Birth Story of Sterling Emmett

Well little man, your story is very similar to your sisters (see Ori's story here). Starts off slow, very much a “hurry up and wait” situation but then almost without warning things get exciting.

Your mom and dad remain one of my favourite doula clients, I adore them both and just like with your sister, there was a lot of laughter while you mom was in labour.

I got a call from your mom on Sunday January 31^st around 8pm to let me know that she thought maybe her water was leaking and then the text came in around 11pm to let me know that her water had definitely broken.  She was feeling a little bit crampy and I decided I would head over and check on things just in case they got moving quickly (I have had 2 second babies come VERY FAST and I wasn’t taking any chances).

I arrived around midnight, and shortly after your mom’s friend Alexis joined us. We all chatted, laughed, told stories, gave your mom some lovely massages and we waited for contractions to kick in……… and we waited. Around 2am it was pretty safe to say things weren’t picking up and we decided to get some rest. Morning came and went, still no labour. Your mom headed out to the doctor for a checkup in the morning and then spent a couple hours getting acupuncture in the afternoon. She was in great spirits the whole time, happy to just hang out waiting for you to get the show on the road.  I headed back over later in the evening on Feb 1^st and FINALLY around 9pm we started to see some real contractions.  Your mom spent some time in the shower to help cope with the contractions. Your mom is a ROCK STAR at coping with labour, she rarely even looks uncomfortable, just quietly powers through each one. Around 11pm we made the decision to make our way to the hospital and by the time we arrived at 1145pm labour was in full swing, contractions were coming every 2 minutes and your mom wasn’t smiling much at all anymore.

Things were very busy at the hospital and we had to spend a few minutes pacing the hall waiting for a deliver room to be ready for us.  It was a full house and the only room that was ready to go was one of the assessment rooms, not ideal but it had everything we needed.  The nurse came in to see how your mom was doing and shortly after the resident doctor on call came in.  He wasn’t the most confident doctor in the world and seemed a little unsure of what to do but he did his best and with the help of the amazing nurse, checked everything out and determined that at 1230pm your mom was “about 4cm dilated”. There is some debate on how accurate that guess was…….

We got your mom up and back into the shower but the water wasn’t working it’s magic this time, the shower was a bit small and your beautiful mom just couldn’t find a comfortable position. My gut was telling me you were much closer to making your appearance than we thought.  Within a few minutes she was asking me what her pain medication options were and was telling me she didn’t think she could do it, also a sign that we are nearing the end. We got her out of the shower and decided to make our way to the bed to try out some nitrous (laughing gas), in hopes that it would help her copes with the pain. 

The laughing gas was not to be, (I think your dad had some hopes he was going to get to give it a try as well) as we were heading from the bathroom to the bed (about a 3 foot walk) your mom dropped to her knees on the floor and let us know something was happening. We quickly got her up onto the bed and the nurse checked, it was time to push!! A handful of pushes later and with the help of two amazing nurses you were there, so fast no doctors even made it into the room!!

Once again your mom was amazing, and your dad was right there by her side the whole time cheering her on, getting her whatever she needed.  Alexis was incredible, a natural born doula with her sack of snacks, crystals and “hippie oils”. Not everyone gets to go through labour with their own personal massage therapist by their side. It was pretty much the labour dream team.

Welcome to the world sweet boy, you have been born into a pretty cool family and you will never know a day of your life where you aren’t surrounded in love and light.

Sterling Emmett Serpa

Born February 2, 2016 at 1:42am

8lbs .5oz