Baby Archer had his own ideas about entering the world on New Year’s Day, just in time to meet his grandmother who passed away one day later at Ridge Meadows Hospital.
Archer Reid was born at 4:50 a.m. on Jan. 1 – the first baby to be born at the hospital in the new year.
His parents, Sarah and Garrett Reid, were thrilled, not only to welcome their new bundle of joy, who was 53 cm long and weighed 3.5 kg, (7 lbs, 6 oz), but also because hospital staff allowed them to don scrubs and bring Archer to the intensive care unit on the third floor of the hospital where his grandmother, Carole Reid, had been battling Stage 4 breast cancer.
“It was pretty amazing,” Sarah said from her Maple Ridge home, where her family was spending time with their new addition.
Carole Reid, born in 1960, passed away at around 11:30 p.m. on Jan. 2. Sarah, Garrett, and Archer visited Carole in the ICU at 2 p.m. on Jan. 1.
They were able to spend about an hour with her, thanks, said Sarah, to the amazing team at the hospital.
“She woke up, she looked at him, she said ‘I love you,’ and she said ‘I love you’ to my husband,” said Sarah. Carole had seven grandchildren, including Archer and Lincoln, who was born to Garrett’s sister only two weeks earlier.
“Her grandkids meant everything to her. She was amazing,” said Sarah.
That was the reason why Sarah and Garrett wanted to induce labour – to bring Archer into the world a little earlier so Carole could meet him before she passed away.
There are multiple reasons why labour can be induced for a pregnant mother. This is not a common one.
An elective induction – when labour is induced without a medical reason – can be undertaken at 39 weeks into the pregnancy, according to HealthLinkBC.
Sarah got the go ahead from doctors at 38 weeks and six days. However, Archer refused to be born according to plan.
They arrived at the hospital at around 12:30 p.m. on Dec. 31. Labour was induced at about 4 p.m.
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“We were at about six centimetres (cervical dilation) from 4 p.m. until 4 a.m.,” explained Sarah.
For most full-term babies, the cervix should be open to about 10 centimetres. “And his arms were above his head.
So, his elbows were up and so he wouldn’t go down any further,” Mom said.
Then his heart rate started to drop, forcing doctors to call in a team to perform a C-section or caesarean delivery where an incision is made in the mother’s belly and uterus, as explained at HealthLinkBC.
“We were making bets on whether he would be born in 2020, or 2021,” laughed Sarah.
“It looks like my husband won. I thought he would be born a lot sooner. I thought he would be born naturally,” she said.
Archer, who was named by both of his grandfathers, means bowman or a person who excels at archery, and compliments his father’s name, Garrett, that means to lead with spears.
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Archer was also welcomed into the family by his three older siblings: Nathaniel Harman, 11, who is turning 12 in June, Ava Harman, 10, who is turning 11 in April, and Jennifer Reid, who just turned 10.
Sarah and Garrett were completely surprised that Archer was the first baby born at Ridge Meadows Hospital for 2021.
“He took so long too,” said Sarah of the birth.
“I think that he had his own way of coming. We did have this plan and none of it happened,” noted Mom.
Archer still enjoys his arms over his head, she added.
cflanagan@mapleridgenews.com
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