Life and Times with our Kitty Kat

It has been nearly 2 weeks and yet it already feels like a lifetime since the 3 of us all met each other and started getting used to living together as one big (happy) family! It really has been overwhelming and there is so much to do in looking after a baby that you don't really get a chance to look after yourself (which is also as important I've found out!) I suppose that's why we have husbands, friends and family to help you do that part......which always comes second to the newest arrival in the family. We have received such fantastic support from so many people who have been so generous in terms of gifts, cooking meals, shopping, giving much needed advice, lending us baby equipment and spending time with our little Milea. We are just so blessed - thank you everyone!

So I'd better start at the beginning then.......(and for those who weren't able to follow on Twitter)

The Labour
It was Tuesday 24 May and I'd started off on a good foot - going to the gym as pregnant as can be and sweating it out on the treadmill for 40 minutes. Ok, I was hardly sweating as I could barely manage a brisk walk, but nevertheless, I felt I did a good workout and hoped that all my walking had jiggled her down a bit further so that labour would happen in the near future. Jaco also made a booking at a new Indian restaurant in town to feed me more curry. Well, little did I know that it would happen sooner than I thought - that evening in fact! I was rather enjoying a late afternoon nap when suddenly I felt a warm gush between my legs! I jumped out of bed thinking I'd wet my bed or something, only to find that my waters had broke. I didn't actually know if it was that, but after it happening several more times and having to confine myself to sitting on the toilet for long periods, I thought this is it! I frantically BBM'ed Jaco who told me to wait for a bit cos he was busy and couldn't call me. I told him 'THIS CANNOT WAIT - YOUR DAUGHTER IS COMING NOW!' which seemed to catch his attention but he thought I was joking with him. We called the gynae and the hospital to let them know that we were coming in and then proceeded to chill for about 2 hours to let the traffic from town into the Southern Suburbs die down. In this time, we had dinner together, packed the last bits and pieces for the hospital, had a few gulps of OBs (Jaco) and even managed to have a nice relaxing chat with our neighbours. No rush at all.....

Upon getting to the hospital, my pants were now thoroughly wet from more waters breaking - which I would have to get used to as this continued all night long. Where did all the liquid come from?? They hooked me up to the CTG machine to monitor mine and the baby's heartrate. All good and no contractions yet. They decided to admit me into the ante-natal ward and sent Jaco home for the evening. So was that it???? I thought labour was hectic, screaming, pain, frenzied.....this all seemed pretty civilised! From about midnight onwards, the contractions started - bad period pain-like feeling which lasted only for about 15 seconds - nothing major. I tried to get some sleep in between these contractions, which were about 10 minutes apart. They were short power naps where I'd even end up dreaming!! I walked through to the nurses station at about 3am as I was hungry and wanted to order room service. I told her about the contractions and she decided it was time to go into the labour ward just in case. Yah - a big room all to myself with my own bath tub, and toilet. I tried to sleep until 6am when I knew Jaco would be returning to the hospital.

The contractions carried on all morning, still 10 minutes apart, yet increasing with severity and pain. Jaco was a superstar and ran around to please my every frantic gesture to massage my back, hold my hand, or provide a body part to squeeze when the contractions hit. Otherwise, he quietly kept feeding me, watering me and working on his laptop in the meantime. I even got fed some Speculoos (Belgian speciality)! The gynae visited every 4 hours only to give us disappointing news each time. First time she said I was only 1 cm dilated, then by 10am I was only 2 cms and by lunch time I was only 4cms. Things were progressing far too slowly for her and I was almost crying I was in so much pain each time a contraction hit me. She advised me to have an epidural if I was already suffering so much at this point and also suggested that I get hooked up onto a drip containing a labour inducing hormone. I gladly accepted both at this point.

Shortly thereafter, the anaethetist rushed into the room, all stressed out cos he heard I needed an epidural urgently - it wasn't that bad but I welcomed him with open arms none the less. No pain at all while the needle went into my spine and when they hooked me up onto the drip. I didn't even feel the catheter being inserted. Just all of a sudden, my legs became a sack of heavy potatoes and I couldn't even wiggle my toes! It was wonderful watching the machine showing that I had a contraction but not being able to feel a thing!! And what a wonder are catheters??!! No need to get up and go to the loo - its all done for you! Think we should adopt this into everyday life.....

However, by 6pm that evening (24 hours after my waters breaking) the gynae was getting really concerned that this labour wasn't progressing and that I was still only 4cms dilated. She told me that a Caesarian Section was going to have to take place as there was obviously something wrong. I had about 10 minutes to process this information and prepare myself for this operation which I never thought I'd have to go through. Amongst tears and discussing with Jaco, we agreed to go ahead. Out little girl would be arriving soon!

The Caesarian
Jaco was all dolled up in his scrubs and looked quite sexy, I must admit. I wasn't sure why I was crying and so emotional but Jaco did his best to calm me down and get me to relax. By this time, I was shaking all over - a consequence of the drugs in my body. All the surgeons were very chilled, making jokes, taking photo's of us and chatting about arb stuff. Seemed like they did this every day and it wasn't such a biggie. I was wheeled into the operating room which had huge lights above my body and then shoved from one bed onto the operating table. They put up the screen so that I couldn't see what was happening down there and did the 'cold' test on me-spraying some freezing cold stuff onto my skin, asking if I could feel it. I only had sensation from chest upwards which was good and this meant they could start the procedure.


I thought Jaco would be very grossed out from watching the operation take place, but he got involved and managed to snap lots of pics of them cutting me open and pulling her out. He was quite amazed at the precision with which they worked and how clean and tidy their work was. Within 10 minutes I heard her miaow-like cry and Jaco went to the weighing table to console her and hold her tiny little hand. By the time they put her naked warm body on my chest, I was actually so out of it from the drugs, that I didn't really know what was going on and don't think I fully appreciated that special first bonding moment.


After that I drifted in and out of consciousness and Jaco took the baby from me so that I could fall into a deep slumber. Milea Dara Cronje was born at 18:45pm on 25th May - her exact due date! Spectacular timing!












The Recovery
The next 24 hours were a blur for me. I was able to manage the pain myself by pumping morphine into my body whenever I needed to (there was a 7 minute delay so no overdosing unfortunately...) Initially I was scared to overdo it but in the end I was happily pumping every second I could. I woke up with night sweats and wasn't able to hold a full conversation as I'd fall asleep mid sentence. I also felt a bit nauseous and had a few gagging sessions but luckily my tummy was empty so there were no mishaps. I was so happy to have Jaco looking after me and to be able to hold my baby girl. It was awesome to see her sucking on my breast, all content and happy. I was very against Caesars initially but have decided they are not that bad and the pain is totally manageable (a Voltaren suppository in the morning and Myprodals every 6 hours). It was quite tricky trying to sit up to eat or breastfeed as I suddenly had no stomach muscles - I had to rely on the nurses or Jaco to lift my bed up. Jaco was such a star the day after the Caesar and he never left my side. He did everything for me from feeding me, to making sure I was comfortable, and looking after Milea. He is such a proud dad and just loves her so much. He got stuck in with changing nappies and burping from the word go - even before I could face up to these tasks. I was stuck in bed for 24 hours and then made to get up and walk around on Thursday evening. The catheter, drip and morphine were taken out of my body and the nurses forced me out of bed. I felt like a little old lady shuffling slowly along the floor as I was quite stiff. Even coughing or blowing my nose was impossible as I discovered you need stomach muscles for these simple bodily functions which one takes for granted.


My Precious Baby
I am in love! She is just so cute and cuddly! And I love her cry - sounds just like a high pitched kitty kat miaow. In the hospital I could distinguish her cry from all the other babies' cries. Iwas a bit overwhelmed at the thought that we were totally responsible for her life now and that she was totally dependent on us for everything. Unfortunately, due to the prolonged labour, she had some kind of blood infection which meant she needed very painful antibiotic injections in both her legs for the 3 days that she was in hospital. And boy did she SCREAM when they did this! She also had lots of brown freckle-type marks on her face and chest from the infection and red mosquito-like dots on her body due to hormonal levels. So she didn't look the prettiest from the beginning. Thankfully the infection has cleared up now and only left her with some thrush on her bum which we are treating. I would often sit in my bed just staring at my little girl while she quietly slept in the crib next to my bed. She mastered the breastfeeding latch almost immediately and drank like a demon. She didn't like to feed for very long on each breast but by the time she had left the hospital, she had already picked up 45grams.


We were discharged from hospital on Saturday, 3 days after she was born, with a boot full of flowers, vases, luggage and of course our precious cargo. Jaco had to drive very slowly as I could feel every little bump in the road! Upon arriving home, I was so surprised to find my best friend, Angie and her 11month old boy, Tao, here visiting for the weekend from Jo'burg. I suddenly became so emotional and burst into tears! Everyone was talking about the fact that I would become very emotional after having a baby, but I didn't really know what they meant! I mean, what was there to be emotional about !!?? But for the next 2 days, I cried several times about silly little things and knew exactly what they meant ;-). It was great having Angie there to help me, give advice, manage my engorged breasts and do all the girlie things that husbands don't really want to get involved in. She made our coming home just so much easier.

Some photo's of my baby:

I just love bathtime with my daddy!

ANNOUNCEMENT: Milea Dara Cronje enters our world!

Jaco and I would love to announce the arrival of our most precious and beautiful baby girl, Milea Dara Cronje.

She was born at Kingsbury Hospital, Claremont on 25 May 2011 at 18:45 and is healthy and strong!



We loved the second name of Dara who was a biblical descendant of Judah, known for his wisdom (1 Chronicles 2 v6) carrying a connotation of 'wisdom and compassion'. Since we are firmly rooted in Africa, our little girl also carries the name Dara, which means 'caress' and 'the beautiful one' in Swahili.

Playing the Waiting Game

I have been on 5 days of maternity leave already and I don’t know where the time has gone! I swear that sitting at home ‘doing nothing’ is busier than anything I’d do in a full day of work. Let’s just say that I’ve hardly had anytime to sit and do nothing – the days just seem to fill themselves with stuff to do! I’m starting to worry about how quickly my 4 months of maternity leave are going to just fly by! Jaco has ensured that I don’t get bored by giving me a to-do-list as long as my arm which included the following:
- make dinner every night
- buy food to stock up the cupboards so no shopping needed in the next 4 months
- vacuum the car so Milea can have a clean, comfortable ride home from the hospital
- pack the hospital bags AGAIN and double check I have everything (3 jam-packed bags so far…and possibly need for a 4th one)
- see friends one last time before life of a non-mother ends

So as you can see I’ve been pretty busy!

This week was crunch time in terms of whether I had enough amniotic fluid in order to go to full term of 40 weeks. The gynae visit yesterday confirmed that my amniotic levels have increased and baby is now around 3kgs. So all is good in Camp Cronje! In general, she is very happy to let me go to full term and no induction is necessary at this stage. The waiting game begins. Jaco and I are not very good at playing this game so we’ve decided to help Milea along into this world by practicing some tried and tested methods of inducing labour or some might say, plain old wive’s tales:
- Jaco made me eat a whole pineapple for breakfast. Pineapple is said to have an enzyme called Bromelain which is the key ingredient to forcing labour. My mouth is now rather raw!
- I walked the Sea Point Promenade ‘stukkend’ yesterday with the hope of bouncing her head on my cervix so it would open up. I did have lots of Braxton Hicks contractions thereafter so it must have done something
- Stimulating a whole lot of other areas of the body which we won’t go into!!
- The only thing left to do is eat a hot curry so Tandoori night, here we come!

Essentially, it is down to her own timing and we should really be enjoying the last few days of just the 2 of us. But naturally I have this urge to be in control and know when things are going to happen so I can plan my life a little. Waiting for the inevitable is so hard to do and not being in control is even harder. I think she is trying to teach us a well-deserved lesson of patience……

T minus 10 days

So back to the gynae this week to hear that Milea is now 2.8kgs. Gynae is still worried that she has fallen below her growth path and thus still not growing sufficiently. My amniotic fluid (pockets of water she's floating in) was measured at 7.5. Anything below 5 is a concern so I was advised to drink LOTS of water which may prevent the fluid from decreasing further. Gynae highly recommended that my working days should be over and my maternity leave should commence immediately. So Friday 13th May couldn't have been a better time to complete my last day at work. (not that I'm superstitious or anything!)

Now I can stay in bed for as long as I want, loaf in front of the TV, stay in my PJs all day and take advantage of afternoon naps with my electric blanket on. I'm not sure when I'm going to have time to cook all these dinners that Jaco is expecting when he gets home from work.......mmm, I might have to do a bit of expectation management here!

I wouldn't say that I'm going to be a paranoid mother but I thought it a good idea to get some basic knowledge about what to do if baby stops breathing or chokes on a piece of biltong. Jaco and I attended a baby CPR and first aid course on the weekend (http://www.supernannies.co.za/) which was super informative and gave us the confidence we need to deal with this sort of situation.

So to refresh your memories:

H = Hazards (make sure the room / surroundings of the victim is safe before you start administering help)

H = Hello (try and get a response from the victim. Put your ear to their mouths and look at their chest while listening for breathing for 10 seconds). If not then CPR is required

H = Help (Call for help & get someone to call the Western Cape Emergency number 021 480 7700 or 170 from a landline)

C = Compression (Take off clothes and find the nipples. For a child, take 2 fingers and start pressing midway between nipples 30 times. For a child older than 1 years, use the palm of your hand, for an adult use 2 hands)

A = Airway (lift the child's head by pushing the chin slightly backwards to open up the airway)

B = Breathe (Cover the nose and mouth with your mouth and blow twice making sure the chest rises)

Repeat.

We also received a lovely surprise when we received a message from one of Jaco's colleagues, Mark and Caryn, who were also pregnant, but 1 week behind me. She went into labour on Saturday night and delivered a 2.1kg baby girl naturally (yes NO drugs!!) early on Sunday morning. So it really is min dae now and we wait in anticipation. We keep telling Milea that she has lots of friends in the world now, so its her turn.

Remember to follow all the action on twitter: @Jacocron

Babyshower Boom!

Great news from the growth assessment scan we had last week - baba has grown! Atta girl!
She is now 2.6kgs which is the 20th percentile for 38 weeks. It was a long time ago since I did stats, but it basically means that if I had 100 children (!!!), the 100th child would be the biggest with the 1st child being the smallest. BC would thus be on the small end of average. She is definitely not my child then! Also, the placenta is healthy and there is enough amniotic fluid for her to stay in my lovely warm tummy until full term of 40 weeks. Yah - we were so pleased with the news! Jaco was very proud of himself for feeding us up and I was told that early bed rest was not necessary. Because her head is so far down in my cervix, they had to do an internal scan to check her head circumference. Despite your feelings regarding internals, all concerns disappeared when we could suddenly see her face on the screen, with these pair of beautiful big lips opening and closing as she was swallowing the amniotic fluid! Just amazing! Oh, we cannot wait to meet her!

So I'm sure you've all picked up that we've decided to officially name BC as MC - Milea Cronje (pronounced ma' lea for those having difficulty). The Wikipedia explanation of Milea: A generous and compassionate person. In Hawaii, Milea means angel child variant of Mary, quiet and peaceful. I'm not making this up - go look for yourselves! And there are no famous people with Milea as their first name so she has a chance...! I went to YWAM with an American girl called Malia and have always loved the name. We wanted something different and unique which was my compromise in the English / Afrikaan name debate. Plus, did you notice how it rhymes with Cronje! I just love it!

I could not have been more spoilt recently when in the space of 2 days I was given 2 babyshowers! The first one just happened to fall on Mother's Day last Sunday which I thought was quite apt since I am 'technically' considered a mother. I also managed to convince Jaco that I qualify for a Mother's Day gift which was a desperately needed pair of slippers which were promptly packed into the hospital bag so I'll only get to wear them when I really AM a mom!

We invited about 30 of our Cape Town friends and family for a lovely picnic in the park where we served a brekkie of cupcakes, muffins, hot cross buns, fruit salad, yoghurt, croissants and lots of yummy things. Best of all, Milea was so pleased with all the cute additions to her wardrobe and baby products, which she cannot wait to start using.

I loved the game which my sister came up with. Everyone was given a piece of paper with parts of the body or attributes of personality that they had to decide whether Milea was going to inherit from her mom or dad. It was quite funny to hear who thought she should get her 'intelligence' from or her 'legs' from etc. Thankfully she seemed to get an equal mix from mom and dad!

We were also so glad to have the weather play along as we enjoyed a beautiful morning in the sunshine. Big kisses and hugs go to my special hubby and sister for organising everything!


Then the following day at work, the office surprised me with a party in the boardroom with lots of pressies and games including guessing how big my bump is. Some of the guys cut their string to fit around both my belly and theirs! I definitely shouldn't be asking them the touchy question of whether I look fat??!!? They were so generous considering I've only be there about 6 months. Milea was very excited to receive a moses basket which will be her second bed when we are out in the evenings or travelling. Talking of which, we booked a trip up to JHB to visit my parents on the 19th June. She would be less than a month old! EEEEK! Very brave move I think but I've heard its the best time to travel, the younger they are. So the moses basket will be her temporary home for a week and a half. It was quite funny having to choose a birth date for her when booking the ticket - since we haven't quite got there yet.....

So Jaco is in Nigeria again this week and I was told to 'knyp' until he gets back! Well it seems that Milea is very comfortable with this idea since I've not had a peep from her and daddy gets back today! I survived the 3 nights alone with most people worrying about me. Hopefully no more work trips until the end of June otherwise I'll have to put my foot down and institute a travel ban!

Taking it Easy in Barrydale

So you are probably asking, where in the world is Barrydale?? We decided to take a little 4 day break in Barrydale which is about 250kms outside of Cape Town on the way to Oudtshoorn. Yes, basically in the middle of no-where! But that was the point! We needed to get away from the city, from TV, from shopping centres, from noise and general "busy-iness". So we found this little self-catering cottage with 2 beds, a small kitchen, a table and 2 chairs, a bathroom and a cute little stoep overlooking some vineyards and mountains and there we plonked ourselves for a few days to rest, eat and find out if we could pass time doing nothing!

Well it wasn't such a challenge I tell you with our days being filled with outings down to the local dorp, making food, eating food, reading baby books and newspapers, picnicing and having the bestest afternoon sleeps ever! Jaco did however bring his bike with him and got in some good 5 hour rides on some of the days which left me to me to amuse myself with doing lots of nothing! It was fabulous and I feel totally rested, relaxed and ready for my last 2 weeks at work before my maternity leave starts.


The primary reason of course for our Romantic Getaway was to ensure baba was given the ultimate chance to grow, develop and put on some weight before the next gynae visit. So it was Jaco's mission to feed me with as much protein as he could within this short space of time and ensure that my tummy was always full for baba to feed on! Let's hope she is having a whale of a time cos mommy is feeling a bit like a whale with suddenly having to eat so much!

We thought it would be the perfect opportunity to take a few pics of the preggi belly before its too late and the missy pops out by surprise. Despite her official due date being the 25th May, the weekend of the 14th/15th May seems to be coming up alot in dreams that my family and I have been having! Let's wait and see...

1 Month to Go Instructions: Rest and Eat!

It is with much excitement and anticipation that I write my blog. Yesterday it was one month until the predicted arrival of BC! Basically, she could come any day now. Wow, how scary is that!! To think of all the things I need or would like to do before then. I’ve had some sleepless nights about all the work I need to finish at the office before my maternity leave which starts on 17 May – 1 week before her due date. Thankfully, however, I have this week off to rest as much as possible – but you know how this Cronje family is? We just don’t know what resting means and we don’t know how to do nothing!

Please note this is before a spinning class at 7am, hence the tired look!

Frost & Sullivan agreed to me coming back to work in September on a half day basis! Amazing news as I was expecting them to turn down my request straight away as no-one else in the company works only half a day. But to my surprise they agreed and asked me to assist them with recruiting a full time junior assistant to help me! So this is one of the tasks I need to complete before maternity leave and I’m dreading going through the hundreds of CVs I’ve received so far!

After 7 weeks of not seeing the gynae, we finally went this morning. I was very keen on seeing her sooner than this but with her taking leave and Jaco’s work commitments in Seychelles and Nigeria, today was the first available appointment. I was excited to see how she had grown and whether she was lying in the right position for a natural birth. Well, we weren’t expecting to hear that she is relatively small for her ‘age’ at only 2kgs. So in 7 weeks, she’s only gained 800grams. My belly measures 32cms and by now at 36 weeks, should measure about 35cms. The gynae said there is nothing to worry about at the moment, but she’d rather have me go for a growth scan next week to see baba’s progress. I was given strict instructions to stop all my spinning classes and exercising and to concentrate on relaxing and eating lots of chocolate this week. Yes, she REALLY did say that, much to Jaco’s astonishment! Basically I just need to rest, put my feet up and start eating lots more protein and carbohydrates. This doesn’t sound too bad to me. In fact, our timing of going away to a cottage in Barrydale (250kms outside of Cape Town past Swellendam) for a couple of days, is perfect. So I’m going to relax, read and eat to my heart’s content! The extra weight I’ve gained since first falling pregnant is still only sitting at 8kgs, although my body fat has slightly increased over the past few weeks. I’m attributing small baba to a small father. Let’s hope we have more positive news next week after the Thursday growth scan!

Yum! Chocolate Brownie time with no guilty feelings...

With the cold Cape Town weather setting in, I’m struggling to find warm clothes that fit over my belly – gone are the days of lovely summer dresses. Also, my belly button has finally popped out and I’m lubing my tummy like mad to prevent stretch marks: permanent disfigurement! Popped-out belly buttons is the thing I’ve always disliked about pregnant women! I’m definitely not the one to show mine off with pride. Sleeping is becoming heavy work….. literally, as I turn from side to side like a big fat hippo with lots of grunting noises due to the weight I’m shifting around. Many people have commented on how tired I look which is due to restless nights and waking up every couple of hours or so from sore hips & pelvis! Its good training for the sleepless night we’re going to be having soon!

As we have so many family and friends outside of Cape Town and South Africa for that matter, we’ve decided to tweet about the birth of BC! So please start following JacoCron on Twitter as he’ll keep everyone up to date with all the highlights, lowlights, agonies and elations after I go into labour! I’ll get him to limit the graphics posted, don’t worry!


My lovely rocking feeding chair arrived last weekend!

The wall art is up but missing a few butterflies. My next job over the next couple of days.