On Easter Sunday morning at 10.44 am we welcomed our third little boy into the world – exactly two weeks late. Born with lots of dark hair, wrinkly fingers, a pair of dimples, weighing 9lb 11ozs and screaming very loudly! It goes without saying that we are over the moon with our new addition and so look forward to seeing his personality unfold. We have decided to call him Otto – a name we have both loved for a long time, and his middle name is Ephraim, which is taken from the Bible.
After having a scan at around 37 weeks (to confirm the position of the baby) we were advised not to have a home birth for a couple of reasons. My previous two births have been straightforward home births, so this advice made me feel really quite upset – even though we decided it was the right thing to do. It took me a few days to get my head around giving birth at hospital and having to ‘go somewhere’, but with a few extra preparations I felt (mostly) fine about everything.
I had agreed to consider the induction process on Easter Sunday, but thankfully around 4am on Sunday morning labour began naturally and he arrived a few hours later. I was so relieved.
The last week has been a bit of a funny one. Otto and I had to stay in for a couple of nights because there were a few indications that he had an infection. He was very mucousy, wasn’t maintaining his body temperature, was grunting and his head was jerking intermittently. He was put on antibiotics for 48 hours as a precautionary measure and taken to the special care unit, where thankfully he didn’t stay long at all.
His blood tests came back negative and he improved significantly which was brilliant, and we were discharged at 1am on Wednesday morning. I was so desperate to get home, so we just left as soon as we could. Win and Ru were at Center Parcs with family from Monday and we joined them on Wednesday afternoon.
Feeding is going well, and so far he seems very content (except between 2-5am). Even third time around getting off to a good start feeding feels like a huge triumph. I’m sure I’ll have some ups and downs, but for now it is good and it’s quite a relief.
Winston and Rufus were so excited to meet him and have really surprised me with how much interest they are taking. Ru in a more full on way and Win in a more gentle way. Ru keeps saying: “Mum, I want that baby!” and diving to touch, lift and grab him. Win stays back as he gets worried he’ll hurt him. Watching how their sibling relationships develop is something I am really excited about. Their sibling relationships is something I am excluded from, but I want to teach them to love, care and look out for one another. I think about it a lot and really hope I can do it. Win and Ru are very much a pair and observing them together – the good, the bad, the ugly and the perfectly magical moments are the ones that make me so happy.
I must admit I feel nervous at times as we begin our journey as a five. The transition from one to two was far smoother than I expected, but the transition from two to three feels far greater and their needs are very different to one another. I just hope they know how loved they are by Jared and I.
I love staring into Otto’s newborn eyes and wondering what he is thinking – does he know he is safe? does he know we will always look after him? and does he know what a difference he will make in our family? I always tell myself that the answer is ‘yes’ to all of these, and I hope I am right.
Welcome to the world baby O!
E xx
Ah the last picture is just adorable. Three gorgeous boys! Noah has been sat on my knee as I read through this post, he’s been trying to learn your boys names. Hope you’re all settling into having three nicely! Welcome to the crazy that is three children!! 😘😘😘
Ah! I’m scared Kerry! but hopefully we’ll get in to the swing of things quite quickly. How sweet is Noah? Bless him! xx
Loved reading this and hearing all about it again. Such an exciting time and certainly a blessed moment.. Lovely pictures and a very special edition x
Yes, yes, yes! Super exciting xx
Oh wow. You had him! Huge congratulations Esther, you have three utterly beautiful boys there. This post made me so emotional. Your older boys could be twins, they look identical and they are going to be such awesome big brothers to this little one. Your hospital stay sounds quite like mine after having Troy – although we had him at home in a very speedy delivery we had to transfer to hospital by ambulance soon after as he was grunting and they thought he might have an infection too. It was probably, in hindsight, that the quick delivery meant his airways couldn’t clear themselves properly. I’m so glad everything is going so well and look forward to seeing more updates as the time goes on. Much love to you and your beautiful family x
Thank you so much Donna. We can’t wait to get to know him. That is exactly what they said to us about him not being able to clear his airways. The build up was slow but the actual birth happened all of a sudden! and thanks again for your kind words xx
Congratulations Esther and family. I was very curious about the hospital factor as I knew your first choice would be home. You and Jared are both wonderful loving parents who I know will teach those boys everything they need to know.
Thank you so much Laris. So far everything is going smoothly and you are so kind xx
Oh, huge congratulations! I just love the name too, all of your children have amazing names! I hope you are settling into life as a family of five.
Nat.x
Ah Nat! That is lovely of you. Thank you xx
Oh Esther what a beautiful post, I am so thrilled for you all and I’m glad Otto arrived safely and your stay in hospital wasn’t too long. You will do great as a family of five, your boys know they are loved and that is the main thing. Congratulations and Take care lovely xxx
Thank you so much Hayley! xx
Congratulations! Otto is absolutely beautiful, and so are your older two. They look pleased as punch!
Thank you so much! xx
Congratulations….he is absolutely beautiful x
Thank you Vicki xx
Oh congratulations, he’s absolutely gorgeous! And those pictures of all 3 of your boys are just lovely – they looked so chuffed to be big brothers!
Thank you so much! So far they have been brilliant xx
Huge congratulations, Esther. What a thoroughly beautiful boy. I adore the pictures with his brothers. I hope you’re all well xxx
Thank you so much Rachel! So far everything has been brilliant. Let’s hope it stays that way 😉 xx
Ah your three gorgeous boys! I hope you’re all settling in well to being a family of 5. x
Thanks Lizzie! x