April 2023 (Easter Long Weekend) at B.C. Women’s Hospital

While most babies come into this world early and eager, my daughter rebelled. Weeks 40 and 41 came and went. I won two additional doctor appointments, a fourth ultrasound, and a non-stress test that told me she was really happy inside me.

Obviously. Thanks to pregnancy brain, my cortisol levels were at an all time low.

And I would be happy too if my dad made me personalized fruit bento boxes everyday, and my mom sent lobster, crab, abalone, A5 Wagyu and whatever else she craved down the hatch.

Now my daughter is out of the womb and has to “work” for her food, you know what she ends up doing? Dozing off.

What a character.

It has been an eventful week since we came home as a family of four. For weeks, my phone was blowing up with different variations of “Is your baby here yet?” Then when she arrived, it was like the refresh button was pressed and a new set of questions appeared.

I will now answer your questions with my usual flavour of sarcasm and honesty. Let’s go!

Q: How are you still going out? When are you going into labour?

The secret to maintaining a social calendar is to not go into labour, and that’s what happened to me! Those Braxton Hicks contractions that my pregnancy app promised? Didn’t happen.

And my water never broke. So when my doctor asked if I knew what a crochet hook looked like (“Yes she does!” WTF Hubby replied. “My wife crochets.”), I was suspicious. Let’s just say that since that day, I never saw any of my crochet hooks the same way again.

Q: Did they try to induce labour first and was it long?

My birth plan since the very beginning was simple: give me all the pain meds and give me surgery.

Except here’s the thing - doctors don’t just give you major surgery if you’re healthy. Makes sense, no? They’ll try to induce labour first, and the thing about inducing labour is THERE ARE NO GUARANTEES THAT IT WILL WORK.

And it didn’t work. For days, it didn’t work. I knew surgery was the only way to evict this baby because guess who was due at the end of December and didn’t make her own grand entrance until mid-January through a C-section?

Q: How was the surgery? Did you feel anything?

WTF Hubby was mildly horrified that I was excited when the C-section was finally given the a-okay. The OR Team at Women’s was amazing and hilarious. They gave me a rundown of what to expect and talked me through each step as it was happening.

The good news was I didn’t feel any pain, just some physical pressure when I was about to meet BunBun for the very first time.

Q: Was it love at first sight?

Yes! When I heard those first cries, saw her head full of hair, and her scrunched up face, I was completely and utterly smitten.

There couldn’t have been a more perfect song playing at that moment… BunBun was born to Tal Bachman’s She’s So High, which was one of my favourite songs in elementary school!

Q: What is her name? How do you pronounce it?

BunBun’s name is Amélie, which means “industrious”.

I liked the name in high school when we watched the 2001 French rom-com, Amélie (Le Fabuleux Destin D'Amélie Poulain)! So really, the key to pronouncing Amélie’s name is to watch the movie.

I wanted a French name for our daughter because of my Grandma, who passed away last April. I loved hearing stories of her French-influenced childhood - an incredibly romanticized version, I’m sure. And thanks to Grandma’s help with my French when I was growing up, I gained the utmost useful skills of ordering crepes in Paris and French 75s in Montreal!

Q: How big is the baby?

BunBun weighed 8lbs, 11oz at birth. Is that big for a newborn?

Q: How are you feeling? How is recovery?

Once the anesthesia gradually wore off, the pain rushed in like my body was a department store having a liquidation sale. It hurt to get in and out of bed. It hurt to get to the bathroom.

It. Just. Hurts.

When we got home, I made the mistake (again!) of getting back into routines a bit too quickly and paid for it. I was both tired and wired as a new Mom. I’d get up early to feed BunBun and simultaneously blog or wash Mimu’s fountain, sweep, and fold laundry. My own Mom (also again) yelled at me, in person and over the phone, to rest.

It still hurts to do things, but to a lesser degree now. I’m trying hard to keep hydrated, take my pain meds, and rest… Even though I’m far too ADHD.

Q: How has the sleeping been for you?

When my head touches a pillow, I’m out! Hubs and I try to nap when BunBun naps, and we take “shifts” during the night.

The only traumatic sleep story I’ve had so far was when Mimu decided to climb on top of me while I was asleep and launch off my tender belly to get to the table. Like why, cat?!

Q: Are your parents taking over and giving you lots of rest?

The consequence of living ten minutes away from both sets of parents is magical when I can get past the unsolicited advice (which is never-ending from my parents…).

Overall, I appreciate that each set of parents alternate visiting days, and they always BRING FOOD. Our fridge is full of ready-made, nutritious meals that only needs to be nuked in the microwave.

We eat, clean, and get through admin tasks while our family soaks in baby time. BunBun is smart enough to smile a lot during this time so that her grandparents will keep on coming back.

Q: How is motherhood?

Motherhood is an adventure that oscillates between joy and fear. Joy when I got that first smile (second day after birth when I was holding her), how it feels when her whole hand wraps around my finger, and how she can simultaneously spit up, pee, and poop while I’m trying to clean all that up LOL. Skills.

I can’t get enough newborn snuggles. Anyone else out there who can relate? I’m also so curious about what kind of person she’ll grow up to be…

And then there’s the fear. Anything that can affect her health brings on the anxiety. That’s a big one for me!

This year, WTF Hubby and I spent our anniversary in the hospital talking about how we met and welcoming a new member into our family. Who knew having a newborn can bring on both the nostalgia and the anticipation of new adventures?