Hugo Vincent van Lint was born on 10 March 2013, in the birth centre of the John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle, NSW. He was delivered in the bath at 11:52am after a relatively short labour (approximately 6 hours, 1.5 hours of active labour) without the need for pain relief. He measured 47cm and weighed 3.38kg. After only a few minutes on my chest, he found the breast easily and began his journey into this world.
After one difficult night in the hospital ward battling a raging bladder infection, our new baby and I were discharged and made our way home. Little did we know our first night as a family would be as epic as in the hospital...
For one reason or another, we decided that he would sleep in our bed that very first night at home but we hadn't realised yet just how much space such a little bundle can take up. Terrified we would smother him in our sleep, we placed him right in the centre of the bed, forcing me to sleep half hanging off the edge of the bed and Chris, the new father, decided that it would be safer if he slept on the floor next to the bed. We laughed about it in the morning.
Something else happened on that first night at home: our baby boy got his name. Sometime in the middle of the night, while he was asleep, I stared at him and it suddenly came to me: Hugo! It was like a lightbulb going off in my head and I had to force myself not to wake Chris up from his slumber on the floor. In the morning we agreed that our first born son would be named Hugo Vincent van Lint.
Over the next few days, we all got to know each other from the safe haven of our beautiful flat by the ocean. Our nights remained ground for experimentation: sleeping with the lights on, listening to the recordings of whales, swaddling or not swaddling, co-sleeping or putting him into his basket... We soon realised that most of Hugo's problems were promptly fixed with a good feed and slowly but surely, life started to take on its new rhythm.
received his first visitors,
had his first bath in the kitchen sink and enjoyed it,
had his first official portrait taken,
and made his first fashion statement!
The end of our first fortnight as a family came too quickly and marked the end of Chris' parental leave. His return to work also coincided with Hugo's grandmother's arrival from the USA. My mother stayed with us for two weeks and made the most of every moment, basically inhaling the scent, touch and sight of her grandson. She learnt him by heart and etched his image in her brain so deeply as to remember it for the long months that separate her from us. She also gave me strength, reassurance and the hugs and kisses a daughter becoming a mother can only get from her own mother. GrandMa Jane's departure came all too soon. That's the simple truth.
We took Hugo on many walks to the beach or into town, had a few shopping sprees as he steadily outgrew his newborn clothes and generally became increasingly more aware of his surroundings, spending more time awake in between sleeps and feeds, slowly sprouting the buds of his personality.
Something else happened on that first night at home: our baby boy got his name. Sometime in the middle of the night, while he was asleep, I stared at him and it suddenly came to me: Hugo! It was like a lightbulb going off in my head and I had to force myself not to wake Chris up from his slumber on the floor. In the morning we agreed that our first born son would be named Hugo Vincent van Lint.
Over the next week, Hugo...
The end of our first fortnight as a family came too quickly and marked the end of Chris' parental leave. His return to work also coincided with Hugo's grandmother's arrival from the USA. My mother stayed with us for two weeks and made the most of every moment, basically inhaling the scent, touch and sight of her grandson. She learnt him by heart and etched his image in her brain so deeply as to remember it for the long months that separate her from us. She also gave me strength, reassurance and the hugs and kisses a daughter becoming a mother can only get from her own mother. GrandMa Jane's departure came all too soon. That's the simple truth.
As Hugo's first month in the world concludes, he is 6cm longer (53cm) and about 1kg heavier (4.4kg) and developing a whole range of facial expressions and grunts, coos, and cries. As for us, well, we are smitten.
♡
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