Meet Kai

I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to introduce you to Kai. I've completely fallen off the blogging/quilting bandwagon and all I can say is baby number 4 has tipped me over the edge. My days and nights are filled with baby cuddles, and that's just fine with me right now.

So do you want to hear the birth story? Kai was born almost 2 weeks late. After three days and nights of early labour pains I suddenly went into full on labour while at my parent's house for dinner. All of a sudden I wasn't hungry. My dad asked me if I shouldn't be in hospital and I told Todd to pop his dinner in a container, and take me to the hospital... now! I phoned my midwife on the way and left a message. Previously I had been quite teary that labour was taking so long to establish, but now that things were moving I had a burst of energy and determination  Its funny how the anticipation of the pain was almost worse than the real thing. I arrived at the hospital before my midwife. Fortunately another midwife was able to get the bath started and I wasted no time getting on the gas! Although I don't think it did much for the pain, the gas helped me to focus and not become panicky. Todd had parked in a loading zone, and was about to leave to re-park the car, but I told him not to go anywhere, that this baby was coming and I didn't care if we got a parking ticket! Both my midwife and back up midwife made it just in time (we all forgot to call the student midwife... whoops). As soon as the bath was full I hopped in, and after two almighty contractions I was ready to push. He needed a little bit of help, as his shoulder got stuck, but at 7:20pm Kai joined our family - all 9 pounds ounces of squishy cuddliness. Oh the relief... the joy... there's nothing like it. He came out hungry, sucking on his fist and he's fed every 2 hours day and night ever since!

He's a pretty settled baby, loves his food and cuddles and is really smiley (started at just 2 weeks.)  The whole family love him to bits, and fight over who is going to hold him next.  I can't believe he's already 3 and a half months old!  Here's some snaps from my phone:

This gorgeous outfit was sewn by my lovely friend, Cath Palmer, who happens to be a midwife (and who was able to help calm me down when I was worried about how the birth would go). The pants pattern is Anna Maria Horner's Quick Change Pants, with a lovely soft flannel on the inside.

She was so thoughtful to make tops for each of the siblings too. How nice is that!

My sister, Amelia, made this beautiful quilt with gorgeous soft fabrics! It's the perfect size for him to have some tummy time on. 

She also made a matching ball with some very special fabric. I wish you could see it up close. The stitches are so fine and delicate. What a lucky boy.

I would like to take the liberty of adding 4 lines to my mum's favourite poem:
You are the trip I did not take
You are the pearls I cannot buy
You are my blue Italian lake
You are my piece of foreign sky
You are my quilting masterpiece
You are the book I did not write
You are the blog I cannot tend
I'm far too busy holding you tight.