Saturday 30 June 2007

Maya is 3 weeks old!





Maya turned 3 weeks old yesterday and it is hard to believe that she has only been out of the womb for that short of time. She is growing and growing and LOVES milk...mother's milk that is. She is a breastfeeding champion and now weighs in at 9lbs 11oz!! A whole pound in one week..impressive! She is having some tummy issues in the late evenings and her sleeping is still fractured ( although she slept 7.5 hours last night!) She is unbelievable.

Good news is that I can self express some of my milk into a bottle and she will take it......so, that means, daddy can help in the night. And Mommy can leave the house without worrying that I might starve her to death. For those of you who have not yet experienced this wondrous joy, being cooped up in the house on the front sofa with your boobs out every hour is not beneficial to one's sanity! Thank god for breast pumps! I never thought I would actually write those words.

And this one is for Aunt Madison...( and alison) it looks like she might just be red-head!!!

We are still happy to have BIG MOMMA in the house. She did this four times (although I love my brothers and sisters to death, I cannot imagine her doing this four times!) She is a huge help and Maya will go to sleep for her. Which is a blessing for us, considering her poor little tummy has been hurting her for a few days. I have sworn off anything spicy or that could cause her gas...so no more mexican beans for us!

Daddy is back to work in full force and has not had too much time with his girl, so his evenings are all he has. So, it will be nice when his business partner comes back from his wedding/honeymoon and Paul can enjoy more time with his little girl. Wow, this parenthood thing is hard - how have all of you parents out there balanced the working and kid thing...any hints will be helpful, cause paul is finding it a bit hard, at the moment.

Speaking of Daddys- Big Daddy(my father) arrives in the morning....and Maya will meet the person who gave her the big hands and feet she is now sporting around....I am sure my father will fall instantly in love, as she is soooo adorable and lovable.

More to come...love to all, katherine
ps. thank you to my lovely friend Roy Francis, amateur photographer, for the photos!

Thursday 21 June 2007

Almost two weeks old & ahh thank heaven for grandmothers!

Little baby Maya is no longer little, she has gained one whole pound, and continues to feed as if she was a shark and the water has just been chummed! Our house is one big feeding frenzy at the moment, as she sucks me dry of mothers milk, I have to keep myself hydrated and fed....i do feel a bit like a production line. Maya seems to enjoying wetting herself twice or three times a day....we do not have enough little 'onesies' to keep her changed. ( Many did not fit her from the beginning becasue she is so long and skinny) And well, the poo has regulated itself into a steady source of merriment.

But all kidding aside, she is so beautiful and starting to keep her eyes open more and more. Her hair sometimes looks blonde and sometimes looks red, so still hard to tell what it will be. She is sooooo healthy and a really a good baby.

I do want to take some time her to commend Paul's mum - Nana....if it was not for her, my breastfeeding coach, I doubt I would have made it thru the 'milk coming in'. As a trained mid-wife, she knew exactly how to keep me going and how to make sure all would be all right and that Maya and I both learned how to feed properly. Nana also took care of me those very fragile first few days. My mother, aka, Big Momma, arrived last Sunday, and she was most welcome. In fact, the minute she walked in, she has barely let go of her first grandchild. Which is fantastic for me, because, all Maya wants from me is Boobs and will not calm down for me at all. She just seems rut like a little piglet. Big Momma quickly learned how to work the british washing machine and work her way round our rather archaic kitchen...she has settled right in.

i do seem to remember my friend Sarah saying that when her parents left after Luca was born - she wept. I will to - i suspect.

It has been a journey and a learning experience for Paul and myself...and well, Maya is obviously in control.

More to come.....love to all, kat

Nana Cooper and the little baby maya!

Big Momma's armchair!!

Thursday 14 June 2007

Almost one week old

Maya has been with us for nearly a week now and life is already unrecognisable from its pre-Maya incarnation. The days and nights have all melded into one continuous everlasting day. We are living every moment in the moment - our daily meditative practice is brought on by our little baby girl who has cast a magical spell on her parents,she is about to work her magic on her big momma too. Katy arrives on Sunday so expect a surge of grandparent picture cataloguing.

Thank you to everybody who has sent their kind words,thoughts and prayers to us via this blog, we feel truly blessed.

love Kat,Paul & Maya

Everything's growing!!







Here's a selection of the plants on our porch, apologies if it is a little off subject, but I cant help but see the absolute beauty and radiance in every living life form at the moment.......

A selection of snapshots plus some foliage





Tuesday 12 June 2007

Mothers milk has finally arrived!

in my defence......

I'd like to thank Kat for sharing her mirth and merriment as a result of my first tentative steps into the world of baby changing. Like they say ,its not just one birth when a baby is born, its the parents that undergo a birth of sorts, too. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it shortly, if i could just get these sausage fingers of mine, to respond to the dextrous demands that are being placed on them, apologies to maya from your fumbling father.....

Monday 11 June 2007

Uncle Chris

Auntie Sharon and cousins Rhiannon and Sophie

Dad in training!

finally - a word from katherine

Well, I am starting to feel as if I might return to the land of the living.....it has certainly been a journey. Physically - I would say for 22 hrs in the trenches, I am recovering nicely. Maya is so good, we are really lucky. She is a sleeper, all be it, during the day, she does sleep. She is ready to suck on some real milk as well. So we are both waiting for the ominous approach of the the waterfall of leche that is on its way.

Meanwhile....thank you all for your beautiful words and e-mails. It is so hard to be away from my friends and family....so this blog is a godsend to be able to somewhat share this experience with all of you.

Parenthood does have it moments and last night - I must share a funny one.....Maya gave us 5.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep, then she awoke...and nothing except constant sucking, walking, rocking and cooing would cajole her into a state of grace...however, being the idiots that we are...we forgot one big rule...the Diaper!!!!!

Since my milk as yet to make its way, she has yet to really give us the full force of her bowels, so her diapers have really not been a true focus - yet. But we remembered - after an hour or so of trying everything else to calm her that perhaps she needed changing....ahh, we were right....so, seeing as how I had walked her and let her suck me dry of colostrum for an hour or so, Paul stepped up to the plate and carried her to the changing table.

I sat in bed watching him and talking him thru his first unassisted 'nappy' change. Well....let me just say, that for a man whose job, career and talent is ropes, knots, quick escapes, karibiners, and climbing tall things...the small ubiquitous diaper was posing a problem. As her screams became more insistent and longer, his facial expression became more and more befuddled...his hands became like paralysed sausages and I just began to laugh! And for those of you out there who have given birth, you know that laughing deeply and gutterly at this stage of the game is quiet painful...as well as the fact that I was wetting my pants at the same time. It was soooooo hilarious....I know I should not laugh as my daughter screams - but his face and hands were a picture....and Paul Cooper, mountain climber, rope expert, able to scale tall buildings in a single bound, was humbled. And he deserved it!!!

Needless to say , I made my way slowly over, with wet pants of my own, and showed him, slowly and methodically how to get her changed....with patience in my voice and pee running down my own leg....Ahhhhhh, parenthood!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is truly been a journey....more to come...love to you all, kat

Friday 8 June 2007

Birthday Girl

Hello Everybody,

Its Friday evening , about 12 hours after the long awaited arrival of Maya Isabella Cooper. Daughter, Grand daughter, cousin, niece, you take your pick she is a gift to each and everyone of us.

She entered the world at 1150am GMT, today,friday 8th June 2007, after a twenty two hour labour that has left a trail of tired and weary adults in its wake.

Kat's waters broke spectacularly at 250 am on the 7th June. 2pm, later that day following a visit to the hospital and a light lunch.....boom!!!!, it started not with a whimper but with a bang, full on minute duration contractions, at 2,5 minute intervals, a pattern that persisted for the following 13 hours!

The first 5 hours were spent at home. Then the preceeding 8 were carried out in hospital under the midwives supervision, with supporting roles being played by Anna, Kats best friend from Mexico and I, Anna adminstering liberal amounts of entenox and me supplying refreshments and emotional support. 13 hours in, Maya was still in the wrong positiona and Kat hadn't dilated sufficiently and had had enough, so the aneatheist was called and asked to provide an epidural - sweet relief!!!! ( for all - I hasten to add)



Fast forward just shy of 9 hours and the relief and release Kat and the rest of us all needed arrived, hallellua, hey presto we have a baby -instantly our hearts burst and the outpouring of love and emotion is of an intensity neither of us have experienced before, to love someone so much in an instant -well I'm preaching to the coverted here...y'all know what its like...magical.

Kat is a legend, what an incredible woman, my love and admiration for her have risen to new heights...Anna was an amazing steady rock giving guidance and support, I was fine during the process, but now I am emotional wreck. What an incredible journey, the midwives and all the staff were unbelievable, supportive, compassionate,caring, knowledgeable - just fantastic.

Kat is coming home today with our daughter...and then we will ALL be home, getting used to her and she to us.....more to come...love to all, paul

Sunday 3 June 2007

waiting


According to the dates of the NHS, our little mini-cooper is officially 10 days late...but we know better. We have always suspected the due date more around the 1st of June or so. So with that in mind things are not too bad, yet. It is a strange period....you are poised on a bridge, waiting to cross over to become parents, never to be able to cross back from whence you came. But you are stuck, in a weird limbo. We are trying to keep ourselves busy;our house is immaculate, a visitation from the Pope could happen and we would be ready. All her clothes and diapers are washed and put away. Her crib, moses basket and Mexican hammock are set up and waiting....we have two changing tables - one upstairs and one down. We just need her to come on out. But alas, she is still elusive.




We had a scan on Friday and there she was...happy is her womb, with all the comforts of home. Her heartbeat was excellent and so was mine. So, all is well.




Stay tuned....hopefully the next blog will have her introduction and first of many photos - I am sure. Her father is a bit of an ametuer phtographer.




Love to you all, katherine