First look at Keisha Castle Hughes’ new baby

Can you imagine – 17 and a new baby. She looks beautiful though.

On the pregnancy: Keisha: [I was used to having irregular periods], so I was more than four months pregnant [when I found out for sure]. It was really weird because I’d been playing this pregnant woman [Mary in The Nativity Story] for three months and then all of a sudden I was pregnant. I remember thinking, ‘Maybe I’m imagining it.’ I just got so caught up with Mary.

Brad: ‘I had always imagined starting a family at the age of 24 or 25. So when Keisha first told me that she might be pregnant, I didn’t know what to think. I was a bit blown away. I just wanted to go to the doctor and find out for certain. Then, when we did find out, having it confirmed, I was over the moon.’

On media attention due to her age: I just didn’t expect it. I suppose I was living in a bit of a fantasy world in my head. I thought, ‘I’m going to tell everyone, and everyone is going to celebrate.’ Absolutely everyone in the country had something to say about it. I thought, ‘At the end of the day, I am going to be the one looking after this baby in the middle of the night and it doesn’t affect you.’

Yes, I was scared when I found out I was pregnant. But if I got pregnant when I was 27, I would have been scared too because it is a huge step.

Being ‘over it’ by week 39: Most of the time I felt really good, although by week 39 it was driving me nuts. I was over it. I used to go shopping all the time for the baby, but by then I didn’t want to go near another baby shop.

Her labor: Keisha was a week overdue when her three day labor began. After two days of mild contractions, the third day was tougher, but Keisha labored at home until her contractions were six minutes apart. Keisha says, ‘I was planning to have a water birth at home. I wanted so much for it to be natural and I didn’t want any pain relief.‘

However, after a morning visit to her OB, the decision was made for Keisha to be admitted to the hospital. She says, ‘They had booked me into Middlemore Hospital under another name. The plan was to smuggle me in. I was going to pretend I was having a contraction and hold a pillow over my face as I went into the hospital so that no one would recognize me…by the time I got to the hospital I was screaming for the epidural.’

On the birth: After two hours of pushing, the baby’s head was deemed to be at an awkward angle and preparations began for a c-section. Keisha wasn’t happy, but says she understood. ‘At that point I was really upset because everything was going so wrong. But I knew that I would do anything to make sure my baby was healthy. If someone had said to me at that point, ‘The only way she is going to come out healthy is for you to chop off your head…I would have chopped off my head.’

Happily for her, Keisha did not end up needing the c-section, but the birth was still difficult. She had a high forceps delivery [this means the forceps were applied when the baby's head was not fully engaged -- many doctors prefer to do c-sections instead of using mid or high forceps].

Immediately after the birth, Felicity-Amore’s breathing was compromised by a wrapped cord, so she was taken away to be checked. Keisha says, ‘I was really upset by then because I thought, ‘I have done all of this work and I can’t even hold her.’ Then they brought her over and it was just the most amazing moment. For the last three days I had been in the worst agony of my life and right then I forgot every single minute of it. I just thought, ‘I’d do this all over again.’

On names: ‘When I first found out I was pregnant, I liked less conservative girls’ names like Fifi or Lulu.’ ‘Dog names,’ Bradley interjects. ‘But then we came up with Felicity, which we both liked. We didn’t really talk about names for a long time after that. Then, when she was born and they asked me what her name was, I said, ‘Felicity-Amore.’ She just looked like a Felicity and it seemed right. I didn’t even know it meant ‘happiness’ until a few days later when Mum looked it up in a book. And Amore? Love, of course!’

Brad as a dad: Keisha raves about Bradley — he even gets out of bed in the middle of the night to bring Felicity-Amore to Keisha to breastfeed, so she doesn’t have to get up!

For Brad though, it took awhile to believe that he had a daughter. He says, ‘When we finally brought her out to see [our mothers] I broke down and cried. I was just so emotional.’

On names: ‘When I first found out I was pregnant, I liked less conservative girls’ names like Fifi or Lulu.’ ‘Dog names,’ Bradley interjects. ‘But then we came up with Felicity, which we both liked. We didn’t really talk about names for a long time after that. Then, when she was born and they asked me what her name was, I said, ‘Felicity-Amore.’ She just looked like a Felicity and it seemed right. I didn’t even know it meant ‘happiness’ until a few days later when Mum looked it up in a book. And Amore? Love, of course!’

Brad as a dad: Keisha raves about Bradley — he even gets out of bed in the middle of the night to bring Felicity-Amore to Keisha to breastfeed, so she doesn’t have to get up!

For Brad though, it took awhile to believe that he had a daughter. He says, ‘When we finally brought her out to see [our mothers] I broke down and cried. I was just so emotional.’

Baby blues: The midwife came to me on day three and said, ‘You might have a baby blues day soon,’ and I thought, ‘I feel fine.’ Of course, the minute she left I was a mess for the next 12 hours. I felt like I couldn’t do anything right. I’d change her nappy and it wouldn’t fit properly. Then I’d feed her and she wasn’t latching on properly. Brad was saying, ‘What’s wrong? Why are you crying?’ and I’d just keep crying and saying, ‘I don’t know what’s wrong.’ Then the sun came up and I was fine again.

No sleep: I’d be up checking, checking, checking, being paranoid. I remember when one of my friends had a baby she said it was like that in the first few weeks. And I said, ‘If I had a baby I would just sleep the whole time and I probably wouldn’t even wake up for it.’ But it’s so true because this little person relies on you and I know if anything happened, it would be my fault.

On family: At the moment, I think, ‘What would I do if I wasn’t at home and I didn’t have the support of my mum and my family? I think it helps that I’m not at home by myself during the day. I’m lucky.

On staying in: When I was pregnant, people would come up and touch my stomach. I don’t really want to have to deal with people wanting to touch Felicity-Amore all the time. It’s just an invasion of your personal space.

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