OUR LITTLE (& GROWING) FAMILY
I believe miracles do happen. I was always told the chances of conceiving again were very slim. I am currently 31 weeks pregnant with our baby boy.
I was often told every pregnancy is different, and how true. The journey has certainly not been smooth sailing. I have battled with hyperemesis gravidarum for many months and had to be hospitalised. There were times I almost gave up. However, knowing there is a little life inside of me has made this all worthwhile. I have now regained a lot of my energy in the third trimester.
Six years ago, we welcomed our little girl, Dheya. She always hoped to have a sibling to play with. She often says her wishes have come true.
We have watched her mature as she prepares to become a big sister. She has the greatest amount of love – she reminds me of this every single day. My husband and I are immensely grateful to be blessed with our little family.
SHIVA NAICKER, MT EDGECOMBE, KWAZULU-NATAL
Before you knew if it was a boy or girl, you probably thought of names and drew up a list. Now that you know the sex, or your baby is already born, what is your favourite name on the opposite list that you never got to use?
LIMPHO LILLIAN TSHUKUDU (47) FROM PRETORIA, GAUTENG
I have always had my baby’s names long before they were conceived. Surprisingly the siblings also wanted to name the baby. For this one, I am not sure yet of the gender, but all three names are unisex and will all be on the birth certificate!
TINA SHALINEY (34) FROM SHAH ALAM, MALAYSIA
For my firstborn, I chose Jayron, assuming it was a boy… but also having Jayshana as my alternative should it be a baby girl. I ended up having a girl, so I named her Jayshana, and the second one (after 4 years) is a boy, so we have now called him Jayden.
MONICA DREYER (42) FROM PRETORIA, GAUTENG
I loved the name Michaela, and we were so sure it was going to be a girl again because I had five miscarriages, and four of the five were girls. And we were shocked and pleasantly surprised when we found out it was a boy. So, we named him Michael, meaning a gift from God.
JABULILE KHANYI MKHABELA (31) FROM EKURHULENI, GAUTENG
We thought our baby was a boy and everyone in both families wanted to give Baby a name. We ended up with five names: Leah, Nhlamulo, Hlelokuhle, Tinyiko and Mphumi. But to our surprise, at my third sonar, we found out it was a baby girl, and we decided to name her Nhlamulo (meaning “answer” in English). Her second name is Hlelokuhle, and we are in love with both names.
DIEKETSENG KODISANG (28) FROM KRUGERSDORP, GAUTENG
We didn’t know the gender and wanted to wait until the baby was born. We had said that if it’s a girl it will be Kgalalelo and if it was a boy Kganya. We got a boy and named him Blessing! Even with our firstborn, we had said her name is going to be Oarabile, but when she was born, we named her Grace. We just never stick to the names we had planned before they were born.
YOLANDA FUMA (35) FROM EAST LONDON, EASTERN CAPE
I wanted a boy and was blessed with one. I didn’t even consider girl names.