Catching up...

Part of the midwives service is that they come to the house and visit for as long as you need them to help you with breastfeeding and just generally to make sure that you are both doing ok. They are also still available 24/7 on the pager while you are under their care for 6 weeks.


Luba made one of the house calls that required Joel to be weighed just to make sure that he was gaining weight since we were trying to get breastfeeding established. The babies get weighed in a fish scale on their home visits and we thought it was just too cute not to take photos of. Joel left his mark on the sling though hee hee!!

Sunette arrived on the 17th December for a 3 week visit. Jared was so happy to see her. It was amazing that he remembered her immediately even though he hadn't seen her since July.

Our first outing with Joel and Jared together was to the Southcentre Mall to have their annual Santa pics done. We of course had to stop in at Mrs Clause's kitchen again this year so that Jared could decorate his gingerbread cookie again. (Here is the link to last years pics http://markussefamily.blogspot.com/2007/12/run-run-as-fast-as-you-can.html ) He had loads of fun again this year and spent a lot of the time eating the icing and the sprinkles.

The finished product

And it tastes as good as it looks!

The set where the Santa photos were taken

Our tree went up a little bit late this year with all the excitement of the new baby in the house. Here are some photos of our special ornaments. Last year we started the tradition of a new ornament every year for Jared and so this year for Joel too. We also got a really cute family one. (I never realised the photos were out of focus until it was too late, sorry!!)

Both of these for the boys say "baby's first Christmas".

Christmas Eve was met with loads of excitement. Hannes, Jared and Sunette went off the see the Zoo Lights. Joel and I stayed in for a night of pizza and movies hee hee!! When they got home we put out milk and cookies for Santa and Santa's elves had delivered new PJ's again together with a letter. He brought Jared and Joel matching PJ's which was very cute and Jared thought just great.

Some photos of the Zoo Lights. It is an annual Christmas event and very popular.

The tree after Santa had been and left all the presents. He ate the cookies and drank the milk.

Our beautiful boys on Christmas morning in their matching PJ's

Joel in his special "My First Christmas" babygro. Isn't he gorgeous!

Joel in his swing watching all the paper ripping excitement.

Christmas was loads of fun this year again. Jared really understood this year and he loved opening all his presents.

Here are a few photos of Joel taken over the first few days of his life.

'till next time xxx

The birth of our new baby

I am desperately trying to catch up on the blog. I am sure I will get there sometime but there is so much to post and so many photos I want to share that I seem to never get there.

I thought I'd start with the birth of our new baby boy. I am going to share his birth story that I jotted down on paper to keep the memory alive forever. Here it is...

The birth story of Joel Christopher Markusse

After the birth of my first son I had decided that I would really like to have a Vaginal Birth after caesarean (VBAC). So when I fell pregnant with our second I spent a lot of time researching what my best chances of achieving a VBAC would be. We decided to enlist the care of a team of midwives instead of using an OBGYN for this pregnancy.

My pregnancy was textbook – as it was the first time around. Pregnancy is a great time for me, my body responds very well to it and I really do love the whole experience.

We’d been on weekly visits with the midwives since 36 weeks. I had been having spates of regular contractions for at least a week since about 38 weeks. The contractions just never progressed though. They were strong enough that I was aware of them but that was where it ended. I had started with acupuncture to help move things along as well. On Tuesday 9 Dec I had my 3rd acupuncture appointment at the clinic. When I arrived, midwife Asia and I had a chat in the passage. I mentioned to her that I’d had some nice contractions the night before that had amounted to nothing and she then offered to do a stretch and sweep for me after my appointment to see if that helped to get things going.

She did the sweep and I left the clinic having gone from 0 – around 2-3cms dilated. She was very happy but when I asked her what the chances were that this would bring on labour she said “possible but really not likely”. She said she’d do another sweep in clinic at my appointment on Friday. I was very crampy for the rest of the afternoon but nothing too major and no contractions.

That evening I had a La Leche League meeting at 7. My mucus plug had def gone after the stretch and sweep and I was feeling quite uncomfortable. I sat through the meeting having very noticeable and regular contractions but I didn’t do any timing because I never thought they could possibly be the real thing and I didn’t want to make a big deal of anything in front of the other ladies just in case it wasn’t the real deal.

I got home just after 8 and Hannes had cooked us dinner. I ate my dinner having to stop quite often for some strong and noticeable contractions. At around 9pm they became unavoidable. We started to time them. They were at 8 mins apart and lasting 45 – 60 seconds. They moved to 5 mins apart within 2 hours and were getting much stronger. I was in bed and trying to sleep at this stage and realised it wasn’t going to happen. By now we were thinking ok, maybe this IS it!! We still were in denial though. I don’t think we wanted to get our hopes up. Eventually after I realised that the contractions weren’t going away I decided to go and have a bath. Hannes ran me a nice warm bath which was wonderful to get into. The contractions started to come faster after that though so we pretty much had to admit that this was it, the show was finally on the road. I spent some time in the bath and eventually we decided to give the midwives a page just to check in and let them know what was happening. It was around midnight by then. Asia was on call. We had a chat and she spent quite a long time on the phone with me through a few contractions just to try and get a sense of where I was. She asked if I wanted her to come through and I said I didn’t think it was necessary just yet and that she should go back to bed and we’d call her later.

After I got out of the bath and back into bed things really picked up. Sleep was not even nearly a possibility. I decided to go downstairs on my own for a while and just try and get through a few contractions on my own. I thought if I got on the couch and sat in the recliner I might be able to snooze between contractions. It doesn’t work like that though. I found that being woken from a sleep intensified the pain I felt. I managed on my own until around 3:30 and then asked Hannes to come down and be with me. (Jared was fast asleep through all of this).

Finally at around 4:30 I got Hannes to call Asia and asked her to pop over. I went and got back into the bath. It was very comfy in the bath, by far the most comfy place I could find. Asia arrived just after 5. The contractions were by now coming every 3 and sometimes 4 minutes and were very strong but when she checked me I was only at 3cms. I don’t think any of us could believe it. I had thinned out to nothing but there had been no real further dilation. I told Asia to go back home and at least have her get some more sleep. I didn’t see the sense in 3 of us sitting and watching the clock.

By 6:30am I decided I had enough. I told Hannes that I wanted to go to the hospital. I had until then never considered an epidural but at that moment it was all I wanted. I think the fact that I was in so much pain for so little progress really impacted me. I also think that at that stage I may have gotten a little bit of a 6th sense of things to come.

We called our support person for Jared and asked her to come over, we called Asia and told her to meet us at the hospital and then we started to get ready. We had to do everything in 3 minute increments because I was not able to move during a contraction. Hannes was amazing. So supportive and understanding. I would never have lasted as long as I did if it wasn’t for him.

Michelle arrived just after 8 to be with Jared. He actually only woke for the day once she had arrived. He was very happy to see her and he didn’t seem at all distressed by me being in pain or by the fact that we were leaving him to go to the hospital.

We finally arrived at the hospital at around 9:30. Asia had already admitted me so we went straight up to labour and delivery where Asia was waiting. I was put straight onto the monitor to check baby. He was doing very well. Asia checked me and there had still been no real progress. She was concerned that baby was lying posterior and asked if I would agree to have one of the doctors come in and give us a second opinion.

The doctor arrived and did a check and confirmed that they head was still very high and that there had not been much dilation for the contractions I was having. Her recommendation was that we break my water and see if that got things going at all. They then offered me something for pain. I decided on the epidural. I think they got that going at around 12pm finally. After 15 hours without pain relief and knowing that this was going to be a long haul I could have proposed marriage to the anaesthetist at that point.

Not long after that Asia called the doctor back in to come and break my water. She wanted it to be done as a controlled break because his head was still so high and so she wasn’t going to take any chances with a possible cord prolapse. My waters broke and they were clear, baby was doing well on the monitor. My epidural was working and we were good to go for a while longer. The epidural was actually amazing. I could move around but I could feel no pain. I felt some pressure when I was having a contraction but no pain. The fact that I could still feel my feet and legs and move made such a difference.

We got me up onto hands and knees to try and encourage baby to turn some and to try and get the contractions up a bit more. They had all but stopped by that stage. Things were really not looking good. The only thing left that we hadn’t tried was an Oxytocin drip. Knowing the added risks that came with that we weren’t sure if we wanted to try it. Asia decided to get another doctor in for another opinion.

The doctor arrived and checked me. He told us that although I was sitting at around 6cm by then (and had been for a good few hours) the baby’s head had not descended down and so there was nothing putting any pressure on my cervix which is what it needs in order to dilate. He said that he did not see any merit in giving the oxytocin and that the possible risks were far too great taking into account that it would not alter the course of my labour anyway. He told me that he was sorry to say that I was starting another c-section in the face. He did say that I could take as long as I wanted to try and get things going again since baby was happy but that in his opinion it was futile. He didn’t want me to feel forced into it though.

We talked about it after he left and both Hannes and I and Asia decided that it was silly to prolong the inevitable and that we would prefer to get it done while the baby was still happy and there were no emergencies.

I was wheeled into theatre just after 4:30pm and baby Joel Christopher Markusse was born at 4:55pm. He came out shouting and was perfect!! He weighed 4.12kgs and was 53cms long. We’re all healthy and happy and have no regrets. We always knew there was a chance we would need another c-section, we are just happy we got the chance to give a VBAC our best shot.

Here are a few photos from the day.

Here he is all 4.1kgs of him!!

Just back in the ward after spending close on 3 hours in recovery. Jared spent most of that time in there with us. Our first new family of 4 photograph.

Jared getting a really good look at his new baby brother.

The view from the hospital room window on the day Joel was born.

All cleaned up. Joel had this lil bro hat and Jared had a "Big Brother" t-shirt.

'till next time xxx

New Beginnings

It seems our lives are currently full of special new beginnings. We have a new baby on the way any day now and our big baby had his first day at school yesterday.

We have visited the school quite a number of times since enrolling him so when we arrived yesterday it wasn't at all a strange place. We had told him that we would leave him with his new teacher and friends and come back to fetch him later. He seemed ok with that. When we got there he was a bit clingy and wanted me to pick him up. I hung up his jacket and put on his inside shoes and it wasn't 10 minutes and he told the teacher that he wants to go and build a tower. So off they went and got out his mat and the tower. The teacher asked if mommy and daddy could leave and he then said yes and very excitedly kissed us both goodbye. So we left and went off to have a nice long breakfast together all the while discussing what we thought Jared was up to at the time :o)

When we arrived to collect him he spotted us through the window and was very happy to see us. The teacher (who is also South African) said that he didn't ask for us once and that he fitted in very well and really enjoyed all the activities. It is a Montessori School so he was pretty much left to do what he wanted to do yesterday. She feels that he is going to adjust and adapt very easily. Picking him up yesterday was a very proud mommy moment for me. I realised that even though he is only 2 1/2 he is a self confident little boy with a lot of trust in me. We said we'd be back and he knew we would. He walked into a strange place and just fitted in. I'm very proud and very proud of our little boy.

Here he is with his lunch box. Being that it is only 3 hours he just takes a little snack of fruit or vegetables. Yesterday he took a banana. They are not allowed to take bags to school purely because there isn't enough space in the classroom without it becoming terribly crowded.

Yummy banana

I'm going to schooooool!!

We finished off the final preparations for the arrival of our new bundle of blue this weekend. We've had fun doing and it has definitely finally hit home for me that in not too long I get to do all this wonderful baby stuff again and I can't wait!! The nursery is done (even though he'll be in our room for a while like his big brother was), the bags are packed and waiting and the car seat is even in the car. We're on weekly visits with the midwives now and things are looking great. Both baby and I are happy and healthy and growing (some more than others ;o) )

Here are some pics of our little boy's brand new bedroom.

And this is his little moses basket which is on a rocking stand which we'll use for him for the first while in our bedroom.

'Till next time xxxxx

Boo!! Trick or Treat!!

It was Halloween today!! Since this is likely to be the last year that I get to choose Jared's costume for him I thought it would be nice to dress him as a vet. I figured he would also have fun playing with the stuff after Halloween.

He loved his costume and was particularly excited about the puppy that came in the pocket and his "heart" (stethoscope).

Hannes had the task of taking him trick or treating around the neighbourhood whilst I stayed home to face my own entertainment of the kiddies ringing the doorbell looking for treats. I must say I saw some really cute characters including "Taptain Hook".

Hannes says Jared had an absolute ball ringing the door bells and announcing trick or treat as the door opened. (I'm anticipating having an interesting time explaining to him that we can only ring people's doors for sweets once a year!!) He had fun telling the people he was a puppy doctor. Hannes says he was very chatty with everyone he met and i'm very proud that he remembered his please and thank you. Although Hannes says that the thank you did earn him an extra chocolate bar or two.

The weather was gorgeous out tonight. No jackets required so the streets were really teeming with children all dressed up. It also meant that they could stay out much longer collecting their stash.

Here he is, the world's most handsome Veterinarian.

"Trick or Treat"



"Oh dear puppy!! Are you hurt? Here, let me help you."

"Don't be scared, I just want to listen to your heart"

"Ah yes. It seems to be working just fine. I think you'll be ok."


Till next time xxxx