Instead of celebrating the new year in their own home, Kallishandra and Scott Davis were knocking on a neighbour’s door hoping to get a ride to the hospital to have their baby.
Kallishandra could hear the countdown clock coming from the TV before her neighbours opened the door, but before it hit midnight, she was distracted by another contraction.
Hours later, the couple became parents for the first time.
Conri Ian Davis, weighing eight pounds and 10 ounces, was born at 3:22 p.m. Jan. 1 – the first baby born at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital this year.
“It makes him even more special,” said Kallishandra. “But he’d be special anyway.”
He came on time – doctors estimated the baby’s due date to be either New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day – and according to his proud parents, not too soon or too late.
Kallishandra hoped the baby would wait until Christmas was over so the couple could open presents together peacefully without worrying about a newborn. But once Christmas was over, she was ready to meet her baby.
She started getting early labour pains at about 3:30 a.m. on Dec. 31.
“I was like, ‘I hope this is labour,'” said Kallishandra. “It was really starting to get hard to share a body.”
When the Davises went to hospital later that day, they were sent home because it was too soon.
Thirty-six hours after the start of her labour, Conri arrived.
The couple did not know the sex of the baby in advance – the doctor was unable to tell – and had picked a male and a female name beforehand.
They found Conri, which means “wolf king”, on a baby name website. His middle name Ian is after Scott’s grandfather, who died recently.
“We were fine either way,” said Scott, adding that the baby’s bedroom has an animal theme and neutral colours so that it would be appropriate for either sex.
Both parents were tired after being up so many hours throughout the labour process, but excited.
“It was a lot of work, but so worth it,” said Kallishandra.
