07-06-2007

OK, so I broke my promise already!

Well I guess it has possibly been two or three weeks since the last post so I broke my promise already. I didn’t really have anything to post about.

On Tuesday this week I took Ash to the Paediatrician as her reflux has been getting worse and worse. She hadn’t been feeding very well and I was expressing and bottle feeding which was starting to wear me out. So the Dr said firstly she was a little underweight, weighing only 5.4kg which means she is on the 25th percentile line. 7 weeks ago she was 4.73kg and on the 75th percentile line so she has taken a big drop down as far as the graph’s go. So a combination of her weight, my stress from expressing all the time and my diminishing milk supply he suggested putting her on Formula. So every feed she is having formula so she is getting her daily requirement now and she is such a different baby. She is so happy, she’s sleeping better and is so happy. It is great to finally see her smiling all the time and playing and being fun, being the baby I knew she could be.

Looks like James is having an interview (finally) at the gym on Tuesday. It has taken quite a while so we are hoping everything goes well and he can start working there in the next week or two. It will be nice to have some money coming in again, I want to go shopping!!!!!

I was a crazy mum the other night, Kmart had a toy sale starting at 12.01am and I was there. Mum, Kelly and I headed out at 11:00pm to go to Kmart and we were quite surprised when we got there. The car park was quite packed, people were fighting over trolleys and the foyer of the shopping centre was full of people. Once the doors opened it was chaos, people were running and pushing to get to all the toys, we were a little freaked out by the vulture like behaviour we saw. We just took our time, went the opposite direction from the crowds and we found all the things we went to buy. We were so prepared, we had been through the catalogue and cut out all the things we were after so we had a plan of attack. Ash is now set for Christmas and her birthday, she wasn’t spoiled at all, the things we bought are learning type toys so she can develop her skills and I only spent $150. Now we just have to wait to give them to her.

Amazing Animals train that teaches you all about the animals on the train

Spin and Go Zebra that spins around and rocks

Winnie the Pooh learning Table, when you press different buttons it counts, teaches “A is for Apple” and is really interactive

Posted by rach in On the Coast | 1 Comment »

06-11-2007

It’s about time!

Well everyone keeps telling me that we haven’t updated the site for a while and that there are people who like to read and hear all about our lives. Kinda funny cause we started this whole blog for our parents and now we have a little bit of a following tat we didn’t expect. I guess it is nice to feel that people want to know what is going on in our lives.

For those of you who don’t know…… we have moved back to Tasmania with our little snow bunny. So I guess that is why we haven’t been carefully updating the site (because the people we started this for we get to see almost every day now). We found it hard in Queensland without the support of our families, really we only had two baby sitters, Luce and Lauren. They both work odd hours and it was really hard to arrange things with them as their rosters were set so far in advance. We would make plans a day or two in advance (as that’s all you can do with a baby) and they need a week or two notice to be able to help us out! But now we have plenty of babysitters on hand, and of course nowhere we want to go without Ash. It is always the way, you want what you don’t have and when you have it you don’t need it anymore.

We are very happy with our decision to move back, it just feels so right, the family, friends and networks we have here were just too huge for us to pass up. Especially with Ash, we really wanted to be able to share our little bub with those closest too us. I was having a hard time in QLD, having no idea what to do with a new baby but slowly we have got the hang of it and are really comfortable now. Having our families around us has given us the confidence to bring up our little girl.

We are really enjoying being back here. Seriously missing Aunty Luce and Unkie Herb (aka Sam), Brad, Lauren, Frank and Chantelle, and Peta, Justin and Tane but we are home and happy and are looking forward to having all of them come visit us at some stage.

Ash is doing really well. Getting bigger every day and slowly getting into a routine. Lucky for me she pretty much sleeps until 4am each morning regardless of if I feed her at 8, 9,10, 11 or midnight the only thing I haven’t worked out yet is that I should also go to bed when she does so that I can get some sleep instead of going after midnight every night. I guess I will learn one day. Ash is smiling all the time, almost giggling and talking, well not talking exactly but communicating with us. Every time she hears James talk or he walks into the room she smiles, her whole face lights up and she gets so excited. Unfortunately all she wants me for is food, but I guess it is nice to be needed.

In other news we bought a new car on Saturday, not brand new but new for us. A 2003 Hyundai Elantra hatchback. It’s nice and black with slightly tinted windows, a good family car and alot safer and smoother with a small child. James is talking to the manager of the gym at the Aquatic Centre about getting his job back there, I am happy staying at home looking after Ash for now but will probably return to part time work once she starts on solids. We also want to finish our renovations at Lincoln Street so it will all match, I guess that will keep me busy for a few weeks.

Sorry it has been so long but I promise to write atleast once a week.

PS. I forgot to thank the Gibb family for Ash’s cute Winnie the Pooh sleep suit, so very sorry. She looks very cute in it.

Posted by rach in On the Coast | 4 Comments »

04-30-2007

Just a few Thankyous!!!!

Since Ashlea was born we have received a fairly steady flow of flowers, cards and presents. I am a little bit lazy and am taking the easy way out to thank everyone, I will start from the first received items to the most recent.

A huge THANK-YOU to:
all the Staff from the Master Builders Association for the beautiful flowers,
Uncle Andrew and Aunty Kim in Perth for the lovely flowers and pink teddy bear,
Paul and Elizabeth for the gorgeous flowers and vase,
my sister Lauren for her little care package to help me get through the first few days,
Aunty Lucy and Uncle Sam for the amazing photos of Ash when she was only one day old,
Mum and Dad Atkins for the Towel, cute little outfits and hugable polar bear,
Aunty Jennifer, Uncle Andrew, Ben, Amy and Josh for all the sleep suits, Ash was certainly spoiled here,
Toby, Nicole, Annelise and Harvey for the baby rattle, sleep suits and rubber ducky,
Robyn and Peter Mather for a donation to Ash’s bank account,
Robin and Nicola (from Hard Rock) for the baby bear,
Marnie for the cute little dolly and beautiful baby cutlery,
Michael, Greta, Eve and Thomas for Gertie the bunny and a lovely pink jacket,
Nola for the most amazing clothes, gorgeous sleep suits, jeans, jacket, stockings and hat,
Aunty Jennifer in Bathurst for the skivvy, socks and bib, and
Aunty Joy, Uncle Tony and Maddison for the little pink cardigan, perfect for Tasmanian weather.

Also thanks for everyone who has sent us beautiful cards, we have all been blown away by the number of cards received, especially from people we don’t even really know. A special thank you to Stacey and her parents Ron and Debbie, Brian and Ros Correy, The Mather Family and Nola.

Posted by rach in On the Coast | 1 Comment »

04-28-2007

Well they saw us coming!!

We decided to go for a drive today as Ashlea wasn’t sleeping when she was supposed to, and somehow we ended up at one of the local outlet shopping centres. Coincidence or not, we went straight to my favorite shop, the Nike outlet. Over the years I have spent a few pennies there, mostly on things I don’t need, but always got a bargain! Today was no exception, I picked up a pair of Nike Free 7.0 for a measly $70, but the biggest bargain of the day was Ashlea’s first pair of Nikes. Officially they are the Nike Little Extend II (TD), but to us they were just cute. Luckily they were only $14, not $50-$60 like they are elsewhere.

Cuteness

Posted by james in On the Coast | 1 Comment »

04-26-2007

Day by Day

Well as you can probably imagine, most things these day revolve around something Ashlea!
Today it was the excitement of getting her birth certificate in the mail. Well, it was exciting for us! So tomorrow it is off to the bank to set up a bank account so she can save enough money to support her parents in their retirement!!
Ashlea has been a little angel the last few days, which has meant that Rach (especially) has been able to get some extra sleep and not stress too much.

Posted by james in On the Coast | No Comments »

04-21-2007

Its Official

After a quick play around with some new software, we are pleased to announce that ashlea.net is now live.
For now it is a collection of some photos, not sure what the end format is going to be. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Posted by admin in On the Coast | 3 Comments »

03-29-2007

We are home with our new addition.

Wow, where do I start……….

After a hectic few days, a release from Hospital and then another admission we are home, enjoying our first night as a family. I am so happy with how things have gone this past 24hrs it is not how I expected it to be at all, my dad keeps informing me that each day is a little bit easier and I think he is absolutely correct.

We officially came home on Monday, rightly or wrongly I thought I was ok to be released however I had an awful night, I was so exhausted I couldn’t even hold little Ashlea to feed her. On Tuesday morning I could hardly lift my head off the pillow and we decided maybe something was not right. We had to take Ash to the Hospital for a blood test so I rang Miriam, my obstetrician, and she had me admitted again and organised a blood transfusion. I guess all my blood loss after the birth was more severe than I really gave credit for, I just thought I was feeling sluggish after the birth and that it would all take time. Apparently it took one litre of blood and another night in hospital to achieve the same results.

So we arrived home this morning at about 10am and have been having regular 4 hourly feeds, I had a sleep in between for about 3 hours which was great. I actually had to wake Ash for her feed tonight and I let her go 4 1/2 hours cause I feel so bad waking her. But she had another great feed and should be down until her next feed now.

Thanks for all the sms, emails and comments, I had no idea how many people had been following our little journey, I am sure there are going to be plenty more updates to follow. Plus James registered Ashlea’s own website today so we will probably be doing some sort of Journal of Ash’s life on there also.

Well I best head back to bed for some rest, only 3 hours till her next feed. Good night!

Posted by rach in On the Coast | 3 Comments »

03-23-2007

Well after all that…

Just a quick update,
at 7.51pm last night we welcomed Ashlea (middle name to be confirmed) Kerrison into our world. Officially contractions started about 18 hours earlier, but the ‘real’ work only lasted about 12 hours! It wasn’t the easiest process, however the outcome is fantastic, our very own 6lb 9oz bundle of joy.
Many thanks to everyone who sent their thoughts and wishes, it means a lot to us.
Here’s a few quick pics.

Somewhat happier before proceedings!


Alls well that ends well.


Little Ashlea

Posted by admin in On the Coast | 9 Comments »

03-21-2007

It’s time to go….. arrive!

So forty weeks came and went, as expected. If we weren’t going in tonight to be induced I am sure 41 and 42 weeks would come and go also. This baby doesn’t seem to want to come out.

So below is a picture of me at FULL TERM, taken on sunday the 18th March. We will definitely update whilst we are in hospital and will have a baby pic on here as soon as possible.

So James and I are both a little nervous, anxious, excited and all other emotions you can imagine. It is quite a bit scary knowing that in less than 24 hours we will have our own little bubby that we are 100% responsible for. You would think after 40 and a half weeks that we would have come to terms with that realisation, but now that it is almost here we are both a little freaked out.

Well at the moment we have 14 hours until we head to the hospital so trying to keep occupied till then. Will keep you posted!!!!!

Posted by rach in On the Coast | 7 Comments »

03-13-2007

Week 39, a date has been set!!!!

So no baby yet. Week 39 and 2 days, technically only 5 days to go until our due date.

James and I were a bit besides ourselves this morning, we knew we were going to the Dr and that at this appointment she was going to decide a plan of attack. We were both really nervous and feeling a little bit sick, knowing that shortly we were going to have a definite answer as to what was happening. Unfortunately it seems the baby isn’t quite ready to come out and the Dr doesn’t want to rush anything, she wants to give the baby as much time as possible to come on it’s own. Two weeks ago she said everything was progressing nicely and now it seems everything has gone backwards. I wont be going back to see her at the Surgery anymore, she suggested we booked in an inducement for next week. So at midnight on the 21st we are going to check into the hospital, sleep over night and then at 7am I am going to have my waters broken. Hopefully everything will go smoothly once this has occurred but with this type of interference the Dr tells me it is possible that it could end in a caesarean.

So it isn’t the way we wanted things to go, we were hoping for as little interference as possible, I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to have an epidural and now it seems like we might need all forms of intervention. So now we have an exact date and time I can only hope this baby decides to come earlier by itself. Maybe now that we have a firm schedule I will relax and focus on that date and the baby will come earlier. Either way I guess we will have a little bundle of jot here next Thursday. 9 days and counting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by rach in On the Coast | 8 Comments »