Introducing Ava Grace Robinson!

Dec 5

Introducing Ava Grace Robinson!

My Journal

I’d like to introduce you to Ava Grace Robinson, the newest member of our family! I officially became a Mum on the 22nd of October, 2015 at 4.46pm.

My parents are besotted with their first grandchild :)

Ava took her sweet time arriving 7 days after her due date weighing 6lb, 4oz. I have to admit I was getting a little impatient by the end of the week! My parents were here, and although we tried to get out and about, it was getting harder on my 41 week pregnant body, so by the end we were pretty much waiting around for our sweet baby’s arrival.

I was getting determined to try speed things along, so we went for a big uphill walk, ordered spicy Indian food and Mum massaged my feet inspired by reflexology tutorials to stimulate labour on YouTube…! (I secretly think it was the massage that did it). In any case, that night at 10pm my labour started.

19 hours, many contractions and pushing… later, our darling girl was born. The first few hours were a mixture of relief, immense joy, excitement and overwhelming love. I’m so happy with how my labour went, I managed to give birth with no medication, and the midwives at the hospital were incredible.

From the moment they announced ‘it’s a girl’, I was completely overwhelmed with love for beautiful Ava. We were all crying, it was such an incredible moment.

We spent two days in hospital, Sam was allowed to stay in our room which was so lovely. It was honestly like staying in a hotel, even the food was pretty good! I loved having the help and support from the nurses, Ava was sleeping well and I was a bit sad to leave!

Coming home I was really emotional, because even though we’d only been in our home a few months, this was the moment when it really became real. She was ours, life would never be the same!

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The first two nights at home were hard. I’m not going to lie, they were really difficult. My milk wasn’t ‘in’ properly so she screamed all night. We didn’t get any more than an hour sleep for the first two nights at home. I think we looked at each other, and thought ‘what have we gotten ourselves into?!’ Thankfully she was SO much more settled when my milk finally came in properly, and we felt more alive again!

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This parenthood thing is such an emotional rollercoaster! You want so much to be doing the best you can for your sweet child, and you are basically thrown in the deep end to work it all out.

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Now we’re 6 weeks in, she’s sleeping 4-5 hour stretches at the moment (I’m praying this lasts) and I feel like we’re getting into something that resembles more of a routine.

We leave for NZ tomorrow! I’m praying we have a smooth flight and I’m so excited for Ava to meet more family.

I can’t wait to start my small wedding season, the first is only a week away!

Bring on the sunshine (hopefully) in NZ!

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If you are interested, below are some things I have found incredibly useful these past few weeks, I’d love to know if you have any recommendations too!

Solly Baby Wrap. So good. A little overwhelming at first, but really easy once you get the hang of wrapping. Ava loves it, we’ve gone on many walks while she sleeps soundly on my chest.

Love To Dream Swaddle. It was so hard for me to swaddle Ava, she would always escape her hands. So this was a life saver! Completely hilarious looking, but really easy to pop her in. She seems to like her hands up and this prevents face scratching.

I’m excited to get my hands on a few Bonds Wondersuits when I’m back in NZ, I’ve heard great things about them!

This pump has been awesome! It’s helped my milk supply, it’s fast, efficient, and is battery operated too. I’ve also been downing this tea, and Fenugreek tablets too which have helped.

We are yet to buy a pram, I would love any recommendations!

6 weeks in and I’m trying my best to keep calm and hold myself to a standard of grace, not perfection. If you’ve read this far, thank you for sticking with me. I appreciate your support more than you know and I hope you have a wonderful holiday season! xx

 

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  1. Diane Davis says:

    My daughter has chosen the Bug a boo pram. They are easy to manoeuvre, light, folds up easy and rides very smoothly. We are first time grandparents too. Thanks for sharing your journey and hope all goes well on your flight home to Aotearoa.