Stella Louise

Our little girl has arrived!  And what a beautiful angel!  I’ll let you judge for yourself with a few cheeky pics:

Just a few days old, in the hospital

10 days old, back home

It’s taken me rather a while to update this blog, as looking after little Stella has taken all of my time and energy, but she is worth every moment.  She took us a little by surprise, arriving at exactly 38 weeks (albeit a very healthy 3 kg) and very quickly Sunday before last (7th November).  We’d already spent a lovely day at the market, eating lunch at one of the stands at a table and chairs in the sunshine.  We’d had a quiet afternoon at home and I was just about to put the roast in the oven at around 6 in the evening when I thought something might be happening!  We went to the clinic at 7.30pm and she was born at 11.42 pm.

We stayed in the clinic for four more days, the three of us together in a room.  It was a wonderful way to start our lives together, in a restful environment and round-the-clock monitoring and support while we were recovering.  All of the babycare and medical exams were done in the room (as well as meals delivered 4 times per day!), Stella was never taken from me from the moment she was born and I felt very well taken care of.  Coming home was a huge adjustment and it took me a few days to feel confident managing the home and Stella.  I was very grateful to have JF with me most of this time – he is wonderful with Stella and shares her care with me as much as possible!

Since then, everything has changed and is still changing on a daily basis.  At first, I was terrified that something bad would happen to her and I worried about everything.  The tiredness really exaggerated matters and I found myself in a very anxious state.  Fortunately, I feel much better now and with the midwife visiting weekly now, I have someone to answer all of my little concerns before they get too big.

During all this time, somehow we’ve managed to keep the business afloat!  JF has been making trips to the office to keep on top of matters and I have been keeping up with what I can in the brief minutes I have spare .  We’ve had our agreement through that finalises the formalities regarding the English training part of our company and JF is well-advanced with a new subsidiary website that we will launch very soon!  He also has several new clients of his own, so is certainly kept busy.  Bit by bit, I am going to try to find time to take back some of my work from him and have already managed to fit in a short translation mission this week, but I think it will really be in the new year when I can start to properly work part time once again.  The teachers and JF’s assistant have been very understanding and have really helped maintain the smooth running of operations these past couple of weeks.  One of the teachers gave us a present for Stella – a baby toy with lots of “activities” attached.  I think we’ll need to organise some nice Christmas presents this year!

I must say we have missed our families during this time and are looking forward to seeing them soon.  Stella has yet to meet any of her family members, though I’m sure we’ll make up for lost time next month.  We’ve been overwhelmed by all the kind messages and emails from friends and the presents and cards that have arrived here from family and friends in England and we appreciate so much the thought and time put into sending them.  Thank you everyone!

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