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Patient Stories
Sutter Women's Services

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Heidi C. - A New Lease on Life

After getting married and moving to Sacramento, Heidi and her husband decided to take the next step and try for a baby. But a few months went by and she still wasn’t pregnant, so Heidi went into to her OB/GYN for a check-up to see if there was anything preventing her from conceiving. Her doctor performed a thorough examination and found that Heidi had numerous fibroids, inside and outside of her uterus.
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Rebecca - Robotic Hysterectomy

Rebecca was scared when she found out she had pre-cervical cancer. But she felt better once she learned about a minimally invasive way to reduce her risk while keeping up her active life.
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Denise - Saddling Up After a Hysterectomy

Denise is accustomed to hard work and heavy lifting – she lives on a ranch and teaches dog obedience and sheep herding. But over the past year, training her dogs and riding her horses had become almost impossible because of a constant urge to urinate and uncomfortable feeling of “everything hanging out.”
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Donna - Robotic GYN Surgery

In the past year Donna started to become more and more familiar with cancer. She started off the year modeling for the Cancer Resource Center and ended it with a champagne celebration for her good friend who had overcome kidney cancer. The day after the party she discovered an unusual spotting of blood in her panties.
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Frankie - Robotic Sacrocolpopexy (Vaginal Wall Repair)

Frankie knew something was just not right. But she wasn't sure what exactly was going on "down there." So she scheduled an appointment with her gynecologist ...
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Dewey - Robotic Prolapse Surgery

Dewey spent 15 years as a labor and delivery nurse in Yuba City. She also had firsthand experience in the tolls birth can have on a woman’s body – Dewey had twins, and a baby that was delivered breach.
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Peggy - Choosing Wisely

Peggy does not leave things to chance. Maybe it's because she has worked with lawyers for the past 28 years. Or because she grew up one of six children. Regardless, Peggy asks questions, she gets answers and she makes decisions accordingly.
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Julie - To Serve and Protect

Julie Mitchell is a member of the military, helping to defend the lives of all Americans for more than 18 years. So when her base doctor referred her to Sutter for the treatment of a uterine fibroid, she needed a civilian doctor to return the favor.
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Marina - A Labor of Love

Marina Nelkin has been a loyal Sutter patient for quite some time. Ten years ago, a Sutter doctor delivered her son, and since that time, she has taken him to Pediatrician Anna Derdzinska, M.D., for pediatric care.
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Christina - Giving Birth on Her Own Terms

Although Christina had no complications with any of her deliveries, she found the traditional birthing process to be forced and intense. "I've been induced before -- to go from feeling no pressure to having strong contractions did not feel natural," she says.
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Rosaura - Water Birth was the Best Mothers’ Day Gift

“Too bad I’m done having children, otherwise I’d be excited to have another water birth,” says Rosaura. “After delivering two sons the traditional way – with doctors and pain medication – I can say that giving birth to my third son, Korben, was the easiest and most rewarding of the three deliveries since we opted for a water birth at Sutter Auburn Faith.”
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Sarah - At Last, a Hospital With a Philosophy of Care That Matched Her Own

Sarah knew what she wanted. Her first birth experience didn’t go as she had planned, and with the pregnancy of her second child she had another chance to do it right.
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Yolanda - Miracles Do Happen

During her eighth week of pregnancy, Yolanda was put on bed rest and had weekly doctor appointments to monitor her pregnancy. She did not mind this because two years ago, she miscarried her first baby at 22 weeks. It was then she learned that she had an incompetent cervix, meaning her cervix would not have the strength to keep the baby in the uterus until her baby was full term.
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Heidi - From Natural Childbirth to Emergency C-Section

Heidi and her husband were thrilled about having their first baby. "We were so prepared. We attended the ‘Ready, Set, Deliver’ classes and I had a wonderful obgyn, Dr. Jennifer Spiegel," says Heidi. "I was looking forward to labor, and planned to give birth naturally."
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Nicole - Best Birthing Experience for First Time Mom

Nicole and her husband Alex were thrilled about having their first child. "I don’t know if anyone could have had a better delivery experience than me," Nicole says. "It was just so perfect!"
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Laura - Mom of Multiples

“We were surprised to find out we were having twins,” Laura says. “We were happy to hear the news – a little nervous, but still happy.” As Laura’s due date grew near, those nerves became a bigger issue.
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Jenny - Alternative Birth Experience

My first experience with the birthing tubs at Sutter Davis Hospital was when I was in labor with my first child, now two years old. I was having a difficult time coping with the transition, or final, stage of labor and the nurse who was working with us suggested that the tub might help.
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Kristi - A Mom of Six Girls

After being married three years, Kristi and her husband decided to start a family. After trying for nearly a year they were delighted to find out they were pregnant. Getting pregnant the second time proved to be more challenging.
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Natalie - Saved by Medical Experts and Hundreds of Prayers

"I had a healthy, wonderful pregnancy," Laura says. The new chapter of our lives was starting out beautifully." Unfortunately, that storybook scene quickly turned nightmarish when the hospital staff discovered that Laura’s baby, Natalie, was born with a diaphragmatic hernia.
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Lisa - Two Parents, Twins and a Surrogate

After seven years of trying to conceive a baby, Lisa and her husband turned to surrogacy. Unlike most cases which are matched through an agency, they opted to use a close friend as their surrogate.
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Evelyn - Living Life to the Fullest

That’s how Evelyn describes her constant worrying about bladder control. A couple years ago, Evelyn’s doctor told her that she was suffering from pelvic organ prolapse – a condition in which the tissue supporting her bladder weakened.
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Gina - A Tiny Bundle of Miracles

While Gina tells her story, there's a very active 3-year-old boy playing nearby and a 7-month-old baby girl clamoring to be fed. It's been a lively, busy three years for Gina and her husband, Craig.
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Sonja - Medical Miracles

Halfway through her pregnancy, 42-year old Sonja felt fine. In fact, she was overjoyed to finally be pregnant, after eight long years of trying. Even though she was carrying twins, and despite the daunting task of labor in front of her, Sonja thought the toughest part of this journey was behind her.
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Kate - Luck of the Irish

For Kate and her husband, the luck of the Irish is more than just a phrase. Their first child, Jane, was born on March 17, 2008., weighing 8 lbs., 8 oz at Sutter Memorial Hospital. “We were excited when we figured out that being induced on Sunday would mean the baby would probably be born on St. Patrick’s Day,” remembered Kate. “We’re Irish, so that was pretty cool.”
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Alexandria - Miracle Baby

Yvonne remembers that Thursday as if it were yesterday. She knows exactly what she was wearing and how hot it was. And she remembers how shocked and scared she felt when her water broke - 16 weeks early.
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Katie - New Baby & New Friends, Too

For Katie, Sutter did more than just help her through delivering her daughter. They also provided support during one of the most demanding stages of motherhood. “I joined the Sutter Mom’s Group, and that’s been a huge outlet for me,” says Katie. “It’s helped me cope with being a new mom and all the challenges that come with that.”
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Sandra - Rough Beginning with a Happy Ending

When Sandra was getting close to her due date, she fully expected everything to go as effortlessly as her pregnancy. “I felt great throughout my pregnancy,” said Sandra. “In fact, I felt so good; I didn’t mind that he was overdue.” After arriving at Sutter Roseville Medical Center for an induced labor, she soon realized that not all would go as smoothly as those first nine months.
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Jennifer - Great Care Turns Fear to Delight

Jennifer’s doctor, David Lin, M.D., decided to induce labor when she was five days overdue and her baby was clearly ready to be born. But as luck would have it, her scheduled appointment came right after a total eclipse of the moon when the birthing center at Sutter Memorial was a very busy place.
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Patient StoriesSutter Women's Services