The Sunshine Coast’s first baby of 2018 was all lunar. Desiree Metcalfe and Ryan Ryder became first-time parents on Jan. 2, when their son, Sage Wolf Ryder, was born at Sechelt Hospital under the super “wolf moon” of 2018.
“I had a feeling a week or two before I went into labour that he was going to be born at the time of the full moon,” said Metcalfe, though the parents chose the name Wolf before realizing his due date coincided with the first full moon of the year, known as the wolf moon. “We were like, OK, that’s weird.”
At the maternity ward lounge two days after his birth, the beatific parents said they felt a little more rested after getting more than four hours of sleep. On the morning of Jan. 2, Metcalfe woke up in labour, and at 11:16 p.m. – more than 14 hours later – baby Ryder was born. His father helped guide the baby out of the womb.
“When I pulled him out … within three seconds he went from looking like he was sleeping to just shot and all of his fingers and joints all just clicked in. That was the shocking moment, when he just bounced alive,” Ryder said.
“They were both rock stars,” said their midwife, Jules Atkins, who also helped deliver the last baby of 2017, near midnight on Dec. 31. Sage measures 19 inches (48 cm), his weight was undisclosed.
The couple were able to spend about six hours alone together at their home in Roberts Creek before having to transfer to the hospital because the infant’s heart rate dropped between contractions. “It was different than what we expected. We had a birth tub at home, candles lit,” Metcalfe said. “It didn’t end up as totally relaxing as I had presumed.”
Sage Wolf Ryder has taken his father’s last name, but his mother’s bloodline makes him a sixth generation Creeker. She has known since she was a child that she wanted to raise a family in Roberts Creek. “I used to say I’m going to raise my babies here when I was a baby myself.” The infant’s great-great-grandfather, Christopher Theodore, built Metcalfe Road in Roberts Creek. “My great grandparents are in the cemetery of Roberts Creek – all our ancestors,” Metcalfe said.
The parents moved to the Sunshine Coast two years ago and spent time networking up and down the Coast until they were able to find a home to rent in Roberts Creek with three other roommates, including their doula. “We got Roberts Creek and got our little family nearby. It’ll be a different way of raising him, having a community from day one,” Metcalfe said.
