Kara’s first week
It was the best of times, it was the …. - no actually it has simply been the best of times.
We have fallen in love with our daughter and our first week with her has been magical.
And a big wave from us and Kara (see below) for all the well wishes, emails, phone calls, flowers, gifts and support:
Our status check after 1 week:
Sleep-deprived - yes
Worried - yes
Feeling incompetent - yes
Having the time of our lives - absolutely
Our biggest worry is that Kara left the hospital with a nice yellow tint - jaundice (”geelsug”). This is quite common in newborns and fortunately her condition was not severe enough to require time under the lights in hospital, but it does mean that Marga and I (with our years of parenting experience - or not) must “monitor her condition”.
We were worried (i.e. inexperienced) enough to take Kara to the hospital for a check on Sunday - which meant she was tortured with a huge needle in her tiny arm. Fortunately the bilirubin count was still within an “acceptable range” - not withstanding her striking yellow “glow”.
Let’s run through some of the week in pictures (which is supposed to save a thousand words each …)
Marga & Kara (Kara is 1 day old here)
Marga and Kara is still doing fantastically well. They have really found each other and are terrific together. Marga is amazing with Kara and is a superb mom.
Kara & godmother Petro
Marga’s sister Petro, Kara’s godmother, has been very involved - even before and during the birth of Kara. Petro assisted in the caesarian delivery - not many godmothers get their hands dirty this early! Ever since the birth she has stood by us with advice, errands, a vacuum cleaner and loads of support.
Kara has also met her new family members who were all eager to welcome the addition to the family. Here she greets uncle Hein with “enthusiasm”:
Kara has also been trying out various poses and looks to establish her identity in the world. Not wanting to rely only on her “funky” hairstyle, here she does the All Black “Haka” and tries out the Gangsta look:
Though the week was fun - it can also be tiring at times… (Apparently you do need sleep after all …)
Our little star has been on the receiving end of many smiling faces (fans) and been subjected to the constant clicking of cameras as the paparazzi (or just “pappa” for short) focused their lenses on her. She seems comfortable in the spotlight - but sometimes a girl just had enough and has to wave off the cameras:
Overall - everything is going well.
Kara has grown 2.5 cm and regained almost all the weight she shed after birth. (She is now an exact 3 kilograms). Apparently this is impressive since it normally takes 2 weeks to get back the weight lost after birth.
We have found a lovely cottage on a smallholding just outside of Durbanville where the three of us are hiding out and adjusting to our new family life. Thanks again for the wonderful responses we received after the arrival of our little angel - we really appreciate it.
Theo Scheffler
April 29th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
Enjoy it all!
And don’t worry about the jaundice, we had it too and it was all fine. I just went back to our blog to check and two weeks later it started clearing (http://www.kynan.co.za/wordpress/2007/03/19/to-sleep-perchance-to-dream-ay-theres-the-rub/).
April 30th, 2009 at 4:38 am
Kara is simply gorgeous!! Her poses are incredibly animated and lively for her age so I am sure she’s going to grow up to be quite a star! I love love love her hair! If you look at my boy (he’s 42 days today), he is quite the Bruce Willis in the making! (He has daddy’s side of family’s hairline, unfortunately).
You guys must be so proud and I think Kara is very lucky to have brilliant parents.
xoxo
Ann, David, Aqira and Cashel Clark.
April 30th, 2009 at 9:04 am
Oh Wow, she is sooo beautiful! I love the little cheeks- cute! Hope you two get enough rest through this first while, but maybe it doesn’t matter that much in the end…I’ve heard they grow so fast, you wouldn’t want to miss a moment of just watching her be. When are you in Ct until?? We’d love to come see you so let us know…
Rox
April 30th, 2009 at 11:58 am
Sleep … foreign concept …
No, we do get some sleep in 2 to 3 hour stints. Kara seems to prefer napping in daytime and staying up at night to party. (Longer naps in the day and shorter in the night)
I’m in Cape Town until around 20 May. Marga and Kara will be around until around mid-June. (Our plans aren’t yet 100% finalised).
April 30th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Ai, sy raak net meer en meer oulik!
April 30th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Absolutely gorgeous!!! and yes we all feel a little useless in the beginning, but you learn very quickly.
I am sure the two of you will be into the swing of things in no time, also like everyone always says don’t fly through this special time, you can never have it over again with Kara, so enjoy every moment……special times!!!
Ian, Claire, Kayla & bump nr 2
April 30th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
Kara is pragtig. Sy lyk na haar ma, gelukkig nie na haar Oupa nie! ;>)
May 6th, 2009 at 11:09 am
baie geluk julle sy lyk te pragtig julle is voorwaar gesseend.mis julle