Sienna and I are adapting well to the weekdays on our own, and we have kept ourselves very busy this week with her first outing to TMC last Sunday, more visitors, and a day in Bideford. We also ventured to Plymouth, Christmas shopping, and had lunch with Dad, and took Sienna to my office and to Fairway Plymouth to meet more adoring fans. We took a ‘day off’ yesterday, just having a walk to Grey Wethers for a cuppa with Grandma!

All the activity was obviously a bit much for Miss Harding, who slept through her first night last night - 10.30pm-7.00am, only then being woken up for food and promptly going back to sleep until nearly 10am! I’m hoping it sticks as 8.5hours was much appreciated!

As for today, Sienna will be getting her first taste of the Green Army as they take on Cardiff City, though only via Sky Sports, not in the flesh. We’re starting her young in the hopes that she’ll share her parents love of football, especially as Pete and I are unlikely ever to agree on which team in red she might support…

• 1 Comment

Pete went back to work yesterday (Tuesday) leaving Sienna and me to start working out our new ‘routine’. Those of you who have spent any time in her presence will not be surprised to hear that she has spent most of the time so far fast asleep, which has at least enabled me to make myself useful round the house for the first time since she arrived!

We are also taking advantage of the sunshine by going for walks, (next on the menu for today’s activities), though I’m not convinced Sienna is remotely aware we’ve been outside as that is another thing she manages to sleep through… Still, she’s continuing with her angelic ways, which is much appreciated, even though her nocturnal routine is still somewhat erratic!

• 2 Comments

The past few days have been somewhat of a whirlwind since we all arrived back from hospital.  We’ve had lots of excited visitors, as well as plenty of cards, generous gifts and telephone calls wanting to find out how Family Harding is getting on!  Add to that the daily mid-wife visits and there are not enough hours in the day to get alot else done!  Welcome to the world of parenting, as one of my friends posted on Facebook earlier!

As previously written, there are plenty of pictures of gorgeous Sienna Rose available at http://petejigsaw.zenfolio.com. I’ve also cut together some snippets of video shot over the past few days, to give a taste of what we’ve been up to.  You can see it below, or access it via the Videos page.

Tomorrow, we’re off for our first buggy walk into town, so no doubt we’ll bump into lots of people keen to ‘take a peek’!!!!!  It has all been great fun so far, and both Abi and I are really enjoying the time together with our beautiful daughter, who has, bar a few grumbles, been an absolute star so far!  Long may it continue………

• 1 Comment

We finally had the opportunity to bring Sienna home at 5pm on Tuesday. Our beautiful daughter had arrived at one of the busiest times in the past few weeks at Derriford, meaning long delays in getting the relevant checks and paperwork done before being able to leave.

The first 24 hours at home have been great - lots of visitors and Sienna being incredibly placid and sleepy.  Thank you to everyone who has sent cards and kind gifts - she’ll not be short of nice clothes for the coming few months!  

Her first night at home saw her sleep for over 5 hours, meaning both her parents got some well deserved rest!  After that, its been sleeping and feeding all the way, punctuated by the inevitable nappy explosions!  We’re both hoping that she settles into a routine that suits everyone, but fully expect that she’ll have something to say (or more likely gurgle!) about that idea!

For now though, we’re both just glowing in the joy of our beautiful daughter……..

• 0 Comments

Abi and Peter are delighted to announce the safe arrival of Sienna Rose Harding.  Born at 12.05am on Tuesday 28th October 2008, she weighed in at 8lbs 1/2oz.  She is a picture of health, with all vital signs excellent. Due to some minor maternal blood loss during delivery, Abi and Sienna have been kept in overnight, with the family due to be reunited when the two of them come home early on Tuesday morning.

As I wrote in yesterday’s post, Abi had, at 14 days overdue, gone in to Derriford to be induced.  At 3.15pm on Monday 27th October, she was finally called down to the Central Delivery Suite where she had her waters broken at about 4.30pm.  Thereafter, nature took over, and no further intervention was required at all - Abi was an absolute star, needing only her TENS machine and some gas & air to ease the pain and went from the start of conventional labour to delivery in 6 hours, half the average time! 

The two midwives we had during our time in delivery, Victoria and Ceri, were absolutely superb, and allowed Abi to adhere to her ‘home birth’ plan as much as possible.

Here are a few pictures of our beautiful new daughter (click any image to view larger and rotate through them) - more can be found at our photo site by clicking the link on the right or by using this link http://petejigsaw.zenfolio.com

• 9 Comments