samantha's birth story

As you already know, given that little Samantha was head up (and didn't have any plans to move around), we were planning on a C-section.  At first, I was pretty devastated by the outcome as I was actually really excited to go into labor.  Throughout my pregnancy, I had fantasized about waking Stefan up in the middle of the night or calling him without warning to tell him: "It's go time!"  I pictured him driving us to the hospital in the wee hours of the morning, our bags packed full of way more than we needed, while I screamed at him to go faster and get us there already.

When our C-section fate was solidified, however, I decided to embrace it.  We strategically scheduled for August 6th - the day after our wedding anniversary - so we could have a final dinner out before the big day.   

Samantha, however, had other plans.

At 4pm on Friday, July 25th, I went in for a routine doctor's appointment where they monitored me and the baby.  During the appointment, I happened to have a contraction - not one I could notice, but one that showed up as rather large on their fancy monitoring strip.  I didn't think twice about it since you can have practice contractions for several weeks leading up to the big day and I had hardly felt it - I would know if I were in labor.

Still, the nurses decided to keep me a bit longer to make sure all was okay.  I called Stefan (who was picking up his bib to run the San Francisco marathon that Sunday) and told him: "I'll be home in an hour." 

An hour later, however, I was having regular contractions at perfectly timed intervals and was 4cm dilated.  The doctor came in to tell me this little babe was en route and we better get preparations under way.
I called Stefan back: "You may want to come here.  I think it's go time."

He arrived in record time and we let the excitement of the impending change of plans set in. 

strong, regular contractions on the left

baby's heartbeat on the right

We asked the doctor to do one last check to make sure she was still breech (she was), and then they began the preparations to send us into the operating room.

At around 12:30am, it was finally time to meet our baby girl!  Even though I felt great and wasn't in any pain during contractions, since I was technically in active labor and they didn't want to hurry a breech baby up, they had me ride up to the OR via wheelchair.  I was so giddy I could hardly sit still!

Things went quickly from there - I'll spare you the details for those with an uneasy stomach, but the whole thing was not nearly as scary as I had imagined and the extreme excitement of seeing Samantha for the very first time kept my mind off of what was actually happening behind the little curtain.  (Stefan, however, watched every second of the whole thing like a champ and fulfilled my desire for a play-by-play when asked.)

At 1:20am, I heard her sweet, squeaky scream as the doctor held her up in the air for me to see.  She was pink and teeny and gorgeous - I was already completely in love.

Stefan then cut the umbilical cord...

...and the nurses got her wrapped up so she could come over and say hello.

After some kisses and hellos, Stefan then accompanied little Samantha to the nursery to get a bath, check her weight and length, and do some tests.  

6 lbs 14 oz!

Once they confirmed she was healthy and good-to-go, Stefan brought her back to meet me in the recovery room and we enjoyed some happy time as a family.  Even though it was close to 3am, we were so wired by all of the excitement, we couldn't imagine sleeping.  

Even though a C-section was not what I had originally wanted, the whole thing could not have been more perfect.  Not only did I get to experience going into labor (and calling Stefan unannounced to tell him the news!), I felt good knowing this was when Samantha was ready to come, as opposed to when we had scheduled her birth date for.  And the birth was just as exciting and exhilarating as I had imagined a natural birth (but perhaps a bit more efficient).

Needless to say, Stefan did not end up running the San Francisco marathon the next morning, but he assures me the reason was well worth it. :)

xoxo
KK