NEWS

Clare Agius and Husband Paul Welcome baby Liam Alexander!

Tell us about your little bundle of joy and your choice of name…

My baby boy was born at 4.50pm on March 10th and he’s doing absolutely fine, which is more than I can say for myself right now with lack of sleep taking its toll! It does get better daily though, and I won’t complain as sleepless days are also very beautiful and special days in their own way. We named him Liam Alexander after much deliberation! So many of my friends have boys and now that my eldest son is starting to make friends, we discovered that every boy's name we liked belonged to someone we know, so it took us almost nine months to come up with a name.

We wanted to choose a name that goes with Luke, our eldest son’s name, and we also like names with meaning, which didn’t help! We finally settled on Liam, which is a short version of William, and Alexander, which I simply love but my brother’s name is Alex so we couldn’t use it as a first name. Both these names have similar meanings: Protector and Defender of Man.

How are you and the rest of the family adjusting, and what was the experience of your second pregnancy like?

I feel we were better prepared for this addition than we were with our first child, since we had also just moved house at the time that I was pregnant with Luke and I was very busy – although I had taken time out physically, my mind was racing at 100 miles an hour which made the initial weeks very challenging. This time around, I knew what was coming so I prepared myself better! We also prepared our son quite well I feel, who will soon turn 4.

Luke dotes on his little brother and sees everything he does as sweet and adorable, including his cries in the middle of the night, burps and other natural sounds! This has been a blessing really as he’s being so helpful and understanding, though both my husband and I make it a point to give him his own time every day and dote on him too.

In terms of the pregnancy, for starters I gained less weight in this one! I did exactly the same things as the previous one: yoga, swimming and eating well, but I was less stressed so maybe that factor affected my body differently. I also gave birth naturally as opposed to a C-section as with my first child, due to the fact that he remained breech right till the end of the pregnancy. I guess this physical exertion of labour helped as within a week I was fitting into my jeans, but I do need to do some proper toning work now!

Life, marriage & love – how has your perspective on these changed since becoming a mother?

My perspective on life grows simpler every day. It’s very basic and is one based on simplicity in living, peace of mind and to feel love both within and around. I am lucky to be married to a man who balances me out in so many ways and also compliments my character, making our day-to-day lives feel like I’m in a healthy relationship. Of course, we have our challenges, ups and downs like every married couple, but it’s how we deal with them and come out of them that reflect the state we’re in. Becoming a mother is an extension of who I am in my essence, so it has enriched me in every sense of the word!