PRH nurse delivers 1st baby of the year
Less than two weeks after going on maternity leave from her job as a nurse at Penticton Regional Hospital, mom-to-be Tricia Abar was back at the facility Saturday night pacing the hallways while awaiting the arrival of her son.
Twelve hours later, she became the mother of Penticton’s 2017 New Year’s baby.
Cameron Robert Hamilton tipped the scales at eight pounds, four ounces, when he entered the world on Sunday at 7:39 a.m. In doing so, he further solidified his family’s ties to PRH.
Abar, who works as a registered nurse in the hospital’s operating rooms, is following in the footsteps of her mom, Debbie, a nurse at PRH from 1986 to 2010 who did a turn on the maternity ward.
“So when I walked on the unit, everybody knew who I was and was cheering us on,” Abar said in an interview Sunday afternoon, as her son slept quietly in the arms of his father, Jay Hamilton.
The couple has been engaged since Dec. 25, but together since 2014, when Abar moved back home to the Peach City from Grande Prairie, Alta. to take a job at PRH, where her mom left quite an impression.
“It was like the prodigal daughter returned or something,” Abar said with a laugh.
With a due date of Dec. 29, she decided to work until Dec. 21 before going on maternity leave. Then she waited. And waited some more.
When Saturday afternoon rolled around, Abar turned to a natural remedy to speed things along.
She downed a glass of “midwife mix,” consisting of castor oil, almond butter, water, juice and lemon verbena, and just three hours later began having contractions.
“I think it was going to happen regardless, but it was worth a shot anyway,” said Abar.
Hamilton, a sheet-metal worker, has two daughters from a previous relationship — Ellie, 12, and Norah, 9 — and said they’re “ecstatic” to have a brother.
He was anticipating another girl, but was nonetheless pleased to have a son, whose gender the couple didn’t wish to know in advance.
“There are too few surprises in life,” explained Hamilton.
He extended thanks to the staff at PRH, in particular Jen Burlingame, a family friend and licensed practical nurse, who stuck around after her shift ended on Saturday night to document Cameron’s arrival.
Cameron was welcomed into the world with a crocheted blanket courtesy of Kobi Vanderlinde, who lives in Penticton and was born on Jan. 1, 1930, in Holland.
She visits PRH annually on Dec. 31 to drop off a handmade gift for the New Year’s baby.
The first 2017 New Year’s baby in the Okanagan arrived in Vernon at 4:57 a.m.