Introducing Sara Kate

We are happy to announce the arrival of our sweet baby girl

Sara Kate Mason

September 6, 2014

4 lbs, 16.5"

Born at 31 weeks, 6 days

Sara's Birthday

The circumstances surrounding Sara's birth had been unknown for months.  We had been faced with so many different scenarios and outcomes through my pregnancy.  We didn't know if she would be born alive.  We are incredibly grateful for this precious gift of life.

I started cramping on Friday, and had more bleeding than I had had the previous couple weeks.  I thought my placenta might be detaching more.  The cramping turned into uncomfortable contractions by that evening.  A week earlier, the same thing had happened and after some pain reliever the contractions went away.  I thought the same would happen this time, but the medication didn't work.  Around 2am I was still contracting and they were getting much more painful.  Enough that I wasn't able to sleep.  A shot of morphine in my hip still didn't slow them down.

Around 5am I was in pretty bad pain.  The nurse started IV pain meds and magnesium sulfate in another attempt to slow things down.  Unfortunately, those didn't work either.  I was in disbelief.  I felt angry and worried. I knew what being 8 weeks early would mean for Sara. "This can't really be happening now!  It's too soon!  Sara needs more time."

At 7:20am I acknowledged that these contractions were not going away, and called Reid.  He booked a flight, and was set to arrive at 1pm.  I called my parents, and they came right away.  I knew Sara was coming.  I was in active labor and there was no stopping it.

The neonatologist came and introduced herself and discussed the plan with me.  Our dear friend, Pam, who is a NICU nurse, also came in to tell me she was going to be Sara's nurse.  It was so comforting to know she'd be there.

Soon, I felt the need to push and announced that Sara was coming, so they whisked my bed down a couple hallways to the operating room (so Sara could immediately be taken to the adjacent NICU resuscitation room).  The pain was intense.  I feel bad for all the moms who were subject to my wailing as we passed by their rooms. Hopefully I didn't frighten anyone.  :)

I delivered Sara right as we entered the OR at 9:24am.  Sara was really blue/purple when she was born.  The NICU team took her right away.  She was stabilized and brought back for me to hold, by then she was a nice pink color.  A few nurses were there helping her breathe and such while I held her for just a minute.

Oh how I love her!!  My daughter.  I was overwhelmed with love and joy meeting my precious girl, the baby that I had felt in my belly for months.  I kissed her sweet face, then she was taken to the NICU.

from Mom's iPhone

from Mom's iPhone - Pam is the one in blue.

Thankfully, the placenta that caused so many problems throughout my pregnancy, did not cause any problems during delivery.  "GOOD RIDDANCE" I would say.  We are so grateful that my health was preserved and that I didn't need a C-section or blood transfusions.

It took me a little bit to realize what had just happened.  In the past, I've been really excited and anxious for my babies to be born.  This is the first time that I've wanted labor to stop.  I did not want her to come yet.  I knew that being a preemie would jeopardize her opportunity for the complex heart surgery she would need to survive.

My nurse wrapped some warm blankets around me and wheeled me in a wheelchair to see Sara in the NICU.  She was attached to a ventilator, medications, and several monitors.  It was so hard to see her all tied up, but she was oh so beautiful even still.  I just wanted to hold her close to me.  I had a hard time really processing what was going on.  This was MY baby needing all of this intervention and all of these specialists.  It was overwhelming.  I held her tiny hand and tried to see as much as I could from my wheelchair.  I felt sad that Reid wasn't able to be there for her birth, and wished that he were there with me.

Life Flight was called and came to transport Sara to Primary Children's Hospital where she could be assessed by the cardiologists and specialists there.  It was quite the careful process to transfer her from her NICU bed to the transport bed.  Mom got to go with Sara in the helicopter.  Dad and I went back to my room to wait for an ambulance to transport me up to the University of Utah hospital.  We watched Sara's helicopter take off from the windows in my room.  I just prayed she'd be ok.  It was so surreal, and unnatural, to not be with my newborn baby.  Mom said it only took 15 minutes to get to PCH.

Two EMT's showed up with a stretcher for me.  I took a vase of lovely flowers on my lap, couldn't leave them behind!  They strapped me in and off we went.  It took us an hour and 15 minutes to get to the UofU.

I had a room at the very end of the hall in the mother/baby unit.  I was so anxious to go see Sara, but had to wait to be admitted and seen by the OB.  Reid came over from the NICU to see me.  I was so happy to see him!  Eventually we were given the OK to leave.  Reid wheeled me down to PCH (it's connected to the UofU by a sky bridge).

It was about 6pm before I got to see Sara again.  I just burst into tears as I showed up to her room.  Megan, Mom, Dad, and Lacey (photographer friend) were there.  I stood up at Sara's bedside and held her beautiful head and tiny feet while Reid gave me an update on her condition, what the specialists had said, what tests had been run, etc.

We learned that Sara was, as we feared, too premature for the type of surgery she would need.  Her lungs weren't developed enough, and they were concerned about her kidney function as well.  Her heart condition is so severe and complex that all conditions would need to be ideal for her to be a candidate.
 

My heart burst with love for my precious baby girl.  I loved seeing Reid be so enamored by her too.  Reid and Dad gave Sara a beautiful blessing.  I wrote this in my journal: "Sara has such a strong spirit about her.  I'm not sure what the future holds, but I know that the Lord will be with us, and that we'll be okay."  We spent as long as we could with Sara in the NICU before we had to go back to my room at the U.

It was incredibly strange to be on the mother/baby floor without my new baby.  I heard newborn cries coming from the other rooms and envisioned what the other mothers were doing - trying to breastfeed, holding and rocking their new babies.  My heart ached to be doing those things.  Instead, my arms were empty.  As much as it hurt to be away from her, I knew Sara was being well taken care of, and that modern technology was keeping her alive.  I'm so grateful for the nurses and doctors who cared for her.

{photo credits: Lacey Jay Photography}