The Birth of Amanda

WRITTEN BY LAURIE SHEPHERD

Amanda Renee Pearl Shepherd

Born, 18^th of December, 2017 at 7:36 AM

Weighed 7 lbs. 13 oz and was 21 inches long

Isn’t it an exciting thing to be alive? As I sit down to write this, I hear Amanda next to me filling her nappy. ;) Excuse me a moment….Okay, we have a clean baby. ;P 

While life sometimes seems to run nappy to nappy, welcoming our second daughter into the family has been so sweet and rewarding.

Amanda Renée Pearl began her entry into the world early in the morning on Monday the 18^th of December. Labour began very slowly, waking me up around 2 am in the morning, but I thought nothing of it as I was expecting a much faster beginning like her older sister. Around 3, I realized that the contractions were much more regular and deeper then the Braxton Hicks I had been experiencing the week leading up to her birth. I began tracking the contractions with an app on my phone. I was a little hesitant to tell myself that I was in labour as it was Joe’s first day back at work after a break and my mother’s last day staying with us and I was afraid she would have to board a plane leaving behind a labouring daughter and that Joe would get in trouble at work. So, I didn’t wake Joe up… ;) 

Around 5:45am Joe woke up and noticed the light on my phone and reached over and turned it off thinking I had accidentally turned it on. I was a bit annoyed, but in a humouristic way as of course he had no idea what was going on. So, I told him I was having lots of contractions and they were getting closer together. 

Around six, Eleanor, who was sleeping in our room as my mother was in the guest room, woke up and as per normal, was very, very awake. ;) At that time, I decided to get in the bath with her as I wasn’t sure how much longer labour was going to go and I wanted to spend some time with Eleanor before things got much faster. 

We woke up my mother and called the midwives. I was in the bath when the midwife on the phone informed us that there was not a team in our area and there wouldn’t be one until eight. By this time, the bath had actually sped up my contractions, requiring a lot of concentration on my part, so Joe decided with counsel from the midwife that I wasn’t going to make it to 8 and we needed to go in to the hospital. Thus began the mad rush to pack whatever we thought we needed, not having planned to go the the hospital, we had our room set up for a home birth. 

Joe was amazing at multitasking with talking on the phone, packing a bag, helping me track my contractions, and arranging extra help with Eleanor. I threw a bathrobe on over my pyjamas and made my way downstairs and into the car. It was very, very cold outside. I’m so grateful for my mother taking care of Eleanor and Mum, Dad, and Talitha coming to help look after Eleanor and later look after her the rest of the day and take my mom to the train station.

Thankfully we are only about a 15 minute drive from the hospital, so even with Joe driving tenderly and a bit of traffic we were able to make good time. There was a bit of confusion finding the right place for us to go, but we eventually found the birthing suite and after a bit of waiting (still having contractions and struggling not to push) we made it into a room. And not a minute too soon. 

We made it into the room at 7:30am and she was born at 7:36am! She was born, Joe took her, and told me, “It’s a GIRL!” We have another princess, born with loads of dark hair and grey blue eyes. <3

We had chosen her name before she was born. As we didn’t know the gender of the baby, we had both a girl and a boy’s name in mind, and she turned out to be Amanda!

Amanda is my middle name and means 'Worthy of love.'

Renée is the French flair we love as well as being a relative of my Grandmother’s name, Rita, and means 'Rebirth.'

Pearl is Joe’s mother’s middle name and is 'A jewel of great price.'

All together, to us her name signifies that through rebirth in Christ, we are worthy of love and a jewel of great value in His eyes. We pray that Amanda will come to a personal knowledge of the God, who loves her so much, at a young age.

Introducing Eleanor to her new little sister was such a joy. Once home, the wonder and love Eleanor was already showing Amanda was really adorable and it has become more apparent as time goes by.

Eleanor loves to give her hugs and is worried when she cries. Amanda is a champion sleeper and Eleanor has begun to sleep better so we are all getting much more sleep in our house.  

As a family we couldn’t be happier. Adding another baby has multiplied our love and Joe continues to be the best father I could have imagined. Sometimes I think he’s better at parenting then I am… ;) 

Amanda is, like her sister, very observant, but I believe will be more pensive and thoughtful, a little quieter. I know already that they will be best friends. 

So far, Amanda enjoys morning cuddles and smiles, direct face to face talking, cuddling like a koala and of course, milk. Oh, and sleeping! Which is wonderful…