kids

family snuggle time

first conversation of the morning..

Max:  "Mom, we can't find the pink bowls!"
Maya:  "They are in America."
Max: "There ARE cats in America."

bucket bath

Why yes, that is a smile on my face.  :)  I love my bucket bath.  

new zealand maternity care

Sharon undressing Trent for a weight check at our home.  

I have been very impressed with maternity care in New Zealand.

All midwifery care is provided free of charge (as long as you qualify for government health services, which we do with 2 1/2 year work visas).  There are charges if you decide to deliver with an obstetrician, unless you are referred by your midwife for a high risk pregnancy.  Standard midwifery care includes pre-natal visits, home, hospital or birth centre delivery, and six weeks of post-natal visits.  After six weeks, the mother and baby are transferred to a community health nurse who also does home visits to discuss any concerns about development, including checking weight and height.  She may also recommend other community based resources.

We were able to choose our midwife, and we chose a wonderful woman named Sharon Down.  I had gotten to know Sharon in our ward (church congregation).  The first time I met Sharon, she was teaching a lesson in Relief Society.  I learned she was a midwife, and I introduced myself after the lesson.  I mentioned to her that I hoped we would have another baby sometime soon.  When she told me to go home and seduce my husband, I knew I wanted her to be my friend.  She was almost as thrilled as we were when I told her I was pregnant.  Because she lives just around the corner from us, Sharon was kind enough to do all of our visits at my home.  I never have to wrestle my kids in a waiting room or schedule a babysitter.  Max and Maya loved being part of the pre-natal visits.  While Sharon would examine my baby bump, the kids would sit close by and "help".  During the delivery, Sharon was just what I needed.  She was with me the whole time.  She let me set the mood, stepped aside when I needed quiet, and took charge when I needed direction.  It has also been wonderful to have her visits after we came home from the hospital.

Another of the benefits of having a baby in New Zealand is that I felt no pressure to have another c-section, which was the delivery method with Max and Maya.  In fact, I was encouraged to have a VBAC.  I wasn't considered weird and alternative for wanting a natural delivery.  Also, although I was 10 days past my due date, I was not pushed to artificially induce my labor.

We are so glad to have a New Zealand made baby.

snow ball

It has been cold an wet lately, cold and wet.  Last Tuesday the sun came out and we decided to take a walk over to the local park.  I was worried that Trent might get too cold so I put him in this snuggly suit before putting him in the buggy.  We all thought he looked so cute, Maya wanted a photo with him.  

Our sweet Trent is growing well.  He is now 4.75 kg (10.5 lbs), most of that weight is in his yummy cheeks.  :)

We had a long stressful week #3 (also Lonnie's first week back at work).  While Trent was eating very well, every time I put him down after feeding he would scream and cry....fall asleep for 10min and then wake up crying again.  He was spiting up a lot which would then cause his nose to get plugged up, making it hard for him to eat.  I was worried that having one fussy baby would be just as hard as having two premie twins* (at least they would sleep because they were always so tired).  

I gave up dairy (very difficult for this ice cream, milk and cheese loving girl), took Trent to see a cranial osteopath (on the recommendation of our midwife and several friends).  I also tried giving him gripe water and Rhuger....nothing seemed to work.  Trent and I were both worn out and tired....and we cried a lot.  

Thankfully our wonderful midwife, Sharon, finally figured out that he might be suffering from a fast let down and oversupply.  She told me to feed him on just one side rather than both.  It worked.  Our sweet and happy little baby was back.  Of corse he still has his fussy times, especially in the evenings, but he is now also able to enjoy time talking to his brother and sister, sitting in his swing, laying on the floor stretching his legs and strengthening his already amazingly strong neck (which he has been able to hold up on his own since birth).  

It is funny to me that something so simple would cause so much grief.  You would think that I would have know to only feed him on one side, but having twins taught me to try and get your baby to eat as much as possible at every feeding.  I also only had one side available for each baby each time. 

Maya is a very proud big sister.

*There is actually nothing harder than premature twins, who take three months to learn how to breastfeed.

name

We have finally chosen a name.  Trent Tāne Mercer.  


Trent is Lonnie's middle name....or at least it was until we got married.  When we were married, I wanted Lonnie and I to have the same surname, but I also had a hard time losing my maiden name, so I kept it, replacing my middle name.  In a show of solidarity and understanding (or coercion, depending upon your point of view), Lonnie also changed his middle name to my maiden name.  Trent has found a home again with our wee little man.  Additionally, the name Trent refers to the River Trent in England.  One branch of my family on my father's side are from this area.


Tāne (pronounced Taah-nay) is a Māori name.  Having been born in New Zealand, we wanted part of his name to connect here.  Tāne is the Maori god of the forest (and when you see New Zealand, you understand how amazing the forests are).  He was part of the Maori creation myth pushing apart his parents, Mother Earth and Father Sky.  


As we considered various names, Lonnie and I joked that we were floating name ideas around like we were considering a run for political office.  We threw around various names throughout the pregnancy, discussed them with a lot of people, and even had a couple polls on this blog.  It's an interesting process to go about naming a child...obviously a name becomes a huge part of identity.  We definitely appreciated hearing everyone's thoughts, opinions, and votes on the blog polls, and in some way all of it helped us.  In the end, we tested the name out for a couple of days before making a definite decision.  It seems to fit him well. 

video from the hospital

Lonnie took this video the day our little guy was born.  

I think I sound pretty worn out, but it had been a very long day.  :)

Click on the Youtube link to show in larger format.

Photos of boy

"Mr Chub" has arrived

Our yet-to-be-named newborn boy has arrived, and both he and Alisa are well. He was born at just after 12:00 PM (Auckland time) on June 26. He is showing every bit of spending 9 days beyond his due date by weighing in at 9 lb 6 oz. His birth weight is 1 lb more than the combined birth weights of Maya and Max. With his chub, I think he truly deserves a name like Tyrone, but I'm still fighting an uphill battle on that one.

We'll share more details later, but I thought I'd include a few things about the birth story. It started with Alisa's water breaking at 3:30 AM and continued with labor steadily progressing until late morning. With the support of a wonderful midwife, Alisa stuck with her birth plan (e.g., minimal interventions, vaginal birth, baby placed to breastfeed straight away after birth). I'm still struggling to find the words to describe the feelings, thoughts, and emotions that I had during the birth...but encouraged, concerned, hopeful, apprehensive, shaken, amazed, and overjoyed are some of them.

I left the camera with photos at the hospital with Alisa and baby, but I'll post some photos tomorrow.

-Lonnie