The Baby Files | A New Addition

Kelly is the advertising production manager for Woman’s Way. Over the past nine months she has been blogging about her pregnancy. The wait is now over and we’re very pleased to congratulate Kelly on the birth of a beautiful baby girl! Kelly will now be writing about the ins and outs of being mum to a newborn in her new monthly column. 

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Monday the 5th September 2016 is a day I’ll never forget, because it’s the day we got to meet our beautiful daughter Ava. To say we’re in love would be an understatement; we’re completely overwhelmed by her.

Ava was worth every pain, restless legs, every appointment in town, and most of all, every stitch. She is my world, I can’t describe the love I feel for her, and it’s very overwhelming.

The Friday before my C-section I had to attend my last day of daycare. I miss going into the hospital and the midwives, they are lovely and helped me so much throughout my pregnancy. I had to get a steroid injection for the baby to make sure she was covered and ready to be brought into the world. I had to take a tablet at 10pm on Sunday night and another tablet at 6.30am on Monday morning to keep the acid inside my body at bay. I was also fasting from the night before, but I’m used to that anyway from breakfast club.

Arriving at the hospital for 9am on Monday 5th September 2016, the nerves were pretty much at breaking point. I’m lucky Joe is very laid back, but I think he was just keeping his nerves in the back of his mind as he was trying to keep me sane.

We were brought down to the theatre at about 12.30pm and were met by a lovely midwife called Nicola. She went through everything that was going to happen. We were really calm and we just couldn’t wait to see her. Instead of an epidural I was advised to get a spinal block as I had hemorrhaged really badly with Ryan.

At 1.41pm our beautiful baby girl Ava entered the world weighing 6 pounds 12 ounces. In that instant our whole lives completely changed for better. To feel that love all over again was amazing. Joe was beside himself that he was able to give Ava her first feed, while I was finishing up in surgery.

A little while later we were brought back to the ward and the midwives got me settled. I felt really good, no nausea and no weakness; I really didn’t feel like someone who had just come out of surgery. That night Ava had to have her blood sugar taken as I had gestational diabetes and unfortunately they were too low. The doctor came to check her out and advised me that she would have to be taken to the NICU for the night. My heart was broken, but I knew it was for the best. As her blood sugars were still too low she had to be in an incubator for a few hours, and then she was transferred to a cot as she was responding so well. It was great that myself and Joe were allowed go down and feed her in the NICU. On Wednesday morning she was allowed back on the ward with me and we spent our first night together before being let home the next day.

After one day at home we had to go back to the hospital for Ava’s heel prick test. I was an emotional wreak anyway that day and looking at this nurse taking lumps out of my baby’s foot and my little lady screaming crying is something I’ll never forget. Both myself and my mam, were roaring crying too. The things new babies have to go through is so unfair, but you just have to remember it’s all for the best.

Coming home I was a bag of mixed emotions. As a new mother I just wanted everything to be perfect for her. I’m so lucky that Joe is a dad already, so he is the calm one and I’m the one checking to see if she’s okay every minute of the day. A few weeks later that hasn’t changed and I don’t think it ever will.

I’m delighted that Joe just made the new paternity law and had two weeks off, he also took a weeks holiday so it was great having him at home with Ava and myself. Getting used to our new little family has just been brilliant, I couldn’t imagine life any other way.

We didn’t know how Joe’s little boy Jamie was going to take to her and we were a bit nervous, but he has shocked us all. He absolutely loves his little sister. He loves holding and feeding her with Joe or myself. He always kisses her on the head as he passes her by, and tells her how cute she is. It’s adorable.

Ava has her days and nights mixed up. She sleeps all day long, and is awake most of the night. She doesn’t cry all night but she does like to have the bottles that she has missed out on from during the day. She has a little temper already, which is just adorable. She is a hungry little baby and is always looking for more food. For the first two weeks she had 90ml bottles made every four hours, but she would only take these at nighttime. During the day we might get 40-70mls into her, but I would have to wake her for them. At nighttime she devours the 90mls. I have also started giving her an ounce of water before her feed once a day; they say this is great for their little bodies and it flushes them out. I have her on the Cow & Gate Comfort (colic & constipation) and it seems to be really agreeing with her. I do tummy time with her three times a day. I lay her either on the bed or on my chest. She is very strong already so I really need to keep a hold of her incase she throws herself forwards or backwards.

No one ever really tells you the expense of how much a baby really costs. I had a full wardrobe of clothes ready for her. I was told she was a big baby so I didn’t buy much newborn clothes and of course newborn is the only thing that fits her at the minute.

I’ve been using the water wipes on her bottom and they seem to be working really well with her. I buy the pack of four in Tesco’s for €10, it’s such good value. For some reason Tesco seems to be the cheapest for her food, how they can charge more for the exact same food in different shops is scandalous. Tesco’s have deals on the Pampers nappies every week as well. I’ll be doing my baby shopping in there.

I always thought you had to wash the cord, but they told me in the hospital not to use a thing on it. When she was ten days old it fell off and it’s healing really well. I was terrified of bathing her, but in the hospital the midwife gave Ava her first bath and she kind of liked it. I was told I only needed to give her a bath twice a week. I did buy her a baby bath, but the second time I gave her a bath I just had a basin beside me and I found it easier with her sitting on my lap and washing her down, she seemed to like that better as well. I only use Johnson’s on her, but I did notice she had dry skin on her feet and legs (like me) so I put a bit of E45 on her. When we went for her two-week check-up with our GP he told me that it wasn’t dry skin, it’s just a newborn thing as she’s been swimming around in water for 37 weeks. The GP was really happy with her and told us she’s thriving. At least we know we’re doing a good job!

Two weeks after Ava was born we were able to go into Lombard Street and get her birth certificate. All you need with you is your PPS number and some form of identification. The birth cert costs €20.

The next day I was able to ring the client identity services to get her PPS number, so I could apply for her under six GP card.

Okay, don’t feel guilty about having your first date night with your partner. It felt really great getting dressed up, putting on a bit of make-up and just feeling good about myself. Although there were a few tears as my jeans still don’t fit me, but I’m only two and a half weeks after a C-section, so I had to keep telling myself that. I left Ava with my Mam and I was warned not to ring or text, and in fairness I only sent two texts throughout the night. Joe and myself went into Temple Bar, had a meal and a few drinks. It’s not often we would go into town, so it was a real treat and we had a great night.

Ava’s still not in a great routine but I have found that giving her an ounce or two of water in the morning and evenings works wonders with her. I think she might be getting a little constipated, and the water really clears her out. Always listen to your mother with tips, trust me they might sound weird, but I can guarantee you they will work. Remember, they learned from their mothers who didn’t have Google!

When Ava was three weeks old, I knew when she woke up that she’s wasn’t okay. At 12.30pm the night before, she was really out of sorts and just not a happy baby. Four o’clock that morning she had an awful nappy and when she woke up the next day she had a very bad cold; sneezing, coughing and not breathing great. Then she threw-up her first bottle, which really wasn’t like her. She had been asleep most of the day and taking some of her bottles, but not much. Call it a mother’s instinct, but later that afternoon I knew she was getting worse. I brought her down to see our GP who told us to get her into Temple Street so they could have a look over her. My heart broke; she was too small for all this.

Arriving at Temple Street I had a million things going through my mind, but the girl at reception made me feel a little better by telling me how serious they take newborns being sick and that we wouldn’t be waiting long. Around 15 minutes later a nurse called us in and she assessed Ava. She had no temperature, and her blood sugars were perfect. She brought us straight through to see the doctor. The doctor was lovely and really put our minds at ease. She gave her a full examination and told us it was a bad cold and tummy bug that she had picked up. Where she got it was beyond me. They let us bring her home where we monitored her ourselves. The next day she had perked up a bit, but still had the sniffles. God love her, if I could have taken it away from her, I would. I’ve only got the rest of her life to be worried about, but I will always go by my instinct. As they say mothers know best!

Reflecting on the last four weeks I think I had a touch of the baby blues the first few days after arriving home. I didn’t have much time with Ava in hospital as she was in the NICU, and coming home and everyone wanting a cuddle was very hard for me. At the moment I still feel this way, but I think it’s got a lot to do with losing Ryan and just wanting to keep Ava safe. I love her so much and I think it’s just going to take time for me to share her with everyone.

For any expectant mommas out there, make sure you get as much sleep as possible while you can, as you really don’t get much sleep when your little bundle arrives. The days are just flying by and I’ll be back sitting at my desk again, before I know it!