Loads to do today.  Gerhard and I need to learn how to bath Liam, clean the umbilical cord stump, dress Liam, and feed Liam.  All the things that other parents learn on Day 1.  So it’s time for us to give him his first bath.  You hold his head like a rugby ball, soap all over, ears closed.  The little guy hates water! Now to put on some of those adorable clothes that mommy packed (the first 2 days in NICU Liam was naked and yesterday he wore some NICU clothes).  Guess what, these things are all way too big!  Never trust other people when they tell you that nobody wears new-born clothes.  Anyhow, we get a whole sheet of instructions, telephone numbers, and dates for follow up visits with the paediatrician and paediatric neurosurgeon and finally, we are off.  Gerhard drives at around 10 kilometres an hour, we live 10 minutes away from the hospital and it takes us half an hour to get there.  Gerhard went shopping when I was still in hospital; we have a new baby bath and a breastfeeding

If I ever have a baby and I am in a position to determine the baby's due date, I will not have the baby on a Friday.  All specialists are not available, the MRI scans are not done etc.  I must tell you about my great gynea first.  This woman is amazing.  When all the things went wrong on Friday evening in the delivery room, she literally started crying and told me her amazing story.  Her son was born prematurely as she suffered from pre-eclamsia.  When he was born, he could not suckle and nurses told her he would never speak because of this.  Everyone was convinced that this boy would be brain damaged.  She refused to believe this and sent him to a stimulation centre as the brain at this young age is flexible and can learn new ways of working.  Today he is a fine and clever little boy and there is nothing wrong with him.  Now in a time like this, you need to hear these stories from other people.  She also kept on telling us that she visited Liam and he is fine, she looked into th

Gerhard and I are told to go to my room, where a little cot awaits us with no baby in it.  Within minutes of walking into my room, the head of the ward comes to tell us that our siblings are there for a visit.  We are rather shocked as all of our friends walk in.  They were at various locations, having dinner etc. on this Friday evening and rushed over to the hospital as soon as they received the news. We were so blessed to have their company, although this was cut short when my gynea arrived and told them that they need to leave.  Gerhard and I need our rest as we will need all the energy in the coming days to cope with a baby in NICU. The maternity ward keeps on phoning NICU for news; Liam's condition is still very grave, his apgar score is 2/10. Gerhard helps me to take a bath, I have some supper and we just lie on my bed comforting each other. We decide to go to NICU to see Liam before Gerhard heads off home at around midnight and as we walk in there, Liam has some colo

Following on the great success achieved with project hydrate, we were all set for the big day, somewhere around the 6th of July 2008.  Bags were packed, I was ready to go.  On the 26th of June I went for another routine scan, and my gynaecologist was once again concerned about the lower than ever levels of amniotic fluid.  Nobody understood this as I had not 'leaked'.  So she told me Liam need to come out the next day via C-section or induction, my choice.  I am petrified of any operation and to date I have been in hospital on two occasions, the first to have some spare teeth removed when I was about 16, the next to have wisdom teeth removed aged 18.  I was not about to have a planned C-section.  So I chose to opt for the induction.   Being a first time mom, I politely declined the offer for an epidural; I am a strong farm girl.  I could do this the natural and old fashioned way.  Gerhard and I left the gynaecologists rooms and started phoning family and friends advising th

I had a dream pregnancy, until the 22nd of May 2008.  I went for a routine scan and the gyneacologist kept on measuring Liam's head.  After measuring for the third time, she tells us that his head has stopped growing and that there is very little amniotic fluid left.   You cannot explain this feeling of dread to anybody.  You literally do go all cold and into shock.  She then explained to us that I would need to go to the fetal assessment centre where a more thorough scan would be done.  I was told to remain in bed for the remainder of my pregnancy.  I could only go to the fetal assessment centre a couple of days after this doomsday visit.  Gerhard put a bed in the living room for me and I literally felt as if I was dying.  I was also told to drink three liters of fluid a day and so began operation hydrate that lasted for the next six weeks.  I had charts on excel detailing the fluid intake.  Small projects like these kept me sane.   It was also around this time that I read J

Gerhard and I always said if we do not have kids, that's just fine too.  We both have busy careers, we love international traveling and we felt that if we were lucky enough to have kids, great, if we were not so lucky, life would carry on in the same way that it has been for a while.  Anyhow, about four years ago, I literally woke up one morning and decided that I want kids really bad!  Where this came from or what triggered this, I will never know.  So the active trying to conceive part started with a little ceremony that involved flushing about three months worth of contraceptive pills down the toilet.  It took nearly eight months and in the end after giving up the very scheduled counting of days and ovulation calculations, it just happened.  I fell pregnant with Liam on the 12th of October 2007.  This was of course the time of the rugby world cup in France which I think the Boks won (you will gather over time that I am not the best of fans).  Gerhard and I left for a three

My name is Niki and I am 33 years old.  I have been married to Gerhard for the past 4 years and we have a beautiful boy named Liam.  Liam is 2 and a half years old.  I am also 24 weeks pregnant with Luka.  Gerhard and I always knew that we would get married and have a boy named Liam and a girl named Luka... We have known each other since primary school and we have been dating since high school.  We know everything that there is to know about each other and we have a perfect life - or as near to perfect as it will ever get! I am an admitted advocate by trade, but I have always had a passion for the written word.  Before starting my studies, I was convinced that I needed to study journalism or do a BA in Afrikaans, my dad somehow convinced me to rather go abroad for a year and think long and hard about all of this, which I did.  Somehow I studied law and I have been very successful in this venture, however, something has always been missing, and that is why after many years of not writ