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Kids & Company Blog
Meet the Parents: Real Families Talk About the Journey of Parenting
When Dana Murphy and I first connected, something she noted caught my attention and I wanted to hear more about her family:
“Being a mom, for me, was always the most important aspect of my life. We struggled with infertility, so it was a hard road to get pregnant. And then Sarah was born 10 weeks early, and weighed 2 pounds! It was terrifying but every moment has been worth it.”
When we next spoke, she explained more about her and Chris’ journey to becoming parents. She speaks openly about their struggles with fertility and talked about the long process of first becoming pregnant – two and a half years of hormones and IUI treatment (she describes it as the ‘turkey baster treatment’, not to be confused with IVF or the ‘petri dish treatment’).
When they finally heard the news they’d been waiting for, it seemed unreal. So unreal that Dana would not have believed she was pregnant if not for the tests confirming that little Sarah was indeed growing inside her. She wasn’t nauseous. There were no cravings. She didn’t feel much different.
But as the pregnancy went on, something happened around the 30-week mark. “I remember talking to someone at the office and I had my feet up, and they saw how swollen my feet were – ‘how do you even walk on those?! You’re going to be having this baby soon,’ they told me. I went to see the doctor and they took one look at me and sent me off for blood work, then told me to go to the hospital. I went there thinking that I was going for observations, but the nurse said instead that we were having this baby. I was so sick with preeclampsia,” (a serious pregnancy complication characterized by high blood pressure and potential damage to organs; the only cure is delivery of the baby).
Dana, Chris and their medical staff were faced with the challenge of needing to deliver to avoid serious and possibly fatal complications for both mom and baby, but also wanting to provide more time for development of important things like Sarah’s lungs, organs and size. There were doses of steroids and tense moments monitoring Dana’s blood pressure. Eventually the doctor took Dana’s hand and declared that it was time to get her out. The experience was terrifying filled with bits and pieces of memories of an epidural and emergency C-section. Dana remembers hearing a voice: “It was Chris, but I don’t think I knew that at the time. The voice said someone wants to meet me, and I looked over to see her there and thought ‘what is she doing out here?’ and I was flooded with emotion.”
Sarah was just two pounds and needed a lot of support in the NICU to pull through. Dana awoke after the operation and their initial meeting, frustrated with the nurses for giving her a shot of morphine for her extreme pain, and demanded to go be with her daughter. She could barely stand, but hovered over Sarah’s incubator until a nurse gently asked if she would like to hold her. “I just recall crying and shaking, and this nurse asking if I’d like to hold my baby. She suggested that skin to skin would be beneficial so I ripped my gown off, and the nurse warmly joked that most people wait until the curtain is closed. And I held her small little body against mine and the beeping of our heart monitors slowed down as we both took a deep breath together. I would never wish the experience on another parent, but there was also something amazing and magical in how Sarah came to be.”
Sarah’s recovery, like her, was bold and nimble. She was strong and kept growing and growing, earning the name ‘NICU star’. She arrived at home two weeks before what was meant to be her due date, and continued to grow. Today, Sarah is almost six years old and starting Grade 1 in September. Her parents describe her as spirited, a mini-Dana of sorts. Bright, friendly and happy.
Four years after Sarah’s extraordinary welcome into the world, Chris and Dana had Jaron after another series of fertility treatments. Ever different than his big sister, he took his time to arrive and gave his mom an experience she’d never had in her pregnancy with Sarah: growing big enough inside her tummy that she could see the baby pushing and rolling from the outside.
Dana said something to me that stuck: “We had to do a c-section again and it came sooner than I wanted. I had worked so hard to become pregnant that I really wanted to enjoy every minute of it. I didn’t want it to be over.” The experience was so much different with Jaron as Dana could chat happily with the doctors and nurses through the planned operation. And she laughs at how gigantic he seemed at a respectable 7 pounds, 12 ounces – almost four times bigger than Sarah had been at birth.
Today, Sarah and Jaron are lively kids and loving (most times) siblings. Dana and Chris work full-time and they always expected that, so at some point after Sarah had arrived and was doing well they agreed to start looking at daycares. Chris came home one day with information on Kids & Company – a new centre opening in downtown Edmonton – and they were excited about the prospect of high-quality child care that could cater to their family with flexibility, corporate partnerships and an understanding of what it can be like to raise children in today’s world. “The facilities and programs and menus were so impressive,” Dana says. “We looked at a few other places but Kids & Company was the first child care centre we saw, and there wasn’t anything else that compared.”
Dana says balancing work and parenting can be difficult some days: “Some people might think we are having our kids raised by someone else. But we look at it more that the teachers and staff are part of our family; they are helping us raise them. And in a lot of ways, they are teaching them things we might not even think of! It’s an amazing experience.”
When I asked what Sarah and Jaron think of Kids & Company, Dana laughed and said they are pretty different kids – for Sarah, it’s the relationships. “It’s amazing to see her interact with her teachers, she feels safe and confident and comes home with so much excitement about the day. If she’s ever sluggish in the mornings I tell her if you don’t get going you can’t see your teachers today.” And Jaron? “For him, he’s all about the food and the art. Every day he comes home with drawings and sculptures and often something drawn on his arm or tummy – he’s always asking to colour colour colour and to get him going in the morning I say we’re off to Kids & Company for morning snack and he yells back, “YEAH SNACK!”
I can tell from the way Dana talks about her family and the journey they went through to become parents that they are careful not to take their family for granted. I asked what was something about becoming a mom that surprised Dana. “I think I was most surprised at how I was able to let go of things being done a certain way and how much more liberal I am. Here’s a story: When Sarah asked about how babies start to grow inside your body, we talked through the whole process and watched a 3D video of basically everything. But at the end you see a newborn being held by his mom for the first time and Sarah turned to me and said ‘It’s just so beautiful Mommy.’ It really stuck with me. And I couldn’t agree more.”
By: Melissa Sawatzky
Melissa lives in Calgary and is the Community Marketing Manager for Kids & Company in Alberta and BC. Her vision of what she would be like as a mom was shattered years ago when she discovered nothing ever goes as planned for parents, but laughter and community sees you through. You can reach her at msawatzky@kidsandcompany.com.
Posted on: Tuesday August 1st, 2017
Posted by: Melissa Sawatzky
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Abington
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Sweet Kiddles Beachwood, part of the Kids & Company Family
Bedford (Dellridge Lane)
Larry Uteck (Southgate Dr)
Pine Village South End, by Kids & Company
Braintree 1
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Brampton
Pine Village Brighton, by Kids & Company
Pine Village Brookline, by Kids & Company
Burlington Children’s Centre
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Appleby
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Brightstart Burnaby, by Kids & Company
Bow Trail
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Millrise
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Britannia Crossing
Marda Loop
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Beltline
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Royal Oak Out of School Care and Child Care
Pine Village Kendall Square, by Kids & Company
Pine Village Porter Square, by Kids & Company
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Sweet Kiddles University Circle, part of the Kids & Company Family
Cochrane
Brightstart Coquitlam, by Kids & Company
Dartmouth
Dover
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Edmonton Ice District
Baturyn
Diamond
Friendly Frog
Meadowlark Park
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St. Dominic
Sunshine Factory
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Tamarack
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Fraser
Islington
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ABC Kiddie Kampus Exeter, by Kids & Company
Apple Hill Academy Freehold by Kids & Company
Halifax
Hamilton
Hammonds Plains
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Schaffner
Swatara
Apple Hill Academy Howell by Kids & Company
Sweet Kiddles Hudson, part of the Kids & Company Family
Hummelstown
Pine Village JP Revere, by Kids & Company
Pine Village JP South Street, by Kids & Company
Kamloops
Eagleson (South Kanata)
Crayon College, by Kids & Company
Tyke Town Lake St. Louis, by Kids & Company
ABC Lake St. Louis, by Kids & Company
Kids World
Langley (200th St.)
London Richmond
Sackville
Apple Hill Academy Manalapan by Kids & Company
119 Avenue, Part of the Kids & Company Family
Dewdney House (Infant/Toddler and 3-5), Part of the Kids & Company Family
Dewdney Church (Preschool/OSC/3-5), Part of the Kids & Company Family
Edge, Part of the Kids & Company Family
Webster’s Corner, Part of the Kids & Company Family
Harry Hooge, Part of the Kids & Company Family
Alouette, Part of the Kids & Company Family
Silver Valley, Part of the Kids & Company Family
Whonnock, Part of the Kids & Company Family
Under The Sun Marlton, part of the Kids & Company Family
Sweet Kiddles Medina, part of the Kids & Company Family
Milton
Lougheed, Part of the Kids & Company Family
Stave Falls, Part of the Kids & Company Family
Briskham, Part of the Kids & Company Family
Robert Speck Parkway
Mississauga Gateway Centre
Nanaimo
Pine Village Needham, by Kids & Company
Ottawa Barrhaven
New Westminster
Pine Village West Newton, by Kids & Company
Pine Village Newton Highlands, by Kids & Company
North Vancouver
North Van Esplanade
O’Fallon South
ABC O’Fallon, by Kids & Company
Oakville Cornwall
Oakville Dundas
Joshua Creek
Oakville West (3471 Wyecroft Rd)
Okotoks
ABC Kiddie Kampus Old Forge, by Kids & Company
Ottawa Albert
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ABC Kiddie Kampus Pittston, by Kids & Company
Brightstart Port Coquitlam, by Kids & Company
Port Moody
Marina Bay
Randolph
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Head Office
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Sherwood Park
St. Albert North
St. Albert Grandin
ABC St. Charles, by Kids & Company
Tyke Town St. Peters, by Kids & Company
ABC St. Peters, by Kids & Company
Stoney Creek
Under The Sun Stratford, part of the Kids & Company Family
Sweet Kiddles Strongsville, part of the Kids & Company Family
Morgan Crossing
Surrey Professional Centre
King George
Brightstart Cloverdale, by Kids & Company
Sylvan Lake
Bloor Christie
Bloor (Bloor St. East)
Consumers
Finch
Front
Scotia Plaza
Stockyards
St. Andrew’s Church
Liberty Village
Rosedale
Queen West
Tyke Town Troy, by Kids & Company
Vancouver West
Cambie
Langford
Victoria
Walpole South
Waterdown
Tech Town
Under The Sun West Deptford, part of the Kids & Company Family
West Quincy
Sweet Kiddles Westlake, part of the Kids & Company Family
Whitby
ABC Kiddie Kampus East Mountain, by Kids & Company
Winnipeg
West York
Queen Street
Keystone Early Learning Academy, part of the Kids & Company Family
Calgary
Calgary
Calgary
Calgary
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Edmonton
Cochrane
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Calgary
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Okotoks
Calgary
Calgary
Calgary
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Edmonton
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Manalapan Township
Stratford
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Bedford
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Avon Lake
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Cleveland
Westlake
Aurora
Burlington
Burlington
Etobicoke
Etobicoke
Hamilton
London
Milton
Mississauga
Ottawa
Richmond Hill - Corporate office (No child care services)
Toronto
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Toronto
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Waterloo
Kanata
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Toronto
Whitby
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Mississauga
Ottawa
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Pittston
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Harrisburg
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Sweet Kiddles Avon Lake, part of the Kids & Company Family
Abington
Aurora
Sweet Kiddles Beachwood, part of the Kids & Company Family
Bedford (Dellridge Lane)
Larry Uteck (Southgate Dr)
Pine Village South End, by Kids & Company
Braintree 1
Braintree 2
Brampton
Pine Village Brighton, by Kids & Company
Pine Village Brookline, by Kids & Company
Burlington Children’s Centre
Burloak
Appleby
Beacon Hill
Brightstart Burnaby, by Kids & Company
Bow Trail
Livingston
Midlake
Millrise
Royal Oak
Britannia Crossing
Marda Loop
Evanston
Beltline
Aviation Crossing
Gulf Canada Square
Royal Oak Out of School Care and Child Care
Pine Village Kendall Square, by Kids & Company
Pine Village Porter Square, by Kids & Company
Canton
Jackson
Lincoln Park
Harrison
West Loop
Fulton
Sweet Kiddles University Circle, part of the Kids & Company Family
Cochrane
Brightstart Coquitlam, by Kids & Company
Dartmouth
Dover
Walpole North
Eastern Passage
Ellerslie
Edmonton Ice District
Baturyn
Diamond
Friendly Frog
Meadowlark Park
St. Charles
St. Dominic
Sunshine Factory
Tender Heart
Tamarack
Jagare Ridge
Horse Hill
Fraser
Islington
Etobicoke (Bloor & Islington)
ABC Kiddie Kampus Exeter, by Kids & Company
Apple Hill Academy Freehold by Kids & Company
Halifax
Hamilton
Hammonds Plains
Route 39
Schaffner
Swatara
Apple Hill Academy Howell by Kids & Company
Sweet Kiddles Hudson, part of the Kids & Company Family
Hummelstown
Pine Village JP Revere, by Kids & Company
Pine Village JP South Street, by Kids & Company
Kamloops
Eagleson (South Kanata)
Crayon College, by Kids & Company
Tyke Town Lake St. Louis, by Kids & Company
ABC Lake St. Louis, by Kids & Company
Kids World
Langley (200th St.)
London Richmond
Sackville
Apple Hill Academy Manalapan by Kids & Company
119 Avenue, Part of the Kids & Company Family
Dewdney House (Infant/Toddler and 3-5), Part of the Kids & Company Family
Dewdney Church (Preschool/OSC/3-5), Part of the Kids & Company Family
Edge, Part of the Kids & Company Family
Webster’s Corner, Part of the Kids & Company Family
Harry Hooge, Part of the Kids & Company Family
Alouette, Part of the Kids & Company Family
Silver Valley, Part of the Kids & Company Family
Whonnock, Part of the Kids & Company Family
Under The Sun Marlton, part of the Kids & Company Family
Sweet Kiddles Medina, part of the Kids & Company Family
Milton
Lougheed, Part of the Kids & Company Family
Stave Falls, Part of the Kids & Company Family
Briskham, Part of the Kids & Company Family
Robert Speck Parkway
Mississauga Gateway Centre
Nanaimo
Pine Village Needham, by Kids & Company
Ottawa Barrhaven
New Westminster
Pine Village West Newton, by Kids & Company
Pine Village Newton Highlands, by Kids & Company
North Vancouver
North Van Esplanade
O’Fallon South
ABC O’Fallon, by Kids & Company
Oakville Cornwall
Oakville Dundas
Joshua Creek
Oakville West (3471 Wyecroft Rd)
Okotoks
ABC Kiddie Kampus Old Forge, by Kids & Company
Ottawa Albert
Ottawa Westboro
Palmyra
ABC Kiddie Kampus Pittston, by Kids & Company
Brightstart Port Coquitlam, by Kids & Company
Port Moody
Marina Bay
Randolph
Red Deer
Richmond
Head Office
Schaumburg
Sherwood Park
St. Albert North
St. Albert Grandin
ABC St. Charles, by Kids & Company
Tyke Town St. Peters, by Kids & Company
ABC St. Peters, by Kids & Company
Stoney Creek
Under The Sun Stratford, part of the Kids & Company Family
Sweet Kiddles Strongsville, part of the Kids & Company Family
Morgan Crossing
Surrey Professional Centre
King George
Brightstart Cloverdale, by Kids & Company
Sylvan Lake
Bloor Christie
Bloor (Bloor St. East)
Consumers
Finch
Front
Scotia Plaza
Stockyards
St. Andrew’s Church
Liberty Village
Rosedale
Queen West
Tyke Town Troy, by Kids & Company
Vancouver West
Cambie
Langford
Victoria
Walpole South
Waterdown
Tech Town
Under The Sun West Deptford, part of the Kids & Company Family
West Quincy
Sweet Kiddles Westlake, part of the Kids & Company Family
Whitby
ABC Kiddie Kampus East Mountain, by Kids & Company
Winnipeg
West York
Queen Street
Keystone Early Learning Academy, part of the Kids & Company Family