March of Dimes

When she discovered she was pregnant, actress Kellie Martin, 32, decided that she’d pursue a natural birth with her daughter Maggie, turning 13-months-old tomorrow.  In Kellie’s mind, if her mom could do it, so could she!  Like many women who set out to deliver without the aid of painkillers, however, Kellie found herself second-guessing the decision as she entered active labor; Thanks to some quick-thinking by her husband and hospital staff Kellie got her wish.   Her birth story, as recently told to the ‘Every Baby Has A Story’ campaign, is below.

I was actually like two weeks late.  And I think I was ready a month before my due date!  The nursery was done, like every little onesie was in its place, the shoes…everything.  And I pretty much got to sit around for a month and a half, waiting for my baby to decide that she was ready to come.  And, of course, she didn’t decide.  I was induced, and I really, really wanted to have her naturally.  No drugs, no nothing, because that’s what my mom did with me so I figured — you know — I’m as tough as my mother!   

We got a couple of hours into the real, good contractions and they broke my water … and once that happened, I said ‘Okay, no, no, no, no…can’t do it.  Can’t do it!  Drugs!  Somebody help me…I have to have drugs.’  And my husband knew how important it was to me to have Maggie naturally so he just kept changing the subject, and my nurse kept changing the subject…She’d be like ‘Ooooh, look!  It’s so beautiful outside!’ And I was like, ‘Seriously, no one is listening to me.’  And by that point I’d really forgotten that I needed the drugs, and it was time to push.

I was only in active labor for like four hours and then started pushing and she was out like that (snaps fingers).  And the cool thing is that I felt amazing afterwards, and Maggie was wide awake, ready to go.  Not that giving birth is an easy experience, but it was just the most amazing thing to be able to (give birth and) feel like ‘Okay, what are we doing now?’  And I’d just had a child!  It was pretty cool.

Kellie and her husband Keith have been married since 1999. 

Every parent loves to share their birth story, and celebrities are no different.  The March of Dimes recently launched its ‘Every Baby Has A Story’ campaign, where you can also share your own baby story or read some of the 1,175 baby stories that have been posted. ‘Every Baby Has a Story” is a new grassroots and integrated media project celebrating babies, those born healthy as well as those who need help to survive and thrive, launched by the March of Dimes.

Every pregnant woman knows that unsolicited anecdotes from total strangers are as much a given as heartburn and swollen ankles.  Every once in a while, however, the anecdote is spot-on.  Numb3rs’ Diane Farr knows that better than anyone, and she recently shared the birth story of her son Beckett Mancuso, 8-months, as part of the ‘Every Baby Has A Story’ campaign.

So, when I was pregnant, a woman came up to me and said ’sometimes after birth, there’s a slow burn…for the light that goes on and makes you think that motherhood is just the greatest thing.’  And I thought ‘You’re crazy!  I’m so excited to have a baby!’  And a good friend of mine was pregnant at the same time and she was very trepidacious about having a baby.  And the second my baby came out, I was so blown away by the amount of fear…by the amount of fear of anything that can happen to this person (that) would ruin me.  That my entire happiness was dependent on his.

It took about six months for the fear to calm down, that he was going to stay with me, that he was part of my life and that his life was going to make it from that little tiny place he was kept in the hospital to my life.  And the friend of mine that was so nervous throughout her pregnancy was like ‘Oh my God, this is perfect!’ 

So I have a theory now that if you’re really ready to have a baby and you’re really happy to be pregnant, there’s a little bit of a slow burn once the baby comes.  And if you’re crapping your pants the whole time during gestation, it’s amazing, from the first second you start. 

Beckett is the first child for Diane, 38, and her husband Seung Yong Chung.

Every parent loves to share their birth story, and celebrities are no different.  The March of Dimes recently unveiled its ‘Every Baby Has A Story’ campaign, where you can also share your own baby story or read some of the 1,175 baby stories that have already been posted. ‘Every Baby Has a Story” is a new grassroots and integrated media project celebrating babies, those born healthy as well as those who need help to survive and thrive, launched by the March of Dimes.

When Dawn Ballard was pregnant with her daughter Naya Seray, 2, she had dreams of a home, unmedicated water birth;  Her husband, Numb3rs star Alimi Ballard, had a different vision entirely — one that involved lots of doctors in white lab coats and operating rooms close by!  When an exceedingly rare complication — velamentous insertion of the umbilical cord — arose early in the pregnancy, it became clear that a hospital birth would be necessary.  Although Naya’s entry into the world was not what her mom had planned, the birth was nonetheless "perfect," Dawn says now.  The couple recently shared their birth story as part of the Every Baby Has A Story campaign by the March of Dimes.

Alimi:  When we found out we were pregnant the first time … My wife was very [into having] a water birth, yoga…

Dawn:  I wanted the most natural birth that you could have.  I wanted, you know, the bath tub, at the house.

Alimi:  I wanted the baby in a place where they could do brain surgery, heart surgery and deliver children?  Okay?  In case anything went wrong.  As it turns out we had a couple of complications in the beginning.

Dawn:  So it all started out with us conferring about what’s the halfway point in-between.  If we can’t have it at home, you know, there’s birthing centers and those types of things, and then we found out that she had a velamentous cord insertion which means it came off the [placenta] like a veil.

Alimi:  Like veins.  So they were concerned about her rupturing something and bleeding out, and the doctor we had was really great. (Laughter) He told us this horrifying story about how ten years ago he had some lady with a velamentous cord and he decided to go home for dinner anyway and he said ‘I walked in just to check on her and she’s gushing blood … I’m not trying to say what happened, but I’m glad I got there in time!’ 

Dawn:  All of this to say, We are having a cesarean!  No water birth, a cesarean! 

Alimi:  But everything went off, for me from the sidelines, without a hitch.

Dawn:  It was perfect.  It was one of those moments where you can plan how you would like to have something happen and then at the end all you want is a healthy, wonderful baby.  We are so blessed.  She’s 2-years-old, healthy, wonderful, running around, and we’re working on the next one.

Alimi and Dawn currently expect their second child, a boy. 

Every parent loves to share their birth story, and celebrities are no different.  The March of Dimes recently launched its ‘Every Baby Has A Story’ campaign, where you can also share your own baby story or read some of the 1,175 baby stories that have been posted. ‘Every Baby Has a Story” is a new grassroots and integrated media project celebrating babies, those born healthy as well as those who need help to survive and thrive, launched by the March of Dimes.

Constance Zimmer has hinted before that her baby-to-be — a girl, due in December — was a bit of a surprise.  Now, we know the extent of just how unexpected the pregnancy truly was.  As part of the March of Dimes ‘Every Baby Has A Story’ campaign, the 37-year-old Entourage actress opened up about the day she learned she was going to be a mom. 

I had been diagnosed with a fibroid in my uterus, and both doctors told me I couldn’t get pregnant.  Because of my age, they said ‘You need to have this surgery right away.’  So anyways, I had all these appointments and met with specialists and they said you definitely need to get it operated on because you definitely cannot get pregnant. If you happen to get pregnant, the pregnancy wouldn’t last, so you really need to get this done. 

So I was scheduled for surgery on a Friday and I went in on a Monday to do all my pre-op, my blood work and all that kind of fun testing and whatnot.  The doctor came in and said ‘Actually, I don’t think you can have your operation on Friday’ and I said ‘Why not?’ and she said ‘Because you’re pregnant.’  I was like ‘I’m sorry, what?  You might want to go look at my file because the reason I’m here is because I couldn’t get pregnant, so I don’t know if that’s right.’ 

So she left and left me in the room by myself for like 15-minutes, and I was like ‘I don’t know what’s happening’ and she came back and said ‘Wow, I don’t know what to tell you, your doctors are completely amazed.  Congratulations!  This is great news!’  And I just said ‘Yeah, it is.  It’s awesome’ … I just needed to re-adjust everything. 

So that’s the story of how here I am nearly seven months pregnant.  And she’s healthy and strong and we’re having a baby!

Constance is now 9-months pregnant and due in the next few weeks.

Every parent loves to share their birth story, and celebrities are no different.  The March of Dimes recently launched its ‘Every Baby Has A Story’ campaign, where you can also share your own baby story or read some of the 1,175 baby stories that have been posted. ‘Every Baby Has a Story” is a new grassroots and integrated media project celebrating babies, those born healthy as well as those who need help to survive and thrive, launched by the March of Dimes.