Quite a journey
Shannon LeClair
Times Reporter
Being a first time mom is scary enough, but when your child decides to come 10 weeks early it becomes terrifying. Dawn Gulmick was supposed to give birth to her child on Feb. 20, but instead the baby decided to venture into the world on Dec. 17.
“When I went into labour I didn’t know I was in labour. I was ‘Oh my back is killing me.’ They sent me to Calgary by ambulance and now I have a baby,” said Gulmick.
Gulmick had woken up at 5:30 a.m. on Dec. 17, with an unusual amount of back pain. She said she tried everything, – icepacks, heat and was even pacing around the house. Her husband Daren had gone to work, so she phoned her mom, Joanne Halvorson, who lives in town. Gulnick told Halvorson she wasn’t feeling well, and asked for a ride to the hospital.
Journey Alicen Anne Gulmick was born only minutes away from the Peter Lougheed Hospital in Calgary. There were three paramedics, her mom and site manager for Strathmore hospital Ann McNair-Gariepy on board when Journey was born, weighing only 3lbs 6oz and was 15 ¼ inches in length. Gulmick said one of the paramedics was a student who was doing a ride along, which Gulmick said was probably quite an experience for her. It’s not common for the site manager to ride along in the ambulance.
McNair-Gariepy is an RN, registered nurse, and she made the decision to ride along, saying things went faster than they had anticipated.
“When the medical decision was made to transfer, I had just a niggly feeling,” said McNair-Gariepy.
“It’s difficult to make that decision for a physician to go with a patient which now leaves an emergency department without a physician. As a staff member and with the ambulance crew, when you’re put in that position, you need to put aside how you feel and just do what you have to do.”
It was a good thing McNair-Gariepy went along, as she was an instrumental part in making sure everything went well.
Gulmick and her husband didn’t know what sex their baby was going to be, so Journey was one of the possible names on the short list.
“Him and I have had quite a journey ourselves coming to this point, so it seemed appropriate prior to her birth and then after she was born, it was obviously very appropriate,” said Gulmick.
She also said they chose the middle name Anne after McNair-Gariepy, who had helped deliver her. When Journey came into the world, she wasn’t breathing and she came out really fast. Gulmick said once they got Journey to start breathing, they sent her to the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit at the Peter Lougheed, where she has been doing great. Gulmick didn’t really get to see her child for a few days after her birth.
“That was probably the hardest thing for me. After she was born, they took me into the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit, NICU, to see her but only for about two minutes. Literally two minutes and then they said okay you need to go, we need to work on her,” said Gulmick.
The first time she really got to see Journey was when she was transferred back to the Peter Lougheed. She was in an incubator and had an umbilical IV, regular IV’s, and a heart monitor. She was also under the lamp, for jaundice on top of it all.
“The first time I saw her I absolutely broke down crying, I was like ‘oh my gosh I’m not sure she’s going to live’,” said Gulmick.
She said her husband kept reassuring her that Journey was strong and would make it.
“She (Journey) did spend five weeks in the Neo-Natal Intensive Care at the Peter Lougheed, but she is a champ, she’s doing great,” said Gulmick.
She said the first week or so was very tough on all of them, because they weren’t sure of the outcome at the beginning.
“To sit with all those other parents through Christmas, it was heart breaking and nobody really knows how their baby is going to be,” said Gulmick.
“You just go and trust that the hospital is taking the best care of them. I think that was the most difficult part, was the five weeks that she wasn’t home.”
Gulmick and her husband only got to see Journey for four to six hours a day while she was in the hospital. They were able to stay overnight for the last two nights Journey was at the hospital, to make sure they were ready to bring her home.
“It was so great, to have the support but only use it if you need it and just be able to you know have your baby without any heart monitors or blood pressure cuffs or oxygen monitors or anything like that, just to have her, on her own.”
“I don’t think there is a more difficult job, than to have a baby that’s so tiny,” said McNair-Gariepy. Journey has been home for almost three weeks now and is doing great. She has grown by three inches and put on two full pounds.