CLEVELAND – The delivery room at Fairview Hospital in Cleveland was racing the clock Friday morning with the imminent birth of Celine Dianne Discenzo.
Mary Discenzo’s due date was Thursday, November 10.
“We assumed she would be late, like the other women in her family and right around maybe 9:30 (p.m.) or 10 o’clock she comes down stairs and say’s ‘I think my water broke’, I said ‘no I don’t think so…oh wow ya your water definitely broke!” said husband Mike Discenzo.
After 11 (of course it was 11) hours of labor, OB/GYN Dr. Rebecca Starck realized the magic time of 11:11 a.m. on 11/11/11 was approaching quickly.
“It was about 10 ’til’ 11 and I realized she was complete and close to being ready to deliver,” she said. “When it came time to push, we cheered her on real hard and she was able to push the baby out at just the right moment and time and we looked and sure enough on the monitors it was 11:11.”
If you’re skeptical of the timing of the birth, Starck offered this admonition.
“When somebody’s pushing a baby out you really can’t fudge the time, it’s different from a C-section,” Starck said.
As the magic time of 11:11 approached, Mike started to see the uniqueness of it.
“This is actually really cool. It’s on the 11/11/11. This is awesome, you couldn’t even plan this,” Mike said.
Mike said the time to weigh baby Celine was also unique for what she might weigh.
“The nurses take Celine and they want to weigh her like, ‘Oh my God, can you imagine if this was an 11-pound baby?’ Of course, there would probably be a lot more screaming leading up to that point,” Mike said as he laughed.
Celine was 9 pounds 6 ounces.
“If you round up to the nearest 11, it’s right on,” joked Mike.
Mary Discenzo moved to this country from Ireland 11 (of course) years ago. The Fairview Park couple both work for Hyland Software in Westlake.
Big sister was thrilled with her new sister and Friday’s 11-fest.
“Celine, she’s just the perfect little baby girl ever born and we’re just really lucky to be born on 11/11/11 at 11:11,” said 9-year-old Aoife.
Mom had quite a day, but was thrilled at how things went.
“My day has been pretty hectic but absolutely wonderful. Just for the sheer fact that I had a beautiful, healthy baby girl regardless of the time she brought into the world, which makes it even more special story to tell,” Mary said.
The number 11 is not one of the family’s lucky numbers. Mike pointed to 23 as his lucky number until a certain basketball player left not so long ago.
They’ll start making plans for a very special 11th birthday for Celine at a much later date.
