BBB Baby Blog

Hi Everyone!! This is just a very quick post of daddy to show the family and friends in Europe what our boys looks like. I will be jumping back onto the blog to tell about the birth and all the other things that have happened ever since the last Sunday of November 2009 around 04:00 in the morning :) Now for some quickly converted movies! Some material from Tu and Dad during a feed top up, due to the mild Jaundice that Tu appears to be having he needs to receive additional UV as well as top-up feeding to ensure the Bilirubin levels in the blood get regulated. Jaundice is a very common new born thing and nothing to worry about if you treat it as said above and we are, he is not yellow as they check preemptively and as such never got the chance to :) Please forgive a father for his madness inducing "brabble" :) Both Iritana and I are extremely happy in love with our baby boy and once we are back home (Iritana needs to recover a little more and Tu needs to be cleared off UV tre...

I wreckon the baby is absolutely keen to get out to meet us all, he really is kicking up a storm. Here are a few pics of me and the tummy - getting quite big!!! Mummy and Daddy's thoughts: We are definitely getting down to the wire, time seems to fly by so fast (when you're having fun) and we are nearly at D-Day! Mum and I, started going through what baby clothes we have, washed them all up ready for when he comes. Bo, and I are getting ready for the actual labour, making sure that we are on the same page. Organising a birth plan, packing a bag for us to up-and-go. It all feels a little overwhelming at the moment, as I carry our son - I am more consumed with conserving energy, getting as much rest as possible. Comfortable sleep often eludes me, as he continually grows. I would guess I have put on about 20kgs, so that is putting a fair bit of stress on my lower back, and strangely enough my feet. All my weight, seems to be in my tummy - consisting of the ba...

It has been WAY too long since Daddy last posted and as such I decided to jump onto the blog and let myself be heard. Only 6 more weeks, it is amazing how close we are to Baby time......... My better half is growing steadily and the baby is getting stronger and stronger it is absolutely stunning to watch and feel. Our boy is doing so well and mommy is taking such good care of him, I can't wait to be an active part of the family and being able to hold and feel the little man myself. As i said earlier it is all still a bit "disconnected" from me, I am part of it all and I can feel the baby move and my darling grow but I am just along the side lines..... BUT NOT MUCH LONGER I AM NOT :) :) We are going to our anti-natal classes every Tuesday and last Tuesday we had 2 couples of new parents join the group. They were people who joined the anti-natal classes before us and now had their babies, one couple for only something like 6 weeks and the other couple for about 13 weeks. As...

So we are heading into the final countdown, and every week seems to fly by faster than the next. We have included a few more photos this time to show, how well the tummy has expanded and progress with the baby's stuff. See below, the belly (literally) has a life of its own! Antenatal Classes: So far have proven to be helpful in some respect, the first night was nerve racking - and pleasantly calming to see a few more people in the same boat as us. I felt slightly out of place, I think that I am one of the youngest people in there - and with the lack of any other Maori or Polynesian peoples have made me feel quite isolated. As we may well know, we bring our children up VERY differently in comparison to our Caucasian counterparts. So it is difficult to relate, or put into context our cultural beliefs - and find a place for it all. The couples in the class are lovely, and they come in all shapes, colours and sizes - as I slowly open up a little, I have actually found some common g...

We are coming up to week 29 with about 11 more to go til D-Day!!! What has been going on: Midwife Team - we have gone on board with a few ladies that rotate at Wellington Womens Clinic at the Wellington Hospital. They are lovely, weighed me in at about 68kgs from 58kgs before I was pregnant. I was quite pleased, Bo came with me this time - and we filled out a mountain full of paper work (again) and the other midwife rolled up my top to reveal my tummy and put some device on so that we could hear the baby's heartbeat. Bo, was quite funny :) he thought that they were doing roadworks or construction going on outside. This amazed, astonishing look came over him - when he realised that sound was in fact his son's heartbeat. Baby Equipment - we have got a few things, like the baby cot - we put it up straight away - we are completely excited about it! We also have the porta-cot, with a few hitches along the way, mum and I were able to get it up and working. I have also don...

TUWHAKAIRIORA Na Mohi Turei Translated by Archdeacon H. W. Williams This story is a real classic of Maori literature, and the bestknown literary work of Mohi Turei. It is reprinted by the kind permission of the Journal of the Polynesian Society, where it first appeared in 1911, in an issue now extremely rare and valuable. The circumstances leading up to Tu-whakairiora's conquest of the Ngati-Ruanuku, sometime in the sixteenth century, are told in Colonel Gudgeon's paper, The Maori Tribes of the East Coast of New Zealand, also to be found in the Journal of the Polynesian Society (Vol. IV). The places mentioned in this story may still be found near the East Cape today.—Editor. Poroumata and his wife Whaene were well born, being descendants of Porourangi. Their tribe was Ngati Ruanuku. The chief clans of the tribe were Horo, Mana, Te Koreke, Te Moko-whakahoihoi, Te Pananehu, and Pohoumauma. When the tribe procured food, they brought for Poroumata game, fish, and all other kinds of...

Evening everyone!!! We thought it would be nice to give you all a bit of an idea where our "little" baby is hanging around these days. Baby is still very much active and Tana can actually feel foots and hands so you can imagine the extensive growth the little man is going through. But let's not keep you in suspense any longer, let me introduce... Tuwhakairiora This is a great angle and you can really see how the baby is getting comfortable, you can see even better in the next shot. For those of you that noticed the name of our boy and went like "uhhh WHA??? how do you say that?!?" we will be having tiny lessons every now and again to help you say it, took me only one night and some trial and error like activity but I REALLY like the name a lot and I am sure you will like it just as much... and you can always do the same as you do with me, shorten it to something quick and easy... Tu! Lots of love and keep you posted. Bo, Tana & Tu

Well, it’s been a bumpy ride to get though to week 22! With both Mum and Dad running into a few rough patches, however and fortunately we have weathered through a time that has inevitably made us both stronger. Baby Update... A week ago, I was fortunate again to get an emergency scan to how the lil' man is doing, to see if all the winters misfortune are stressing him out. The sonographer pointed out how well he was growing and moving around in there, yet again flashing his scrotum numerous times (definitely an Engels man!). Mama was a little worse for wear, but our little baby seems to get bigger and stronger every day, and nothing to really be concerned about! Our son regularly lets me sleep through the night, without too much disturbance (another story through out the day) it almost feels like he is training for a marathon in there. Bo, has been hired full time as a masseuse, gratefully always on hand... even trying to talk some sense to the baby, and try to give his mama a break...

Wow - that is some BIG news huh? You STILL cant wipe the huge smile off Bo's face. As soon as the sonographer asked us if we really wanted to know the sex of our baby... I was well prepared to hear "your baby girl is doing well", instead hearing "there is you baby SON" and he is very healthy set me back a little. Bo, almost pumping his fists in the air... with that look on his face, like "I told you so!!!" you could not have seen a more PROUD dad, and an extreamly happy mum (to be). Bo grabbed my hand very tightly, and whispered "well done, honey" in my ear - it is the greatest feeling to share the most amazing moments with the ones you love. Watching our son, move around, seeing the fine contours of his feet, legs, arms and hands rendered us both speechless. It is quite a sight to see how real (if that makes sense) he is becoming... Bo counted out five fingers on his hand, asking the sonographer to hold still for a bit so that he could see b...

The internet was right!!! It's a Baby Boy!!! Lots of Love Tana & Bo Will update the site with some pictures and some more story when we get home!

Yesterday Iritana and I were in the hospital to find out why she was having tummy pains all through the day... (all checks indicated she and the baby were healthy thankfully) As we were sitting in the waiting room waiting for our names to be called Iritana grabed my hand and pushed it against the lower part of her tummy; "I felt the baby kick" she said! Just as my fingers touched her skin ... I could CLEARLY feel the baby give me a high five!!! HOW WICKED WAS THAT, the first time I felt the baby myself!!! Whoop Whoop!!! so exciting :) It is all getting so real now, we are both over the moon happy! Not too much longer for us to get the 19 week scan (this Thrusday) and then we will most probably find out if it is to be a boy or a girl!!! Wheeeeee exciting times!!! :) Love Tana & Bo

Kia Ora e te whanau, pehea ana koutou... we really are getting closer to D-Day... so I thought that we would kill half an hour going over potential names. After rambling through my entire family tree - I think that we have decided that our little bubba will have a Maori first name. Tracing through my ancestors, I came up with a few names... incredibly un-pronouncable to Mr Boyard Engels! I started delving a little deeper into my fathers tribe... the names got even trickier for him to say - lets say we have almost decided on a boys name... and probably a great name for a girl. So I thought, if anyone had suggestions - Bo, thought it would be too cruel to name to baby after him. I have always thought that I knew what I wanted to name my little girl, then again if the father cant pronounce the name... we might just have to re-think it. It turned into a great laugh session thinking of names... its far away, but we are definately trying to check of a few things on that huge list! I have...

Had an appointment with the midwife today... 30 min drive later! A strong healthy heart beat, she could actually feel the baby inside my tummy! She was able to push in the right place and I could feel it too... how amazing is that? And what? I could hear the baby kick, and a lot (I might add)... heres waiting until I will be able to feel that. 1 hour worth of paper work later - I have a million more blood, swabs and tests to undergo at the pathology clinic, all routine of course. I now have a GP, Obstetrician, Midwife and Midwife team all keen to take care of baby and I... how lucky? We are going into week 16 and on Friday July 3rd, we have booked our next anatomy scan to tell what the sex of the baby is. This time it will be at a private hospital, and we will be able to get a cd of all the pictures, instead of a scummy print out. From there, with 99% accuracy... we should be able to tell the sex of our baby! If you believe in 'old wives' tales then continue to believe we ...

What it is going to be?!? A few more weeks and we can do the scan that will tell us if we can expect a boy or a girl. We have just done some "old wives tail" tests and guess what... it is going to be a boy!!! Behold You have a 69% chance of having a boy. And you have a 30% chance of having a girl. And Here's Why... You are carrying the extra weight around the hips and bottom, so it's a girl. The hair on your legs is growing faster during pregnancy, so it's a boy . Boys are carried low. You are going to have a boy . Sleeping in a bed with your pillow to the south indicates that you will be having a girl. Your feet are colder than they were before pregnancy. You are having a boy . You refuse to eat the heel of a loaf of bread. You are having a girl. Dad-to-be is gaining weight right along with Mom-to-be, which means that you'll have a boy . The maternal grandmother has gray hair, so a boy will be born. You didn't have morning sickness early in pregna...

hahaha! We finally got something tangible to look at today - and WOW, what a sight to see, that Bo and I have made this tiny little human, crazyness! The scan was more than we could have expected, baby is well and HEALTHY . We could not have imagined how (insert indescribable word here) this whole experience is... we got to see a moving and pumping little heart. Bo, pointed out the spinal chord... if you look at the pic just below, just before we were about to leave, baby Engels turned and looked at us! Its times like this I really wish my Dad was around, grandchild number 4... and my younger sister pregnant with grandchild number 5! How awesome, Bristowes are raising a right proper empire. The count so far is 2 girls and 1 boy. I think that we are going to have a girl, call it early mothers intuition. We are well in the clear at the moment, I am healthy, baby is healthy... though it was recommended I eat a little more, to put a bit more weight on. Baby bump, is really noticable n...

It is amazing to see the baby's home for the next few months expand with every passing day! Amazing how that bump looks and not just feels like something very special, and I love the sight of Iritana and her beautiful new body lots and lots. Not a moment goes by that I do not think about how our lives are going to change profoundly... all very exiting :) Will start making some pictures as soon as we have had next weeks ultrasound at the chime of week 13!!! Talk soon!

well well... Our baby is now about 5.5cm long. We are hopeful to see the baby on the ultrasound due next Wednesday, apparently the head will still look out of proportion to the rest of the body. The brain and muscles are now coordinating all movements and apparently is practising clenching fists, curling toes, moving arms and legs, and even changing facial expressions (wholly!) This time we might be able to see the heart beating on the ultrasound as well. I am pretty nervous and excited at the same time... we have to be at Wellington hospital at 9am for the ultrasound, that means a litre of water has to be in my bladder by 8am. At 11am we have another appointment with the obstetrician... and have to find another midwife, because the one I have at the moment is too far away from me.

The baby feeling is certainly getting more and more real every day.... With Iritana looking more and more beautiful and the baby bump growing steadily I couldn't feel happier! Amazing what is happening inside of her, will it be a girl or a boy?!? Can't wait to see the next ultrasounds and see the baby take shape!!! Exciting times!!! Counting the days Bubba... Counting the days!

Its Iritana here. I thought that I would start off by putting up the first ultrasound scans we had at 7-weeks. Both, Bo and I were terribly confused, and not too sure what we were looking at. 11mm in total, is what our baby measured! It really hit home, when the sonographer showed us a healthy beating heart... nervous enough - she confirmed only one baby inside. Myself, coming from families of multiple births - there was always a strong possiblity there could be more than one! Needless to say, we are extreamly happy with our new prospect... bets are on whether a girl or boy!