Thank you to everyone for all their good thoughts and kind words. Caleb is asleep in his bassinette (still!!) so I have a few minutes to tell my side of the story!

Caleb’s birth story – as told by his mommy:

Basically it started with some regular contractions on Wednesday night. We went out for Mexican food, and then wandered around Walmart and Superstore – much more fun than walking around home. By 3am Thursday morning contractions were strong and 3 minutes apart, so I got in the shower and Adam called my mom and the midwife to meet me at the house. I got out of the shower and was around 3 cm dialated. So the midwife left and said to call back when things got really active and I was ready to go to the hospital. Of course then things slowed down – a lot! The next morning – Friday, the midwife came back to check on me. I was still only 3-4 cm and baby’s head was so low in my pelvis, it was difficult to walk. However – he had also turned posterier again (sunny side up), and so I had to get on my hands and knees, walk stairs, etc to try to turn him around again. She finally decided things were taking too long, and I should check into the hospital and have my water broken to get things going. So we checked into VGH at 9am, and proceeded to try to break my water at 9:30. Well, that worked, but was painful. Because his head was so low in my pelvis, the midwife had to reach up behind his head, grab at the cervix and break it with the hook. It took 20 minutes of her reaching to finally get around his head… I’m still going au natural here, so it was horribly painful. Active labour began immediately, but so did the urge to push. I got to 6 cm dialated, but he just kept moving. Everytime we thought he was the right way, he’d turn. And we also realized his head was tilted, so that he wasn’t hitting the right spots to keep contractions consistant. So eventually they decided to give me an epidural. (bye bye birth plan)! The epi was great for making me feel good, but unfortunately, the baby’s heart rate dropped and wouldn’t go back up. Suddenly there are an extra 10 people in the room including an OB who checks me out and thinks that the placenta has also started to tear away. So suddenly I hear that there is no time, baby has to come out now. I’m unhooked and rehooked to a million things and wheeled away to the OR. My poor husband is being shoved into a gown and my mom is asked to wait in the waiting room – and everyone is explaining or talking at once. Less than 20 minutes after the OB said let’s go, I hear the first cries of my son. And I didn’t feel a thing – thanks to the spinal they gave me. It happened so fast, it’s still hard to process sometimes. But by 3:37pm that little 7 pound 7 ounce baby boy entered the outside world. The hard part now was waiting to see him. Adam peeked over the curtain and announced he was a boy. He cut the cord, and was the one to carry him over and introduce our son to me.

And he is totally worth all that effort!

The doctors and nurses at VGH were incredible. I’m very thankful they were able to help deliver Caleb so quickly.

Special thanks to Deb and Luba my midwives for all of their help and devotion during the labour and delivery. Deb was there in the beginning and throughout most to the end. And Luba stepped in for a few hours, and helped break the water – a horrible experience for all of us. But I couldn’t have done it wothout them.

Very special thanks to my mom. Without her I couldn’t have done what I did and wouldn’t have been able to endure for so long. She was beside me holding my hand for all the rough stuff, and help not just me, but Adam too. I’m so glad she was able to share in this experience with us, and to help me become a mom. I only hope I will be as good a mom to Caleb as she has been to me. I love you mom.

And of course a very special thanks to Adam. He was amazing. Never once did forget to tell me how much he loved me and how proud he was of me. I never would have gotten through the past week without his love and devotion. He held my hand, rubbed my back and held on to my heart the whole time. I loved him very much as my husband, and love him even more now – as my husband and as Caleb’s daddy. Caleb is very lucky to have him as a daddy. I love you Adam!

And I love you too Caleb! You mean the world to me!

On Friday June 3rd at 3:37pm Caleb Marcus Ell was born in Victoria, BC.

Mom was wonderful throughout the entire time. She did the best that she could, but in the end the natural birth that we had hoped for just wasn’t possible. Caleb had to be born via a cesarean. Upon his entrance to the world he weighed 7lb 7oz and measured 19.5” from head to toe.

Both Mom and Babe are doing excellent and should be home in a few days.

*EDIT* I’ve added more pictures to the gallery

…and lots of stuff!!

This weekend I was given two baby showers. One with family and friends, and one with co-workers. We are very loved and got very spoilt!

Here’s a picture of all of Squishy’s new things:

There are too many things to show pictures of everything, so I’ll just show one of the most impressive done by my grandma – she made up a clothes line on which she put all the clothes and blankets she bought or made for Squishy:

(Thanks to Squishy’s Grandma Germaine for these pictures)

Here’s a picture feom shower #2 of Squishy and Mommy cutting the cake:

(Thanks to Kristy for taking this picture!)

Thank you so much to everybody! We love all of Squishy’s things and know that he’ll be very happy with them all!

~ Squishy, Ally & Adam ~

We are now at 36 weeks (and 3 days) pregnant! So far everything looks good. Luba said she didn’t think the baby would arrive anytime in the next week, so for now, we are sitting tight. We have appointments with Luba and Deb every week.

Squishy has definitely gotten bigger as I feel every bump and movement. However, we are working on keeping him facing my back. Currently, he likes to face my belly – so that means lots of yoga positions to correct this before labour!

We haven’t taken a photo for this week, but here is our 35 week shot:

We had our 35 week midwife appointment yesturday. So far everything looks good. Apparently the pain I’ve been having in my pelvic area is not because of a fall that happened at work on Wednesday, but because of the muscles and stuff relaxing down there to get ready for baby. It is alot of pressure sometimes, and I’ve taken to using the elevator in our building now, because the stairs take too long! The pain under my breasts is because of the way my ribcage has spread. Apparently I have a short torso, so my ribs really spread to make room for baby – and that’s why it hurts so much there. That, and the fact that Squishy kicks me in the ribs all the time.

My unborn child wakes me up in the middle of the night – kicking me in the ribs! Is it wrong to yell at him? I do need to breath! He’s such a pain in the butt!

We also had our hospital tour last night, and know where to find all the good stuff – towels, big bowls for throwing up, the ice chip dispenser… and most importantly Adam knows how to work all the controls on the bed!

I’ll now be seeing the midwives every week. It’s getting very close… only another four weeks or so until I can have a non- rib-kicking night!