My Birth Story - 26 Years Ago Today

My Birth Story

So my cute sister-in-law Holly had her Birthday a few weeks ago and posted about her Birth Story. Click here to read it! It was such a cute story and interestingly we actually had the same due date but she was born 2 and a half weeks before me. Anywho, it made me wish I knew more about my own Birth Story. I knew bits and pieces of the story but all I could really remember was that my mom named me after someone she worked with at Burger King - thanks mom!. Oh yeah and that I was a whopping 9 pounds 9 ounces! So I asked my mom to tell me more about my Birth and she was sweet enough to write it all down for me. The story is kinda long so I am summarizing it today on my Birthday just for fun.


"The year was 1977 - I was working at Burger King in Muncie, Indiana. There was this cute girl that I worked with and her name was Danielle. I remember thinking what a beautiful name, Danielle, and I instantly took a liking to it. I even told her that someday I was going to name my daughter Danielle."


Fast forward 5 years to March 1982.....


My mom and Dad were both 23 years old and living in California. My older brother Chris was 11 months old. My parents were hoping for another baby. My mom went to a clinic for a pregnancy test, hoping to be pregnant. The next day she received a phone call from a nurse saying, "I'm so sorry, you are pregnant." My mom was caught off guard and said, "That's incredible news!" The nurse explained that most girls that came to the clinic were hoping not to be pregnant. My mom called my Dad at work and told him the good news and they were both very excited!


In my mom's words, "The expected arrival date was December 18th, 1982. From the get-go I knew I was having a girl - my precious Danielle."


Side note: During the first month of my mom's pregnancy with me she was taught all of the discussions and was baptized a member of the LDS Church. She has always told me that I was baptized that day with her. Side note to the side note... she was baptized on my husband's 2nd Birthday.


Fast forward 8 months.....


"The day was December 12, 1982..... Labor pains started - when they got close I asked Scott to call Dr. Dragul. His office said to head for the hospital. In the labor room at the hospital - a nurse prepped me for delivery. About 6 hours later I was dilated to 5 cm and 30% effaced. Then for some freak of nature, my labor completely stopped. We waited for a couple hours, but nothing. Dr. Dragul said to go home and rest up because more than likely I would be back that night. Well December 13th came and went, so did December 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, Christmas Day, 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th, 30th, 31st, New Years Day, Jan. 2nd, 3rd and 4th!" (Hard to believe but true)


All along my mom was going to the Doctor each week and all seemed fine. They would check my heart beat and all was great. The Doctor just wanted to wait until I was ready to come out. I guess Doctors didn't know as much about the harms of waiting too long back then.


"Finally January 5th, 1983, (2 and a half weeks past due) my labor pains returned, full throttle. My contractions were so strong that they made me really lightheaded. We drove lickety - split to West Hills Hospital. My contractions were really close. Scott pulled up to the Emergency entrance and as I tried to get out of the car my legs buckled under me. For a split second I was scared I wouldn't make it into the hospital and I was going to have the baby right there in the parking lot. Luckily a nurse could see my dilemma and came running out with a wheelchair to help me. The nurse wheeled me into the delivery room and yelled, "This baby is here, there is no time to prep." It was chaos all around me as the nurse and Doctor were getting everything they needed for the delivery. Scott and his mom (Grandma Charlotte) were there next to me helping me with my breathing and assuring me that everything was fine."


...... "I remember thinking for the first time, what if it is a boy. But just that instant I realized that girl or boy - all that mattered was a healthy baby..... The Doctor numbed me with shots of novocaine and I remember feeling the shots. He kept telling me not to push and then he pulled out the scissors and cut - yep I could feel the cuts. Then he said, "Ok push" Then he yelled push again and I could feel her slip out and the Dr. said , "IT'S A GIRL, A BIG GIRL!" He held her up for us to see - I remember Dani was slimy and bluish - purple. Yikes! He put Dani on my chest and I remember noticing her long and slender fingers, narrow feet and long toes all curled up. She was perfect and beautiful. The nurse took her to be weighed and I remember hearing from behind me, 9 lbs, 9 oz.'s - 22 inches long and thinking, I do believe I've earned the bragging rights to a BIG healthy baby girl. My Dani - elle is finally here!"


To summarize the rest of the story... As the Doctor was trying to pull the placenta out they realized that there had been complications for keeping me in for such a long time. I had not received proper nourishment since Dec. 12th when labor had started and stopped. Since then the placenta was deteriorating and was in about 7 pieces, some of which had attached to the wall of the uterus. The Doctor spent the next two hours feeling around and pulling out pieces of the placenta to make sure all pieces were removed. If any pieces remained the body would bleed and bleed to flush it out - which would be dangerous. My mom lost a lot of blood and was very close to getting a blood transfusion. The nurse told my mom she was very close to having a hysterectomy that day. Later that day the Doctor came to talk to my parents and said that because of scar tissue my mom would never be able to get pregnant again, and that the uterus would eventually fall out of place. The Doctor was right about both and my mom had a hysterectomy 8 years later.


"Looking back on that day, it was well worth every pain to bring Dani into the world." She goes on to say a bunch of sweet things about me that I would be embarrassed to put on this blog.


Thanks mom for bringing me into this world. I have the most amazing parents. I am so so so so so so grateful for you! Thanks for telling me all about my birth story. I can't believe you went through all of that for me! Thanks for always making my Birthdays so special and fun as I was growing up. I love you!