Kylie's Birth Story

Since I only started blogging a little over a year and a half ago, I don't have a written account of Kylie's birth story. I decided I'd like to have it written down before the details get fuzzy and so that I have something to refer back to when she's older and wants to know how it all happened.


Two years ago today I woke up, dropped Kyra off at Pop Pop and Mom Mom's house and went to my OB/GYN's office. They told me I was really close to having my baby girl. In fact her exact words were, "If I broke your water right now, you'd have this baby today." And I remember thinking, "Well, okay then, break my water!" But she didn't. And I felt kinda sad.

July 15th was my due date and as Jim was getting ready for work that morning we talked as if I were going to have a c-section that day because we spoke as if we were absolutely certain we'd meet our baby later in the day. I called him after my appointment and told him I'd keep him posted if anything happened. I then went to my in-laws to pick up Kyra and as I sat on their patio, I could feel mild contractions every so often. I ignored them and took Kyra home so I could finish painting the mural in her "big girl" room.

As Kyra took her nap, I hauled my 9 month pregnant belly up a ladder in an attempt to add the final butterflies to the mural. After an hour I found myself hunched over on the ladder, breathing through an intense contraction and I remember thinking, "Okay, Keshet, you have to stop painting now." I put away my paint brushes and laid down on the couch. The contractions didn't ease up, so I called Jim at work and told him we would need to be heading to the hospital soon.

He came home and immediately began his husbandly duties of timing my contractions as I tried to get last minute things together for our stay at the hospital and for my sister to take care of Kyra. After a while he informed me that my contractions were actually coming much closer together (every 3-5 minutes) than I had assumed they were, so we took off for the hospital.

He dropped me off at the door and I sat in the lobby as I waited for him to park the car and join me. As we walked together toward the maternity ward, we ran into someone who knew Jim. She began chatting us up and I did my best to seem pleasant despite the intense pain shooting through my abdomen. I remember thinking, "Hello people! I'm sort of in labor here!"

Finally we made it to the desk in the maternity ward and I signed in. The ladies at the desk sent me to triage and assumed I wouldn't be admitted as they had a hard time believing I was actually in labor. After about an hour in triage, the L & D nurse admitted me and escorted me to my room...right past the ladies at the front desk. They all stared as I walked past and finally one of them caught up to us to ask what time I had come in. They failed to fill out their records as they assumed I wouldn't be staying. (You know what happens when you assume.)

My OB came to the room to check on me and then decided she'd just hang out with us because she figured it wouldn't be too long before I was ready to push. Around an hour later she checked me and said matter of factly, "You're a ten. Let's get ready to push." When my L&D nurse wheeled in the delivery cart she told me that the ladies at the desk asked her, "Is that for the lady that just came in 3 hours ago?!" She said she grinned as she told them that it was.

Everyone got prepped quickly and now the time had come for me to push. It felt so casual in the room. We were having pleasant conversation between pushes. Nothing about the scene made me feel like I wasdelivering a baby. But after only ten minutes of pushing, she was here. The L&D nurse said she looked like she would be a red head. I was baffled at how she could tell through all the "gunk" covering her, but I completely hoped she was right.

I was so happy to hold her, my little Kylie Joy. I loved her so much from that very first moment. I remember wondering what she would be like. How she'd differ from her sister, how she'd be the same. There is something about holding your child for the first time and knowing that their entire life is yet to be written and it is full of amazing possibilities.

As I reflect on that incredible day two years ago, I realize again that I could not have asked for a better experience. The whole day, the entire extent of labor, the delivery process... it all went so smoothly. If I could perfectly design my future birthing experiences, this is how I would want them all to be.