My Pregnancy

My pregnancy with Aimery had its ups + downs. The first 6 months of pregnancy were fairly easy. I was very active, happy, and only had a few weeks of morning sickness. I was told that I would have a healthy pregnancy.

But then things changed.

At my 6th month midwife appointment, my midwife noticed that Aimery had not grown since she had seen me four weeks before. I was instructed to come back two weeks later to see if there was any improvement. When there wasn't, my midwife told me that Aimery might have Intrauterine Growth Restriction. IGUR is a fancy term given to babies when the mother's stomach is not measuring at the expected rate. This is normally caused by a problem that prevents babies in womb from receiving enough nutrition and oxygen.

I was able to get an ultrasound done when I was 7 months pregnant. Thankfully, the ultrasound came back saying my little babe was healthy. I was told that although there was still a possible risk, my body might just be made to not require extra weight gain during pregnancies. To put into numbers: a women my size normally gains an average of 35 pounds throughout her entire pregnancy, and I only gained 18 pounds. Because of this, I was constantly doing Infant Non-Stress Tests (NST) and was closely monitored for the rest of my pregnancy.

Days came and went while I waited extra anxiously for my baby boy. I was always worried there was something wrong with him since my stomach was so tiny. I had a midwife appointment on my due date. Upon arrival, they found that I was only 1cm dilated. Because my midwife described my pregnancy as a "possible risk", she suggested that I should get induced. She believed that since I was carrying him so small, I could go weeks, if not a month over my due date. I chose to wait because I believed that Aimery should be born in his own time.

Another week went by and I was officially 41 weeks pregnant (did you know that was possible?). I had another NST and the test came back saying my babe was happy and healthy. In fact, I was able to finish early because he was kicking so much! I then had another physical exam and found out I was still 1cm dilated with no changes. My midwife tried to schedule me for an induction once again. I refused again because I just knew Aimery would be born when he was ready.

Labor Begins

On Tuesday, August 16th around 7pm, I started having contractions. They continued to be irregular throughout the night and I woke up the next morning with them still continuing. I was excited to know that I was finally in labor.

I took 4 walks throughout the day on Wednesday, and contractions continued to become stronger. By 7pm on Wednesday, my contractions finally became moderate and regular lasting 6-7 minutes apart. I called my midwife and she told me to call back when they were 3-4 minutes apart. She assumed this would take two hours.

After 8 hours of contractions, they finally reached 3-4 minutes apart around 3:00am on Thursday. I grabbed my bags and headed to the hospital! But upon arrival, my contractions started to slow down as my anxiety came to rest. So after being examined, I was instructed to go back home and fall asleep because I was only 2 cm dilated.

I woke up at 1:30pm on Thursday to my water breaking and contractions 15 minutes apart. I went for a walk and quickly started having intense contractions again. Finally, almost two weeks past my due date, I was omitted to Markham-Stouffville Hospital at 5:30pm.

Aimery is Born

All natural labor is no joke. I decided to not take an epidural or any type of pain reliever and to be honest, the 12 hours I spent giving labor at the hospital are a blur. I wish I could say that I was one of those women who slept through half of their labor and the baby just fell out, but I'm not. It was both the hardest and beautiful thing I have ever been through.

Finally on Friday, August 19th 2016, at 4:37am I finally got to hold Aimery in my arms. He was born perfect at 8.0 pounds and 20.4 inches (after all that worrying, I had an average sized baby!). I immediately loved him more than anything else in the whole world. I couldn't believe that he is mine to take care of and love on. I can't wait to see how the rest of Aimery's story unfolds as he has already changed my life forever.

Aimery's Birth Story