Right on Time
Welcome Kai McKay!
When — March 2021
Where — Cedar City, Utah
Welcoming our baby boy.
I went to bed on Monday, March 8th feeling how I always felt at the end of the day while being 9 months pregnant- tired, sore, and hoping for some rest (I’d been having intense Braxton-Hicks contractions for the last couple months).
A contraction woke me up 1:05 AM on Tuesday, March 9th and I immediately thought it might just be another Braxton-Hicks. I used the bathroom and when I got back into bed a few minutes later, I felt another contraction. I decided to start timing my contractions in case this was real labor (keep in mind, I’d done this multiple nights in the last month or so because my Braxton-Hicks were usually pretty intense).
Right around 1:30 AM, I woke Blair up to tell him I thought I might be in labor and I asked him to time the contractions for me since they started feeling more real than Braxton-Hicks. At this point, I’d have 2 contractions about 2-3 minutes apart and then I’d have one that wouldn’t come for 5-6 minutes.
Just before 2 AM, I used the bathroom again and had some tissue- probably my mucous plug- come out. It was at this point we decided this was the real thing! I called my friend Courtney at 2:01 AM (luckily she answered!) and said she would be right over to watch Maisie.
Blair and I got dressed and gathered the last few things we needed in our diaper bag. Blair quickly put some fresh sheets on the guest bed for Courtney while I tried calling my parents to let my mom know she needed to make her way to Cedar first thing in the morning.
Of course my parents didn’t answer their cell phones, but a quick call to their home phone woke them up so they checked their texts and saw that I was in labor.
Courtney made it to our house around 2:20 AM (thank you for coming so quickly in the middle of the night, Courtney!) and we gave her a quick run-down of Maisie’s morning routine.
I then snuck into Maisie’s room to kiss her good-bye (and had a contraction while I was trying to quietly tip-toe out of her room!) At this point, I felt incredibly emotional because that wasn’t the good-bye I pictured and I felt guilty that I didn’t get to give her a great big hug before we left for the hospital.
Just before 2:30 AM, we left our house and headed to the hospital. We went to the main entrance which was closed, but since I walked from our parked car, Blair pushed the emergency button so we wouldn’t have to walk around to the other side of the hospital. Blair told the attendant on the intercom that his wife was in labor and the attendant asked if I was with him (meanwhile I’m bent over having another contraction and praying they will open the doors!) After he assured them I was with him, we saw nurses approaching the door with a wheelchair for me.
They wheeled me straight to labor and delivery and had me change into my gown as soon as we got into the delivery room.
Between the car and the delivery room, I had at least 4 or 5 more contractions. As I got dressed, the nurse asked me if I wanted an epidural. I told her that I absolutely wanted one (I had one with Maisie) and she said they would call the anesthesiologist as soon as they checked me to see how far along I was.
I was admitted at 2:42 AM. After I was dressed, the nurses checked me and said I was 7 cm dilated and 100% effaced. My water had not broken yet. They got my IV started and I tried to answer all of their questions in between contractions that were now much more intense and getting painful. The nurses checked me again about 10 minutes after my initial check and I was at 9 cm- there would be no time for the epidural.
My doctor arrived just before 3:15 AM and immediately broke my water. He confirmed that I was at 9 cm and could not receive the epidural. Because I had progressed so quickly, the doctor assured me that it would all be over soon.
I looked at Blair and told him I was scared. This was not the birth I prepared for and I wasn’t ready for what was about to happen.
Shortly after the doctor broke my water, I felt like I needed to push. I pushed for a few contractions, but then felt like I needed to rest. I ended up stuck at 9 cm until just before 4 AM. My nurses, my doctor, Blair, and me actually had time to write down guesses of what the baby would weigh. We also wrote Kai’s name on the white board in the hopes that naming him would get me to 10 cm so I could push him out! My contractions were painful and close together and Blair and my nurse were amazing at guiding me through each contraction. We had good conversations between each contraction and when a contraction ended, my nurse would say, “Welcome back!”
Just before 4 AM I had a contraction that lasted 2 minutes and was the most painful contraction yet (it wouldn’t end!) After that, I told the doctor and my nurse I needed to push. It took one more contraction of pushing and Kai McKay Ballard was born at 4:10 AM on Tuesday, March 9th, 2021. He weighed 8 lbs. 1 oz. and was 19.5 inches long.
Kai had to spend the first hour of his life on oxygen (I found out later that the umbilical cord was wrapped tightly around his neck), but after he was cleared, I was able to hold him and breastfeed him. It was a whirlwind of a birth and one of the most terrifying experiences of my life, but I am incredibly grateful our boy joined us a little early! He was right on time.