BABIES ‘It feels like he’s always been here’

Baby’s name: Deacon Jones. Date and place of birth: July 21 at 11.17am at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff. Weight: 6lb 15oz. Parents: Mum Shelby Murphy, 25, and dad Evan Jones, 25, an electrical engineer, from Splott, Cardiff. Mum’s story: “Deacon is my first baby. I had quite a severe pregnancy really because of my asthma.

“It all started quite early on and it just made it worse. It was not an easy pregnancy at all.

“I was in labour for about four days altogether.

“I was induced at 37 weeks and then I had to have an early epidural because the doctors were worried that I wouldn’t be able to breath through the contractions because of my asthma.

“But after the injection I couldn’t feel a thing thankfully.

“After all of that I was home the next day.

“My asthma has eased since having him – I’m still on the pumps but not on the tablets any more.

“With the name I knew I wanted something a bit unusual – and when I came across Deacon I just loved it.

“I was looking through second names, and Deacon is normally a second name, but as soon as I saw it I’d made my mind up. It took a while but once I saw it I knew.

“During the pregnancy I had cravings for Slush Puppies and crisps. It was crisps at the beginning then Slush Puppies from around six months.

“He’s really forward for his age. He’s started holding his head up and smiling and he likes waving his arms and legs about too.

“He’s just started going down every four hours now, which is nice to have some more sleep.

“Having him does feel surreal, it feels like he’s always been here.

“The first time we took him home we just couldn’t sleep – it was scary having him at first but it is amazing.”