JORDAN GRACE ASHLEIGH

Jordan was born in June 2010 at Kaleeya Hospital in East Fremantle. Was a tough mission/challenge for Kathryn especially, and I did my best to help her in this. Was blessed with wonderful hospital staff, who kept us informed all the way, allowed me to be there during the entire operation and encourage Kathryn with things like the "stress wallet" tm patent pending (*LOL* hahaha), plus I was able to watch her heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen levels the whole way.
Just to be able to squeeze her hand and cheer her on as she went through the pain and weird sensations of the spinal anaesthetic, and the pulling of the baby out of her "tummy" meant a lot to me and I think to her also. It was more a team effort this time around. Most of all those special moments of holding the baby Jordan moments after birth were ours to share together almost straight away, as shown in some of the photos below.
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Before the operation I was getting psyched up to try and cheer Kathryn on...plus putting on the "scrubs" (and booties and head cover) I had to wear to help keep the operation area pristine and as a free of germs as possible.

I also saw the cord and the placenta pulled out. We were blessed with a wonderful midwife who encouraged us to get straight into the breastfeeding. Kathryn started feeding Jordan about 20 minutes after birth. I have some photos of this time also at home. I was very happy she was able to do this and bond with her baby so soon after birth. Much better than last time when she was under general anaesthetic and did not even get to be with her baby until hours later. So glad that we were able to avoid that this time, although vaginal delivery would have been even better if possible. Jordan was a big baby at 4.01kg and 55cm long.
A scan the week before suggested she would be 4.2kg or heavier, and showed the leg hooked over her shoulder and head area, so we gave into the pressure to have an elective caesarian after trying for an extra week to get the vaginal labour going, as the size of the baby and the foot/leg position suggested it may be dangerous and complicated for Kathryn and Jordan to do otherwise. Also Kathryn was experiencing a lot of back pain, and the chance of tears, or baby being too big to make it through worried us. We had tried long walks and other strategies for about 2 weeks with little obvious response. I felt that the number of weeks was wrong but on discussion with my Dad agreed that it is difficult to be sure on this subject. I knew from my own records exactly what date the process had started some 39-41 weeks earlier. My Dad convinced me this was probably of little relevance.
A 20km run time trial 2 days before the birth helped me ease my anxiety about it all.
Jordan has wonderful dark hair, big feet, and her feet and hands were a purple colour (perhaps a recognition that Fremantle are on their way to purple heaven this year! hahaha) at birth, but soon changed to the normal colour soon after. She fed really well and often soon after birth. Kathryns experience with feeding Jacob in 2007/2008 probably came to the fore too. The wonderful midwife ensured Kathryn and Jordan got straight into that.
The help and support of Kathryns Mother Barbara, plus some babysitting of Jacob from my Mother Darrelle, and also Barbara helped us make a smooth transition in the days after the birth, and ensured I was able to keep some work commitments, to keep some much needed income in our lives. So another much appreciated blessing, was the encouragement, and congratulations of many family and friends.
Kathryn stayed on at the hospital for 4 nights, so home a bit quicker this time which was just as well as poor Jacob missed her terribly, as did I also. I'm thinking of renaming the hospital from Kaleeya hospital to Kathryns hospital hahaha...just joking...I think the extra rest afterwards and time with Jordan alone was very helpful for Kathryn in some respects, and nice for family and friends to visit. It was a heavy toll on me and Jacob though trying to survive juggling babysitting with work commitments (being a casual worker, I cant afford to just take holidays for the entire time) and visiting the hospital, but all the driving around and late nights is all worth it for sure...
The following week my brother Timothys' wife Jennifer gave birth to Ella Grace in USA, she weighed in at 3.8kg and 52cm, so this cousin of Jordans is a little smaller, but both are big babies. Hopefully they can meet and play together one day just as Jacob and Grier did at Perth International airport and Kings park a few years back...