At 3:29am on New Year’s Day, the Cayman Islands Hospital’s maternity ward rang out with the sound of new life as baby Evie Macleod took her first breath, marking the end of her mother’s 15 hours of labour.
At 6 pounds, 11 ounces, she was born without complications and is the second child of Cameron and Tamarin Macleod.
“She actually came 10 days earlier than we had expected,” said Tamarin, as she recalled the moment her water broke while doing laundry on Sunday, 31 Dec.
“We were a little shocked but we were told that a second child could come early, so we kind of expected it,” added Cameron. “But what we didn’t expect was that the initial part of the labour would take so long.”
The vast majority of the labour was spent with Tamarin enduring painful contractions, as she hadn’t fully dilated, while Cameron stayed nearby supporting her the best he could.
“In the end, the final part of the active labour was over really quickly with three big pushes,” he told the Compass in a phone call from the maternity ward.
Skin-to-skin
With a pair of surgical scissors, Cameron cut Evie’s umbilical cord, and the doctors handed her over to an exhausted Tamarin, who was given a chance to do an initial round of nursing as the doctors conducted their preliminary checks.
The Macleods say when their first child, daughter Casey, was delivered, skin-to-skin contact between the baby and parents was not encouraged, but this time the doctors adopted a different approach.
“Then they told me to remove my shirt and gave her to me for 10 minutes for skin-to-skin bonding,” said Cameron. “It was just so emotional and really nice to have that initial bounding, there’s nothing like it, to just look down into the eyes of this little being, knowing how much you love her.”
He added, “We are forever grateful Dr. Rommel El-Madany and Dr. Siobhan Jaques, and the whole HSA team for these past several months and this amazing bonding experience.”
Evie’s arrival marked the end of a pregnancy riddled with anxious optimism for the husband and wife who’ve endured two previous miscarriages.
“Our first pregnancy and third pregnancy ended in miscarriages so we were nervous about this one,” explained Tamarin. “Her successful birth is also the reason why we choose her name.”
The word “Evie” is the Latin form of the Hebrew word Eve, which means “life” or “breath”.
“We are not Jewish, but we believe it is a fitting name for her,” said Cameron.
He added, “We’ve always wanted a family of four and now our dream and our family is complete.”
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