Mackay’s cutest summer baby 2022: Little Grace Hoyle a wonder for parents

Mackay’s cutest summer baby may have had a ‘rough’ start to life but this little bundle of joy is lapping up everything about the world around her. Meet the winner and the contenders.

Little Grace Louise Hoyle is lapping up everything about her world with an insatiable curiosity and an early love of the outdoors.

Mackay’s cutest summer baby — born December 15, 2021 — was the surprise Christmas gift for parents Madeline Mills and Colin Hoyle, arriving 16 days early at Mater Private Hospital.

And it’s a blessing that keeps giving each day as little Grace thrives in her new hometown of Tieri.

“It was so special to have her here for Christmas,” Ms Mills, a nurse, said.

“I dreamt of having a Christmas baby and we’re so blessed that she came early.

“She’s a great baby, I can’t complain. She makes me want to have more straight away.”

Grace Louise Hoyle was born December 15, weighing 2860g and measuring 53cm long. She is pictured with Dad Colin Hoyle and mum Madeline Mills. Picture: Michaela Harlow

It was during her maternity photo shoot something felt wrong – Grace wasn’t moving much and Ms Mills grew concerned.

“She was breach throughout the whole pregnancy and the obstetrician thought it would be too risky to try and turn her manually so we were prepared for a Cesarean section birth,” Ms Mills said.

Grace Louise Hoyle was born weighing 2860g and measuring 53cm long. Picture: Michaela Harlow

“We had our maternity shoot on December 10, and I couldn’t feel her movements much, just once or twice that day.

“We went to the hospital on Saturday the 11th and they kept me in for observation due to reduced foetal movements.

Mackay’s cutest summer babies for 2022

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“It was really scary; the not knowing, it being the first pregnancy and not knowing what I should and shouldn’t be feeling, and thinking it was normal when it was not.

“Originally her due date was December 31 – a New Year’s Eve baby – but they ended up bringing her forward after not being able to feel her movement and reduced fluid.”

Grace was born at 37 weeks and five days after was Ms Mills described as a “relatively smooth pregnancy” except for 16 weeks of nausea.

Grace Louise Hoyle born. Picture: Michaela Harlow

With beaming eyes and an easy grin, Grace has settled into a routine of putting herself to bed by 8pm and waking for an early feed at 4am, before settling again for a few hours.

Ms Mills said it has made her first few months easier but the past three months have not been without hospital stays.

Ms Mills said Grace was born with a partially incarcerated femoral hernia that forms when the abdomen does not fully develop in the womb.

Mum Madeline Mills and Dad Colin Hoyle with Mackay’s cutest summer baby Grace Louise Hoyle. Picture: Michaela Harlow

“It’s quite common in newborns. We noticed it one afternoon when we were changing her, that she had a bit of a lump,” she said.

“We took her straight into Mackay and they sent us to Townsville for the repair.

“So she has had a little bit of a rough start.”

Ms Mills said her background in nursing helped her understand what was, and needed to, happen but as a first-time parent, it was still an anxious period.

Having the support of family around her little family helped.

“Our families have been amazing through everything,” she said.

“Eye contact and interaction is just everything to her, she gets the biggest grin from ear to ear.

Mum Madeline Mills and Dad Colin Hoyle with baby Grace. Picture: Michaela Harlow

“She’s very adorable, she loves her little rattle and has just figured out how to hit it so she will hit it as hard as she can and then smile.

“She loves her grandparents very much. She’s lucky, she’s got three grandmas, a great nan, and she’s got three granddads.

“She’s definitely a very loved, very spoiled baby.”

Ms Mills said she and Mr Hoyle had short-listed two names and chose Grace when they met her because “she looks like a Grace”, and Mr Hoyle chose Louise as it was Ms Mills’ middle name.

More than 60 babies were entered in the Daily Mercury’s cutest summer baby search, and Grace won with 18 per cent of the vote.

Arabella Rae Jewell came in second with 11 per cent, and Tate Joseph Deguara in third with 6 per cent.