Guest Post!
While Hailey is away for the weekend she has asked me to fill in here on her blog for a couple days. So I’m going to do my best to remember the day Waverly was born from my perspective. Forgive me, it will not be even close to as detailed as Hailey’s original version was but maybe my male privileged version while be entertaining.
Here goes.
I woke up to Hailey laughing at me and asking what I was laughing about. Still half asleep, I vaguely remembered having a dream about eating a Firecracker burger at Montana’s and asking the waitress to hold the spicy chicken and the spicy ranch. An odd dream and an odd way to wake up. Hailey figured I had been dreaming about something else. 😉 But I assured her, I was not. 😳
I got up and made us coffee and breakfast in bed as it was still quite early and not time to get the kids up yet. It was summer so the kids regularly stayed in bed til 830 or 9. We had a lovely, relaxed last morning together as parents of 4. However, that call from the hospital was just not coming.
We waited til 9 or so before finally losing most of our hope that we’d get the call that day went to get the kids up. From there it was a pretty normal summer morning. I had booked time off work so there was no worry there. No interruptions. Until Hailey’s doctor called. She said that Hailey was still on the list and that things were just running behind. Yay! It could still happen! But I figured that Dr Guselle would still have to go to bat for us with the other nurses and doctors in charge. And as great and powerful as she is, I still wasn’t confident. Merp.
So I tried to make the best of it and made a plan to take the kids outside to ride bikes. Dekker had learned to ride without training wheels just a few days earlier and I wasn’t sure if he’d get another chance to practice for a couple days. So out we went! Deks on his bike, Laela on hers with training wheels, Rowan on his balance bike, and Solly wandering around holding a kids snow shovel. lol I popped the back doors of the bus open and Hailey and I sat in the back, watching the kids and daydreaming about Wavy, subtly worrying that today might not be the day.
And then her phone rang and Hailey got a really nervously excited look on her face. I don’t remember what was all said on that call but I knew pretty quick that I should go finish packing the hospital bag. So off I went while Hailey kept an eye on the kids.
I don’t recall a whole lot between this point and when we got to the waiting room at the hospital. I don’t even remember which Tim Horton’s we stopped at for coffee. 😳 Which is normally a big deal for me. Anyways, I do remember sitting in the waiting room while Hailey filled out the admission forms and pretty quick Cher joined us. The three of us sit and waited nervously for only a few minutes when we were approached by a nurse who walked up looked at us like we weren’t allowed to be sitting where we were sitting… And then she told us that she was our nurse and we should follow her to the delivery room. 😳 Slightly off putting but we blew past it and followed her.
Again, I don’t remember a lot of the details of the whole labour but you can go back and read Hailey’s version fo the day for the gory details. Lol I do remember doing a lot of laughing, a little bit of advocating for Hailey, and a LOT of telling people to expect an abnormally fast labour, as did Hailey and Dr Guselle.
And then it was not an abnormally fast labour like Laela. It wasn’t even a fast labour like Rowan or Solly. It was a totally normal labour somewhat similar to when Dekker was born. It didn’t take long and we were making jokes about how Wavy was taking to long, that she was late, or lazy. Haha. I remember thinking ‘Oh boy! She’s gonna be a big baby!’
After a lot of small talk and chatting with our nurses and Cher about previous deliveries, trying to prove that we did have reason to ask for the birth plan we were asking for, as well as some hiccups and causes for concern, all was still ok and the doctors weren’t too worried. So I went to find some supper and eventually a coffee. Clearly this was not going as we thought.
When I returned from my fruitless coffee run, Hailey had a big smile on her face and told me that she was fully dilated and probably quite close to being ready to push. ‘Yay!’ and also, ‘It’s about time, Wavy!’
Oh! Speak of the baby. She just woke up. I’ll be back.
Ok I’m back. Where was I?
Oh Ok.
Time to push!
Ok, so whenever we get to the point of pushing in a delivery I always feel the need to be the super encouraging, vocal husband like you see in the movies. But I am not that person. I’m not super vocal or someone who shouts encouragement to others. But I feel like if I was just silent it would be super weird and off putting, especially to Hailey. So, I make an effort of be out of my comfort zone and encourage her and offer her sips of water after every push and so on and so forth. I think it’s working because she’s never complained about me during delivery. Honestly, I think she barely notices whats going on around her. She’s so self involved in those moments. 🙄
Kidding Honey!
She has every right to not be concentrating on anything else. Focus on the delivery! It makes sense. lol
So I was being encouraging, and Hailey was doing whatever she was doing. 🙄 And then came the geyser. It was so much fluid that was released that it ricocheted off of Wavy’s head and came back at Hailey in this huge arch. Right onto her chest and towards her face. Luckily, our nurse from the old west was a quick draw with her towel and managed to catch it seemingly midair and dried Hailey off in a matter of seconds. Thank you Danna!
And Wavy was here.
Crying, wrinkly, cottage cheese covered, tiny, and with hair for days.
Gorgeous! She was so pretty right from the get go. I couldn’t stop looking at her. Right next to Hailey just staring while Hailey had her Mommy/Baby time. Father of five. Father of Waverly.
She was here.
Boy what a road that was. I have to say that we have not forgotten our Little Boys that we lost last year, I still think of them pretty regularly. I don’t think that will ever change. But having Waverly in our arms was an incredible moment.
So much healing.
So much joy.
And I think thats where I’m going to stop. I’m tearing up while writing this and I don’t want to have to field the kids questions about why I’m crying.
Wavy has been a wonderful addition to our family and I could not be more proud to have the wife and children I have.
I am perfectly blessed.
Amazing written, Greggy!