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.

Some more pics of a beautiful boy

These pictures were taken from his 3rd day - this morning. These are better photos because his facial features are now becoming more defined. I also forgot to say that I also communicated online via Skype to my Aunty and Uncle who live in Australia yesterday. That was great they were able to get a close up look of him from a distance. Cool technology eh!

Day 2

Overnight baby woke up once at 4.30 a.m. to have his nappy changed. He had a big poo full of meconium. Kiri also fed him and then after an hour he went back to sleep. So far though he has a been a good sleeper, and when he does wake he doesn't cry or anything just looks around. Of course he does cry when he has filled his nappy or is hungry.

Today the midwife came around again to do her daily check-ups and stuff, everything was all good. I managed to keep the house warm due to our newly purchased Dimplex Oil heater which was great but sometimes I thought baby may have been too hot because of his pinkish colouring.

After I had cooked porridge for breakfast I sat down to hold baby who had no treasure on because Kiri said he needed to air so he wouldn't get a rash. Funnily enough the boy urinated all over his Papa, to the delight of the girls!

I went to the Community Birth Services house to drop off the birthing pool and the calliphont. There I had a good talk to Eileen about the birth and how we were feeling about the whole thing which was great. I just expressed to her how glad I was coming to her antenatal classes and making us feel comfortable in having a home birth. Also how natural and normal it all felt.

During this time I had received a message from a friend. A taiaha (maori weapon - used ceremoniously by warriors these days) was ready for me to pick up. I initially had it made for my wife for her birthday but my friend had taken to long and had actually finished on the day my son was born. So I suspected that that was a sign for the taiaha to be gifted to him instead. What a beautiful taonga it was too!

We were joined in the afternoon by some Aunties from my village of Ratana. They bought gifts and well wishes for baby and watched some kapahaka. Later that night were joined by some other friends and relations and brought around some kai for a cup of tea and to see baby - of course. All in all it was a good day.

Some shots of baby from his first day.

After the birth the midwives cleaned up all their stuff and told us to contact them if we had any problems. It was now time for me to clean up the big mess. I had to siphon all the yucky water, blood and debris left from the birth out of the pool. When that was done I had to clean out the pool and tarpaulin. Kiris' mother and sister then went home and after I had cleaned up it was then nice and quiet, perfect for us to come to grips with what had just happened and to get to know our child.

Later on in the night we were joined by my parents and sister who bought dinner (KFC) and also dessert (chocolate cakes). We were also joined by Kiris' godfather and his wife and 2 kids. It was a good night where babies' grand parents commented that he had long fingers and feet like his father had when his born, and were just smitten by his handsomeness.

The baby with no name

Kiri and I had agreed that we would not name our baby before he was born but that we would choose something fitting to his temperament or something that came from divine inspiration lol. So our son was born at 10.10 a.m. weighing 8 pounds and 6 ounces. This photo was taken a hour after his birth. Baby and our niece and Goddaughter Matatepouaru.

The arrival of our son.

At about 10 a.m. on Monday the 2nd of July, Kiri was getting very close to the eventual birth of our son. It was getting very intense now and Kiri was beginning to sweat and complaining of wanting to go for a poo and wee. Our midwife comforted and reassured her that this was the time and it would only take another round of pushes.

Kiri pushed with all her might while not breathing out her mouth and pushing it all through to her rear. I saw the head and started to encourage Kiri to give it another push.

With the help of our midwife, our child then came slivering out after floating in the water for 5 seconds had his first breath of air - Tihei Mauriora! I sat there looking at him in amazement. He looked a pale and purplish colour and was covered in thick gooey white stuff. After the midwife did a quick check of him I had my first hold. Man it was good - even the yucky stuff all over me, I had my 10 seconds of intimacy, I also cut his umbilical cord and then I handed him over to his mother. You know I was quite in awe of my wife and her strength through that whole ordeal - she was awesome! Talk about a tough lady. She had a cuddle and kisses and then jumped out of the pool and went for a shower. How times have changed?

In the pool

Yes if I haven't previously stated we were having a home birth in the pool. It took me a little while to connect up the calliphont (a device that heats the water) and the water was only trickling in at best with a leak in the hose connections. The midwife arrived together with her assistance and they got to preparing the equipment and did their routine checks on Kiri and for the babies' heartbeat. Kiri was still having her contractions every 5-6 minutes, but she was calm and everyone waited patiently as the pool filled with water. Our midwife was pleased that Kiri was already 9 cm dilated by this time.

Around 9 . 30 a.m. Kiri jumped in the pool which was at a perfect temperature of 36 degrees. She was ready as she ever was gonna be, and her mother and 3 sisters were all present together with myself and the two midwives. This was it, she was about to push out our son and perform a miracle.

Kiri got onto her knees and leaned on the end of the pool. When her contractions came she began to push and of course she was in much pain. I sat around the back of her and Kiris' mother sat in front of her holding her hands comforting her. Our midwife sat directly behind her (we were all outside of the pool) giving instructions and and advice. Her contractions were coming every 5 minutes or so, so she had time to recuperate and have a drink between each painful session of pushing.

Labour

At 9 p.m. on Sunday night the first stage of labour began. Kiri went from room to room trying to find a comfortable position. By this stage I knew that birth was imminent so I started to move stuff around the lounge to make more space and declutter the room.

By 11p.m. her contractions were lasting a minute and were coming every 7-8 minutes. Every time they came she breathed heavily in and out to ease her pains. I encouraged her to keep her water bottle filled and to drink lots to keep hydrated.

By 3 a.m. her contractions were still going steadily but had increased in intensity. Kiri called her Mum and her sister to come around. Her mum was a great support as all mothers are, comforting her.

By 5 a.m. she called for us to massage her lower back. She complained of wanting to go to the toilet for a No. 2 but her mother said that was a sign that the baby was just about ready to come out. I guess around 6 a.m. she would have been in the transition stage of labour.

At 7.30 a.m. Kiri's pain had become very intense so I decided to call our midwife. She said for me to get the pool ready and that they would be around within the hour.

It begins

It's about 7.30 p.m on Sunday night and the light niggly contractions have begun! They last for 30 seconds and come every 5-7 minutes.

False alarm?

Our midwife came around this afternoon out of the blue with her assistant. Kiri was once again a little hesistant and anxious of what her check-up would discover. A heavy stack of equipment was trolleyed in for the inevitable delivery.

After the midwife did her internal examination she found that Kiris' waters had not broken at all, but that her cervix was 2 cm dilated which meant that labour would be commence sooner than later.

Now its just a waiting game once again, Kiri hasnt had any contractions yet.....

First sign

Last night at approximately 1 a.m. I was awoken by Kiri as she made a quick burst to the loo. I was kind of anxious because of the intensity of it all and the time she took to come out. A thought came to mind 'I think her labour has begun!'

After 10 minutes she returned to bed and exclaimed "I think my waters broke." She then proceeded to show me a wet patch on the bed from where she was laying.

Wow, this is really happening, I thought. Kiri on the other hand was a little worried. So we turned on our trusty friend the 'Lappy' and googled it. It confirmed our suspicions because of the bleachy aroma of the liquid. It also advised us to wait another half hour to see if more amniotic fluid would leak.

Sure enough it did and then half an hour later a bloody discharge or 'the show' came. I think Kiri was freaking out by about this time which didnt help because I told her to get some rest and went back to sleep. She called up her Mum and they came around and comforted her to say that what had happened was perfectly normal and to wait for contractions to begin.

By the morning Kiris mind was still not at ease so I gave our midwife a call. She confirmed her mothers advice and for us to just go about our normal routine, eat, drink, walk around and then contact her when the contractions lasted a whole minute and were 5 minutes apart.......

Its 10.39 a.m. now and the girls (Kiri, Bronwyn, Tegan, Te Wai and Mata) are watching Home and Away omnibus. Bloody All Blacks lost lastnight 15-20 to Ozzie and the Americas cup is slipping away 2-4 to Alinghi.