Madelyn's Birth Story

Mary was taken to the OR prep room at 10:25 am. A nurse told Dan it was okay to be in on the first part of the c-section. Dan's face went white and gave Mary the please don't make me eyes. They would not accept Mom as a substitute. Mary met Mary the nurse anesthetist. She went through everything with with Mary, Dan and Mom. Then Mary took a shot of something that was described as "burning like tequila". Nurse Mary took Mary to the OR where she got her spinal.  Dr. K arrived and Mary said "We need to have a talk." He had ordered her blood sugar test to be right after the antepartum party (which was full of pop, brownies and cookies) from the doctors on Thursday  and he ordered labs at 4am for a 10:30 surgery. (Luckily, Mary's overnight nurse got them moved to 6 am.) The other doctors in the OR laughed when Mary "confronted" him. She reported that the spinal wasn't so bad; though at the same time there was a nurse sitting between Mary's legs, attempting to monitor Madelyn. . . . (awkward). Madelyn used this chance to hide from the nurse. When they tried to lay Mary down she started to feel nauseated. She told Nurse Mary this and that she was about to throw up and was told to turn her head. . . . a few moments later Mary woke up and heard "We've got her. We're good now."  Mary had passed out, vomited, and her heart rate dropped and blood pressure dropped out. (Later we were told by Dr. Santillan that when this happened they all "scrambled" and were scared, but it didn't last long.  The neonatologists (8 of them) were just entering and they heard "WE HAVE TO GET HER OUT!"  Mary quickly recovered and all was fine. Mary then asked Dr. Santillan what he was going to sing to her and he started singing "White Christmas."

Heading down to the OR!

When they made the initial cut they realized they were not able to cut the uterus horizontally due to the amount of blood vessels.  They then had to do a vertical cut.  The doctors were talking to Mary about all of this.

Getting the spinal.

Maddie was born at 11:24 and immediately started squealing.  The doctors said "She is PINK!"  Dr. Taylor reported that she was "really cute". They cleaned Maddie and wrapped her up and brought her to Mary for a kiss and a picture. Mary was overjoyed and began to cry.

Madelyn Elizabeth!

Meeting Mommy for the first time. 

The doctors pulled her uterus out to have a look and while doing this the placenta fell out.  (This was not expected.  They expected the placenta to have grown in to the uterus forcing a hysterectomy or at least a cornual wedge resection.)

Dr. Taylor: "Look I can see my finger through the uterus."
Dr Santillan: "Well don't stick your finger through it."

A lot of pictures were taken of the uterus and they confirmed it was a true cornual pregnancy. Dr Taylor kidded that she was going to sew Mary's uterus up like a baseball. After she put the uterus back in, Mary realized the OR had become very quiet because all of the doctors had left. Dr. Santillan and Dr. Ryan came up to talk to Mary and say goodbye before they left. There was no emergency and weren't needed! GREAT NEWS!

Dr. Krohn finished sewing Mary up and she could feel the needle!  YIKES!  Mary left surgery at 12:50 and headed to recovery in Labor and Delivery and was back in her room by 3 pm.

In the meantime a nurse came to get Dan at about 11:35.  He got to stay with Maddie for about 30 minutes and then had him leave so they could get all of Maddie probes and tubes set up. The nurse midwife came to the room shortly after and cried tears of joy with us.  She had taken pictures of Maddie and we (Dave & Deb, Kelsey, Mom and Renae) were OVERJOYED to see them!

Mary got to see Maddie again at about 8 pm. She was sleeping and doing really well. Breathing room air and her pulse ox was in the 90s and got to 100 while Mary was in there. Maddie is small obviously but with the giant feet of her parents.

Mary will need a follow up with the reproductive endocrinologist so they can evaluate whether or not the uterus is partially heart-shaped. A heart-shaped uterus increases the chance of a poorly placed implantation in the future. Because of the vertical cut Mary will require a c-section for any future pregnancies and will need to deliver at 36 or so weeks. This is fine news considering this is telling Mary she can have more children with beautifully shaped heads! (And much closer to "full-term".)


Stats:  2 lbs 10 oz 14 1/2 in long
          Born at 11:24 am
          November 22, 2013

Fun Facts: Maddie was born 7 years to the day Dan proposed to Mary. Maddie shares her birthday with Nell Rose (Mary's Cousin). Maddie was born on the 50th Anniversary of the JFK assassination.



Fun Moments from the day:

"I haven't gotten it in 40 years of marriage."  -Grandma Ann to Dr Santillan when talking about a romantic vacation.

Cael (after seeing Maddie's picture): Awwww! I want to build a lego train for Maddie.

Cael: What does Maddie do?
Kelsey: She lays there.
Cael: Oh

Renae (after Dan left to walk Mary to OR) to Dave: How is Dan doing?
Dave (without skipping a beat): Let's stop the stupid questions right now.
(followed by lots of laughter: we love you Dan)

After the news of Maddie and Mary came through text message the room ERUPTED in crying, laughing, screaming, jumping, and hugging.
Dave: That was the coolest thing I have ever seen.  We should have had that on video tape.

We are pretty sure we broke some sort of record with the amount of texting, calls, and emails that went out in a very short amount of time.

Renae: Someday you'll get to wrestle with her (Maddie).
Kate: (disgusted) Mommy, I'll have to be careful because I will be so much huge-er than her.

Wayne (to Mary as she returned from recovery): She's about the size of a small meatloaf.

Renae: We should get a picture of her next to a dollar bill.
Dan: Do you know how dirty money is?!
Renae: That is why we put the dollar in a baggie.

Look how big that dollar bill looks!

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