After another ultrasound, I meet specialist Dr. Farquharson and learn that the next step will involve both an amniocentesis and a fetal blood sample taken from the umbilical cord. The procedures are painful, precise, and frightening, and I’m told I need to remain completely still while the doctor works.

In this episode, I share what it felt like to face that fear, focus on my breathing, trust the medical team, and endure another difficult step in the search for answers about my baby.

And when it was over, there was only one thing left to do: wait.

With traffic at a standstill and uncertainty still hanging over me, two paramedics found a way to bring some laughter into an otherwise frightening time. Sirens on, down the shoulder we went—and for a little while, I stopped thinking about tests, doctors, and what might be waiting for me in Vancouver.

In Sirens and Shoulder Lanes, I share a lighter moment from a very difficult chapter and the reminder that kindness, humour, and human connection can show up exactly when we need them most.

Sometimes, even in the middle of fear, there’s still room to laugh.

Tests followed tests, conversations happened around me, and eventually my husband was told that our baby appeared to have a bilateral cleft lip and possibly a cleft palate—before anyone explained it directly to me.

This episode is about more than a diagnosis. It’s about the moment I realized I needed to become an advocate for myself and my baby, ask harder questions, and make sure I was never left on the sidelines of my own medical care again.

It was the beginning of a journey that would take us from uncertainty at Royal Jubilee Hospital to specialized care in Vancouver—and ultimately change the way I approached every medical decision that followed.

At 28 weeks pregnant and in severe pain, she was told the doctor was too busy to see her. But her instincts would not let her stay home. She drove to the office, refused to leave, and waited for hours until she was finally seen.

That decision led to an immediate hospital admission and the beginning of a journey her family could never have imagined.

The Longest Day is a powerful story about maternal instinct, self-advocacy, fear, resilience, and the importance of speaking up when something does not feel right.