Sprout is a girl

Photo : Lucy at 1day old

To the uninitiated , Sprout was the name given to our daughter Nicole and Raffs' 3rd. baby by their children Ella and Charlotte. Well we are pleased to announce the safe arrival of Lucy Anne (alias Sprout) She was born today 29th.June at 5.30am. She is a bouncing baby indeed...you only need to look at the photo in our last blog of Nicole just before having Lucy.
She weighed in at 4.45 kg(9lb 13oz) and is 54cms long . What a huge baby. So perfect in every way. Her dad Raff has a lot to do with her inherited genes.

Every birth we witness in our family is a big miracle so it was with great excitement that Nicoleand Raff ventured to the local hospital at 8.30 pm... The staff said they strolled in. Little did they know Lucy would not arrive until the next morning. Nicole was having quite strong contractions but decided to ride them out at home in more normal surroundings... they were every couple of minutes and giving her considerable but manageable pain by the time they arrived at the hospital. She was only dilated at 4cms wich meant a fair way to go. After a couple of hours and an awful lot of contractions measured the same. Meanwhile Raff was supporting Nicole physically and emotionally. It was incredible to watch. I know Nick and I had that same intensity when we gave birth to our 3 children, but to witness the bond it was quite moving. Thankyou Raff for our three beautiful grandchildren and for being Nicoles rock. They had to make some tough calls during the labour, one of them was to decide they needed to have their baby by caesarean section as the cervix was not dilating and all the contractions in the world were not going to bring this baby into the world in a hurry. After much deliberation by Doctors and midwives the decision was made to support Nicole and Raff in their choice. We have a new healthcare system in our community which means we don't have a surgical team on standby at our major hospital. An hour and a half later they arrived from the city a distance of 30kms. The time by then was 4.30am. For Nicole and Raff after trying to contain the pain management for so long it spiralled out of control at times but together they managed to change their mindset to focus on each issue one at a time. Eventually the team was assembled with a local Doctor as the anaethitist. After inserting a catheter.. which was not much fun for a woman in labour she was whisked off to theatre with Raff. As it was a spinal block Nicole would be awake. All this was bringing back memories of our first labour 32 years ago, that ended in Rachel being delivered by caeser for the same reason. Sitting in the corridor at 5am was one of the loneliest times of my long life. I sat as close as I could to the theatre waiting for an eternity. It wasn't until I heard a faint cry of a baby did I relax a little. I then couldn't find out how my baby Nicole was fareing knowing how much blood was lost last time. At last someone beckoned me into recovery. I don't think I was supposed to be there. Nicole was wheeled in looking frightened and shaking uncontrollably so much stuff was happening around us it was quite surreal. Lucy was weighed with lots of oohing and aahing over her size. Nicole was starting to get feeling back in her body ...they block all pain from her breasts down.

Photo:One hour old Lucy and proud Mum

Photo:Happy families...look how grown up Lucy's big sisters are.

The moment Nicole held her little bundle Lucy started feeding as if she has done it forever,

all was well in their world and ultimately our world. That was a very long night but I would not swap one moment to have been privy to our daughters wonderful marriage and their 3 children. God knows what is in the water in Gawler as Rachel has 4 children.... and still Ryan her eldest is our favourite grandson as he is our only boy. Thanks to the midwives Julie and Kylie for their kindness at such a difficult time . They were extremely sensitive and supportive of the situation. Julie midwife of 30 odd years commented to me that she felt superfulous in watching Nicole and Raff as a team. I can't wait to see Nicoles summary of her labour. Well done guys! A huge welcome to our 7th. grandchild Lucy Anne to your wonderful life in your family and your extended family. Her cousins are as excited as if she was their sister. Rachel once again has been a great support to Nicole and Raff managing to get her friend Vicki to come and sit with her kids while she came to give support in labour. Adam and Eva kept sending messages of encouragement from Scotland and also a bunch of flowers... don't know how they got here so fast from Scotland. Nick and I are so proud to be the parents of our 3 children and inlaws to Eva and Raff and to be grandparents to 7 fantastic kids....how lucky we are