Hailey May | An Unmedicated Birth Story

by Carly Kozak - 11/19/2019

Hailey May Kozak
7 lbs 12 oz, 21 in long
Born at 9:11am on 5/6/19
Madison Memorial Hospital
Rexburg, Idaho

Hailey May Kozak surprised us by coming exactly on her due date—May 6th. Harper came a week early so we anticipated that Hailey would do the same. But Hailey wanted us to know that she was in charge of when she would be coming haha. The morning of May 6th I woke up around 7am to use the bathroom. As soon as I laid back in bed at 7:07 I had my first contraction. The contractions were pretty mild: about 1 minute long and 3-5 minutes apart. I decided to labor for an hour at home to see how much I would progress. I had an inkling that this labor would be quicker than Harper’s so I was still being cautious. Harper woke up around 7:45 & Taylor got her ready to head over to our neighbors house. Before Harper left she ran into my room while I was having a contraction. “Your tummy hurts mommy?” I held back tears because she really is the most empathetic little girl. “Yes baby, mommy’s tummy hurts.” I gave her her last hug & kiss as my only baby. It was so bitter sweet. A little after 8am we headed to the hospital. On the drive over my contractions were getting a lot stronger and were about 2 minutes apart. Bad guy by Billie Elish came on the radio & it was NOT my vibe hahah. Literally made my contractions worse. Thanks Billie. As soon as we pulled up to the hospital I started playing some relaxing music on my phone. It was so helpful, highly recommend for all the expecting mamas out there. We pulled up the wrong area of the hospital (did the same thing with Harper) so we had to go on a little adventure to the labor & delivery wing. At this point my contractions were very painful and about 1 minute apart. We got to the check-in desk and Taylor stayed behind to give her my information. My mom wheeled me back and as soon as we got in the room I asked them to check me. Something that was a lot better about this labor experience was that I felt a lot more in control. I told my nurses how I wanted them to help me instead of waiting for them to guess what I needed help with. They checked me and I was at 6cm. I was starting to freak out because I was in so much pain and knew I had a while to go. At this point it was 8:35am. I was planning the whole time to have a natural unmedicated birth because I hated my experience with an epidural last time. But I was in so much pain I said never mind I want an epidural. I started crying just saying I wanted Taylor. Nothing at that check-in desk could be as important as ME IN LABOR. They grabbed Taylor and he calmed me down. I felt the need to pee so I asked to get up and go. As soon as I sat up I had a super painful contraction and decided to lay back down. When I laid back down my water started to break. I asked them to check me again and I was at 8cm. I knew right then this baby was coming out soon (no time for that epidural). I started to really focus on my breath. Literally Taylor was a life saver and kept me on track. They paged my doctor to come (he was on a run and ran to his car and drove over as fast as he could). While he was heading over I started to feel my contractions a lot lower. With each contraction more amniotic fluid would come out. I asked the nurses to check me again. I was at 9cm. My guess is that it was about 9:00am. I really started to feel the pressure to push soon after that. My doctor came running in the room dressed in full on exercise clothing (Nike should have honestly sponsored this moment). He got sanitized and I was ready to get this freaking baby out of me. My body pretty much took over from there. My contractions were pushing the baby out for me. Not going to lie it was the most painful experience I’ve ever had. I was literally screaming at the top my lungs. Taylor was trying not to laugh at my commentary because I was screaming everything I said. Literally I couldn’t control the volume of my voice hahah. The volume needed to match the pain I was in apparently haha. She was born at 9:11am. She was beautiful and pink and everything I wanted. The umbilical cord was wrapped around her tiny leg. She was also born with a little red patch in between her eyes. I think it will fade with time. Right after I had her, all the pain was completely gone. It was a crazy feeling. It was such a euphoric moment. I’m so grateful for my mom and Taylor for staying by my side and helping me through it. And for all the angel women in heaven who were cheering me on and giving me strength.

Enjoy some horribly candid photos of me and some adorable photos of little Hailey.