Proud Parents:
Cindy Bracker Sturm and David Sturm
(both staff at Bracker's Good Earth Clays, Inc.)
Cindy and Dave were married June 22, 2002, surrounded by family
and friends. Within a few months, Cindy and Dave found that their family,
which included Dave's 5-year-old daughter, Kelli (from a previous marriage)
would be expanding. Although the wait seemed unbearably long, Cindy finally
gave birth early Tuesday morning. The following are the events of the day
leading up to the birth, as written by Sophie's proud Aunt, Anne M. Bracker,
as well as a few photos she took within an hour after Sophie made her appearance.
Even after a very long labor and a C-section, the new Mom is still smiling in awe and amazement at her new daughter.
Cindy actually started labor Sunday night (9:30 ish or so)
but they were just weak contractions. About 6-ish Monday morning, she started
having "real" contractions, but far apart. By 9 am or so, they'd
progressed enough that Cindy and Dave went to the hospital. They got settled
in and Cindy was about 3 cm dilated (10 cm is typically when a woman gives
birth). Mom (Anne W. ) and I (Anne M.) arrived at about noon or so, and
Cindy was about to 4 cm. Her contractions were still hovering around 4 minutes
or so apart, and slightly irregularly spaced. They also weren't that strong.
Cindy said on a 1 to 10 scale of pain, she was at about a "4."
Both Cindy and Dave were very calm and collected. Cindy had already spent
a little time in the hot tub, and had walked around a bit. I figured Dave
needed a break and Cindy needed some good mother-daughter time with Mom,
so I took Dave down to the cafeteria to get a little lunch.
We walked around a bit after lunch and returned to the room.
Cindy hadn't really progressed much by that time, so decided to go ahead
and start her on Pitosin which will help progress the contractions, etc.
Mom and I left to get a little lunch, etc. By the time we returned, Cindy
was having some tougher contractions, so they gave her a little "happy
juice" through an IV - something to just take the edge off the contractions.
Cindy felt relief almost immediately. After an hour, she was ready for another
dose of "happy juice." That wore off after about half an hour
and they gave her a little more. The doctor came to check up on her at around
5-ish or so, and they made the decision to give her an epidural (a spinal
block). The contractions were getting tougher, but she wasn't dilating very
much. She had stalled out at about 5 cm. The epidural went very smoothly,
according to Cindy and Dave, and Cindy looked *very* relieved. She could
feel pressure, move her feet and legs a little, but otherwise she could
only feel a little pain at the peak of the contractions. Dave went to get
a little dinner while Cindy munched on ice chips. When Dave returned, Mom
and I went out to get a little dinner. By the time we returned, Cindy still
hadn't progressed much. They turned the Pitosin up a little farther (they
had been progressively increasing the dosage throughout the day), but the
nurse figured that the baby probably wouldn't be born before midnight. Mom
was looking really tired, so we decided to go home and catch a little sleep
(we had come to the hospital together, so I kinda had to leave). Dave promised
to call us when Cindy progressed to about 7 or 8 cm.
Sophie fits perfectly in Dad's arms.
The happy, first-time-Grandma finally gets to hold Sophie.
At about 11:15 or so, Dave called Mom and said that the doctor
had been in to see them and started talking about a C-section. The baby
was fine, and Cindy was fine, but the labor just wasn't progressing like
it should, despite the Pitosin. The doctor was predicting a large baby -
maybe eight and a half pounds or so - and she thought perhaps that was why
Cindy wasn't progressing. She could see Cindy was getting worn out after
being in labor all day long and thought it would be best to prepare for
a C-section. Mom and I both got to the hospital a few minutes before they
wheeled Cindy into the operation room for the C-section. It was a couple
of minutes after midnight, Tuesday, April 15. Mom and I waited patiently
in the waiting room and Dave was in the operating room with Cindy. By about
1 am, Mom and I were about ready to jump out of our skin, tired of waiting.
Mom got up to get coffee, which is located just past the nurses station,
thinking that perhaps she would learn something while she was up. As she
was returning to the waiting room, she heard a lusty cry from the nursery
and came to get me. We peeked through the glass and got our first look at
the new kid. We saw a beautiful, healthy, pink baby with blond fuzz (maybe
a half and inch long or so, but enough that we could definitely see it)
on the top of the head. No hints as to if it was a boy or girl. Mom and
I watched the kid get the feet printed and then they closed the curtain.
A few moments later, the proud Dad came down the hall to the
waiting room. He was beaming as he hugged Mom and told her that she had
a new granddaughter. He also said that Cindy was fine and they were getting
her settled into the recovery room. He told us that the reason why his daughter
was delaying her arrival was because the umbilical cord was wrapped around
her neck twice. She was going to be fine, but they wanted to watch her closely
because she was running a slight fever and her heart rate and breathing
were a little fast - most likely a result of the stress of the cord and
length of delivery, but it shouldn't be a lingering concern. Dave returned
to the room to be with Cindy for a few moments so they could both hold their
daughter. After about 10 minutes, Dave returned to the waiting room so the
new Grandmother could see Cindy and the baby. I waited as patiently as I
could so that Grandma, Mom, and Daughter could be together. Dave ran downstairs
and outside so he could call his parents to let them know they were grandparents,
too (no cell phones in the hospital).
Look at all that blonde fuzz on Sophie's head!
Apparently, Sophie wasn't that fond of being unwrapped so the family could count fingers and toes...they look like
a potter's hands to me!
When he returned, Aubrey (Cindy's and my stepsister from Mom's
former marriage with Ron) was with him - she had just gotten off work. Dave
led me in to see Cindy while Aubrey waited her turn. Cindy introduced me
to my new niece, Sophia Gwendolyn Sturm. They plan to call her Sophie. She
really does look beautiful - with a C-section, the baby doesn't get all
squishy and pointy-headed. Apparently, she has my mouth - and it was Cindy
who pointed it out...this isn't a proud Aunt trying to claim anything. Aubrey
popped her head in the room just before the nurse came into the room to
help Sophie nurse for the first time, so Mom, Aubrey and I cleared out to
give them a little privacy for such a beautiful and intimate moment. We
returned about 15 minutes later and Sophie proved to be a very hungry girl
- she was still nursing! We all kind of hovered in the small recovery room,
still in awe. Sophie was finally somewhat satisfied about 5 or 10 minutes
later. They re-wrapped her and decided to take her back to the nursery for
observation for a while. Cindy was very tired and we could tell she would
be fast asleep pretty soon, anyway. Before she left, the happy Grandma got
to hold Sophie for a few minutes (no luck yet for the Aunts - that comes
tomorrow). Shortly after Sophie's departure, the rest of us cleared out
of the room so Cindy and Dave could get some sleep, too.
MORE PICTURES:
The fleeting first glimpse of Sophie in the nursery,
right after birth.
Safe and sound in Daddy's arms.
Sophie's already complaining to Dad about her
too-early curfew.
Anne W. introduces herself to her granddaughter.
"Got Milk?"
Even though Cindy did all the work, I'm taking
all the credit!
