The birth of Hailey Ann

Writing out the story of your child’s birth is always fun when you recall the events leading up to their arrival. However, when your child decides to make an appearance the way mine did, it becomes quite the story to tell. I started having intermittent contractions on Tuesday, April 24^th. They didn’t amount of much of anything, so I went to bed. I woke up around 8am on Wednesday, April 25^th still having intermittent contractions. However, they seemed to be picking up in frequency/intensity, but they were still pretty short and very sporadic. Gage went to work as usual, but at 9am I told him that he should probably head home because it seemed to be the real deal. At around 11am we decided to go walk around the mall and see if we could get things going. We dropped Jake off with my dad and started walking the mall. Contractions were still irregular and the walking eventually caused them to subside a bit. I was still having some that were pretty intense, but for the most part they were tapering off into nothing. I started to get pretty discouraged and bummed that Hailey didn’t seem to want to make an appearance today. I mentioned to Gage on the way back to the car that I really wanted to go into the office to see if they would check me and determine what we should do. I called the Women’s Clinic at 2pm and they told me to come in at 2:45 for an NST and a cervix check. We headed over there and I had a few really strong contractions on the way. However, while hooked up to the monitor I had a few pathetically weak contractions (nothing to write home about). After that I had my cervix checked and was told that I was 4cm, 80% effaced, still pretty posterior and that the baby was still up high at -2/-3 (on Monday I had been 2cm, 70%). Donna, my midwife, gave me the option of heading into the hospital to be put on pitocin to get things moving, or to head home and come back when things picked up a bit. I chose the latter and we headed to Target to get an exercise ball and a few other things and then picked Jake up and brought him home.

We got home around 5pm and shortly after I decided to get in the bathtub because the contractions were getting pretty painful. The hot water was helping so I could make it through each contraction, but I had to get out after about 30 minutes because it was getting too hot. After about 40 minutes of battling contractions that were coming 3-5 minutes apart plus a toddler that wanted to be held by his mommy, I decided to head upstairs to lie down for a bit. I texted my mom at 6:17pm and let her know that we would be putting Jake to bed around 7 and that we would assess the situation and go from there. I decided to use the bathroom before lying down in bed and that’s when the real fun started.

As I was standing back up from putting away my hair straightener, I thought I felt a small pop. I went over to the toilet and sat down and there was a small gush of fluid and bloody mucus. I noticed that the fluid was cloudy and that it couldn’t be urine, so I yelled for Gage to come upstairs. He came into the bathroom and I told him that my water had just broken. Of course, Jake was trailing behind and politely flushed the toilet for his mommy. As I was standing there I felt a sudden urge to push. There was so much pressure down below that I just knew she was coming way too fast. At 6:24pm Gage called my mom and told her that my water had broken and that she needed to get to our house ASAP. After he hung up, he called our birth photographer, Keren, to let her know we were headed for the hospital and that she should head over there as fast as possible. Gage hung up the phone and told me to get dressed so we were ready to go when my mom showed up. I dropped to my knees from the pain and I not so calmly (and with colorful language) told him that I wasn’t getting dressed and that he needed to call 911. He again told me I needed to put my pants on and I demanded that he called 911 because she was coming and we would not be making it to the hospital. Gage then ran downstairs and made the phone call. The dispatcher proceeded to instruct Gage to find a shoelace to tie the umbilical cord and was trying to explain to him what he needed to do if she arrived before the paramedics. A few minutes later my mom showed up and around 6:35pm police showed up at our house, followed by the fire department. They had me lay down and my mom checked to see if she could see the head. She determined that the baby was crowning and that we definitely wouldn’t be making it to the hospital.

As I lay on my bathroom floor with my head between the end of the toilet and the wall, all I could feel was an immense urge to push. They always say that you will know that it’s time to push because you will feel the need to have a bowel movement, and boy did it feel like it was time to push! It felt like an eternity as I laid there waiting for someone to tell me what to do. As I lay there waiting, I looked up at Earl, the firefighter, and my mom and I asked who would be catching the baby. After I told my mom there was no way she would be delivering my baby, I asked Earl if he knew what he was doing. He informed me that he delivered his own child just a year ago. It still didn’t ease my mind completely, but it didn’t much matter at that point. Hailey was coming and there was no stopping her. My dad arrived and took Jake so that Gage could be in the bathroom with me. Shortly thereafter the paramedics showed up and determined that I should start pushing. Never in a million years did I imagine I would have an unmedicated birth. Let alone an unmedicated birth in my own home. As I started pushing I felt immense pressure. The pain was absolutely excruciating. In between pushes I informed them that this was not the plan, I miserably begged for pain medication and to make the pain go away, to get the baby out of me and to get me off the floor. With the first few pushes, all I could think about was the horrific pain I was experiencing in my spine and lower back from being on that hard floor. I begged and begged to get off the floor and was told that the pain would go away soon (i.e. when I finished pushing the baby out of me). With the next few pushes I finally focused and realized that if I pushed as hard as I possibly could, I would get her out faster. So with my husband sitting on the edge of the bathtub helping to hold my back up and holding my own legs up, I pushed and pushed with all my might. With my mom standing behind the paramedic and fireman frantically cheering me on, and my sister standing behind her taking pictures, I continued pushing. After what felt like an eternity had gone by and having her still not out, I asked how long I had been pushing. I was informed that it had only been about 10 minutes and she was almost here. After I yet again begged for pain medication, the paramedics whipped out what Gage called a “mustard packet” of lidocaine jelly that they applied to my skin. With a few more pushes it was evident that she just was not budging. Shannon, the paramedic, informed me of what was happening and determined that an episiotomy would help. I had an episiotomy when I delivered Jake because he just wouldn’t budge either. However, when you are told that someone is going to cut you open on your bathroom floor without any pain medication, you start to freak out just a bit. After I realized that I desperately wanted this experience to be over, I consented and Shannon proceeded to use a scalpel to perform the episiotomy. As soon as she started cutting I was screaming “Owww!!!” over and over. I was so focused on the pain of what just happened that it took a second to even realize that Hailey came right on out without having to even push. My mom proudly (and loudly) declared, “It’s a girl! 1923!” (For all you nonmilitary time folks, that would be 7:23pm). They put her up on my chest and put a towel over top of her and suctioned out her mouth and nose. I laid there in complete shock of what just happened and I looked up at my husband who had a completely overjoyed look on his face as he was staring down at our new baby girl. I just smiled at him because I was so glad it was over. As I was staring at him, I noticed the glossed over look in his eyes from being on the verge of tears. I had seen that look on his face at least two times before in my life. The first was at our wedding as I walked down the aisle, and the second was with the birth of our son, Jacob. He looked down at me and noticed I was staring at him and he gave me a kiss. I started to zone out after that because my brain was just reeling from the events that had just played out.

After the umbilical cord stopped pulsating, they determined it was time to cut the cord. They handed Gage a scalpel and told him to cut it. With a bewildered look he pointed out the fact that the cord was laying against my stomach and asked if they were going to move it. They told him he could use his other hand to pick it up and I matter of factly told them that he couldn’t because he would get “queasy”. So after they lifted the cord off of me, he cut it and proceeded to pick up Hailey and stood in the bathtub with her. Of course my mom, the proud grandma, climbed over me and got in the tub with them so she could take pictures of her new granddaughter to go show my dad who had been downstairs entertaining Jake and my niece, Makayla, while all of this was going on. After what felt like I had been on that floor for an eternity, they started an IV on me, gave me a dose of morphine and determined that they would be leaving the placenta in until we got to the hospital. Gage made his way down the stairs to check on Jake and my mom went to show pictures of Hailey to my dad. I instructed my sister that there were leftover pads under my bed from after I delivered Jake and they proceeded to put one on me to wear to the hospital. My mom came back upstairs and took Hailey to get a clean, warm blanket for her to be wrapped in. After the plan was devised on how to get me down the stairs, I slowly stood myself up and proceeded to look in the mirror. I was completely aghast at what my hair looked like because just 12 hours prior I made sure that my hair was perfectly straightened and ready for any potential photo opportunities that might occur. I made my disgust known and one of the very courteous fireman exclaimed, “It’s not a fashion show.” After I shot him a dirty look, I proceeded to get in the chair that they told me they had for me. I stopped dead in my tracks when I realized they would be carrying me down the stairs in my dining room chair. They informed me that there was a stretcher downstairs and they would be carrying me down in the chair. I sat down on the chair and away we went. I apologized for being heavy as they carried me down the stairs and they laughed at me while informing me that I was NOT heavy. We got to the bottom and I was overjoyed to notice Gage holding Jake in the living room. Jake was pretty excited to see me as well because he excitedly exclaimed, “Ma!” and gave me the biggest smile. In her usual concern for others, Makayla asked if I was ok and if I was going to the doctors. I explained to her that I was ok and that I just had a baby and we were going to the hospital. I climbed onto the stretcher and Gage brought Jake over to give me a kiss. After they strapped me in, they carried me down the front steps and out to the ambulance. It was absolutely pouring outside. I profusely thanked them for everything they had done and apologized for any not so nice things I might have said. At 8:30pm, they got me situated in the ambulance and brought Hailey out to me and away we went, headed for St. Joe’s.

The first thing I did after we were on our way was pick my phone up to text my friend Audrey, whom I had been texting throughout the day. I nonchalantly wrote, “I just gave birth.. on my bathroom floor. No joke.” She responded, “Your kidding me right…” and I simply wrote, “Nope”. After that came a string of texts, “Wtf?!?!!? What?!”, “Are you ok??!”, “Heather! Omg!”, “Is Hailey ok?!”, “What on earth happened… how did it get to that?!”

The next thing I did was texted Keren who had been waiting at the hospital for us to arrive. I let her know that we were on our way and I would let her know when the ambulance arrived. After what felt like the longest drive to St. Joe’s EVER, we finally arrived and Keren eagerly greeted us with her camera in hand. I have been known to give Keren a run for her money since I informed her that it was time to push with Jake at last minute and now she wasn’t even able to be present during Hailey’s birth. Gage stayed behind for a bit to make sure Jake was ok before he left for the hospital, so it was nice to see a familiar face waiting for me to get there. On our way out of the ER, we passed by Lesley, a former coworker of mine from when I worked as a nurse tech in L&D. After she noticed me, she yelled, “It was you!? We got the call about a birth at home but I had no idea it was you!” We made our way up to L&D and were greeted by 3 nurses and Peggy, the midwife on call for the clinic I go to. The nurses took Hailey to get her assessed and Peggy went to work delivering the placenta and getting me stitched up. I laughed and joked with the nurses as they went through the process of getting me admitted (a totally backwards process since discussion of my birth plan was no longer important). They got Hailey cleaned up and measured. Our little peanut weighed in at 6lb 6oz and measured 19.5in. She was even smaller than her brother who was 7lb 15oz and 21.25in! Gage eventually arrived and Keren diligently took pictures of the 3 of us.

Nothing about Hailey’s arrival was planned, nor was it ideal. However, we are incredibly blessed that we had paramedics and firefighters that responded so quickly and helped deliver our baby girl. I couldn’t have done all of it without my amazing husband or my wonderful family. We are truly blessed that nothing went horribly wrong and that we are both healthy. There was definitely someone watching over us and Hailey is truly a blessing and has fit right into our family.

The first few pictures of Jake and I were taken before we left to go walk the mall. I thought we might not get to see him again before Hailey was born.