Siena's NYC Birth Story During Covid 19
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There are so many emotions still flowing though me when I think of bringing our surprise bundle of joy into the world on April 8, 2020. Siena’s unique birth is something we’ll always cherish and one day will share with her. Since it was during an unusual and rare time in the world, I knew I’d want to share it with you all., especially as it may be helpful to other soon to be Mom’s having to deal with the same situation. This post is quite lengthy, but hey so is 9 months of carrying a human, then trying to recap the last month during a global pandemic!
It’s not every day that a baby is brought into the world in times like these! COVID-19 is something no one expected or had time to prepare for. Then throw having a baby into the mix made, and it made everything much more interesting to say the least.
In becoming new parents Kevin and I prepared to the extent we felt comfortable, but didn’t overthink the birth itself. We took the approach that anything unpredictable could happen and trusting in your doctor throughout the process is essential. Since I was fortunate to have a smooth and healthy pregnancy I knew I wanted the delivery to be as healthy and with limited interventions as possible. Like anything in my life I like to be well informed, lean toward facts, and data for a lot of my decision making. After reading up on pregnancy and child birth Kevin and I did discussed what our birthing philosophy would be. We did have a loose birth plan that we later refined with our doula and discussed with my OBGYN. Building your birth plan is always a personal decision and we felt confident we found the one that worked best for us. We had joined Park Slope Parents in Brooklyn and started to connect with other April 2020 expectant parents. It was a great way to share feelings and seek support. We had prepared to take a child birth class but when circumstances changed in NYC all the in person classes were put on hold. More on that later, but fortunately I had connected us with a virtual doula that became very essential throughout the pandemic and I can thank for a smooth as possible labor and transition into parenthood.
My due date of April 2 came and went in the height of the pandemic. My Doctor began discussing a possible induction once I was past 40 weeks. This wasn’t ideal but the baby had to make his/her debut so we scheduled it late as possible for April 10. I got to work to try any natural remedy and utilized our doula for labor inducing strategies. For those of you who know me, when I have my mind set on something, I’m quite persistent. From raspberry leaf tea, inverted positions upside down, in home workouts, curb walking, long walks, and bouncing on my birthing ball I did everything I could. As Kevin worked from home, he found it all very comical.
The policies within the hospitals continued to change with what seemed like every press conference the state governor of New York held. I had already been attending my weekly pregnancy appointments partnerless. I was wearing a mask and entering through the Hospital’s Emergency Department as the location of my OBGYN office was at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Originally we were told birth partners and doulas were no longer allowed to join birthing mothers in labor and delivery. This was absolutely crushing when we found out the news. I remember crying and feeling like a dark cloud just loomed over us as we wondered if we were making the right decision to stay in New York City. We knew our hospital offered world renowned care as one of the top 5 hospitals in the country, but now at what cost for risk of exposure to COVID 19? Ultimately, we decided to stay since my new date was less than two weeks out. Switching everything to an upstate doctor I didn’t have a rapport with and having to pack everything up felt so daunting. After accepting the news and ordering a phone clamp to Facetime in my husband for delivery I prepared with our doula for me to birth alone.
A week later we received information that the policy had changed and birth partners would be allowed for delivery! They would have their temperatures taken, be required to wear PPE, and leave after delivery once I was transferred to recovery. This moment felt like a giant weight had been lifted, but in the back of my mind I was still fearful of him being taken away from my side if I were to test Covid positive.
In early March I had a bad cold that started at the end of February. One of the strangest symptoms was that I lost my sense of taste and smell. But at that time, it was not a well known symptom of COVID, and there was no access to testing to check.
Hospitals in NYC had started swabbing pregnant woman admitted for labor, but at our location they were not also testing husbands. I tried not to think about this.
On the morning of April 7 my contractions started but had not progressed enough for me to head to the hospital. We had planned to labor at home as long as possible to avoid any further exposure in the hospital. A full 24 hours later, on the morning of April 8 my contractions had become very close together and our doctor recommended we head to the hospital. We grabbed our bags, took a quick photo of just the two of us and headed to the hospital around 6:00 am with the help of a very supportive friend with a car, who had been taking us to countless appointments so we could avoid public transit.
The drive into Manhattan had never looked so desolate between contractions. It was like everything had been frozen in time and left to itself. Upon arrival I entered triage, had my vitals taken, was examined, and was dilated to almost 4cm. I was told I would be admitted. I was also swabbed for COVID 19 and was told I would receive the results hours later. Kevin met me in the delivery room after having just his temperature taken and from here we set up our space with some relaxing music and met our amazing labor and delivery healthcare staff.
Labor progressed throughout the morning and around 1:00 pm my contractions had picked up while I was awaiting my epidural. A doctor entered and I noticed the nurses had changed into different PPE. The doctor told us that my COVID results were back and I had tested positive, even though I was asymptomatic.
We were told Kevin would have to leave the hospital since he had been exposed to me and they needed to limit further exposure risk to their staff. We were completely heartbroken and in tears. After so many ups and downs I was at a loss (and still very much in labor).
Kevin said goodbye to me, and I watched as he left the hospital room. Leaving me all alone to labor. Even after the birth I think back and I feel like this moment was taken from us. We later discovered this policy changed back to normal just two weeks after our birth. Coping with that moment has been a big part of my postpartum recovery.
We made the decision that I should not have to birth alone since the hospital informed me I was allowed to have an additional support person by my side. My childhood best friend joined me for the birth and we zoom called in Kevin, once he got home. We are so happy we made that decision, Talitha helped me through every tough contraction and encouraged me throughout the delivery. She stayed with me long after to support us. It is a day I will never forget and feel so grateful for to have such supportive friends in our lives that really stuck by our sides.
At 11:46pm, after two hours of har labor and pushing I delivered a baby girl, Siena Rae Siskar. Choosing to keep her sex a surprise was such a fascinating experience and so incredibly special. It helped get me through the labor! We chose to name her after our favorite city in Italy, where our love story began over 10 years ago. And Rae, is in honor of Kevin’s late father, Raymond.
We feel incredibly blessed to welcome our healthy baby girl, whom tested negative for COVID over three times during the next two weeks. My husband and I later tested positive for antibodies after staying in quarantine in Brooklyn for over two weeks and were glad to not have any symptoms once home with Siena. We feel so grateful to have Siena as a Rae of light through this time. And are so appreciative of all the support from friends and family as she made her arrival. Kevin has been the most incredible dad and very hands on as he helped so much with Siena during my recovery period which definitely took longer than I expected. Siena is absolutely precious and we cannot get enough of cuddles as a new family of three!
If you’re interested in hearing more about our birth story my husband published a much more refined post with more baby photos here. I’m also participating in a breast milk study for mothers who tested positive with Covid. You can read more about that here and my hospital bag packing list here.
If you have any questions about safe guarding yourself and your family as an expectant mother, newborn care amidst the pandemic please leave a comment or you can contact me at colleenmarie@colorsofcolleen.com. We are all in this together mamas!
