Quinn Nicholas McEnery
Son of Niamh and Johnny McEnery
Born on the 21st October 2011, at Northwick Park Birthing
Centre, Harrow, weighing 9lb 2oz, Brother to Drew, 2
overlooking the glistening waters of the Cretan Sea.
iamh and Johnny had dated for eleven years before getting married in 2006. In October 2009 their first son, Drew, was born, and in early 2011 they were delighted to discover that he was going to have a sibling.
They decided to find out early on whether the new baby was going to be a boy or a girl. “I’m impatient, and I just couldn’t wait,” says Niamh. “We’d have been happy with either, but we were thrilled to be having another boy – a little brother for Drew.”
Niamh has been fortunate enough to sail through both of her pregnancies, without too many side effects. “I loved being pregnant. I’ve been very lucky and had no problems, apart from being huge – I think my health visitor thought I was having more than one, judging by the size of me!”
Niamh and Johnny live in Pinner, and they each have a business – Johnny runs a garden maintenance business, The Constant Gardener, and Niamh runs a baby-led weaning consultancy, itsyummymummy.com.
With one baby boy already in the family, Johnny and Niamh had pretty much everything they needed for their second, though the impending arrival did give Niamh a chance to indulge her organisational side. “I loved getting all Drew’s old clothes out, washing them, and organising them into labelled boxes of the different sizes. Drew was born in October, too, so I even had the right season’s clothes. I love organising and labelling – it’s my way of nesting. It drives Johnny mad when I have my labeller out!”
Niamh’s waters broke in the early hours on the 20th of October, but her contractions didn’t start until almost 24 hours later. After that, things moved quickly. “It was about two hours from the first twinge, to him appearing. I had the first contraction at 12.30am, the hospital rang Johnny at 2.05, he arrived at 2.20 and Quinn was born at 2.45.”
The experience was similar to the first time Niamh had given birth – both were pretty speedy experiences. “Drew popped out after three pushes, but Quinn was a little tougher, and came after about 15 minutes of pushing.”
“The cord was around Quinn’s neck, so he was whisked away, but once he was back in my arms I just melted with happiness. He was beautiful.”
Although they’d had practice with Drew, Johnny and Niamh still found that taking a newborn home was a bit of a shock to the system. “It was mad! We’d forgotten everything we’d learnt with Drew. The first few weeks were crazy, because we had to remind ourselves of what to do with this little bundle of screaming joy.”
Once the craziness had subsided, both parents and big brother Drew were over the moon to have a new addition to the family. “Quinn is a joy. He wakes up giggling and smiling. Drew absolutely loves him and is always kissing him. It is like he’s always been with us.”
”Being a parent is the toughest job you’ll ever have to do, but also the most rewarding. The nights when you’re up with them are wiped out when they smile or make you laugh.”
