Birth Story – Etienne’s Birth
It began like this…
Mama & Dada wanted a baby for two years, but had no success. On holiday in the Canary Islands with my Nana Suzanne, they were visiting with some of their favourite cousins. The sea air, Antonio’s paella, the volcanic views and the love of family provided the perfect backdrop for my conception.
Mama & Dada learned upon their return at the Ottawa Fertility Clinic that they were expelled from the clinic for having gotten pregnant all on their own! They were overjoyed & mama’s belly began to grow with me. And grow & grow…
My due date was for December 23rd – just in time for Christmas. But I decided to stay put for the holidays. Instead, I waited for the new decade & was born on Mama & Dada’s 4th anniversary – Epiphany: January 6, 2010.
I weighed 9lbs 8oz (4.4kg) and was a lean length of 22in (55cm).
Mama’s water broke on Monday January 4 2010 at around 6:15pm while she was reading in bed. She happily thought the “show” was finally getting on the road as the low menstrual-like cramps began. She also naively thought that if that’s what contractions were, labour would be bearable!! (Little did she know what I had in store for her!)
Midwives Claudia & Joanne confirmed around 9pm that mama was in the early stages of labour and got her into the bathtub to help keep her relaxed. At 4am Tuesday morning, Claudia & Joanne found her still in the tub (dada kept re-warming the water & she was very pickled!) but active labour was still far off.
Most of Tuesday was spent in far-apart contractions – in and out of sleep with dada close at hand. Midwives Tanya & Rachel advised visiting the hospital for an assessment. The car ride was a traumatic one and contractions came on more quickly. It was decided that mama should stay at the Montfort hospital and receive some oxytocin to speed up labour. She’d been experiencing contractions for 24 hours by that point and the midwives were concerned about her energy.
Once mama received the oxytocin, the contractions indeed became quicker and stronger than anything imaginable. But I still seemed content to stay put and mama was still going to be in for a long long labour. Tanya, Rachel, Nana Suzanne and dada were by mama’s side throughout the whole night.
Mama requested an epidural at about midnight to help with the excruciating pain. Almost instantly, she calmed down and was able to breathe through the contractions – and about 6 hours later began to push me out. The midwives encouraged every position, but what mama didn’t know was that I had turned and was not in a good position to come out.
At 10am on Wednesday January 6, mama was advised to deliver by Cesarean section, since I seemed in no rush to come out. Mama was transferred to the operating room and I was born at 12:47pm. Dada never left mama’s side and Nana Suzanne was also there throughout.
After a brief visit & lots of photos, Dada went with the third team of midwives – Amanda & Joanne – to oversee all of the tests. I passed with flying colours and was soon back with mama, dada & Nana.
It was a long long process with a very happy ending… ME!