Stephanie Schmitt didn't know her first baby would come out weighing 11 pounds 14 ounces!
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Transcript:
I'm really, really lucky that I had the most uneventful pregnancy, I think, in the history of pregnancies, which should have been my first warning that birth would be just a little bit different.
My husband and I were married for about a year, and first cycle off the pill, we got a big positive, plus signs. I didn't really have a full-on birth plan. My only real birth plan was happy healthy mom, happy healthy baby at the end of the day.
My 20-week anatomy scan was the last ultrasound that I had in my pregnancy because I was so low risk. There were no red flags. So I went in at 41 weeks one day and got induced.
I got hooked right up to pitocin, so we were off to the races at that point. My doctor came in and broke my water. It was instant for me. I was automatically like, wow, this is what people are talking about when they're in labor and experiencing contractions.
I said, okay, I'll take the epidural. And that was instantaneously so much better. I felt like I could go run a marathon. I got to sleep. I was talking to my husband. I was texting family and friends and feeling really good while still feeling, you know, something happening, but with no pain whatsoever, which was nice.
That was around one in the afternoon, I want to say. And then it wasn't until around seven at night that we were ready to go, to start pushing. It was exhausting. I've never felt exhaustion like that in my life. Thinking like, how much longer can this possibly go on? And it was about 2 hours of pushing before my son finally made his grand entrance into the world.
I remember being half conscious, just really tired and hearing all of these voices of the nurses, commotion. They were saying, he's easily nine pounds. No way, has to be ten, ten pounds.
And I was like, oh my God, no, it can't be ten. That's humongous. My husband came over and he said, Steph, the baby's 11 pounds, 14 ounces, and 28 inches long. And I said, You have to be- that is incorrect.
Thankfully, he was not 28 inches. He was 23, which is still large, and he truly was 11 pounds, 14 ounces. So I was worried, you know, is he okay? Did we go too long? Like, was my due date off?
And they took him away, obviously, to clean him up, to weigh him. And then I didn't get him back. The pediatrician came over and they said, you know, he's so big, he's probably going to need to go to the NICU. And I was devastated because all I want in that moment is to cuddle him and get to know him and count his fingers, count his toes. And I just remember crying. I could cry right now thinking about it.
He was away from us for about an hour and a half to two hours, which just felt like an eternity. But luckily the nurse came back and said, There's not a single thing wrong with this baby. His blood sugar is fantastic. You are fine. There's no need for him to go to the NICU.
So he was perfect. It was just... a lot more to love than we had anticipated. I think looking at him now at almost six months old, he is just this delicious butter ball that I cannot get enough of and would not change.
There's no right or wrong. There's only your situation and to make the most of it.