Birth Story

Colin Vincent Testa was born on Thursday November 25th, 2010 at 2:50 AM. He weighed 5 pounds 3 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. Here is the story about how he made his grand entrance!

On Tuesday November 23rd (my birthday), I had my 37 week check-up. The appointment started out like any other. I peed in a cup and got weighed. I remember thinking to myself that if I didn't gain much weight maybe Mark would take me out for a birthday dinner. He was always telling me I should gain more weight. Little did I know that he would indeed be taking me out for dinner! Anyway, I was seeing a nurse practitioner, Darci, who had a student working with her that day. The student measured my stomach and said to Darci "I got 35". I'm assuming she meant my stomach was 35 inches. Darci measured it again and said "Hmm...I got 34". She then looked at me and said "We're going to do an ultrasound. Baby hasn't grown since last time you were measured". My heart sank. I just knew it wasn't going to turn out well.
I was told to go back to the waiting room and an ultrasound tech would come get me. I quickly called Mark to tell him what was going on. He asked if I was scared. Of course I was. I wanted nothing more than to be told it was a false alarm and I could go home. No such luck. Darci came in to the room and the ultrasound tech said "Good catch, Darce. It's IUGR". Darci kept saying "what the baby has" and I had to interrupt her and ask what exactly it was the he "has". Intra-Uteran Growth Retardation she told me. Long story short, my placenta was aged and had stopped providing the baby with all of the oxygen and nutrients he needed to grow. Hence the whole "bump not growing" dilemma. Darci then proceeded to tell me everything was fine. All it meant was more tests that would be done at my upcoming appointments. But apparently everything was not fine and that beeotch lied to me! All of a sudden I was being led to another room to have a Non-Stress Test. This was all a blur. I'm not sure how it was decided I needed a NST but nonetheless, I found myself in a very large leather chair with monitors on my stomach and water being forced down my throat. It seemed like every nurse in the office came in to check on me and all that commotion made me even more nervous. I finally got one to stay in the room long enough to tell me that the baby wasn't moving or kicking enough and a doctor would be with me shortly. The word "induction" was now ingrained in my mind like a flashing neon sign. I knew what was coming. Dr. Hancock came in and started spouting off about bell curves and where the baby fit on the curve. The ultrasound estimated his weight at 4 pounds 15 ounces. I'm no dummy. Clearly he was on the wrong end of said bell curve. Then he dropped the bomb..."You need to go to the hospital to be induced". To which I said "Tonight?! I need to go get my husband".

Keep in mind that by this time I had been at the doctors office for over an hour and a half and the office was now closed. And because I had to stay in that big comfy chair, I couldn't get to my phone to call Mark. Luckily, his instincts kicked in and he bummed a ride to the doctors office. As I was getting cleaned up and getting all the monitors taken off, in walks my hubbs. I was never more glad to see him but I knew I had to tell him that we were thisclose to meeting our boy. Three. Weeks. Early.  I told him we had to go to the hospital. I cried a bit. He almost did, too. We stood in the lobby for what seemed like an eternity calling work, our parents, our dog sitter. I remember calling my parents house and my mom answered the phone singing Happy Birthday to me. I wanted to burst out in tears and tell her there was nothing happy about it. But I kept my composure and calmly explained what was going on and asked if my dad could go to our house and get my hospital bag.

We checked in to the hospital around 6pm. I was told that I would be given Cervidil at 10PM and then Pitocin would be started the next morning. Then the on-call doctor came in and told me that Cervidil wouldn't work - I don't remember why. Instead they would be starting Pitocin at 1AM and I should get some rest. Fast forward to 10PM. The nurse comes in asking if I'm ready for the Cervidil. I shot her a confused look and said "Dr. D said I'd be getting Pitocin at 1AM instead". She shot me a confused look and said "Nope. I don't know why he said that. We're back to plan A." I was annoyed that no one told me we were back on plan A but whatever. I was given the Cervidil and a sleeping pill. The next morning (Wednesday) I was only dilated to 2 CM. The Cervidil didn't work so Pitocin was started at level 10. I was able to get out of bed, use a birthing ball and practice all the moves I learned in birthing class but nothing was helping my labor progress. The nurse came in and told me she couldn't monitor the baby's heartbeat while I was on the birthing ball and I would need to get back in bed. She kept asking me to rate my pain and was shocked to hear me say "1 or 2". The contractions just weren't bad at all. They felt like mild menstrual cramps.

The baby wasn't handling the Pitocin very well so it was turned down to a 1 and then all day Wednesday it was slowly raised. By about 3PM, we were back at level 10. Luckily the baby was handling it better and the level was slowing raised over the next few hours. I still wasn't feeling the contractions and was only dilated to 3 CM. At some point, I'm not sure when, the doctor came in and broke my water. I asked him if it meant I had only 24 hours to get things going or I'd need a c-section. He said that wasn't necessarily the case and he'd have to see how I progressed from there. I finally started to feel the contractions around 11PM Wednesday night but they were still nothing to write home about. I told the nurse the contractions were getting stronger so she asked if she could check me again. Still only 3 CM. This wasn't looking good. She raised my Pitocin level again and said she'd be back in a few hours. Mark was amazing during this time. He could tell I was in more pain and he was right by my side offering me water and rubbing my back. Around 1 AM on Thursday morning, the nurse came back in with Doctor Fagerland. He spoke to me in a quiet voice and said "I think a c-section is necessary. You're just not progressing. You should be dilated to an 8 or 9 by this point". No one wants to have major abdominal surgery but by this point, I was ready for it to be over. I was just tired. Tired of being in the most uncomfortable bed. Tired of nothing working. So I looked at Mark, he nodded, and I told the doctor to go ahead.

Within an hour I was prepped and ready for surgery. It was freezing in the operating room and I was shivering uncontrollably. I remember thinking to myself "How am I supposed to get through contractions without moving AND not shiver while the anesthesiologist shoves a huge needle in my spine?!" I think the nurse could read my mind because she instantly wrapped me in a warm blanket and told me to squeeze her hand during the contractions. It helped a lot. The epidural was awful. My legs were tingling and felt like they weighed 100 pounds each. After I laid down on the table I started having trouble breathing. The anesthesiologist told me it was because my chest cavity was numb. He put an oxygen mask on me which helped. The next thing I know, Mark is by my side and he's being told that they were in my abdomen and to listen for a suction which was his cue to stand up and start taking pictures. It all happened so fast. We heard what could have been a suction noise and Mark asked if that was what he was supposed to listen for. I had no clue so he stood up and luckily he did because the baby was being pulled out. After the baby was out, I told Mark to go be with him and that I would be fine. As I laid on the table I have never felt more alone in my entire life even though there was a room full of people. Then I heard it. The most amazing sound in the world - Colin's first cry. I sighed loudly and said "Oh!". I was so happy to hear him. His cry was so adorable. Very quiet and small. Just like him.

Mark brought him over to me and I rubbed his head and told him I loved him. I looked at Mark and said "He's so small!". I don't really remember what happened after that but I know Mark went to the nursery with Colin while I was taken back to my room to recover. I didn't get to see Colin again for two hours but that time went by so fast. Around 5 AM he was brought to the room and I got to hold him for the first time. He opened his eyes wide and looked at me. I instantly smothered him in kisses! To say it was love at first sight is an understatement.

The labor and delivery didn't go as we had hoped and planned for but everything that happened was out of our control. We were just happy to have a healthy baby and a healthy mom.

The doctor was right that the baby would thrive better after being born. He gained 10 ounces in his first two weeks!