The Z word

I guess I should really introduce you to the main little lady really shouldn’t I…

So here goes… may in introduce to you River Sharon Valerie 💕

I guess I should start with explaining the meaning of her name. River had always been on my baby name list but it wasn’t really in my top 10. When we found out we were having a girl I had a few other names in my head that I really liked and in the end I managed to whittle my top 3 down to Annie, Esmé and River! Hubby loved the name River because apparently there’s someone in doctor who with that name. So that’s really where her name came about. As we’d picked her name very early on there was still quite a few months of me wondering what other names I liked and I sort of didn’t feel like she was a River for a while. But the second she was born there she was my River and I couldn’t imagine her with any other name! It was actually very bizzare because we’d kept her name a secret from everybody but when I was in Labour the midwives asked me her name and after I told them all they kept saying is “your going to meet River very soon” which was so odd hearing someone else say her name. Anyway so the middle names are named after my mum sharon and hubs mum Valerie. It couldn’t have been any other names if I’m compleatly honest. If she was a boy the only name I had was Mikey after my brother. But it wasn’t to be.

So… River came into the world with a crash on the 27th June 2023 at 9:16am weighing 7lbs 1oz making her birthday only 5 days before Rex’s!

After she was born we spent the next 2 days together just the 2 of us in the hospital. I had a lovely 2 days getting to know my little girl. I had all the cuddles in the world before everyone decended on her. Because of some medication I was taking during pregnancy River had to be monitored in hospital for at least 48 hours. Every 4 hours the midwives would come in and do her temperature, pulse and listen to her heartbeat and thankfully everytime they did it it was absolutely perfect. She also passed her hearing test in hospital which is always a huge relief.

She enjoyed breast feeding something that just sort of happend out of the blue but she did really well and I have to give her most of the credit for trying when I didn’t want to. So after 2 days we got sent home from the hospital and she just fitted in like a glove at home. She’s the easiest baby I’ve ever met. All she does is sleep eat and poop. She hardly ever cries not even when she’s hungry or needs her nappy changing I feel incredibly lucky at how easy she is making all our lives. Night feeds are practically non existent with her only waking up once a night usually around 3am for a feed. Unlike her brother who was up every 2 hours. She goes to bed like a dream and we don’t hear a peep out of her and honestly it’s made our lives so much easier. I feel like her sleeping so well has really saved my mental health.

She has blondy/gingery hair I really think she’s going to be ginger I will be absolutely thrilled if she is because she’s just so beautiful any hair colour will just make her more pretty. She has 2 birth marks, one on her eye lid and one on the back of her neck. They did tell me in the hospital that if the birth mark on her eye lid bothers us we can look at getting it removed but if I’m perfectly honest it’s part of her! And unless it bothers her when she’s older it will be staying where it is. The one on her neck you won’t even beable to see once she’s got long hair. She’s got the cutest smallest little fingers I’ve ever seen! She’s just so a scrummy I wish she could stay this small forever.

We’ve now had numerous appointments with the midwife and health visitor every one theve been very happy with her progress she’s even gained 10oz !! So she’s nearing 8lb now. She’s changing every day and I just can’t stop looking at her trying to take it all in before I blink and she’s off to college. There’s not really much more I can say about River except that she’s made our family a better one and she is so loved beyond belief. Below is a selection of my favourite photos I’ve taken of her so far.

So for now that’s All about River

Z

Xxx