Hailey Sabrina Keele: A Birth Story

Hailey's pregnancy was a rollercoaster to say the least. As I have really not shared much about this pregnancy, I figured I would start at the very beginning and then go into the actual birth story. First of all, she was a COMPLETE surprise. Not only a surprise, but the most random surprise. For all three other pregnancies I knew I was pregnant before taking a pregnancy test; this time around, I took a test for fun. No, I'm serious. It was the day before our bathroom remodel was set to start (I'll hopefully get to that blog post soon) and I was cleaning out all the stuff under the kid's bathroom sink when I found an old pregnancy test. It must have been left over since before I was pregnant with Stockton. I walked into our room and told Spencer I was going to take it for fun (don't tell me I'm weird and you would never do that). He thought it was dumb but I didn't care and did it anyway. This is what I got...

(I should point out that the line actually looks WAY better in the picture than it did in real life) I came out of the bathroom stunned and showed Spencer who didn't believe me and said there was no line there. Of course, the seed of doubt crept in because we didn't know how old the test was after all. I went to show Julie (her and Mark were living with us while their house was being built) and she too could maybe see a line but not really; so then I snapped the above picture and sent it to my sister Laura (again, the picture shows the line way better than it looked in real life). Regardless, Laura reminded me that is more probable to get a false negative than it is to get a false positive so if there was any line at all, I was probably pregnant. Obviously we needed to know for sure and I wanted to make sure I did it right so I got a digital test and waited to the next morning like it suggests on the box. Sure enough...

Now Spencer will probably go down to his grave saying that I did in fact know all along which was the reason I took the test in the first place, but I really really REALLY didn't. I'm pretty sure this will be one of those things that until we can look back on our lives, he will not believe me. Since we were starting the remodel that day and the wall in our bedroom was going to come down, we had been drawing and putting holes on the wall with the kids (how often do you get to do something like that?) I had drawn the picture of our family and added the baby for the kids to find the next morning. I also sent this picture out in our family chat groups and let people figure it out for themselves

So there I was, pregnant, in the middle of a major house remodel, puking my guts out, living in a house with 7 people and only one bathroom, working full time from home, doing distance learning with the Little Guy and Katelyn with and trying to keep Stockton from being completely neglected. And yeah, it was as bad as that sounds. 

Things settled down somewhat by the time December rolled around. The older kids were able to go back to school and my job switched to the after hours line. I was still so extremely sick and tired but at least I wasn't fighting with the kids to do their work and answering calls all day (for the record, this whole distance learning experience taught us that our kids do NOT have the right temperament and self-motivation for homeschooling). The problem that presented itself now was I seemed to be having what appeared to be hormonal issues, so our doctor recommend we find out the gender of the baby (we had originally been planning on keeping it a surprise like Stockton) to see if that might shed some light on the situation. Spoiler alert: it was a girl!

Then after Christmas, we got Covid and it was awful. For me it was the worst cold of my life and because I was pregnant, it meant that I really couldn't take anything for it. I really don't know how I would have survived without Vick's Vapor Rub and menthol bubble bath in our tub. The worst part was that blood clots were a big concern with pregnant women that had Covid so I had to spend 10 days giving myself blood thinner shots in the stomach. And yeah, it was as bad as that sounds. 

Unfortunately, that was not even the worst part of the pregnancy. Around February I stared feeling so tired. Not the usual pregnancy tired but an extreme exhaustion. I would crash for hours on end and just sleep and it wouldn't be enough. We knew my iron was low at the beginning of the pregnancy when they did all the bloodwork and I had been taking an iron supplement since; and when I did the gestational diabetes test they saw that it was low ago and he actually prescribed me a stronger supplement. So, obviously, my iron level was the first thing he checked when I told him how exhausted I was. It was BAD. Really bad. I ended up having to do 5 rounds of iron infusions and thought I would probably needed a blood transfusion as well. 

At the end of the day... I made it to 39 weeks and the induction date without a blood transfusion which really no one saw coming. In fact, no one thought I would make it to 39 weeks in the first place. I was having a ton of contractions all the time (this was my first time EVER having contractions outside of the hospital), I was very dilated early and we had a scare when we thought my water my have broken (it hadn't). 

Some other bullets points about the pregnancy before I get into the actual birth

• I threw up a significantly less volume that the previous three. The doctor put me on a new medicine that made me super drowsy and gave me the worst restless leg syndrome but, hey, it stopped me throwing up. (I won't say how I had to take it, you can just imagine it). I also took a LOT of baths with magnesium salt
• In fact, I took a LOT of baths period. I don't know how I would have survived this pregnancy without our new tub. Between the nausea, the aches, the contractions etc., I definitely owe my health and wellbeing to that acrylic tub. 
• Laura and I were pregnant at the same time. That was fun thing to go through mainly because misery loves company, haha. Her baby (my new nephew) is only three months younger than Hailey
• This was the pregnancy of second guessing myself. I could not make a single decision without agonizing over it or trust myself to remember anything. (I didn't have the best memory to begin with, but I think it has gotten significantly worse after being pregnant with Hailey. I'm convinced that the lack of iron affected with the oxygen in my brain and caused some brain damage)

Also, quick story about Hailey's name, I picked the name Hailey so early in the pregnancy, even back when we thought it would be a surprise. I had Hailey and a boy H name picked out and knew that would be the name which was so different than before (read: Spencer and I staying up until 3  AM the night before I was induced with Katelyn looking at names). I was so sure about it, I told Spencer I was not changing my mind and he needed to just get on board but I would let him pick the middle name. It was on Christmas Eve that we had settled on Hailey Josefine Carla Keele. That's right. Three names, I was not super thrilled about the three name thing but really all I cared about was the name Hailey. I just KNEW her name was supposed to be Hailey (even the way that it is spelled). Then, about three days before the induction day, Spencer changed his mind about the middle names and changed it to Sabrina. I was so shocked that I actually waited to fill out the birth certificate until he was with me and signed off on the change. 

Now, finally, the actual birth story. Like I said earlier, it was surprise to everyone that I made it to 39 weeks. A surprise to everyone except me, that it. I had never gone into labor by myself and had no hope that this time would be different. I was, however, pretty dilated to the point were we had a number that I would just have to be induced early if I reached. The date of 39 weeks was a Sunday so we wondered if our doctor would even induce that day but he said he actually preferred it since it meant he didn't have to go back and forth between the office. So we got everything ready and prepared to meet our baby girl. Here is the finally picture before going to the hospital. (peep the double chin. This was by far the biggest I had ever gotten)

They called us to come in at 5:30 but another woman went into to labor and got there right as we got there so we had to wait FOREVER while they checked her in. On a SIDE NOTE: I am so happy I have never been in labor and have to try to do all the intake stuff. That sounds awful

Baby number four... let's do this thing (6:47 AM)

Of course it wasn't that easy. Right when they got me all hooked up to the monitors and were about to start Pitocin, I had a big contraction and Hailey's heart rate dropped crazy low. Because of the blood issues and how dilated I was, my doctor decided to get a blood sample and hold off on Pitocin until after he broke my water. Since I already had the IV line in, drawing blood meant another poke anyway so my nurse decided to put in a second line in case they needed more blood and for the possible blood transfusion my doctor had ordered. So there I am, monitors strapped on my stomach, an IV line in each arm, blood pressure cuff, epidural in, and of course, the mask. (8:44 AM)

COVID  BREAK: April was a lower Covid risk so our restrictions were not as bad as some people had to go through. I had to take a test two days before the induction date (saliva test, thank goodness) but Spencer didn't. I was only allowed two visitors during the actual labor but it was non-transferable and only one visitor once the baby was born; and we had to wear masks whenever there were staff in the room. 

Back to the birth. My doctor came in and broke my water and I went into labor (weird right? after never having gone into labor by myself. Although, I don't know if this counts). Spencer and I watched our ward's Sacrament Meeting and then I listened to Relief Society since they were still being broadcasted over Zoom. By the way, this was BY FAR the BEST epidural of the four births. I was not in pain at all but my lower half was not all numb and asleep. I could move around and feel the pressure so I knew when I was having a contraction. (9:26 AM)

Around 10:30 my nurse came in to check the progress and noticed I hadn't dilated passed an 7 for a while. She thought that it may be because the baby was turned profile so she gave me the big peanut ball. As it turns out, there are two sizes and the one that I used at Stockton's birth was the bigger size. This one was much less awkward.

Right after this, I stared to feel really anxious and scared. I don't know if it was the combination of the everything that had happened this pregnancy getting to me or just because my body knew that it was almost time, but I was FREAKING OUT. I was scared about giving birth, I was scared about the recovery after and I was SURE something was about to go wrong. Thankfully for me, I had gotten into meditation this pregnancy (I use the Insight Timer app, it's free and there are thousands of meditations to choose from) and I had previously listened to a meditation that was specifically designed for labor and delivery (getting ready and during labor). So I put my head phones, turned it on and immediately started to feel better and relaxed. It is a 17 minute practice but I only got about 10 minutes in when my nurse checked me and said very calmly said "Okay, we are ready" and calmly walked about of the room. I was feeling a lot better and thought I would be able to take a nap during the "rest and descend" hour (where they let the baby get into position) but then my doctor ran into the room (very uncalmly) and started getting his gown on as quickly as possible while my nurse was paging for a baby nurse to come in. Things went pretty quickly from that point. (11:26 AM)

 My doctor told my nurse we have to hurry because he was giving an other woman a break from pushing and I said "oh I'm sorry, you can totally go finish I can't wait" to which he just laughed and replied "No, you can't". Hailey was born 5 minutes later at 11:31 on the "perfect date" (if you know, you know)

There were three babies born within 20 minutes of each other including Hailey. Now that I am typing this out, I'm regretting not asking the nurses if they could ask the other women for their contact information because that is a super cool, albeit very hectic (it was a good thing they had an intern doctor that day and that they were able to call a baby nurse from the NICU to come help)

Hailey was screaming her head off but once the chaos calmed down, so did she (or maybe she was contributing to the chaos by screaming her head off)

I don't know why did think to take my mask off

It was a really peaceful hospital stay after that. Spencer went back and forth so he could get the kids to school and their activities and Hailey and I hung out at the hospital until we were discharged the next day (I get so bored at the hospital and I feel fine so I always like to be discharged as soon as possible)

The nurses at mother-baby were super overwhelmed and forgot to make a name card for her. I'm sad because I kept the name cards for the other three but oh well, it is what it is. 

I had ordered her this cute name plate from Amazon anyway so it worked out

Look at that hair! she was almost as hairy as Stockton. "Almost" because she did not have as much hair as he did on her shoulders.

Meeting her sibling for the first time over video call

We got discharged around six because we had to wait for the doctor to be done with work at the clinic since it was a Monday and they were super busy.

Funny story about getting discharged. The nurse that was doing the discharge things (because of the timing the shift changed and I had only just met her) put the security clips in her pocket after cutting them off and forgot they were there so as soon as we crossed the closed unit boundary they went off. It was so crazy loud. The problem was that the charge nurse had already discharged the devices so they were not sure why they were going off and they were not showing up in the systems for her to be able to turn it off. They allowed us to go so we wouldn't have to wait as security was on their way, but we left the unit with alarms going off and lights flashing everywhere. I felt so bad for the moms because there is no way that it didn't wake all the newborns. 

All in all, this was such a different experience than the last three times. From the pregnancy itself to the labor, to the crazy fast delivery to the hospital stay. Meanwhile, we are completely smitten this our little Hailey Bug and can't imagine life without her now.