Woman's Day 12 December 2005

The article - thanks to Lauren for typing.

Cradling their baby daughter tenderly in their arms, Bec and Lleyton Hewitt can't stop marveling at the new life they've created. Each gurgle, each frown, even a hiccup, is cause of joy and wonder to the brand new parents, who shower her kisses.

For Lleyton, tiny Mia Rebecca beats any grand slam tennis victory he's ever won, while former home and away star Bec has slipped effortlessly into her latest role of motherhood.

Until Mia's dream delivery on Nov.29, Lleyton thought his wedding was the best day of his life. But now he's experienced childbirth at Bec's side, the awe-struck tennis ace says fatherhood is even better.......

."That was wonderful, but this is a miracle," smiles the 24year old. "it's amazing to call ourselves a little family at last; that's something I'm very proud of. You know, I couldn't be happier. To see a baby coming out of your wife's body after nine months, and to think you made her together........

"To bring home a new little human being and to look after her and teach her everything you know about life, there really aren't any words to describe it.

"Our wedding was unbelievable , but this is a miracle...another great step in our lives together. And I am proud of the way Bec handled everything.

"She didn't scream once during the birth, although she was holding my hand very tight! I think she was more worried about hurting me than anything else. That was fine, but it was difficult to see Bec in pain. "

In fact it was a remarkably trouble-free arrival at 1.45am. Weighing a healthy 2.72kg, beautiful Mia even lobbed exactly to schedule at Sydney's North Shore private hospital, right on Bec's predicted due date.

" And that's pretty rare," beams the 22 year old mum who has already bounced back into shape.

"She's such a well-behaved little girl. She's really content and she sleeps for six or seven hours at a stretch, which means I am not too tired.

" If she doesn't need food or a nappy change, she's happy just to be in someone's arms. We haven't really heard her cry very much at all, so we're lucky."

From the moment Bec felt her first contractions, at 5:30pm on the way to the Hospital, events unfolded very quickly. " It wasn't the four and a half hour labour people think- it was a bit longer than that, but it could have been worse -  but it could have been a lot worse," says Bec, speaking exclusively to Woman's Day.

"I was always positive about the experience. I'd watched childbirth videos and read a lot of books, so I was pretty well prepared.

"I tried very hard not to be anxious-but being in labour, gosh that's not fun! there's not much you can do to distract yourself.

"At first, I coped with the pain, sitting in the bath with Lleyton feeding me lemonade ice blocks, which helped.

"But it did get to the point where I wanted an epidural, although I don't like needles, and it was such a relief. After that, I couldn't really feel anything, so the family come in for a chat before Mia was born.

Finally however, the big moment. As Bec recalls, "when the medical staff said " OK, we're nearly ready to push', Lleyton and I looked at each other ', we thought, 'oh my God, this is the last minute it's just us. From now on, there will be three of us.' And suddenly she was born, and Lleyton cut the cord."

First-time grand parents Glynn and Cherilyn Hewitt and Darrel and Michele Cartwright , who taught the couple their solid family values, couldn't wait to she the new arrival. Lleyton's sister Jaslyn and Bec's siblings Shaun and Kristy- by now firmly convinced that childbirth is a doddle - were also on hand to add their congratulations.

"And it's pretty funny to see your older brother going goo-goo over your baby."laughs Bec who was out of bed and in the shower only an hour after Mia's entrance.

It was a wave of sheer adrenalin that carried the couple all through the night ,with the doting dad dialing friends on his mobile to break the happy news, right up until breakfast at 7am.

And then an avalanche of flowers and gifts started to arrive- complete with a team bib and beanie from Lleyton's beloved Adelaide Crows- plus a visit from Davis Cup coach Tony Roche, who turned up to see his new granddaughter Claudia, but ended up sharing the Hewitts' joy.

Bec stayed in hospital for four days, in a standard room just like the 39 women giving birth at the time. She learned to breastfeed and bathe tiny Mia - one of Lleyton's favourite names - before taking her precious bundle home to the couple's $4.5million love nest at Sydney's Palm Beach.

"You know, we can't thank the hospital CEO Greg Brown an the staff enough," says the besotted father , bouncing his baby on his knee." They made everything so smooth and easy for us through out the whole nine months, not just the birth. They were wonderful.

Bec's mum Michele, who's been on hand to help out at home together with Lleyton's parents,says, "I know I'm a biased grandmother, but I think she's very cute.

"Everybody loves her, and Lleyton thinks Mia is beautiful," laughs Bec, as her husband whispers sweet nothings in their baby's ear.

He's great, you know, a really hands on dad, changing nappies and everything. And he can't wait to give her a kiss when he gets home from tennis practice everyday. I think she's going to be very spoilt, but she'll bring us many years of happiness!"

But that lies in the future. Today, the couple are making few plans, although they've already chosen Mia's godparents- Adelaide Crows player Tyson Edwards and his wife Mandy, who have three little boys of their own.

And with Lleyton's Australian Open campaign hotting up, they're looking forward to revisiting the Australian Men's HardCourt Championships staged in his Adelaide hometown in January.

" That will be very special for all of us, because that's where Lleyton's career took off, and that's where i watched him play for the very first time," explains Bec, who knew little about tennis before she met Lleyton. "And now it will be the first place that Mia will see her daddy on court, which is really lovely."

With Mia revving up for a meal and waving her arms around-"Look, she trying out her forehand," jokes the couple -it's almost time to leave. And then Bec adds softly "When I feed her, I see Lleyton's eyes, and and she has a dimple a dimple in her like both of us. That was of the first things i noticed when she was born.

"It's hard to tell who she looks like, but if you watch her for hours-every little expression on her face, every frown and wrinkle. Every single day, we're learning something new about her."

Hugging Lleyton close and ruffling his hair, she says, "the past year has gone so quickly, and such a lot has happened for us. But I feel like this is how we have been for ever.

It's almost impossible to imagine that only days ago, Mia wasn't here. We're both just extremely happy.