Yin-Yang

On Thursday the 17th of February at 8:48pm we excitedly welcomed our third baby into the world. David John was born weighing 9 lbs 4 oz (or 4.205kgs) at Hutt Hospital after we arrived there about half an hour earlier. Both he and I were healthy and well, and after finding out that there was only a shared room at the hospital for the night we just decided to head home at about 11:30pm to sleep in our own bed (and probably to the relief of my lovely friend Nikki who was looking after our children, as it meant she didn't have to spend the night sleeping on our couch).

My Boys

Taken by Rachael Brown Photography, David 7 days old with his 2 year old brother Timothy

As the kids had been in bed when we headed to hospital, when they woke in the morning we called them into our room to show them their new brother. 'Have you been to the hospital Mummy?' Penny asked. Yup! And it was lovely to have gone home so quickly afterwards. There's no place like home.

On arriving home, approximately 3 hours old

The 'big' kids are thrilled with their little brother, they want to kiss him, stroke his head constantly or hold him. I love just how much they appear to love our new addition. These photos are a bit misleading of poor David, they make him look HUGE, but I think in these pics he's all puffy from the birth still (plus being wrapped like a mummy bulks him up a lot too)

David and his siblings, approximately 12 hours old

We all love David to bits.

Sadly though, while breastfeeding  and snuggling with him there has been plenty to watch on the telly. Coincidentally, on his due date of the 22nd, New Zealand was shocked by the catastrophic earthquake that hit Christchurch. I can't even begin to summarise the damage and devastation that's been caused by the earthquake - but my friend Ali has managed to post about it and has some great photos on her blog here. I remember when the news of it started scrolling across the bottom of the programme I was watching on telly while feeding. It simply said something like 'Aftershock in Christchurch, more news to follow shortly' and I had just no idea of the enormity of the destruction of the earthquake. And when the news followed with it's unedited footage straight from Christchurch it had a mesmerizing affect - it was awful to watch, but we couldn't turn it off as it was just so unbelieveable.

When you look at some of these images with before and after pictures of the buildings, it's amazing that some people have been rescued from them - sadly though the death toll at the moment is 147 and rising. In September people were so thankful that the earthquake had occurred in the middle of the night, this time though the earthquake was at 12:51pm - lunchtime and so Christchurch was bustling.

The CTV building

The Pyne Gould Corporation Building

The Christchurch Cathedral

I can't even imagine the grief and loss people must be experiencing at the moment. And so this post seems a bit like yin and yang - on one hand we're thankful and thrilled with our new baby, and on the other we're so sad for the people of Christchurch and the loss...of lives, of homes, of water, power, of jobs - so much.