My 1st trip to the pools

Just about 4 months

Raniera is growing and growing! He sleeps throughout the night now which is excellent. His sleep times are 12 - 6 during the night, a 2 hour sleep during the morning, a 2 hour sleep during the afternoon, and another hour sleep during the evening.

He had his first kai of baby food two weeks ago, on the 6th of October which he thoroughly enjoyed. He has also recently had his 2nd jab for immunisation against diseases.

Last month Raniera went on his first flight on airplane to Auckland. We were up there to attend his mother's Kapahaka competition for Te Wananga o Aotearoa. My son is doing quite alot before his father, being that my first time on a plane was two years ago (lol).

Yesterday the whanau from Ratana came over to Palmerston North to celebrate my mothers 50th Birthday. We all enjoyed a meal at Valentines and the company of each other.

Raniera loves to be sung to, especially in Te Reo Maori. He has his sleeping ritual now which includes being changed into his pyjamas, cleaned up, fed to the rim and sung his oriori (Maori lullaby).

The only concern we have with our son now is his eczema on his face. He has had it on and off for the last 2 months but only recently has it become blistery and puss-sie causing him to feel itchy and irritable. Poor Raniera! I hope we get to the cause of it (allegy? wrong milk powder?) I wonder.

I cant wait untill the day he can say Papa.............

2 months old

Raniera has gained 500 grams in the last two weeks, so he is growing rapidly. He is also 62 cm long, 3 cm growth in the same period of time.

He is still very attentive and talks and smiles alot when he is happy and content. He now has a regular sleeping pattern of 4 - 5 hours during the night which is great.

Kiri has help from her sister Carolyn who comes to babysit when she goes to her Kapahaka practices during the week.

He is a little sick at the moment (blocked nose) but he is still a good boy. What more could we ask for?

7 weeks old

Tuesday the 21st of August. This was to be a special day. One, becasue it was to be the first coronation of Kingi Tuheitia and two, baby was off for his check-ups.

Last week Raniera was visited for the first time by the Plunket nurse. The first question she asked was if Kiri had had a caesarian to which she answered "No". The reason she asked was because she believed baby has a perfect shaped head, which was to our suprise because we think his head looks peculiar. She then weighed him, measured his full body length and circumference of his head. So also showed Kiri how to use the growth charts inside her Well Child book. Raniera is supposedly a little tall for his weight but still within the healthy range.

Later on that day Kiri went in to the doctors to have Raniera's immunisation jabs against diptheria, polio, hepatitis B and meningitis. He had two jabs in his right leg and one in the other. Although he cried a little, he did live up to his name cause he was very courageous and brave.

We also went out to dinner at Valentines the previous Thursday. It was for no special occasion. Just because we were so happy to be with our handsome son and happy family.

6 weeks old

Raniera has grown quite a bit over the last 2 weeks. I'm not too sure how heavy he is but I estimate him to be around 12-13 pounds now. He regularly smiles and likes to play and talk and being sung to by his mother during the day. He doesn't have a regular sleeping pattern during the day anymore. He can stay up for up to 3 hours before having a 1-2 hour sleep. Luckily for us though he still has his night time routine. Up at 11pm, 2am, and 5am usually and only awake for half an hour.

The rule Kiri and I have is that I look after him from 9pm - 12pm before I go to sleep for the night. She goes to sleep during this time. It works out pretty well, with both of us getting enough sleep for the night.

Raniera had a little cold the other week, a blocked nose and a little weezy. Kiri bought a little device to unblock his nose which worked well but I advised her to use the method our old people applied - to suck it out!, to which she replied 'NO'.

Our son also has had a rash for the last two weeks on his face. Ive looked on the net and it says it is quite normal for babies to get these, especially if it is a allergic reaction to soap powder that his clothes have been washed in. If it continues I think we will take him to see the doctor of which we will in time to receive his immunisations.

1 Month On

Week 4

This is Kiris second week at home by herself. She seems to have things going smoothly now. She still cant get over how much Raniera eats during the day and for how long. Her Nanna popped over to see boy on Tuesday for the first time. She told Kiri that she should only have him feed for an hour then pull him off or put him to bed otherwise he will get in the habit of just being on the breast for comfort instead of feeding.

Kiri said she witnessed his first smile this week too on Monday - Day 21.

I have enjoyed feeding him and looking after him from about 9 - 11pm every other night while Kiri sleeps. He has slept by me twice which was nice.

Progress

Kiri finally found a good position to breastfeed our son. I feel relieved for her because she was feeling very disheartened that baby was not latching on and was constantly crying over the last two days.

She seems more relaxed and refreshed now. Well Raniera is still the same. Still growing and still handsome. I now know a little something about being a father now.

Day 15

Baby got up twice last night. Kiri has been feeling very exhausted and now sick with a sore throat so Ive been glad to help out by feeding baby from the bottle and changing him.

He has been very upset though today with his Mama. He has been up from 8.30 am. till Lunch time crying and frustrating over the breast and being fed. It seems Raniera is coming down with a cold of some type. Wheezy breathing and very irritated. I hope Kiri gets to sleep when he finally dozes off.

Day 14 - Going to Ratana

This morning we left for my humble village of Ratana to attend morning church service. It was a fine day however there were some chilly winds coming off the coast. This would be Ranieras' first trip out of Palmerston North.

The afternoon was spent by his grandparents place eating another delicious Sunday roast lamb and chicken. Yum! Followed by chocolate cake, pavlova and trifle. Yummier!

We got to catch up with Uncles and Aunties and cousins too. It was a nice relaxing afternoon. Luckily before coming back home we got to see my own grandparents to show them our son for the first time, so that was nice.

Its back to school for the girls and work for me tomorrow. I hope Kiri gets only well by herself with Raniera. Well she will.

Day 12 - Up town

Today Kiri was still feeling a little edgy but she still wanted to go up town to get the girls some clothes. This would be our first proper family outing to town.

Kiri was still having trouble with her left breast and it was becoming too full. So today we also bought a new expressor, the best one made by Medela. When we arrived home to use it Kiri was relieved that it worked well and she was finally able to empty.

Raniera was very good and slept the whole 3 hours we were shopping. The school holidays are coming to an end soon and I hope Kiri will cope only starting from Monday.

Day 11 - Feeling sick

This morning Kiri was still feeling ill. She complained of flu-like symptoms, the shivers, general sick feeling. So I continued feeding baby with the bottle and changing and winding him with the help of the girls.

When our midwife arrived she did a weigh-in of Raniera. He came to 8 pounds 7 and a half ounces which was right on, a pound more than his birth weight. She said it was normal for babies to lose weight during their first week and then gain more during the second week. He did lose 200 grams I think during that time, and put on another 260 grams.

She also did a check up on Kiri. She gave her a prescription for some antibiotics and then told her to immediately start breastfeeding baby again, all the time because her breasts were probably clogging and not emptying.

We had been feeding Raniera by bottle with expressed milk over the last 4 days to rid him of his jaundice. Now that that was gone we were to leave that to the side until Kiri's breast and her health were fine.

Kiri stayed fairly sick for the remaining day and night. She probably felt worse as baby took a little time to get used to breastfeeding again, and one of her breasts was giving her hell. Raniera was unable to latch on and so was frustrated and cried a lot.

Family visit

After the movie we arrived home to be greeted by my parents and also my brother, his partner and two children. It was nice to them all, especially my nephew who is now 6 months old who has grown immensely.

Kiri must have been very tired tonight and disgruntled too because she was leaking excessively. I had the honour of looking after Raniera through the night by myself for the first time to let her rest, it was a great bonding time for me!

Day 10

This morning we went up to the hospital at 7a.m. to get Ranieras' hip checked. This would be his first time out of the house, and riding in a motorvehicle. Also his first feel of cold Palmerston North weather.

We were a little edgy about the whole ordeal after some whanau had told us that some doctors were quite rough when they handled the babies. This was not the case with us though as our dude did a quick rotation of both legs and then streching them back and forth to listen out for clicks or problems stemming from the hips.

We then had our 'Well child' book stamped and filled out by the nurse and we were off.

Koko Fa'afetai and Kui Sandra are coming today so that Kiri and I can take all the girls to see the latest installment of Harry Potter.

Day 9

Today while I was up town buying a few things, getting some videos and having a sneaky feed Kiri gave Raniera-Te-Mārohirohi a bath.

She said he enjoyed it thoroughly and cried when he was pulled out to dry.

Today was an uneventful day just watching videos.

Day 8

This afternoon our original midwife came around to do her routine check-up. If I havent' previously mentioned she had a few days off after she delivered Raniera. She asked Kiri how baby was feeding and that he should have been drinking at least 90 mls of breast milk every 4 hours. This was a relief to us because we had been feeding him about 50-60 mls every 2-3 hours which was about the same. Kiri was also worried that we were overfeeding baby.

She also said that his jaundice was subsiding and to now let him sleep longer during the night but to get him up more during the day. This was good news for us.

After she had left Kiri and the girls went to do some clothes shopping for baby - to use the vouchers people had gifted.

Later on in the day, he had become quite unsettled so Kiri put him close to her chest and he slept there half the night. Kiri is very attached to baby, as any mother would be. I do what I can - heat bottle up, get treasure and wipes during the night, do the washing, but the girls do alot of running around for us too.

Day 7

Last night was good again. Getting into a bit of a routine now. Wake him up every 2 hours and have a feed. It was another sun shining day so we got baby under the light once again.

We had a lot of family visit today. First his Aunty and Uncles and cousins. Then my parents brought over a huge feast, Chop Suey, Roast pork and chicken, taro, you the know the works.

My father was suprised to see Raniera-Te-Marohirohi with no clothes on sunbathing in front of the window when they arrived. He thought it was weird and thats how the children were like back in Samoa.

So we invited Kiris parents over too it was all good. Also some nice puddings, chocolate cakes, apple pie, ice cream. Also my boss who is also one of Kiris relations and old teachers came around with her daughter and brought a nice cake and gifts as well. It was a good day with whanau eating and enjoying our babies company.

Day 6

Last night was better. We wake him up every 2 hours to feed him. I get the bang on the head, get up and go and warm the bottle in a pot of boiling water. I give it to Kiri she gets baby out and feeds him, I go back to sleep end of story. So by the morning I feel pretty good, dont feel fazed at all.

Kiri wakes up quite early considering she has been up about 2 hours of the night. 7.30 a.m. she goes for her shower. She then kicks everyone out of bed to clean up and shower up. I don't roll over till about 8.3o a.m. I feel more tired than Kiri, I guess she is just so enthused about our baby that she has heaps of energy in store.

Baby had a few hours sunbathing by the window today to get rid of his jaundice. We got the phone call from our midwife to say his blood test revealed that his type was O positive and that his jaundice was alright and should come right in a week.

Today we were joined by a lot of visitors mostly relations. We had my Aunty and Uncle from Ratana Pa, we had Kiri's Godmother and whanau and also her cousin. Their visits took up the whole afternoon which was great, alot of cup of teas, biscuits and cakes were eaten.

Day 5

Baby was up late last night again. Kiri was a bit more prepared this time, having rested during the night.

This afternoon we were visited by the midwife. I decided to stay at home while Kiri and the girls went and did some shopping. The midwife was concerned that baby still looked yellowish, meaning the jaundice still needed to be attended to. She took another blood sample so it could be tested to see his progress. She stressed again that he needed to be fed more regurlary - once every 2 hours and to give him some formula milk too to speed up the flushing out process.

Kiris' parents came around for the whole afternoon which was great, we chatted and had a cuppa.

Its also been great talking to relations online via Skype - a video calling program. Its an awesome way to keep in contact, especially with those overseas. They have been able to see baby and talk to him.

10 minutes old

He has a name

Raniera-Te Mārohirohi Hautapu-Fonotoe

A couple of months before baby was born a vision popped into my mind of a Lion. Yes the King of the Wild, Mufasa lions. So I began to think of names that portrayed the traits of a lion. I started with the maori version of the word - Raiona - Kiri didnt like it. Eventually I asked a friend for a maori word that encapsulated those characteristics of courage, bravery, and strength. He suggested Te Mārohirohi. We thought that was cool but Kiri preferred it as a second name. Well I then suggested my own second name Raniera. She then said well that makes sense because Raniera means Daniel in english - the prophet that survived in the Lions den in the bible. And that was it - I was happy but she wasn't finished yet. She said he could be named after me if he had her last name too, so I agreed.

Day 4

Last night things changed. It was one of those nights that people tell you about when you become a parent. After a long day yesterday of baby sleeping lots and being visited by some other relations from Ashurst he stayed up half the night wanting to eat and cry. I was starting to feel for Kiri, but she was patient and calm.

This morning another midwife visited and came to give our baby the 'heel prick'. This is obviously something parents don't look forward to as it can sometimes cause babies much pain. Suprisingly enough, baby was still asleep when it was done and afterwards didnt cry or even notice, thank the Lord!

He has a slight case of jaundice at the moment which is helped by giving him more exposure to sunlight and also more regular feeding. So we plan to do that today.

Whakapapa

Click on the diagram to see an enlarged image. This is our sons genealogy going back 3 generations. You will see his heritage mentioned under his ancestors names. Im putting this up to help give me inspiration to find his own name.