When Melissa Bitton was 24 1/2 weeks pregnant, she was placed on bed rest due to cervical insufficiency, a condition in which the cervix is unable to hold a pregnancy in the uterus in the second trimester.
Her obstetricians and maternal-fetal medicine specialists admitted her to the High-Risk Perinatal Unit at Northside Hospital, where she stayed for about seven weeks. “I became family with the staff,” she said.
At 30 weeks, 6 days, Melissa started having contractions and went into labor. After only about an hour of labor, it was apparent Melissa was already dilated 5 cm and Isaak was in a footling breech — where one foot is pointing downward and in position to deliver before the rest of the body — and Melissa was dilating quickly.
“The entire time, the HRP staff wheeled me over to Labor and Delivery and they said the most wonderfully kind things to reassure me that everything will be OK,” Melissa said. “My L&D nurses were amazing as well. They got me ready for an emergent C-section fast and explained everything they were doing and why. I was put to sleep and I woke up in PACU (the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit) with the sweetest nurse ever who also let me hold her hand, who reassured me my baby was doing so well in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit).”
Isaak Bitton was born Aug. 5, 2022. He weighed 4 pounds, 4 ounces, at birth. He measured 17 1/2 inches long. His parents are Melissa and Nikolas Bitton of Sandy Springs. Grandparents are Lisette and Oscar Quintana of Cooper City, Florida, and Andy Hanson of Norcross.
Melissa said her delivery was special because she’d been a Northside Atlanta employee. “Northside took care of me and my baby so well,” she said. “It was quite a traumatic experience, but the best part was the nurses. I will never forget my nurses and my son’s nurses.”
