A Port Moody mom’s unique way of encouraging her baby to come has paid off.
For many days leading up to her due date — and even a few after that — Sara Jonsdottir and her husband, Mayo Santos, climbed the steps up the Coquitlam Crunch.
They’d heard that gentle movement, like climbing stairs, or a hill, could help encourage labour.
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The couple was expecting their first child and had planned on a home birth, which could only happen if their baby arrived on time.
Ominira Soley, the couple’s baby girl, ended up being late — nine days late — but Jonsdottir did her daily Crunch and even went for a long walk along the Rocky Point Inlet the day before her labour began.
It’s a good thing Jonsdottir and Santos got in so many trips up the stairs. Jonsdottir spent 50 hours in labour. She says she’s thankful Santos was by her side and that they were able to have the birth at home.
“He was always so supportive of everything we were trying to do and during the birth he was just the most amazing partner,” she says. “He was awake for those 50 hours, just by my side the whole time.”
Baby Ominira arrived on Jan. 23 at 5:17 a.m., healthy and weighing 7.5 pounds.
“It was a really beautiful experience,” she says. “Overall, the home birthing experience was exactly how I wanted it. I had a really peaceful birth. I gave birth to her in the pool. My husband was in the pool with me and we caught her in the water.”
The family is getting used to their new reality, one that sees Jonsdottir working one to two days a week at her and Santos’ business: Revol Cares. It’s already the family business, and Ominira is starting early, supervising her parents — when she’s awake.
