Hailey's Birth

Despite feeling a bit more prepared and knowledgeable with one birthing experience in our back pocket, Hailey's arrival was definitely a whole different adventure than our 4th of July in 2009 when Leyna was born. Had some things occurred just a few moments later, Hailey could have easily made her grand entrance at our house, in the car, or curbside at the hospital! Here's how it all went down for those who enjoy hearing the details...

Jan 7th...I was plenty anxious and uncomfortable lasting all the way until today, the expected due date (afterall, I was spoiled by Leyna arriving 9 days early). At least this time we made sure to have the carseat installed and hospital bags packed...

Jan 8th, 2pm...doc visit and I was still a tight 2 cm dilated with no signs of much progress since my last visit a week prior...doc strips my membranes hoping to prompt contractions, though doubtful if it would even work...back to waiting through an uneventful afternoon...

Jan 8th, 11:15pm...Leyna and Danno were already sleeping and my contractions began, yet very inconsistently ranging from 4 to 20 minutes apart. Meanwhile I enjoyed trying out an iphone app called "Full Term - Labor Contractions Timer" and boy what an awesome tool it turned out to be! Super simple, just start and stop at each contraction, and gives you the averaged frequency and durations over a time period. You can even email the complete record. I highly recommend it to all you moms-to-be!

Jan 9th, 2am...by now my contractions were averaging 8 minutes apart and they were tolerable. I called my mom to give her a heads up that I'm in early labor. (Plan had always been that she would drive down from the IE to watch Leyna while we go to the hospital). Knowing that early labor can drag out many many hours. I told her I'd call her back when things progress more. I woke Dan up to give him a heads up that a trip to the hospital is likely to happen today!

Jan 9th, 3am...wow just as I realize my contractions were stronger and already averaging 5-6 minutes apart, my mom happens to message me she's decided to start driving down hoping to arrive by 5/530am. Good call mom! Meanwhile Leyna woke up in the middle of the night so Danno was tending to her. Back to more contractions...yoga ball...breathing...

Jan 9th, 4am...my contractions were much stronger and reaching 4 minutes apart!  I continue to make odd decisions, like thinking "well I'll just continue to tough out the contractions til my mom arrives" (one reason why having a high tolerance for pain can be risky business!)...and deciding "I'll just wake Dan up later when my mom arrives, then we'll leave to the hospital." Don't get me wrong, Dan would be willing to stay awake with me through the contractions, but some reason my habit has been to let him sleep through the 'joys' of active labor! haha.

Jan 9th, 5am...my mom arrives and as if Hailey knew that was my signal to leave home, the contractions instantly increase to 2 to 3 minutes apart! (keep in mind, if each contraction is 60-90 seconds, they feel like they are back to back) Danno, we really gotta go now! My mom helps me to the car and I wait while Dan scrambles to get all our last items together, get his contacts in, etc... And oh the hard worker he is, Dan was still in the house attempting to send out an email to the judge to postpone an arraignment he had scheduled for 730 that morning. Thank goodness it occurred to him that it's definitely not the time to work! haha. We're finally off to the hospital about 5:30ish...

Our drive was an interesting one...Constantly running through my mind was "...just dont push, don't push..." (otherwise I'd be empathizing with my sister-in-law who actually did deliver their 2nd son in their truck on the way to the birthing center!) Every bump on the road practically set off another contraction -- funny that our front suspension is bad and needs fixing!...taking the wrong freeway exit meant an additional few minutes getting back to our route -- yes, out of all days we take a wrong turn!...I didn't have the Labor & Delivery department phone number handy so upon entering the base hospital gate we asked the guard to have them radio L&D to have someone meet us outside. No one was at the curb when we got there, so Dan went searching for a wheelchair. A few more curbside contractions later, I see him speed around the corner with a wheelchair like it was a race to the finish line! Up to L&D we go!

Triage... Finally to L&D, but the first stop before being admitted is Triage. A nurse asks us to fill out a form in the office. I attempt to write, but a strong contraction has got me gripping the chair armrests with my eyes shut. I did manage to start my contraction timer -- 5:56am start ... 5:57am end. The nurse completes the form as Dan relays the info. I have one more contraction just before I can even get up from my seat.

Nurse says, "When you're ready Loralee, go ahead into this room" I have a moment to take the few steps next door, get in my gown onto examination bed and they check my progress.

"Yup! You're definitely having a baby!" they say. "Let's move her to a room"

I ask "so is it too late to get an epidural?" though I knew the answer.

"Oh yeah!" they practically laughed. "The only thing keeping the baby in there right now is your water hasn't broken. If you can hold off a moment, we're getting a gurney and will move you to the delivery room..."

Hearing "no epidural" was like a trigger to my mind and body. Can I wait a moment?! No way, let's get her out!!

Just as I see a gurney getting slowly maneuvered through the doorway, I get the tremendous urge to push. I tell them "I'm gonna push, I'm gonna push...can I PUSH?!!"

I get the glorious green light from one nurse "OK just go!" Meanwhile they reverse the gurney out from the doorway and a whole team of people start crowding into the small triage room. I close my eyes, and 3 pushes later I hear "There she is! reach down and grab your baby!"

Hailey Beth is born at 6:07am! She weighed in at 6lbs 7.8 oz and 20 inches.

What an adventure! Apparently one for L&D as well who had just gone through a handful of deliveries all at once earlier that morning. They said we were the "icing on the cake" to their crazy day, let alone the fact that rarely do deliveries happen in triage!

Praise God everything fell into place without complications. I had the comfort of epidural with Leyna, so delivering Hailey naturally was far from my plan. Later I learned I arrived 8cm dilated, labor station +1! Surprisingly, I'm so happy it all happened the way that it did. After waiting 9 months to deliver, it's nice to get it all over without stretching it out hours and hours longer than it needs to be. Thankfully Hailey was smaller than Leyna, and that she did not hesitate to arrive when it was time. Recovery was so much faster since I was able to walk around and not restricted to the bed while anesthesia wears off, among a list of other things. Our overnight stay in the Mother-Baby Unit was mainly so they could monitor Hailey and complete routine exams over a 24 hour period. Needless to say, I have a newfound appreciation and understanding for natural labor now. Not saying we're ready to think about another one yet, but it's just another (thrilling) experience to put in our back pocket =)