I started getting high blood pressure and feeling really sick (dizzy, headaches, blurred vision, exhaustion) at 36 weeks, which led my midwife to keep a closer eye on me since I had been on baby Aspirin my entire pregnancy to prevent hypertension and said symptoms. On my 36w+4d midwife appointment on August 29th, my blood pressure was higher than usual, so my midwife ordered bloodwork. The results came back showing similar levels of elevated liver enzymes, so she ordered more blood work and an ultrasound. I went in for more bloodwork on August 31st and those results came back slightly more elevated than the previous, so she suggested we consult an OB at the Red Deer Hospital. At this point, I had already called SOS on my family to come and help, and since my parents had just gotten back from Utah, they couldn’t come right away, so Jan stepped in to help. She came on August 31st after work so she could help out the next day.

​On September 1st, Jan drove me and came with me to my ultrasound in the morning, while Mitchell handled Jackson and Naomi for lunch and quiet time, and she stayed with Jackson while Mitchell, Naomi and I went to the OB consult in the afternoon. The OB on-call that day was Dr. Wiebe, who was the doctor that delivered Jackson and the OB that I was transferred to at the end of my pregnancy with Naomi. Between my midwife Jenn, Dr. Wiebe, and Mitchell and myself, we all agreed on getting an induction sooner than later to prevent me from getting sicker than I am now (blood-pressure-wise) and risk not having another natural delivery, let alone water delivery, like I intended to - especially since baby is already full-term. Now the question is, WHEN do I get induced? I didn’t want to get induced the next day since that was my dad’s birthday and I was really hoping to push the induction to September 7th, so baby and his/her Ate (Naomi) can share a birthday day (ie the 7th of the month, since Mitchell, Jackson and myself were all born on the 20th).. BUT I didn’t want to risk pushing the induction date too far out and end up getting really sick in the waiting and having my birth plans get more shaken up than it already was.

​September 3rd. Induction Day. We were scheduled to go to the Labour & Delivery for a Non-Stress Test at 7:30 AM and then meet with Dr. Wiebe for an induction around 8 AM. Mitchell and I woke up extra early to leave before the kids woke up, said goodbye to my parents, and took the Honda Fit to first get muffins and coffee at Timmies before heading to the hospital. Walking into the L&D Unit brought back so many memories both from Jackson’s and Naomi’s birth, which really wasn’t that long ago. We also ran into Dr. Nechifor, who was my prenatal doctor with Jackson and Naomi, and I think she was quite surprised to see me very pregnant and not under her care. I briefly mentioned to her that I was with a midwife this time around, but that my blood pressure started elevating at the 36-week mark, much like it did with Jackson. I also mentioned that I didn’t know baby’s gender, but seeing as my symptoms were like Jackson’s, it leads me to think that baby is a boy. Then she said that scientifically, there is nothing that says that baby’s gender can cause the mother’s blood pressure to get elevated.

Another fun fact about that day - I finally got to meet Mel, the charge nurse on shift while I was in labour with Naomi + follower on Instagram who messaged me shortly after Jackson’s birth. After meeting Mel, I was triaged and prepped for an NST by nurse Heidi. During the NST, nurse Heidi was telling us that we may have to wait a while until a room and a nurse opens up for me, since there aren’t any available at the moment. Jenn joined us shortly after, and from there I find out that there’s a room and a nurse ready for me! We quickly moved into the room to get settled, where Keshia, my doula (and friend at this time), met us with Starbucks for everyone!  ​

​I laboured in the tub for about 5 hours, changing positions from lying down to kneeling to squatting; and also taking pee breaks. Keshia and Mitchell stayed in the tub room with me the entire time, while Jenn checked baby’s heart rate every so often. I remember asking Jenn every time she came in, what my chances are of being able to use the birthing kit/birthing room, and I also remember hearing the other mama labouring in that room groan and scream so loudly. At one point, Keshia was even like, “You are so calm, Gian. Most moms I have worked with sound like that throughout their entire labour.” Of course, being the over-achiever that I am, that statement gave me a confidence boost and helped me deal with the pain without any medication.

The labour technically started when I woke Mitchell up at 1:50 AM on April 7, 2022 because I was getting (more) regular contractions than the ones I was getting a week prior, and that I couldn’t sleep off. I got out of bed and starting bouncing on my exercise ball and Mitchell called my parents to give them a heads up that my contractions were more regular and consistent (since my parents are driving all the way from Calgary to stay with Jackson while we’re at the hospital). Thank God my parents have been packed and ready to go for a week now, so upon getting the phone call from Mitchell at 3-ish in the morning, they quickly got ready and started driving to Red Deer.
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After talking with my parents, Mitchell called our doula to give her a heads up and Keshia told him to touch base in about 30 minutes to see where my contractions are at. Within 15 minutes, our doula texted Mitchell to say that she’s heading over.

Once our doula arrived, she went straight to rubbing my back and squeezing my hips, which I didn’t know I needed then! A huge part of my birth plan this time (as with Jackson’s birth) was to give birth naturally with no intervention. I’d like to think that my pain tolerance is pretty high given that I had severe period cramps before getting pregnant ever. Plus, having gone through this less than 2 years ago with no pain meds, I was very confident that my body would be able to do it again, but it definitely felt good to have some sort of pain relief while my body was doing its job.

Since I was induced with Jackson, and my labour from start to finish was (only) 7 hours, and normally your subsequent labour is much shorter than the first, Mitchell and I were both scared that things would progress faster than we liked, i.e. we would have to go to the hospital before my parents could get here to stay with Jackson. Thank God that things moved slower and that my parents were able to make it to Red Deer before we had to go to the hospital.

​We left the house for the hospital at around 5:30 AM and when we got to Labour & Delivery, one of the nurses checked my cervix and I was 5 cm dilated. By 6:15 AM, I was admitted to the delivery room. The nurse that triaged me (and the other nurses that were on shift during my labour) asked why I was with an OB if I didn’t have any complications with this pregnancy, ie high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, etc., and I had to explain that I had pre-eclampsia at the very end, like 2 hours before I was induced, with my firstborn, hence why my prenatal doctor handed me over to an OB this time. 

Anyways, the first nurse that I had this time was one of the nurses I had with Jackson’s birth, which was super cool because I remember her being so amazing when I gave birth to Jackson! Her shift ended literally 30 minutes after I was admitted, and she was replaced by another amazing nurse (who our doula recognized and also said was a great nurse!) 

Once all the paperwork was filled out, I asked if I could go in the bath. I was in the bath for a loooooooong time. At one point, Mitchell and I were making bets with our doula and the nurse on when baby was gonna come out. The nurse bet that baby was gonna come before her shift ended at 3 PM, Keshia bet around noon, and Mitchell and I bet around 9:30 AM. It was around 7:30 AM when we made the bet. Mitchell and I were under the impression that because Jackson came out after 7 hours of induced labour, this baby was gonna come out waaaay faster lol. 

I remember the bath being soothing and all, but it felt really nice to be in the bath NOT hooked up to an IV and fetal monitors as I was with Jackson. Mitchell ordered us Timmies, which was nice to snack on every now and then, along with my ice water and cold apple juice.

I think I was in the bath until noon when I felt like my contractions were getting stronger. The nurse asked if my water broke, and since I had my water broken by the nurse with Jackson, I didn’t really know (or don’t remember) what that felt like. So I stepped out of the bath and they took me to the room to get checked. When the nurse checked, she saw that my water hadn’t broken yet. So the nurse broke my water and at once, THAT feeling came back to me. I asked the nurse if I could go back in the bath after having my water broken, and she said that as long as I’m not close to pushing, then I can go back in the bath. She checked my cervix before sending me off to the bath and at that point, I was 7 cm dilated. Once I was back in the bath, I thought that I would only need to be there for an hour max before I was fully dilated, but I was in there for another 2 hours! I remember the contractions being soooo painful at this point. Like I remember growling at every contraction in the bath, which made me think that I was maybe at 9 cm and will be ready to push in no time.

The walk back to the room was so eventful in that I had Mitchell holding both my hands and guiding me back to the room, our doula rubbing my back and squeezing my hips, and the nurse holding my robe so I don’t flash everyone in the unit lol. When we got back to the room, the nurse checked me again and I was STILL at 7 cm! I vividly remember her words: “Oh dear, you haven’t progressed yet.” And I remember being so mad at myself at this point. Like why did I waste 2 hours in the bath only to stay at 7 cm?!?! At this point, I asked for the laughing gas, which I also used with Jackson. The nurse then recommended that I change positions. (I was lying on my left side at this point) They then lifted the top of the bed and told me to go on my knees and lean over the top of the bed, so I did. And that position made the pain way worse, which meant that it worked with helping baby descend. I remember thinking thoughts like, “Just give me an epidural now!” and “Just cut me up now and take the baby out!”, and although I never voiced those thoughts out, in hindsight, our doula said that that’s when you know your body is getting close to pushing! (According to Mitchell, he was on the verge of crying from seeing me in so much pain at this point, but he was trying his hardest to hold back his tears and stay strong so I can stay strong!) After 10 minutes of crying and growling and Mitchell letting me break his fingers from my death grip, I told the nurse that I needed to push. She asked if she could check me again, and when she did, she found a tiny lip on my cervix which put me at 9.5 cm dilated! This meant that the urge to push was there. BIG TIME. But since I wasn’t fully dilated, pushing might cause my cervix to swell, which might cause baby to actually go back up and not descend, which may lead to a C-section. At this point, I switched to lie on my right side and the nurse told me to push a little bit so she can move the lip for me. As soon as the lip was moved and I was fully dilated, I saw the doctor and 3 nurses and glove up and prep for me to push. I thought that the nurses came to help hold my legs while I push, but according to Mitchell, the only people holding my legs up were him and I!
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During the pushing stage, the OB was giving me instructions on when to push, our doula was doing hip squeezes to help with the pain, and Mitchell was using the roller on my back, all while helping me hold my leg up. I was lying on my right side with my left arm wrapped around my left leg and Mitchell helping me hold my left leg up. I remember the OB telling me to take a deep breath and then to push, but because I had been practicing my breathing exercises for weeks now (and I had been doing it for hours now during labour), every time I inhaled for 4 counts, I would exhale for 8 counts. When the OB realized what I was doing, she said “No, no, no. Take a deep breath and then push! Don’t exhale!” (A little TMI side note - at one point, I started getting the urge to poop and I even said “I don’t think I’m pushing the baby out!” Lolollll) Soon after I passed stool, I started feeling the burn and I remember yelling, “It burns! It burns!” to which the OB replied, “Push through the burn! Push through the burn!” And soon after, I started to feel Naomi’s head, and then she was fully out! I pushed for a total of 7 minutes with her, compared to 20 minutes with Jackson!

​As soon as Naomi was out, they placed her on my chest, and all I could do was cry out of joy that she was here!!! After a few more minutes had passed, Mitchell cut the umbilical cord, just like he did with Jackson, and according to him, it was much “easier” to cut the cord this time around.
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Here is miss Naomi weighing at 7 lbs and 11 oz, Mitchell and I were shocked at how much she weighed. All my prenatal ultrasounds showed that she was in the 75th percentile, but I took those estimates with a grain of salt, seeing as how small my frame is and seeing as Jackson was in the 7th percentile when he was born. 

A huge thank you to Joy Breitkreutz Photography for capturing all of our big milestones. We love you Joy and we adore your work!

Mitchell and I both went into Jackson's nursery singing "Happy Birthday" and I think I wanna keep doing this for all of our kids' birthdays until they tell us to stop. We had McDonald's pancakes and OJ and coffee (both for Mitchell and I) for breakfast to commemorate our first breakfast at home when we brought Jackson home from the hospital. After breakfast, we had a slow and cozy morning at home until Mitchell went to work. After Jackson's first nap, we (Jackson and I) had pancit for lunch before heading to the mall. We facetimed Lolo, Lola, Auntie Jan and Auntie Giddel after we got home and after that, Jackson had Lola's famous sourdough for a snack before going down for his second nap. While he was napping, I set-up his birthday styled shoot, which I had been working on since the beginning of the month.

Detail-wise, I had a bunch of leftover plywood from previous calligraphy projects that I turned into decor for my baby boy. The "1" sign was inspired by Whistle & Flute's milestones shirts and I'm pretty sure I got the "one year of Jackson" idea on Pinterest. I had been taking monthly photos of Jackson in the same Moses basket and seeing him fill the basket over the past year as I put the Polaroid photos together legit made me cry! Mitchell and I wrote him a letter looking back on his first year with us, which I've sealed in the green envelope. The white box with his name written all over it contained our birthday gift for him. We got him his first toothbrush and toothpaste lol. The blue box contained all of the sentimental things I've collected since he's been born - his hospital hat, his hospital tags, his first soother, his first artwork, you name it! Then the brown box just has all of the extra decor we have to bring to Calgary for his drive-by parties. The letterboard was from Euris Company and the balloons were from Flying Cactus Balloon. His denim overalls were from Old Navy and his ONE shirt was a blank shirt from Michaels that I wrote on. His brown party hat was a DIY idea thanks to one of my mama friends.

I can't believe Jackson is already HALF A YEAR OLD! Before this year ends and before he officially enters the next half of his first year with us, I wanna put all his monthly photos and his half birthday photoshoot in one post!

Photo credit for his half birthday photoshoot goes to Parcero Photography.

HALF BIRTHDAY PHOTOSHOOT

Banner by me
Styling by me, Auntie Jan and Auntie Giddel
Hype by Daddy and Lola
Cake by Cassidy Boux
High chair accessories (Silicone tray mat, bamboo footrest, and bamboo leg wraps) from Yeah Baby Goods
Wooden letter board from Euris Co.

I'm typing this after listening to a recorded audio of Mitchell and I sharing the story 
 
As with most moms, my goal was to give birth naturally with no interventions, and certainly no medications. We hired a doula to help us prepare for an all-natural unmedicated birth, but sometime after the whole world went on shut down because of the pandemic, things started taking an interesting turn in my otherwise low-risk pregnancy. Needless to say, I still got the unmedicated* part of my birth plan, and my baby boy was born healthy.

(*With the exception of Pitocin that was administered to me upon induction.)

Side note: This is the full extensive version for my own record. Scroll down to "At the Hospital" if you wanna skip to the part when we get to the hospital.

THE FINAL 4 WEEKS

At my routine 36-week prenatal appointment on April 24th, my doctor ordered me an ultrasound to confirm baby's size and position. The day after I got my ultrasound done, I got a phone call from our doctor (who was at the hospital at that time) saying we needed to see her to discuss the results of the ultrasound. Once we got to the hospital, were told that baby was measuring small for his gestational age and that his belly was measuring smaller than his head, which means that baby might not be getting enough nutrients from the placenta, hence the disproportion. The ultrasound also showed that my amniotic fluid was on the low end, and that if it got too low, it could be detrimental for baby in utero which means baby would need to be delivered ASAP to get him out. You can imagine how heavy my heart felt after hearing those words. I can still feel it to this day.

The results from the ultrasound immediately moved me from being low-risk to high-risk, which meant our doctor had to hand us over to an Obstetrician. I remember complaining to God, "as if navigating my last trimester in the middle of a pandemic wasn't hard enough, now I have to be under the care of a doctor I don't even know???" After meeting the OB and after having him explain how baby will be monitored closely and how the goal is for baby to be delivered healthy, I started to feel a tiny bit better.

The OB ordered us to come back to the hospital for a Non-Stress Test every other day for one week to monitor fetal movement, fetal heart rate, and my contractions. He also ordered an ultrasound for me every week for 2 weeks, to measure baby's growth and my amniotic fluid level. Mitchell and I basically got to know the Labour and Delivery unit really well in my last month of pregnancy. After every Non-Stress Test, the nurses would always ask me to fill out a fetal movement chart and I remember always telling them that baby moved soooo much in my belly, I would need a whole binder for all the charts I'd fill out.

At around 38 weeks, we met with the OB again to discuss the ultrasound results. He confirmed that baby's small gestational size is most likely because of genetics (seeing as I'm under 5 feet and both Mitchell and I aren't overly large people). I later confirmed with both my mom and mother-in-law that both Mitchell and I were small babies when we were born, but we. both quickly climbed up to the 75th + percentile by 2 months.

During that week, I saw my Pelvic Floor Physio twice for pelvic floor/perineal prep and I also started seeing my Chiro again for adjustments for me and baby. Mind you, everything had been shut down since after my baby shower in March. Physio and Chiro literally opened up that week and I know it was God's way of helping me prepare for labour.

At my 39-week appointment (39+4 to be exact), my blood pressure was higher than usual so the OB booked me in for induction that evening. Because of Covid protocols, the hospital was limiting the number of doctors on call. So even if I was under the care of OB "A", I would get whatever OB was on-call the day I go to the hospital to give birth. Turns out, our current OB wasn't on-call until 2 days after my now induction date, which meant that I had to be transferred to yet another physician. At this point, it didn't matter whose care I was under. I just wanted baby out safe and healthy! My induction was scheduled for 6 PM that evening (May 19th) and I went to see my Chiro 2 hours before my induction for final adjustments for me and baby.

After my Chiro appointment, I took a nap while Mitchell finalized all the stuff we were bringing to the hospital - bags, snacks, car seat, etc. We managed to snap a few photos of just the two of us before meeting our little guy!

By 8:15 PM I was moved to the Labour & Delivery Room, hooked up on Pitocin and had my water broken. About 15 minutes after, the contractions started coming in, and every 10 or so minutes, they came stronger and stronger but were still very manageable. The first time the OB checked in on me (which was maybe 30-45 min after I started getting contractions), I was offered pain meds (epidural) and I refused cuz I honestly didn't think the pain was bad. I mean, I was comparing it to my period cramps which were reeeaaaally bad.

One thing I remember that helped with the contractions was bouncing on the exercise ball + Mitchell applying pressure on my lower back/hips, just like we did almost every night at home since I was 36 weeks pregnant. I hella bounced on the exercise ball!

I remember going for a walk with Mitchell around the unit, stopping at every contraction and pushing my head against the wall. After what felt like 2 laps around the unit, we went back to the L&D room so I could bounce on the exercise ball more.​

After a while, I asked the nurses if I could try the bath and I remember feeling relieved in the water for a couple of hours. The thing was, I was too short for the rub that if I wanted to lie on my back and submerge as much of my body as I can, I'd end up submerging my whole body, lol. So I had no choice but to sit on my knees and have Mitchell pour water on my back using the shower head. I think I was in the bath for a good hour or so. I started passing out of exhaustion and that's when Mitchell called the nurses to take me back to the room.

By the time we got back to the Labour & Delivery Room, the OB checked me again and I was at 8 cm. (The last time he checked me was 2 hours prior.) By this point, my contractions were back to back and the pain started becoming unbearable so I asked for the laughing gas. I think I asked for the epidural at this point, but I was told that I was at the "no turning back point" where it was already too late to get the epidural. I think I was also lying on my left side by this point, with Mitchell pushing on my lower back/hips to relieve the pain. I remember feeling like I needed to poop and push (and I remember making a weird "oooooo" noise to deal with the pain). I asked the nurses when the next time I could see the OB, thinking that I had to wait another 2 hours before I could see him. The nurses said I can see him whenever I want to which I replied (according to Mitchell), "Are you kidding me? Why didn't anyone tell me that?! I wanna see him now!"

The OB came, checked me again and I was fully dilated. I asked if I could push now, to which he replied "Yeah, I guess if you want to." LOL! I asked to lie on my side (instead of on my back) and the OB let me try pushing that way but we had no luck. Baby started to go into distress, so they had to put me on my back to push. I went on my back, with one of the nurses holding my left leg, and Mitchell holding my right leg up, pushing on their cue. I remember biting my tongue while pushing to distract me from the pain going on down there (spoiler: I ended up with a blister on my tongue because of how hard I was biting it while pushing. NTS, don't do that again lol) According to Mitchell, I hella popped blood vessels on my face!

Because of COVID restrictions, we couldn't have our doula at the hospital with us so she equipped Mitchell with the massages and moves and mojos to help me with the unmedicated labour I wanted to have. For someone who hadn't done this before, he did an AMAZING job encouraging me and keeping me calm and advocating for me!!! One of the nurses (Nurse Sarah) stayed by my side, holding my hand as she calmly directed my breathing and pushing (like I imagined our doula would have done.) After about 15 minutes of pushing, the baby's heart rate started going down so the OB brought out the forceps. He was telling us about forceps and basically asking for consent to use it, and according to Mitchell, I had ZERO care in what they were and what they were going to be used for. Mitchell gave the OB permission on my behalf to use the forceps (mind you, NO EPIDURAL). I gave it a few more pushes and at this point, I remember Mitchell telling me that he can see baby's head! And with that bit of encouragement, Baby Lee came out after a couple stronger pushes!

Mitchell got to cut the umbilical cord, which was super special. And because baby's heart rate was in distress, he had to get checked by a team of NICU doctor and nurses before they could give him to me. Once everything was clear, one of the nurses put baby on my chest for skin to skin and IT. WAS. UNREAL. The surge of emotions I had holding my baby was more than I could handle. It was the most beautiful feeling I've ever felt. He is the most beautiful baby I've ever seen.

Well, there it is! The birth story of my first born. The story that made me a mother and Mitchell a father.  We love him so so so much and I still can't believe we get the honour of parenting and discipling Jackson!

Photo credit goes to Joy Breitkreutz Photography.