Honest Birth #35 featuring Kaylee Jones

Mama Kaylee Jones shares the hospital birth story of her third baby on the Honest Birth birth story series! Kaylee gave birth during the coronavirus pandemic at 39 weeks. She went into labor on her own, but was given a small amount of Pitocin to help move labor along. After pushing through one contraction, her son was born!

Hey mamas! Welcome to the thirty-fifth post in my Honest Birth series! It’s been a hot minute since I’ve featured someone, and I’m excited to share another real mama’s birth story, because I think it’s so important to share our childbirth experiences with each other. My goal with this series is to provide a place for women to share their birth stories without holding anything back, as well as compile stories for pregnant mamas to read in preparation for their own childbirth experiences. Every mama is different and every birth is different, and I believe that when we share our stories we help each other.

Today I am featuring my friend Kaylee Jones. Kaylee was one of my sister’s good friends growing up, and I’ve known both her and her husband for almost 15 years! Kaylee and her high school sweetheart-turned-husband Scott have three kids and live in Colorado. Today Kaylee is sharing the birth story of her first boy, who was born just a few months ago during the coronavirus pandemic. If you’re currently pregnant and wondering what birth is going to be like in the middle of all this madness, this is a great story to read!

Read to read her son’s birth story? Here we go!

The Birth Story of Carter Jones

My husband, Scott, and I have two little girls, an 8 year old and an almost 6 year old. We had our little boy 2 months ago. We wanted more children, but because of certain circumstances we hesitated. We prayed often to know when we should plan to try and have more kids. About 2 years ago we received a very clear impression that we were ready. It took us a year of trying before we were able to get pregnant. We hadn’t struggled to get pregnant before, therefore it was a very hard year full of tears, questions, and prayers. We were thrilled when we finally found out we were pregnant in September of 2019. We had no idea about some of the other trials and struggles we would soon face with bringing a baby into the world in 2020 during the worldwide Coronavirus Pandemic.

I had a fairly easy pregnancy, other than dealing with migraines during the 1st trimester and some early contractions, which is normal for me (having had some preterm labor and medications administered with both of my girls to avoid having them too early).

At 28 weeks pregnant, things in the world seemed to be getting crazy. Schools closed and I had to help teach my children as we did remote learning from home. Church was canceled until further notice, and we proceeded to do that from home with just our family as well. My husband, who works as a baker and manager at his father’s restaurant, was not able to work for 6 weeks. Masks were suddenly being worn everywhere and it seemed as if daily things were getting more and more out of hand. This was our life for the rest of the pregnancy and even after our little guy was born.

During this time there were a lot of concerns. Would my husband be allowed in the hospital when our baby was born? Would I have to wear a mask the entire time I was in the hospital, including during labor and delivery? Would it even be safe to have the baby at the hospital? How long would we need to stay away from family and friends once he was here? Will they only be able to see him through a glass door and not hold him? These were just some of the questions that constantly filled me with anxiety during this time. These were questions that never crossed my mind when either of my daughters were born and I couldn’t believe I had to consider them now. There were times I struggled not to let the anxiety become completely debilitating.

On Thursday, May 28th, at 39 weeks, we spent the day getting all our last minute things ready before baby came. We set up the baby monitor, cleaned more thoroughly, got laundry done, and had one last family outing as a family of 4 with a picnic in the park for dinner. We had a feeling that our little boy would be coming soon and spoke to the girls about how that might mean leaving for the hospital in the middle of the night and filled them in on what our plan would be with having their grandparents watch them. Little did we know how quickly that exact plan would be put into action. That very evening my contractions started again. I was up all night and didn’t get any sleep. They were getting more and more painful as the night went on. Finally at 1am I grabbed an apple, turned on “Friends”, and started timing them. They were coming about every 4 minutes and lasted anywhere from 30 seconds to 1 minute. I was worried about going to the hospital only to be sent home, disappointed that we weren’t going to have our baby yet. Finally, just before 3am I called the doctor, told them what was happening and was told to head to the hospital. I woke up my husband and told him it was time. We got our hospital bag, woke up the girls and got them settled with their grandparents. We said our goodbyes to our sweet girls who were wide awake and thrilled. We knew they probably wouldn’t be getting much more sleep that night as they anxiously awaited to hear the news that their baby brother was born.

We got to the hospital and the parking lot was nearly empty. We checked in through the ER entrance where, before we could enter, both of our temperatures were checked and they asked if we had experienced and shortness of breath, coughing, or had been around anyone with COVID-19. When everything checked out okay, they gave us masks and we were allowed inside. My husband was allowed in with me, but was told once in the hospital he would not be allowed to leave and re-enter. We were brought back where they monitored me for an hour to determine if I should stay or be sent home. Before long, it was determined that we would be staying to have our baby, and I was transported to the labor and delivery room. Once in our room we were allowed to take off our masks, although the hospital staff had masks on at all times. We only needed to wear ours when in the hallways, being transported to different rooms. I was so relieved when they informed me that a week earlier they changed protocol and moms didn’t have to wear masks during delivery. There was limited staff and the hospital seemed almost deserted with only one other patient who had their baby that same day.

I got my IV and got all set up, relieved to know that our baby boy would be born soon. We were so excited to meet him. Around 6am, the anesthesiologist came in and gave me an epidural. Now we played the waiting game as my body progressed for baby to come. Although I was progressing pretty well, they decided to help speed it up a bit by administering a small amount of Pitocin. As I was getting close to being dilated to a 10, they turned down the strength of the epidural so I would be able to feel the contractions and push better.

At 1:50pm, the nurses decided it was time to push and had me try before the doctor came in. At the next contraction I started to push and they immediately told me to stop and wait until the doctor arrived. It wasn’t going to take long for him to come. I waiting about 10 minutes before the doctor and nurses were all there and ready. They were completely covered without a bit of exposed skin anywhere. They had two sets of gloves on, a mask, face shield, and gowns. It almost looked like I was having a C-section the way they were dressed and prepared. There was no doubt that they were taking no chances and no risks, but were taking every precaution to keep both us and them healthy and safe.

It was 2pm when they were ready and told me to push on the next contraction. Our little boy was born 4 minutes later. I pushed through one contraction and he was here. I was able to watch the entire time because there was a light right above the hospital bed that was turned off and reflected it all. I had never watched before but there was something so amazing about being able to watch my baby be born. My husband, who is a little squeamish, has never been one to watch or cut the umbilical cords. This time, the doctor asked me if I wanted to, so I was able to cut the cord as well. They immediately put our little boy right on my chest for skin to skin time. He kicked his feet and managed to climb his way onto my face. The nurses were amazed and said they had never seen anything like that before. He was absolutely perfect – born on Friday, May 29, 2020. He weighed 7lbs 13oz and was 19.5 inches long.

Everything went as smoothly as possible. Other than not being allowed any visitors, it was a wonderful experience. We felt very safe and well cared for, and I have had a smooth recovery as well. We didn’t have contact with family or friends for about a month before he was born and almost 2 weeks after. Finally we allowed our immediate family to visit and hold him. While we have been very cautious, it was so incredibly hard not seeing family once we were home.

Despite how long it took us to get pregnant and the chaos that was going on in the world when he was born, I cannot deny the Lord’s timing. Our little boy has brought nothing but calm, peace, and joy at a time when that has been nearly impossible to find. I will always remember this amazing experience and the incredible blessings there were every step of the way.

Wasn’t that so beautiful? Even in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, birth is still such a beautiful thing! Thanks so much to Kaylee for sharing her story on the Honest Birth series! I’m hoping to have some more coronavirus birth stories coming soon, so keep checking back!