Photo by Lulu & Lula Photography
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We welcomed our rainbow baby, Sloane Smith Faber, into the world on Tuesday July 27th at 8:54am weighing in at 5 lbs 4 oz and 17.5″ long- on her Dad’s birthday which is so special! And today I wanted to share the story of her birth. She came six weeks early, which we were never expecting! But so glad we’ve gotten the extra snuggles with her.
So let me back up a bit and start from the beginning. I had a pretty text book pregnancy- no issues along the way. All of our ultrasounds came back normal. Baby was always growing as she needed to be. And for the most part I felt great. I will admit entering my third trimester brought on a lot discomfort. But overall, I still felt really well.
A couple of weeks before she was born there was one night that I just felt a ton of pressure and was really uncomfortable. It wasn’t anything to worry about because by the next day I felt back to my normal self. Later I found out that what I was feeling was baby turning in my womb. She was always facing head down, but when I went to have her, we found out she was breech. So looking back this pain and pressure I was feeling was her turning. I knew something was a little off after that day because I felt her kicks differently and they didn’t seem as intense.
Sloane was born on a Tuesday and that Monday, I decided to shave down there. I knew it was a bad idea but I did it anyway. All morning I was spotting and I honestly just figured it was from shaving and I had knicked myself. But it wasn’t going away. So for whatever reason, I decided to call my OB’s office and talk to the nurse about it. She agreed it was probably nothing, but still wanted me to get checked out because I was later in pregnancy and anything could happen at this point.
I thought it was no big deal so I drove myself up to the hospital to get checked out. I even told Kurt I would probably only be a couple of hours and I would text him updates.
When I got to the hospital and the doctor did her exam, everything was normal and as it should be. It probably was just me who had caused the blood which was a big relief. As we were waiting for my urine test to come back, they had me and baby hooked up to monitor her heart rate. And while hooked up, baby’s heart rate dropped significantly and all of the nurses were rushing into my room. I honestly had no idea what was going on, but everyone had the took of terror in their eyes, so I knew something bad had just happened. The nurses had me change positions and we were able to finally get baby’s heart rate back up. Thank goodness!
After that scary incident, they decided they wanted to keep me overnight to monitor us. A lot of times this happens occasionally in the womb and no one catches it, so this very well could have been a random incident. Either way, they felt it was safer to monitor me for the night.
I honestly thought this was a one time thing and we would be home the next day. I actually told Kurt there was no reason for him to stay in the hospital with me that night because I really didn’t think anything was going to happen. Well, I was sure wrong!
I got zero sleep that night. The bed was so uncomfortable and every time I would move the nurse would be in my room re-adjusting the monitors. I couldn’t even go to the bathroom on my own because there were so many wires. It was not the most pleasant experience! The start of the night was really smooth, but the early morning hours got very interesting. Every couple of hours the nurse was running into my room, flipping me over and around because baby’s heart rate kept dropping. They were pretty certain that the cord was wrapped around baby and when I would have a contraction, things would tighten up and her heart rate would drop.
Around 3 in the morning, the baby’s heart rate had dropped and no matter what movement and position I flipped into, we couldn’t get it back up. The nurses made the quick decision and wheeled me back into surgery and were going to perform an emergency c-section. I was terrified! And had no idea what was going on- I think I was just numb to it all and so scared about the baby. Once we got back to the OR, they were able to get her heart rate back up which was a huge relief. At that point, they decided to not perform the c-section considering I was still pretty early in the pregnancy (I was 34 weeks). I think they were a little perplexed on what to do with us haha. Baby was doing great in between and I was still pretty early on in my pregnancy.
I was so scared and exhausted from all of the this. I knew it was a gamble for the baby to come this early because I was only 34 weeks pregnant, but it was also so scary what was happening with her heart. And it seemed to be happening more and more frequently.
Finally, once the high risk doctor who was looking over my case got into the hospital that morning, he made the call that we needed to deliver the baby. We were shocked and scared and on a huge adrenaline rush. My OB had just gotten done telling us she wasn’t sure how everything was going to play out. And then in a matter of seconds we were told we were having a baby. Things moved super fast after that.
They wheeled me back into the OR and got everything prepped for a c-section. And at 8:54am baby was born and the doctor lifted her little body over the curtain for us to see her. I had a huge flood of emotion and immediately burst into tears. I think after that I held my breath for what seemed like an eternity until I heard those first cries.
The doctor had prepped us beforehand, but looking back on this part of the birth is really hard for me. Baby was immediately whisked away to the NICU because she was so early. This was out of precaution and for the safety of the baby. So we had no skin to skin when she was first born- we didn’t even get to hold her or give her a kiss. In the moment, I really didn’t think anything of it. But looking back, I feel like we missed out a bit. We only briefly saw her when she was first born over the curtain and then again when she was being rolled away to the NICU.
After that is when things get blurry, probably because of all the drugs! I had a really bad reaction to all of the drugs in my system and that afternoon and evening I couldn’t keep anything down. When I would try and eat or drink anything, I was puking it back up. This was incredibly hard because baby was in the NICU- she wasn’t in our room with us. I was determined to go see her that night, but I just couldn’t. I was so sick and could barely lift my head.
The nurse decided to give me a drug to reverse some of the side effects I was having and finally by the middle of the night I was feeling 100 times better. It was a huge relief.
What no one tells you is after you give birth, you have about 100 doctors, nurses, etc. knocking on your door the next morning all wanting information from you! I was so overwhelmed by this. I had just had major surgery, felt awful from it and was still pretty groggy. And not to mention I still hadn’t even been able to see my baby yet!
Later that morning I finally had enough strength to make my way down to the NICU and see ‘Baby Girl Faber’ as she was deemed. We still had yet to decide on a name. She came so early and unexpectedly that we needed some time to think about it. Seeing and holding her for the first time was magical. But really I think I was still in shock. Shock that she was here and everything that had just transpired over the past 24 hours. It felt so surreal that I was holding ‘my’ baby.
Sloane went on to the stay in the NICU for a week. Leaving the hospital every day without her was torture and I cried every time we had to leave. But I will say, the nurses there were amazing. And taught me so much about babies and breastfeeding and caring for a newborn. It was the crash course I needed to feel more confident to bring her home.
We feel so lucky to have a healthy baby after the years of heartache and struggle we endured. I don’t think I will ever take this experience for granted. We love you Ms. Sloane!
xoxox Amanda
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