Little baby Jasper

A few weeks ago at 3:18pm we welcomed a fourth baby boy into our family – baby Jasper. After an intense and emotional (I seem to cry a lot) four hour labour he entered the world in our home – one arm first – superman style. Born with dark hair, weighing a healthy 9lb 14ozs, looking very swollen and sounding very screamy. He took us all by surprise – born head and body all at once (other than his arm!), so I had to quickly try and catch him from under the water. I couldn’t get there quick enough, so thankfully one of the midwives grabbed him.

The whole birth experience was such a positive one, and I feel so happy that I was able to give birth to him at home. It’s where I feel the most relaxed, and I also feel so lucky that I was surrounded by Jared and three brilliant midwives who couldn’t have been more caring, positive or supportive. It would be impossible to express my thanks to them all, but I did try. I feel so relieved that he wasn’t any more than 11 days late, as daily monitoring at hospital can be stressful.

The first few days were a total whirlwind. The boys were back home from school very soon after I gave birth and the phrase ‘baptism of fire’ came to mind. I laid on the sofa whilst my mum held Jasper and Jared cooked us all dinner – followed by the usual noisy bedtime routine. I remember feeling totally overwhelmed, tired and craving some peace, yet feeling like there was no where else I would rather be. Pure joy. So full. So happy. Parenthood brings with it an interesting combination of emotions.

Jasper has not been the best feeder. He sleeps a lot during the day and can be impossible to wake for a feed. He seems to favour the night for a party, but hopefully this won’t last too much longer. Rufus and Otto were both great feeders from day one, so it feels strange to have a reluctant feeder again like Winston. He still has a good amount of weight to gain before he’s back to his birth weight, but we’ll get there.

Introducing a new person into the family is always fascinating. I feel like I get to know each of my children all over again, and they all react so differently. We’ve found Winston reading to him, teaching him how to spell his name and trying to teach him the names of objects. Rufus likes to cuddle him, hold him, help look after him and check that he’s happy. Otto has a more physical approach – he likes to tickle him, grab him, kiss him and has even tried to carry him a few times. I’m going to have to watch him even more than I thought.

I feel so excited to get to know our new little person – who will he look like? what will he love? and who will he be?

Welcome to the world baby J!

E xx