Alessia Rose

Introducing my little poppet, Alessia Rose! Who is thriving at nearly 12 weeks old.

I gave birth to my little one back in mid June, she was three weeks and one day early. A little early bird!

I don’t know if I will share many photo’s of Alessia on my blog, however I will be doing so on social media as it’s more of a memory bank for me and I love seeing the little changes and her progress weekly.

My Insta account is private, but feel free to give me a follow if you want to see regular mum, dad and daughter updates. And, general life be life-ing snaps.

I may not post her face on socials when she’s a bit older as the internet can be a scary place. It’s not a nice subject to natter about, so I will leave that there.

Any who…

The Name

Alessia is an Italian name and we actually named her after Alessia Russo, the lioness football player. After watching women’s football together over the years, we thought Alessia (England Striker) was such a pretty name!

Her middle name is Rose, which we also loved, and the two names together sounded beautiful.

The Birth

The birth experience was not as scary as I thought it would be! I had a c-section, which was planned as I had a low lying placenta that didn’t budge upwards. The c-section surgeon I had was amazing and I had all the relevant people in theatre – it was a little crowded as I needed my specialist bowel surgeon and what not in the room just in case!

Due to my complicated surgeries in the past – two stomas, then reversed, endometriosis removed several times and an ovary removed… I was really lucky to have no major complications.

Towards the end of pregnancy I had multiple scares as her growth was up and down and lots of reduced movements, so she had to come out early.

Recovery post c-section was certainly hard at times, however, I felt like I was in really good shape going into surgery, so I felt that recovery was a tad easier for me.

It was challenging getting off the sofa and out of bed during the first couple of weeks, however, the pain-killers really really helped! Other than that, I was pottering about like normal and caring after my newborn with the help of my husband.

I did do a lot of exercise pre-pregnancy and during pregnancy and this may have helped speed up my recovery.

The “4th” Trimester

The last eleven or so weeks have been an utter whirlwind but so so magical at the same time.

I have been incredibly lucky and blessed to have a some-what chilled baby. Of course Alessia has her moments and she can be a little demanding with her ‘milky’ and her need to be held A LOT, which prevents me from eating lunch or dinner. But we’re working on it!

Some days are super hard! But I am loving being a mother.

I have waited eight-nine years to be a mum, so this period feels so special and I am cherishing every single moment with her.

I will say that the anxiety during the first couple of weeks was SO intense! I have never experienced so many emotions and questioning every single moment with her. Constantly checking if she is still breathing and googling every newborn related question you could possibly ever think of. The sleep deprivation certainly didn’t help!

Now that I’m in some-what of a routine with Alessia, we are forming a lovely little bond and I feel confident with feeds and changing nappies. It’s been so enjoyable to see her grow each day.

I’m really excited for the years to come. I can’t wait to take her on little adventures and develop her life skills, education, hobbies and interests. Who knows, maybe she will be a future lioness! Maybe she’ll be a creative or perhaps even a brain-box like her father!

I just wanted to sign this post off by also highlighting how wonderful all of you have been! Thank you so much for the lovely, lovely messages over the last few weeks! It has been really lovely chatting to lots of mum’s and mum’s to be.

Joe and I are SO excited for this next chapter in our lives!

Also, I promise to chat about my whole IVF journey one day soon.

Have a lovely day or evening, whichever time you’re reading this! I’m so ready for Autumn and cosy season. My mini fashionista will be dressed better than me!