Baby Nolan’s unexpected and early arrival caught his parents off guard, but it made him the very first Elk Valley baby of 2013!
Not anticipating the appearance of their son quite so soon, new parents Penelope Simpson and Mathew Bennett were still washing freshly purchased baby clothes and preparing a room in their Annex home when Penelope went into labour, two weeks early.
“We kind of had contractions start and then stop, and then we came in [to the hospital] and went home,” Penelope said. “Then we came back and they were understaffed, but we weren’t sure of the roads going into Cranbrook, so we stayed at home until 7 a.m. until it was time to come back.”
The couple returned to the Elk Valley Hospital early Thursday morning, and at 11:48 a.m. Nolan Patrick Bennett was born.
Weighing in at just 5 lbs 15 oz. the delighted new parents can’t believe how tiny Nolan is.
Penelope commented, “I expected fairly small because I was measuring under the fiftieth percentile and neither one of us is very tall, but I was not expecting five pounds, I thought maybe six or seven.”
Regardless of size, Penelope and Mathew are just happy Nolan arrived safe, healthy, and without any complications, even though he was a bit ahead of schedule.
“We were nervous if it had been even earlier because the emergency room was closed until January 7,” said Penelope. “The staff and everyone were really good and helpful, and everyone said it was pretty textbook.”
She went on to say, “We did it luckily without any kind of drugs or intervention.”
Now with a new family member to focus on, Mathew will continue to work as an electrical engineer at Greenhills Mine, while Penelope is handing off her commercial insurance work at Falkins Insurance to the rest of the staff.
“They’re all really supportive taking over the workload now,” remarked Penelope. “Especially earlier than expected.”
As for baby Nolan, he’s hardly made a peep since meeting his mom and dad.
“He barely even cried. He learned to cry, and then he stopped,” Penelope said. “He has definitely been exceeding my expectations.”
Mathew added with a smile, “He’s really quiet and really small.”