After her trip into York Hub she popped into Habitat to see if there were any bargains to be had but even with 20% off everything she wasn't tempted with anything.
Wednesday 29 June 2011
Della goes to work
This week Della went to both her Mam and Dad's offices and met lots of new people. She wasn't that keen on the typing her dad made her do and has already decided she doesn't want an office job.
After her trip into York Hub she popped into Habitat to see if there were any bargains to be had but even with 20% off everything she wasn't tempted with anything.
After her trip into York Hub she popped into Habitat to see if there were any bargains to be had but even with 20% off everything she wasn't tempted with anything.
Della and her grandparents
Della has now met all of her grandparents and they have all showered her with gifts and love...
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| Gran Anne just a few hours after Della was born |
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| Her Gran Helen has a cuddle |
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| Granda Browne has a knack of keeping her calm and quiet |
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| Granda Collins looks quite at home having a cuddle |
Monday 27 June 2011
Della becomes official
So today - on her three week birthday - Della became official and her birth was registered. She seemed to enjoy her trip out (it would be the hottest day in yonks and she wasn't too happy about the heat!) but she liked popping into the official building, having her dad sign a few important looking documents and walking away with a certificate to say she exists - it doesn't seem enough somehow...
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| Just before she was a legal real person |
Three weeks old
So Della is three weeks old today. She was weighed by the midwife on Saturday and was 9lb 1oz. By our calculations this means she is putting on 2oz per day. This is quite remarkable as the medical professionals are normally very happy if a baby is putting on one oz per day. However, Angela and her boobs might think that one oz per day might be enough Della does not agree and is determined to feed as and when she wants.
She was even fed outside for the first time today, her Gran Anne commented on what lovely weather it was for her first picnic - even if she did only get milk - again.
She was even fed outside for the first time today, her Gran Anne commented on what lovely weather it was for her first picnic - even if she did only get milk - again.
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| Spot the pirates in the background... |
The midwife was also very happy with how Della was progressing - the little tinker even started trying to turn over while the midwife was her - she was very impressed with this and said that she is rather young to be trying out such new moves.
The midwife then discharged us. It was actually quite sad and at 4am on Sunday morning as Della and I had some more food we thought long and hard about how pregnancy is over, being a very tiny newborn is over and how now we are now just a family trying our best and hoping we don't break our child. It is a very odd feeling and quite reassuring that people trust us to take care of such a little life.
A fine trip out
Well last Thursday Angela and Della had a trip out to the children's centre to see what was going on and find out what fun activities they could get involved in. This was the journey back...
Thursday 23 June 2011
At last...
It may have taken all day but Gran Anne and Mam have eventually got Della to sleep. It has taken a lot of food to get her there and if only she would get rid of her wind she would be as peaceful as she looks! The good news is that she is continuing to pile on the ounces - about one a day at the minute so we really can't complain!
We are now having a sausage sandwich ready for the next round!
We are now having a sausage sandwich ready for the next round!
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| Here she is a few days ago having some tummy time |
Monday 20 June 2011
Meeting Grandad Collins
Grandad Collins popped in for a visit the other day, and when Nick turned up we thought it would make a nice photo opportunity. For this shoot, Della chose her funky red and white stripy sleep suit. Both versatile and stylish, it's a perfect outfit for all occasions.
And a short video of Della not doing anything in particular but a bit of bouncing
Della's first proper trip out...
...to ASDA for some lunch. We picked this for a spot of lunch to get us out of the house, and just in case she started crying or needed a feed as it is a very child-friendly cafe. As it goes she was brilliant and didn't make a sound. She also got some lovely compliments about how cute she was from random women behind her when we were queuing)
Also, it was fathers day and Simon got a lovely card and photo from Della (of Della, which is perhaps a bit presumptuous of her. Maybe he would have liked a Top Gear DVD, or gardening gloves...)
Also, it was fathers day and Simon got a lovely card and photo from Della (of Della, which is perhaps a bit presumptuous of her. Maybe he would have liked a Top Gear DVD, or gardening gloves...)
Friday 17 June 2011
Our not so little lady
Della is putting on weight. When she was born on 6th June she was 8lb 3oz, then on the 11th june she was 7lb 12oz (it is very normal to lose weight after birth) then yesterday she was a very healthy 8lb 4.5oz.
We were very proud of her doing so well. It can take up to 21 days to get back to birth weight but our little lady has made it in 10 days!
My milk must be mint!
We were very proud of her doing so well. It can take up to 21 days to get back to birth weight but our little lady has made it in 10 days!
My milk must be mint!
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| Della also learnt to bounce yesterday... |
Tuesday 14 June 2011
A nice walk in the park
Della went out to play in the sunshine for the first time today. All bundled up in the buggy her Gran Anne and Granda bought she enjoyed watching her mam and dad eating ice lollys. She also discovered the bowling green and thinks she might be quite good at bowls when she grows up.
Monday 13 June 2011
Della's first week birthday
So far in her first 7 days Della has: burped; cried; farted; sneezed; coughed. She has also met lots of her family and a few family friends, had a bath which she didn't enjoy at all, gone international via Skype, had a Guthrie test, lost 200gms, seen lots of 24 hour news in the middle of the night, had some lovely presents, but she's mainly made her mum and dad very happy (as well as making them roll around with laughter when she hiccups and farts at the same time with a very cute confused face on!)
Today her dad had to go off to work for a couple of hours for the first time since she arrived. Her mum and her gran Anne took her off to the hospital to have her tongue tie snipped. Not the nicest 1 week birthday present, but she did well having a bright light in her face and a strange doctors hand in her mouth.
The tongue tie (Ankyloglossia) meant that her tongue didn't stick out fully or go up to the roof of her mouth as much as it needed to, which made breast feeding more tiring for her and painful for mum. Nipping this tie doesn't cause any problems and only a very short burst of pain for her, but now means she feeds much more easily with no pain for Angela. She has though discovered her full voice now, and screams louder than ever before (so we've probably been lucky the last 6 days she wasn't at full volume!)
More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankyloglossia
Roll on the next 7 days (but maybe with a bit more sleep!)
Today her dad had to go off to work for a couple of hours for the first time since she arrived. Her mum and her gran Anne took her off to the hospital to have her tongue tie snipped. Not the nicest 1 week birthday present, but she did well having a bright light in her face and a strange doctors hand in her mouth.
The tongue tie (Ankyloglossia) meant that her tongue didn't stick out fully or go up to the roof of her mouth as much as it needed to, which made breast feeding more tiring for her and painful for mum. Nipping this tie doesn't cause any problems and only a very short burst of pain for her, but now means she feeds much more easily with no pain for Angela. She has though discovered her full voice now, and screams louder than ever before (so we've probably been lucky the last 6 days she wasn't at full volume!)
More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankyloglossia
Roll on the next 7 days (but maybe with a bit more sleep!)
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| Dad examines the new tongue |
Friday 10 June 2011
The story so far...
Della was born on the 6th June 2011 at 18.22 measuring 49.5cm long and weighing 8lb 3oz.
The journey to the hospital
People say labour isn't like you see in the films. That it is long and you need something to distract and entertain yourself through out. So me and Simon has quiz books, Reeses peanut buttercups, the digital radio and a multitude of other electronic devices. In the end my hospital bag was not touched until Della was about two hours old and i needed a wash and some Lucozade.
My waters broke - with a bang/ pop - at about 1pm on Monday 6th June. Simon made it home within 20 minutes and within that time I called my Mam and had to hang up in pain. The contractions were coming about every 4 or 5 minutes by the time we got to the car. The drive down was painful - I was in the back with Simon preparing me for every speed bump!
We arrived at the hospital and obviously there was nowhere to park. Simon pulled into a hashed area and we just got out. The water kept coming and the pain kept increasing. The sight of me trying to walk with water gushing and in screaming pain already makes me laugh. At one point I had to lean on a wall while the contraction came and went and I remember looking in the window wondering what the people inside must be thinking with a screaming northern girl with her face pushed up against their window.
Some random women came to help and one arrived with a wheelchair. At last i was at hospital!
Labour
I was 5cm dilated when we arrived and was taken straight to a delivery room. I had an amazing midwife - she didn't fuss, told me things would get worse before they got better and i completely trusted her. She also brought gas and air!
Simon was a trooper through labour. He held my head, handed me water and as ever just did everything right and read my mind. Although I didn't talk to him the whole time! I knew to save energy for pushing.
At 17.20 my official second stage started - the pushing bit. The midwife didn't start counting this until as late as possible as I needed a short second stage. I pushed my heart out. For 30 minutes. Della was nearly there but just not quite. Intervention was needed to make sure the baby came out as quickly. Within a couple of minutes. We went from me, Simon and the midwife to about 12 people in the room - bright lights, surgical masks and scary looking machines.
I needed ventouse and then some stitches but 30 minutes after all the scary people arrived in the room Della was on my chest and crying. We were a family.
The stay in hospital
I had two nights in hospital - I'm a complicated one so just needed to make sure everything was ok. Hospital was actually quite nice. To be able to ask questions of the midwifes was reassuring and hearing all the other screaming babies made us feel that about anything is normal with a newborn. Especially at 4am when everything just seems so overwhelming. And actually the food was pretty good! Who doesn't like mash served from an ice cream scoop?!
Journey home
Simon went and got the car, parking it back in the same bay as when we arrived at the hospital and had to stagger into the labour ward. Della was happy enough being strapped into her car seat and leaving the room she'd spent most of her life in, to go out and meet the outside world. On the journey home she listened to her first song on the radio (Mumford and Sons Little Lion Man was on Radio 1) as well as a heavy downpour of rain.
Arrival home
We got home and Della seemed to like all the hard work we had put into getting the house ready for her. She seemed extremely impressed with the new lawn in the garden. We settled in pretty quickly and in fact within an hour of home time we had our first visitor - a man from the bank who came to value the house. Having a new baby was the perfect opportunity for Angela and Della to hang out in the room and distract him from looking up towards the ceiling and noticing the cracks!
Even putting the washing on is a new experience when you have to try and remove some VERY ground in poop.
Some video of Della being awake and starting to take things in
Some more of her first pictures
Some pictures from her first Friday and Saturday
The journey to the hospital
People say labour isn't like you see in the films. That it is long and you need something to distract and entertain yourself through out. So me and Simon has quiz books, Reeses peanut buttercups, the digital radio and a multitude of other electronic devices. In the end my hospital bag was not touched until Della was about two hours old and i needed a wash and some Lucozade.
My waters broke - with a bang/ pop - at about 1pm on Monday 6th June. Simon made it home within 20 minutes and within that time I called my Mam and had to hang up in pain. The contractions were coming about every 4 or 5 minutes by the time we got to the car. The drive down was painful - I was in the back with Simon preparing me for every speed bump!
We arrived at the hospital and obviously there was nowhere to park. Simon pulled into a hashed area and we just got out. The water kept coming and the pain kept increasing. The sight of me trying to walk with water gushing and in screaming pain already makes me laugh. At one point I had to lean on a wall while the contraction came and went and I remember looking in the window wondering what the people inside must be thinking with a screaming northern girl with her face pushed up against their window.
Some random women came to help and one arrived with a wheelchair. At last i was at hospital!
Labour
I was 5cm dilated when we arrived and was taken straight to a delivery room. I had an amazing midwife - she didn't fuss, told me things would get worse before they got better and i completely trusted her. She also brought gas and air!
Simon was a trooper through labour. He held my head, handed me water and as ever just did everything right and read my mind. Although I didn't talk to him the whole time! I knew to save energy for pushing.
At 17.20 my official second stage started - the pushing bit. The midwife didn't start counting this until as late as possible as I needed a short second stage. I pushed my heart out. For 30 minutes. Della was nearly there but just not quite. Intervention was needed to make sure the baby came out as quickly. Within a couple of minutes. We went from me, Simon and the midwife to about 12 people in the room - bright lights, surgical masks and scary looking machines.
I needed ventouse and then some stitches but 30 minutes after all the scary people arrived in the room Della was on my chest and crying. We were a family.
19.57 An hour and a half old:
20.25pm left alone with Dad for the first time:
The stay in hospital
I had two nights in hospital - I'm a complicated one so just needed to make sure everything was ok. Hospital was actually quite nice. To be able to ask questions of the midwifes was reassuring and hearing all the other screaming babies made us feel that about anything is normal with a newborn. Especially at 4am when everything just seems so overwhelming. And actually the food was pretty good! Who doesn't like mash served from an ice cream scoop?!
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| Don't be fooled, at 4am I didn't sound as cute as I look! |
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| By 8th June we were a family ready for home |
Journey home
Simon went and got the car, parking it back in the same bay as when we arrived at the hospital and had to stagger into the labour ward. Della was happy enough being strapped into her car seat and leaving the room she'd spent most of her life in, to go out and meet the outside world. On the journey home she listened to her first song on the radio (Mumford and Sons Little Lion Man was on Radio 1) as well as a heavy downpour of rain.
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| Della looks like a giant ball of wool in a hat knit by her Mam, a blanket knit by her Mam and Gran Anne and a Cardi by her Great Aunt Em |
Arrival home
We got home and Della seemed to like all the hard work we had put into getting the house ready for her. She seemed extremely impressed with the new lawn in the garden. We settled in pretty quickly and in fact within an hour of home time we had our first visitor - a man from the bank who came to value the house. Having a new baby was the perfect opportunity for Angela and Della to hang out in the room and distract him from looking up towards the ceiling and noticing the cracks!
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| Della loves the bedroom furniture her Grandad Collins got her. |
Even putting the washing on is a new experience when you have to try and remove some VERY ground in poop.
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| The official announcement to our neighbours that, at last, our baby had arrived! |
Some video of Della being awake and starting to take things in
Some more of her first pictures
Some pictures from her first Friday and Saturday
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