The Whiteaker family of Coondle are now a family of five with newborn Maeve Ellen-Jane joining the tribe and taking out the title of the first baby born at Northam hospital for the new year.
Parents Stacey and Daevid were excited to have a baby girl to join her big brothers Brodey, 6 and Rhys, 4.
Maeve, who was a week late, was born at 7.30am on Thursday, January 17 weighing in at 7 pounds 13 ounces after a quick labour.
Stacey said her labour worked out perfectly.
“It came very quick,” she said.
“I had my first contraction at about 4.30am.
“We left here at 6.15am, got to the hospital at 6.45am and she was born at 7.30.
“We got our next door to jump over the fence and look after the kids.”
Stacey, a local nurse servicing Toodyay and Northam said her birth experience with Maeve was extra special thanks to the midwives at Northam Regional Hospital.
She opted for a water birth, a decision she made following difficult experiences when it came to the births of her first two children.
“The birthing pool was amazing,” she said.
”Maeve was born in the water and so chilled out.
“She came out of the water and onto my chest and opened her eyes to look around.
“For the first two we didn’t have midwife care because we didn’t know any different at the time.
“This time it was so nice to have those midwives only and see the familiar faces.
“I was able to tell them from the beginning what I wanted and what I didn’t want because of my experiences with the boys.
“It was all just a beautiful experience.”
The parents chose not to find out the gender of their children until they were born but big brother Brodey said he knew he was going to get a little sister.
“I wanted a girl,” the six-year-old said.
“We were thinking it was a girl. I want her hair to be like Rapunzel.”
Stacey said when Maeve was born both herself and Daevid cried happy tears.
“My sister has two boys and we had two boys so she is the first girl in my family,” she said.
“Brodey has always wanted a girl because he loves long hair.
“He does french and dutch plaits; it’s the first thing he looks at.”
Maeve’s middle name Ellen-Jane is after her great grandmother in Ireland and is the smallest child born to the Whiteakers.
The parents will now find their new dynamic for life with three kids before concreter Daevid heads back to work after a couple of weeks of leave.
