On July 27th at 5:29pm Chris and I became parents. Baby Mikayla came into the world, right on her due date, punctual just like her Dad!
I had a pretty easy pregnancy with Mikayla. No morning sickness, no diabetes and I was able to continue to exercise regularly. My last trimester with her, I got HUGE. I gained weight quickly, but luckily didn’t get any stretch marks anywhere on my body except my butt! Some days, if I was on my feet for a long time I’d get a shooting pain in my cervix area. It was so painful I couldn’t stay standing for long. I remember I couldn’t even get out of the car one day because I was in so much pain and thought the baby was going to fall out of me. My doctor told me that the baby’s head was very low, making it uncomfortable some days.
The week before my due date, I walked and walked. We went to the beach and I would walk in the sand with Zoey and Chris. One day I even walked out to the ocean during low tide in hopes that this baby would come out! It was the middle of summer, I was swollen, hot and huge. I couldn’t wait to not be pregnant anymore. I was done wearing the same clothes over and over and carrying the extra 30 pounds.
The day before my due date, I was feeling pretty crappy. I had a doctors appointment earlier that morning and was told I was 1 cm dilated so a baby could be coming that day or week. So crazy! I remember feeling so scared and nervous, I left the Doctor’s office and cried in my car. We had gone out to a baseball game with my brother and his girlfriend the night before, it was a looooooooong game but we had a great time. I was super preggo and knew it. I could feel the stares and smiles of all the people who saw how preggo I was. Man…. I couldn’t wait to not be the sweaty, swollen hot mess I felt like I was! But on the 26th, I was sore and pretty crampy. That evening, our friends Ben and Isaac came over to play basketball. I was pretty determined to walk with our dog Zoey to the basketball courts and watch them play for a bit. I remember feeling pretty uncomfortable there so I left the guys at the court and walked home with Zoey. I was still having cramps, and each cramp was getting worse and worse. I walked around our apartment, double checked our hospital bag and tried to eat a little. But I was in so much pain. The guys came home and were gaming, I went to the bathroom and started straightening my hair to distract myself. At this point I was pretty sure I was in labour.
I text my brother to let him know as he would be taking care of Zoey. I couldn’t believe this was happening, like seriously couldn’t believe it cus I didn’t think I was in labour. Apart of me just thought I was having cramps, like Braxton Hicks contractions.
Chris was checking on me and by 10pm the guys were ready to leave, I was keeled over in the bedroom, and went to go say bye to the guys and reassure them that I was just having some cramps. I remember Ben saying… “No, no Amanda… you’re in labour”, the guys had never seen me in pain like that, and I’ve never felt that way either.
By 11pm, my cramps were much worse and I called the hospital to let them know what was going on. By 4am I couldn’t handle it anymore, my cramps were now contractions and coming in every 2 minutes. I knew they were contractions because my cramps felt like an annoying tension in my abs but my contractions felt like my entire body tightened and there was a pain that would wrap around my abdomen to my back. We went to the hospital. I was excited!! We were going to meet our baby! I went in there with a big smile on my face. They checked me and… I was 2cm dilated. BOO. I thought to myself ALL THAT FOR 2CM?! Give me the morphine!!
We were sent home after I got a pain killer and I was on cloud 9. I took a bath, breathed through the contractions and fell asleep. I woke up around 12pm to take another bath, stretch and breathe through each contraction. I tried to go back to sleep, but by 2pm my water still didn’t break and I was crying with each contraction at this point. I was in so much pain I couldn’t even speak. We headed to the hospital… it was 3pm on a weekday in Vancouver, so there was quite a bit of traffic. The car ride felt like forever. Chris parked the car and came around to help me out and with a big gush, my water broke. He rushed to get our bag from the back and I waddled as fast as I could to the hospital. I couldn’t even speak, but in between contractions I managed to say “I’m in labour!”
They checked me, Chris and I were mentally preparing ourselves for the nurse to say I was 5cms dilated… but NO. I was 8cms! After that, everything happened so quickly. They changed me into a gown, and wheeled me up to the delivery room where I met my doctor and nurse. I had asked if I could get something for the pain… I wanted an epidural but I was told I was doing so well with my contractions that I didn’t need it (WTF?! I DIDN’T NEED IT?!) and it could slow down the process! So I got laughing gas instead (That shit didn’t even make me LAUGH!!!) It was just me, Chris, our Doctor and the nurse in that room and it felt good. They were calm, focused and positive. I felt empowered and confident. Like I can really do this. I AM doing this. It’s happening! As each contraction came I sat up and inhaled that laughing gas, bit down on the mask thingy and WHALED (not quite a scream, not cried, not whimpered… I whaled!) into the mask, my doctor had her arm around me, her and Chris were comforting me, rubbing my back. There was a moment where Chris and I were alone together and I was going through a contraction, I just started pushing. It’s like my body took over and I started pushing. My doctor encouraged me. She said to relax through each contraction, my body knows what to do. I buried my face in Chris’ arms and he helped me breath through each push. I was scared. But I wanted this baby out.
Before I knew it I had reached down and was able to touch the top of Mikayla’s head. Unreal.
A few more pushes and the doctor said, “Amanda! Give me your hands, reach down! Here she comes!” In that moment I caught her. I caught my baby.
It was the most amazing feeling. The most amazing, life changing, emotional experience. I put my hands out and caught the most important person in my life. My baby.
I cried. I was overcome with emotion. I brought her up and put her on my bare chest. We looked at each other for the first time. Her big dark eyes, such a beautiful round face. I couldn’t believe it. I looked at Chris, I was speechless.
We lay there together and time just stopped. A whole lot of things were happening around me but I couldn’t take my eyes off Mikayla.
Amanda is a writer, photographer, videographer and a content creator with a passion for sharing stories. With her family of 5, they share experiences, tips and ideas that empower Moms to make memories with their families right here in British Columbia.
