And Milly makes four

We can’t believe Miss Milly is already one month old – where have the last four weeks gone? We couldn’t be happier with our little family and feel like the luckiest parents in the world for having two beautiful children.

Milly is quite a different looking baby to Henry. She was born with dark hair, which is slowly falling out on the crown of her head, giving her a hairstyle likened to a monk. She also currently has blue eyes. She is feeding well, and sleeping well between feeds. In the first few weeks she suffered from colic/wind. The Early Childhood Nurse who visited us for our first week check up suggested I remove spicy foods and/or caffeine from my diet to see if that made a difference. I told her I didn’t drink coffee or tea so caffeine probably wasn’t the problem. The nurse replied that chocolate has caffeine in it. Naturally I tried giving up spicy foods first, as I wasn’t ready to give up my daily hot chocolate or other indulgences. But alas, it has been proven since giving up chocolate Milly’s colic discomfort has all but disappeared. When she is older, I’ll be reminding her of this sacrifice.

Henry is pretty indifferent to Milly’s presence. He acknowledges her at bedtime when he goes through his ritual of giving everyone a kiss goodnight, and occasionally he likes to touch her or pat her, or watch me give her a bath. Other than that he is just going about his daily business and isn’t showing much in the way of jealous behaviour. He doesn't wake from her cries and she doesn't wake from his squeals.

As for me and Michael, we don’t feel too sleep deprived. I express milk for Michael to feed Milly in the evening, so I can go to bed early and get some sleep. Although now we have two kids to look after and it can be exhausting, overall it feels easier because we aren’t the nervous new parents we were two years ago.

Milly Jane Dorothy Hobson - the birth story

With Henry I was nine days overdue, had an induction and experienced a 14 hour labour that didn’t progress; reason being Henry was still high in my pelvis and didn’t want to or couldn’t drop or become engaged. The end result was an emergency caesarean.

In the final week of this pregnancy we learnt that this baby was also carrying high and had not dropped into my pelvis. This lessened our chances of a normal delivery, as I would need to go into labour naturally, as once you have had a caesarean obstetrician’s don’t induce labour as it risks rupturing the past scar. So we had to book into the hospital for a caesarean on the chance I didn’t go into labour on my own. The hospital told us we were scheduled for 7.00am on Thursday, 19 April 2007 and to be there by 5.45am.

So in the early hours of the morning we arrive at the hospital and are taken to the delivery ward. A midwife gets me to have a shower and put on a hospital gown. The anaesthetist comes in and tells me he will do a spinal block and goes through the risks etc. I suddenly feel quite nervous about the whole thing and I’m really being read my last rights. A hospital orderly shows up and its time to be wheeled down to theatre and Michael is taken away to get changed. When Michael reappears he is dressed in blue surgical gear and wearing a big sticker saying “DAD”. We are told this is so he isn’t confused with the actual doctors and nurses and isn’t handed a scalpel by mistake.

Everyone in the operating theatre is really nice and introduces themselves and tells us what role they play in the op. I get put on a drip and then receive the spinal block, despite shaking uncontrollably through nerves (thank goodness for all the breathing techniques I learnt in prenatal yoga, they helped settle my nerves and I relaxed straight away) – the spinal block injection didn’t hurt a bit. From the shoulders down I feel numb and am vaguely aware the operation has started. I’m feeling quite spaced out and light headed and the anaesthetist pumps some drugs in my drip to stop me from passing out. Michael is looking at me and not over the blue sheet separating us from the actual operation. He tells me later he thought at one stage he was going to faint, especially when he saw the table with the scalpels and scissors etc.

My obstetrician tells me they are about to pull the baby out and I'll probably feel a tugging sensation. Next thing we hear a small cry and are shown a baby girl. I'm a little shocked. One that it is a girl, and two that we have another baby (with all the drugs flowing through my veins, for a split second I had forgotten why we were there). The nurses clean her up, Michael cuts the cord and we get to hold her while I'm stitched up. Michael then gets to spend the next hour with her while I'm taken to the recovery ward for monitoring. As it turns out my blood pressure and oxygen levels remain low for the rest of the day and I have to wear a lovely nasal device on my face (thanks to Michael for posting those flattering photos).

So for those who like to know, details of little baby no.2 are:

Weight: 3.625kgs (8pds)
Length: 54cms
Head circumference: 34cms

We are now at home and so far so good. Milly is a good sleeper, doesn't make much of a noise, wakes for a feed, barely wakes to be changed, and settles easily - but it is early days.

Thanks to everyone who has sent cards, pressies, and well wishes.

Birthdays and baths for bubba and the boy

In successive days Henry has become a big brother, and also managed to have another birthday. To help him cope in these busy times, we made him a cake.

The construction site that is a cake, that is a construction site. If he didn't enjoy chocolate so much this may have presented Henry with a dilemma of sorts... do I play with it or eat it ? He managed to do both fairly adequately.

Milly and Nanoo.



The first bath.

Milly Jane Dorothy Hobson

A little sister for Henry, and an adorable daughter for us arrived at 7.23 this morning. The name was settled on shortly afterwards. More details will follow in the coming days but for now here are a few photos from the day.

Not long to go now...

Next week promises to be a big week - little baby no.2 is due on the 17th, and we celebrate Henry's second birthday on the 20th. Family members are already planning trips to Sydney to visit.

Having now finished work it has been great spending one-on-one time with Henry and getting to share some quality time together. He doesn't yet fully understand the impact a new baby will have on his world, but he knows the changes to the car and the unit, and the frequent visits to the doctor are for "bubba".

Thanks to everyone for their well wishes. Next posting should be the 'official' announcement.

Summertime fun (mostly)

The past five weeks have seen us on all sorts of adventures (mostly good).

Adventure One: We had a weekend visiting Nanoo at Lake Macquarie. This included a trip to Peter's place where Henry got to sit on a tractor, help drive a lawn mower, and feed a pony and some goats. It was a very hot day and what better way to end it with a nudie run through the sprinkler on Nanoo's front lawn. The next day Michael had an ocean swim to do nearby at Caves Beach. Henry had a great time playing with Nanoo in the surf, and Michael came 3rd in his age group in the swim.

Adventure Two: We have a bus stop outside our unit block. Buses often start their journeys at the stop and if a driver arrives early he usually just parks and reads the paper until departure time. One early evening Henry and I where waiting outside for Michael to come home from work when a bus pulled up outside. Henry ran up the street to get a closer look at the bus. Being heavily pregnant I was slow to catch up with him and when I did he had already climbed up the steps of the bus and was sitting in a seat shouting "Mamma, bus". The driver was very nice and as the bus was empty he let Henry sit in the driver's seat and pretend to drive, he also showed him how to open and shut the bus doors. A great treat for a little boy who loves buses, trucks, cars, planes, trains etc.

Adventure Three: We had to take Henry to the emergency ward at the Royal North Shore Hospital as he had been vomitting for four days, was extremely lethargic and listless, and we hadn't been able to get much if any food or drink into him. Over the four days he had lost 1.5kgs. Upon blood tests results and observations he was admitted into the Children's Ward where he and we spent the next two days and nights. He was placed on an IV drip to replenish all fluids lost and get his blood sugar levels back to a decent level as they had dropped considerably. A stool sample revealed he had the Rota virus, which is a strain of gastroenteritis. Henry is now back at home, appetite returned in full and looking at him you wouldn't even tell he had been sick.

Other news: Only 4 weeks to go until the arrival of Little Baby No.2. I finish up work this week which leaves 2-3 weeks to get our home organised and ready, and if I'm lucky put my feet up and have a rest. Henry is quite the little domestic helper and likes to assist with all chores, ie laundry, dusting, putting things in the bin, and putting his toys away. I hope he's just as helpful when Little Baby No.2 arrives.

Baby names

We ran through our shortlist of baby names with Henry the other night to see if he had a preference. He just nodded his approval to all of them.

We then asked him if the baby is a boy what should we call him. Henry replied, "Big". Which just so happens to be Henry's favourite word at the moment. We then asked what name we should give the baby if it is a girl. Henry's answer, "Bubba". So there you have it.

Peek-a-boo

It has been a busy month of work, child care duties, ocean swims, visits to the obstetrician, and pre natal yoga. We've also managed to catch up with friends and even see the band "The Killers" on a rare night out.

It's been a rough week for Henry boy. Up until now he hasn't shown any distress over getting new teeth, but this week he (and us) have been put to the test. The only teeth he doesn't have are his first molars and one of them looks like it is about to make its debut. He has had moments of awful pain and a few nights of not sleeping through. We think he's turned a corner, as he seemed a lot better today. Although we can only see one of the four teeth he is yet to sprout, so naturally concerned he and us will be going through this another three times.




Little baby no.2 is growing. Regrettably I said to our obstetrician that I thought this baby might be smaller than Henry, as I didn't feel as big. Our obstetrician quite politely reset my expectations and said it was unlikely and I should expect another 9 pounder. I have to admit this week it feels like my tummy has doubled in size and I'm preparing myself for an uncomfortable remaining three months.



Friends are already speculating that little baby no.2 is a girl. This is based on whether they think my tummy is high or low. I don't believe in these myths and don't have an inkling on what the gender will be, but we have now come up with a short list of names so feel prepared and excited at the uncertainty.

Blog photos are courtesy of Ed and Jasey, who continue to take the best photos of Henry. We are now considering making them Henry's "official" photographers.

We are family

We don't get many chances to have a family photo taken. In fact, we haven't any photos taken in the past year that has the three of us together. This photo is courtesy of Nanoo.

The Family Christmas Tour

We've managed to visit both sides of the family this Christmas, travelling to Inverell, Coffs Harbour, and Lake Macquarie. We've put a lot of kilometres on the car, but it was a great holiday and Henry travelled well with the long car trips.

Henry had a great time with his cousins. He also spent a lot of time playing in the pool with Dadda.








As Henry had been a good boy all year, Santa paid him a visit and he was happy when he opened his presents, which included: books, a train set, paints and chalk, a guitar, stuffed toys, mega blocks, and a battery operated racing car.

When in Coffs Harbour Henry visited the Big Banana and did 20+ laps of running through it and back. He also went to the Pet Porpoise Pool and got to pat a dolphin and sit with Dadda when he was kissed by a seal. Grandad Bartley also bought him an ice cream.

Tiff's belly continues to grow (along with everything else) with baby no. 2. Other than the occassional swelling of feet and ankles it has so far been another trouble free pregnancy.

Due to being preggers and having a toddler we had a quiet New Year's Eve, staying in to watch the fireworks on TV.

Hope you all had good Christmas and New Year.

Merry Christmas

A very Merry Christmas to all family and friends who read our blog.

We will be doing a bit of a family tour this Christmas. Christmas Day will be spent with Michael's family so Henry can get to know his cousins. Boxing Day will be with Tiff's Dad, then its another trip to visit Nanoo before New Year.

Henry is still unsure what this Christmas caper is about, but he knows the fat bloke in a red suit is Santa and Henry says "ho, ho" whenever he sees a Santa.

In other news we had our first scare when Henry tripped and fell into Allegra's chalkboard easel, cutting his forehead open - blood spilling everywhere. I just stood there in shock not knowing what to do, Henry was hysterical, thank god Michael is the level headed one and whisked Henry off to try and stop the bleeding and calm him down.

With bleeding stopped and Henry seemingly back to his happy self we took him to the doctor to check the wound (more hysterics, as Henry didn't want the doctor to touch him or clean the wound) to confirm a stitch would be required. There was no way Henry was going to allow this, so some special tape was stuck over the cut on his head and we now wait to see if it will scar.

This weekend we took Henry to Luna Park (a fun fair for those not in the know). He had a ball going on the kiddies rides, riding up and down on a horse on the carousel, and spinning with Dadda in the tea cups. It was great to see him try something new and enjoy it so much. After each ride he would point back and say "more".

Other baby news - yes, keeping busy with Henry and work we sometimes forget we are expecting another baby. I'm 22 weeks pregnant now and all is going well. I don't seem to be gaining as much weight as I did with Henry (must be I'm more active), but by all accounts we are not expecting a small child. We opted not to find out the sex of this one. Due date is now estimated to be 23 April.

Have a safe and happy Christmas.

Visiting Nanoo

Recently (well within the last few weeks anyway) we managed to throw off the shackles of city life for a weekend trip to see Nanoo. On the way we stopped at Clontarf to visit some friends and to give Henry the chance for a frolic on the beach.

He started out fully clothed, but was soon down to his nappy after wading in and getting his shorts wet. Soon after this his shirt came off after a more adventurous run into the water, and a quick shower later was followed by a nudie run around the park to work up an appetite.


All the fun and excitement helped wear him out for the drive up. Not that he needs much of that when travelling as he has trouble staying awake longer than about half an hour in the car.

Thanks for the hospitality Nanoo !

A few pics to distract from all this name calling

Showing just how advanced he is for an 18 month old, here is Henry riding a skateboard indoors. Well, maybe not riding, but nonetheless doing a pretty good balancing act. He's practicing for the X-treme games.

A down pour of rain overnight flooded our balcony, but that didn't stop Henry from doing what all toddlers love to do - splashing in the puddles.

Driving Miss Daisy? Henry and Allegra love playing in the car. Don't forget to wear your seatbelts kiddies.

Henry's first taste of noodles resulted in three thumbs up from the young food critic.

A table for two. Jason if you're reading this, hope you appreciate Henry's attire. He's wearing your favourite "wife beater".

Up the Duff

Dear family and friends

We are delighted to announce we are expecting a little brother or sister for Henry. Baby no. 2 is due late April 2007.

Love to all
Tiff and Michael

A few more happy snaps