the lovely pink moses basket which Tina's sister used for her baby girl. 



Holly's Nan taking her first cuddle.

Granddad gets his first cuddle with his new grand daughter.

Nanny, Granddad and Holly.

Brandon has shied away from holding his little sister until tonight. However tonight he finally braved it and did a grand job of holding her and supporting her head.

Little B gets his first cuddle with his little sister.

Holly tests out her new pink changing mat.

And after a bum change she then goes for a nap in her new pink moses basket.

Butter wouldn't melt in her mouth as she sleeps away in the moses basket, something tells me tonight will not be anywhere near this peaceful.

Bubba Is Born - 28.11.13

Our family is now complete as today Tina gave birth to a beautiful little daughter. Our little Princess was born at 1:50pm on Thursday 28th November 2013 and weighed 7lb 6oz (right in between Joshua and Brandon's weights which were 9lb 4oz and 6lb 4oz, respectively). It all started at 8am today when we checked into the delivery ward at Basildon Hospital. After a bit of confusion with Tina's misplaced notes the induction process was initiated at around 10am using the gel. As with Brandon the effect was almost immediate as Tina's contractions rapidly increased in intensity and frequency resulting in a quick trip to the delivery suite and no need for the additional drip used for inducing some woman. By about 1:15pm Tina had dilated to around 6cm and within no time at all the head was showing.

 

Tina did absolutely marvellous as she did with Joshua and Brandon and I couldn't be prouder of her. At times I felt like she was breaking bones in my hands and trying to rip my shirt off whilst she guzzled the air and gas and squirmed in absolute agony. Fortunately most of her screams were muted through the gas regulator which barely left her lips until the very final push. The midwives were amazed at how quickly Tina went from 6cm to delivering the baby using only gas and air as pain relief and making minimal fuss. From the time when Tina was induced to the time of the birth, I think she beat her previous record (set with Brandon) by about half an hour. I am not sure I helped her too much as you tend to feel like a bit of a spare part in the delivery room. You try to do your best but also want to just let the experts get on with their job and do their thing. Towards the end of the delivery I had the pleasure of cutting the chord as I did with Brandon as well.

 

 

First picture of our beautiful baby daughter as she opens her eyes for the first time to explore the big wide world.

First cuddle between Father and Daughter.

Our little girl on the scales weighing in at 3.47Kg.

She lays on a changing mat as the midwife checks her over and administers the Vitamin K injection.

When she starts to cry I offer her my finger to grab which seemed to calm her down.

That delivery was hard work and she starts yawning away ready for a nap.

But before the nap she needs to have her first Mummy cuddle.

Within an hour of being born our little girl had done three poo's - one of them in Tina's hand just as she was getting ready for the first feed. As with Joshua and Brandon, Bubba will be breast fed and she took to the breast straight away when presented and immediately began suckling. After a good feed and a clean nappy she was ready for a nap in my arms whilst Tina went up for a refreshing shower. We were then moved down onto Cedar at which point I decided to nip home as quick as possible to pick up Joshua and Brandon so that they could meet their little sister before visiting hours were over. Once I had picked up the boys my first stop was to the newsagent to buy as many newspapers as I could lay my hands on, then it was a rare stop off through a drive thru McDonald's to get the boys and Tina something to eat. Finally me and the boys were heading back to the hospital to see Mummy and Bubba.

The first picture of all 3 of our children as Joshua and Brandon see their little sister for the first time.

Joshua was keen to take on the big brother role and wanted to touch and hold his little sister.

No sooner had be and the boys arrived and then Bubba received her first visitors as Auntie Nicky, Uncle Paul and Cousin Zoe all came to see the newest member of KISMET.

Auntie Nicky and Zoe with our little sleeping beauty.

She wasn't go to wake up for any of her guests and seemed very content in the cot (or bowl as Brandon called it!).

Cuddles with Auntie Nicky who I think would have walked out with Bubba given half the chance.

A lovely picture of Joshua and Brandon having their first hold of their little sister. Joshua was very good at supporting the babies head as he held her. Brandon wasn't brave enough to try on his own.

I think this little girl has a very protective big brother to look out for her in years to come.

Cousin Zoe gets a hold of our little Bubba.

Despite all these cuddles, Bubba is quite happy to just stay asleep.

As Tina's waters broke over 24 hours earlier and the baby had done a poo whilst inside her tummy, the hospital policy is that they keep mother and baby inside for 12 hours for monitoring purposes. So unfortunately I had to leave both my girls inside the hospital tonight and then drive the boys back home and get them in to bed and asleep ready for school tomorrow. All being well tonight I should be able to bring Tina and Bubba home some time tomorrow. I have explained to the boys that we need to show baby all around our house when she gets home and I asked them both if hey are ok to let her see their bedrooms. So they are both excited about showing their sister their room and all of their toys tomorrow.

 

It was a wonderful surprise to find out that the baby was a girl today. We honestly had no idea of the sex this time around and so it was a complete surprise to both of us. Obviously having two boys it was always going to be nice to have a little girl, but we went into this pregnancy with the intention of growing our family and not to just try for a girl. So we would have been equally happy one way or the other just as long as the baby is healthy. I am pleased for Tina though as I know deep down she has always wanted a daughter and at least now she can offset some of the testosterone in the house and may just get to do some girly things as opposed to boys things and sport!!!

 

Having hardly slept in 2 days I am sitting hear writing this blog whilst the boys are fast asleep in bed and toasting my little daughter on my own with a nice bottle of wine. It has been a very emotional and tiring few days and I think it is time to head off to bed for what could be my last undisturbed nights sleep for several months. Overall I have very mixed emotions, on one hand I am elated at the birth of our daughter, on the other hand I am really saddened and have shed a tear or two at the thought that my Mum will never get to meet this beautiful little addition to our family. She so loved all of her grandchildren. I remember distinctly when Brandon was born as it was the same day that she was having one her her cancer surgeries. At the time we all hoped for the best that the surgery would cure and that she would still be with us today. However the evil cancer finally got the better of her and has deprived her of meeting her new grand daughter and watching all her grandchildren growing up. So as a final thought for my Mum, "Bubba may never get to meet you in person, but she damned well will get to know about you and what a fighter you were to the very end".

 

PS The reason I keep referring to the baby as "Bubba" or "daughter" in this blog is because we are not yet 100% sure on the name. The two favourites are "Holly" and "Phoebe", although other high contenders were "Jessica" and "Melissa". Name to be confirmed shortly.