Three Weeks Old

Christie and Jack were up for 4 days as it was their half-term break. It was their first meeting of Xander. It's obvious that they both love him and love taking care of him. He'll be in good hands with his big brother and sister. The kids were also very helpful around the house - which was a nice present along with the cool jumper that Xander will grow into.



We went to Southend to see Nick's side of the family. This is Ann, Xander's Great Grandma.

On the last night of Xander's 2 week of life it snowed! A lot! It's very early for snow here and it caught everyone off guard. There's still snow on the roofs, parked cars and shaded areas a day later.



Xander is now 8 lbs 6 oz. The nurses are happy with his weight gain and so we are going to start taking away a few of his "top-up" bottle feeds. This will help a lot as the sterilizing, feeding and burping - on top of the breast feeding makes for very long feeds.
Time to get some sleep. Xander was awake on and off from 2:30 am to.. well... now really (11:30am). I think I let him sleep too long during the day yesterday. Live and learn.

Mom and Jim arrive in two days. Can't wait!!

x

Week two

Two weeks old...
Xander's new friend, Emma. She's 6 days older and the baby of our friends Peter and Joy.

A better picture of Xander with his sock monkey. They're the same size. When Xander is older he can look back at the monkey and ponder how small he was at one time. I had the same experience with a Raggedy Anne doll.

Xander meets Granddad David for the first time. (16 days old)

X's Adventurous First Week

Our little man.



Visit from Auntie Sal, baby Louis (5 weeks older than Xander) and cousin Jamie.




Day 6-9 in hospital with jaundice. At least it cured Xander's anxiety about being put down. But it took 6 hours of screaming. He had lost 14% (one pound) of his weight and his blood showed a high level of jaundice. So, lights camera action... phototherapy.

He's Here!!

I thought working until the end of 39 weeks was a dumb decision. So did Xander. So, he decided to come early so I wouldn't have to work any more :)

Xander Rhys-Brown (middle name still to be decided) was born 9 days early after 3 hard days of early stage one labour and then a quick 6.5 hour real-labour (after I was 3cm dilated) birth. B-day: 8 Oct 2008, 9.18 am, 7 lbs 9 oz. The birth was a water birth, natural, amazing, bloody painful (even with gas and air, two early shots of Pethadine, and two early whiskeys (I'm telling you the early labour was awful). Nick was perfect during the whole thing. I couldn't have done it without his support. The midwives - especially Connie who was there in the thick of things - were wonderful. They knew just what to say and when to say it.





It was all very emotional and we are happy to be at home with a very beautiful little boy.

His name is derived from Alexander the Great - Ruler of Macedonia; where Nick and I met. We thought it has a great story, is a powerful name full of promise and leadership and is unusual without being weird (so he stands out amongst the crowd).

Love to all,

The Rhys-Browns x