She’s all grown up…

So, back in 2007, we had two kids. A seven year old girl and a 13 month old boy. My fiance and I both knew we were meant to have another little girl. We could feel that she was almost present. We even knew what her name would be. The pull to bring her into this world was so strong, I can’t put my finger on what it was, but I just knew that she needed to be born for an important reason that will be revealed later in her life.

You can imagine how excited we both were to discover then, that we had finally become pregnant with her! Our daughter was overjoyed as she’d always wanted another sister. She already had two step brothers, a step sister and her little brother. But she always yearned for a little sister. Even our little boy, who was still a baby himself, was excited at the idea of mummy having a baby in her tummy.

Before we knew it, I was proudly sporting the bump you see above. We tried to find out her gender during the pregnancy, but out of all our three kids, she was the cheeky one who wouldn’t show us! So we had our first surprise pregnancy, and I didn’t get to talk to her by name during the pregnancy as I had with my other two. My son was instantly in love with his little bubby. He would pat her, kiss her, and place toys up my shirt for her to play with. One day I found myself faced with a piggy bank, several cars and a few blocks in there. His big sister would try to talk to the baby, and my baby boy would push her away, protective of ‘his’ baby.

Then, the Autumn school holidays came, and I was due to give birth on the 28th of April. Would my little bubba be conveniently born during the school holidays? We all hoped so. And so I spent the first week of the school holiday that felt like it would never end, chasing a very adventurous and destructive 22 month old boy around the house most of the time, and sitting like a big hippopotamus on the lounge, huffing and puffing the rest of the time. I went to the hospital once, thinking I was in labour, only to be sent home again. How frustrating to think that in my third pregnancy I could still misread my body’s signals.

The weekend passed. No baby. No sleep, either. We started the next week, with no sign of anything happening. On Thursday morning, almost at the end of the holidays, I had a tiny break in my waters. I high-tailed it to hospital, and my fiance joined me as soon as he got our other two beautiful children looked after. Still nothing happened. We sat around in the delivery suite for most of the day, with me getting poked and prodded some of the time, and my darling and I enjoying some rare time alone without the children together.

I think it was at 3pm that I was induced, and had my waters broken for me. This was the most difficult birth out of all three. I’ll spare you all of the gory details. But I will say that she was born at around 7.20 that night. My fiance asked what gender the baby was. On hearing the news, ‘it’s a girl!’ he punched the air and yelled, ‘YES!’ and I breathed a happy little sigh.

And then, for the first time, we met her:

So pretty, right from the word go. The midwives placed her in front of me on the bed I was leaning on from the floor. I was stunned by her dark eyes (my other two have blue eyes), and more stunned by her sharp, alert focus on me. She had these sweet cheeks like little fat apples, and I kissed each one. It was sheer heaven, and now, everytime I kiss those cheeks, I’m transported back to that first moment I met her.

She was a very placid, easy going little baby. I think with two rambunctious older siblings, she had no choice! She was a very happy bubba too, smiling early and often.

The children just adored her. My daughter’s eyes lit up the next day after she was born, when she first met her. They’re still very close. My son was going through a phase where he’d say, ‘more?’ in a very high-pitched voice. So cute. He didn’t notice her the day after she was born when I brought her home to meet him, as we had a lot of visitors. But the next morning, he was thrilled to wake up to find a real baby in the cot I’d been showing him during the pregnancy. He pointed excitedly, and I told him, ‘the baby came out of my tummy, and now she’s in the cot!’ He looked at my tummy, then the baby, then my tummy again. He pointed at my tummy, and shreiked, ‘more?’

As she grew older, she became less placid and more assertive! But she’s always been beautiful, clever and funny. She is obsessed with shoes, puppies, Dora the Explorer and the Fairies. She loves books, talking and dancing. Especially to Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies’ and and Lady Gaga, to whom she yells happily, ‘GA GA!’

And all of this is why I’m so shocked that in such a short time, she’s grown into this:

Yes, soon she will be two years old. She is still my pretty, funny little bubby and will forever be. But as I plan her birthday party, I am reminded to treasure these years that my kids are still little, for they won’t be little much longer. I vow to always be here, and refuse to miss a thing. We love you baby! Your name means ‘bringer of light’, and we thank you for bringing light into our life and making this little family complete.