Day 1: Birth Story

Baby's Name: Sarrazine Michelle

Date of Birth: 2/7/11

Original Due Date: 2/3/11

Weeks Pregnant: 40 weeks, 4 days

Weight/Length: 10 lbs, 2 oz / 22 inches

Birth Story:

Because my baby was measuring 91st percentile, I wasn’t progressing past 2 cm for a while, and my BP was elevated, my OB scheduled an induction. He wanted it before my due date but the hospital was booked so we scheduled it for 4 days after.

On 2/7, I went in at 7:00 a.m., got started on Pitocin at 8:30 a.m., got my water broken at 9:00 a.m. and immediately started having contractions. They were handleable, but became intense pretty quickly. I stuck it out for 3 hours and then asked for the epidural at around noon. I felt like I’d failed my birth plan, but I’d been open to needing an epidural, especially since I knew I’d be on Pitocin. The epi went SO smoothly, as opposed to the spinal I’d had for my cerclage. I wish I hadn’t been so anxious about it. I am totally in favor of epidurals!

I progressed to 6 cm and 80% effaced, but stayed that way another 3 hours. In the meantime, the baby’s heart rate began decelerating so they did an amnioinfusion and put the fluid back in me. Her heart rate improved, but she didn’t progress past -2 station and I didn’t dilate any further. In fact, my cervix actually got thicker rather than thinner on one side.

My OB said we could try for another hour and then do a C-section, but I said let’s just go for it. I was actually relieved because I was terrified to push out whatever was inside me. I was huge!

The C-section went well, although as I’d feared, I started to feel sharp pains. They kept upping my epi, but by the time they got to my uterus, it was pretty bad and they didn’t want t to give me more. Through my crying and moaning, the OB said, “Just 10 seconds and it’ll be all over!” I closed my eyes and mentally counted back from 10 and by the time I got to 6, I felt a flock of birds fly out my intestines, and heard a baby crying. Took me a moment to understand why! Someone pointed out to me what I was hearing, and I think I said something along the lines of “Oh my god, that’s my baby girl!”

Everyone started saying how big she was, and the OB said, “She’s gotta be 10, 11 pounds.” He brought her back to us and she was almost as tall as he was. He exclaimed, “She’s enormous!” I said, “She’s 8 years old!”

They brought her to us for a quick family picture and then they spirited her away to clean, weigh, measure her, etc.

10 lbs, 2 oz. 22” long.

I could hear her crying and they told Colby to go see her. He didn’t want to leave my side but I told him to go. I hated to hear her cry, knowing Colby was with her, seeing her, and I was splayed helpless on the table, paralyzed, with my arms strapped down. They brought her back to me for a couple quick pictures and some skin on skin contact. The best we could do though, was cheek-to-cheek. But the instant our skin touched and I said hello to her, she stopped crying, opened her eyes, and looked at me!

Best moment of my entire life.

They took her to do tests, etc., and Colby went with them and took lots of photos and videos. I went off to recovery and slept and missed my daughter for two long hours. I was sad to learn that they’d already bottle fed her, because she had low blood sugar and they didn’t want to wait for me to try to nurse. She also had soiled 2 diapers by the time I got there. Goodness!

I guess because she was a C-section baby, she didn’t have the blotchy face/conehead look about her. Her cheeks are just as chubby as her ultrasound had suggested they were. She is SO perfect, and just beautiful. And I don’t think I’m saying that as a mother. I think she really is!