Ava Belle’s Birth Story
*Trigger Warning*
Our sweet Ava girl came into the world faster than we could have ever imagined. She came into our lives at the perfect time. On December 9th we were scheduled to have our C-section at 8am. To our surprise Ava had her own birthday in mind, or should I say her Dad’s birthday.
The two weeks leading up to Ava’s arrival we had several scares, check-ups, hospital visits and nearly two emergency scheduled C-sections. We were given a new list of problems every time we saw a new doctor. Ava was measuring at a low birth weight and they feared she was not thriving as much on the inside as she would on the outside. As we continued to monitor her growth the doctors discovered she had a heart arrhythmia, which showed that her heart was skipping beats. They then found fluid on her lungs and kidneys. We continued to get mixed messages from different doctors about moving up Ava’s delivery date.
On Saturday, December 4th, 2021 we were over at Mario’s parent’s house celebrating his birthday. We received a call from my OB at around 3pm explaining what all the other doctors were seeing on our tests, and that she wanted us to go into the hospital the next morning for further testing and likely to move up our C-section. We continued on with our plans and by dinner time I was feeling some back labour (what I thought was indigestion from the Shawarma dinner Mario selected for his birthday). We went for our walk after dinner, and by walk I mean my Saint of a husband pushed me in my wheelchair (I could no longer walk long distance and was on bedrest). During the “ride” every bump in the road would cause me pain and I kept questioning whether or not I was in labour. After getting back to Mario’s parent’s house I really started to feel consistent contractions. Mario’s mom was rubbing my back while I leaned over an exercise ball. Mario was still very much in denial that I was in labour and thought that even if I was Ava wouldn’t arrive for another day or so. Once we timed the contractions and called the hospital we knew we didn’t have time to go home and grab our hospital bags because it was go time.
We headed straight for the hospital and were admitted to triage. The nurses kept asking if I wanted to try to have a vaginal birth and I explained to them why I couldn’t. I was scheduled for a c-section because our birth with Beau and Ava were too close together, which can pose a risk of tearing the uterine incision when you push. When one of the nurses asked how old our last child was the other nurse quickly tried to quiet her and gave her a look. It was clear to us at that point that they knew our situation with Beau. At that moment I felt overwhelming fear come over me. It was as if every fear I had throughout the last two weeks regarding her health came to a head. I tried to prepare myself for what it might be like to lose this baby as well. I looked up at our loving nurse and said I can’t lose her too. She and Mario held me tight and assured me everything would be fine.
I was quickly sent to the operating room and given my spinal for freezing. The surgeon decided to check my cervical dilation one last time for shits and giggles. I was nearly 9cm dilated by the time I was ready for my c-section. At 9:27pm Ava was born weighing 5Ilbs 15oz. She was perfect. She was everything we needed.
We chose the name Ava as it means life. We felt this was fitting given our great loss. After Beau passed away Mario suggested that we name all our future children after him. We decided Beau if it was a boy and Belle (the French feminine of the word Beau) for a girl. Combined the meaning of Ava Belle means breath of life. We couldn’t have picked a more perfect name for our rainbow baby. We speak her survival into existence every time we say her name.