Arielle’s Birth Story

It was around 8 a.m. last Memorial Day that we got the call.

“So, are we gonna have a baby today?”

It was my OBGYN, Dr. Todd Shapiro, telling me that it was time to come into the hospital. They had an OR and a team ready for me.

A few weeks before my due date, Dr. Shapiro discovered that Arielle was frank breech. Instead of her head pointing down, it was up by my left ribs and her body was jackknifed. After some discussion, we decided a c-section would be the best course of action and put a date on the books.  

Then about two weeks before my scheduled delivery date, I fell on my way to work, landing on my left side where her head was situated. We raced into Beth Israel Hospital and I spent an entire day undergoing tests. Gratefully Arielle was fine, but the monitors had recorded some semi-intense contractions so I started my maternity leave earlier than planned and my c-section date was moved up. 

On May 27, 2019, instead of the frantic rush to the hospital that you always see in the movies, that morning I calmly showered and did my hair and makeup, while my husband loaded our packed suitcases into the car. Because it was the holiday, there was no traffic getting into Boston and it only took about 25 minutes from my door to the Fenway area. But even that was too long for my liking. I didn’t have any labor paints to distract me during the ride so my mind was racing.

Who would this little person be?

What would she be like?

What would she look like?

Would we bond right away?

Funny enough, I didn’t even think about the fact that I was about to undergo surgery (something that, with the exception of removing my wisdom teeth when I was 16, I have never gone through before). 

I usually hate the barrage of questions during a physical exam, but when they finally brought me into the labor and delivery bays to go over the procedure and sign off on the paperwork, I was relieved to have my thoughts interrupted. After all the t’s were crossed and i’s dotted, I was given the first round of pain relief.

Though I hadn’t really created a “birth plan,” I had created a birth playlist and even though the Beth Israel doesn’t usually encourage music in the Operation Room, Dr. Shapiro had allowed it because I had promised him it was all good music. He later told me that I was right. 

They wheeled me into the OR where only a half hour later our baby girl was born at 11:41 a.m. 

I remember asking my anesthesiologist, Amir, what song was playing as I heard her first cries.

“The Circle of Life,” he replied, “what could be more perfect?”

They took her to do some tests and clean her up and then, there she was, my little girl. 

We had narrowed it down to two names.  But the moment I saw her I knew, she was Arielle Marie. It wasn’t like I was giving her this name. It’s like she was introducing herself to me.

“Hi Mama. I’m Arielle Marie and I am so excited to meet you!” she cried … at least in my mind.

Less than four hours after arriving at the hospital, I held my baby girl in my arms for the first time and the world became a brighter, happier, more beautiful place. I immediately felt that connection that I had worried wouldn’t come. And the love in my heart multiplied tenfold. 

And every day since then my love for her has grown.