How I Threw Up My Baby | Delaware Newborn Photographer

by ashleyharrison | Nov 10, 2017 | Newborns, Personal, Uncategorized | 7 comments

Kent General Hospital Birth Story

Now that my baby is almost 6 weeks old, I think it is time to share his crazy birth story! Every one of my labor and deliveries have been vastly different from each other, and this, my sixth baby, was no exception.

It was a dark and stormy night…. ok, no it wasn’t. It was Saturday night, Sept. 30th. I was 3 days away from my due date of Oct. 3rd. I was up most of the night with contractions painful enough to keep me awake, but far enough apart and inconsistent enough to not really be in active labor.  I was sure this was the “real deal” though, and that I would make progress over night and probably have the baby Sunday morning.

My husband was supposed to have a 24 hour clinical shift at the hospital for his anesthesia program, but he decided to call out since it looked like I would most likely be giving birth soon. Well, Sunday came and went, and my contractions were still painful, but too far apart. It was a bit discouraging, as I felt this was the longest of my 5 previous pregnancies that I had been in labor.

Sunday night was also sleepless, with those pesky contractions, however, around 3am the contractions finally became more consistent, closer together, and more intense. We called my in-laws, and they came up to stay with the kids and we made our way to Kent General Hospital in Dover.

photo credit: Kevin Harrison, edited by Ashley Harrison

 

Just as we pulled up to the hospital, I told Kevin to pull over, as I became very nauseous and didn’t want to get sick in the car. At this point, I could hardly walk and the contractions were incredibly forceful. When I checked in, the nurse decided to not even take me to triage, but instead straight to a delivery room. I was between 7-8cm dilated, but thankfully, I was still able to receive an epidural!

Receiving an epidural was important to me, but not just for my comfort. I was strep positive, and needed two rounds of antibiotics during labor. Receiving an epidural helped slow my labor long enough to get both doses.

After receiving all of the antibiotics, the midwife checked me and said I was about 9- 9.5cm dilated. It wasn’t long after this that I suddenly became nauseous again. Only my husband was in the room, and I vomited for several minutes, causing my monitors to go a bit crazy, as well as the monitor for the baby’s heart rate.

The nurse came in to relocate baby’s heart rate, however, after adjusting the belt several times, she was unable to locate it. She called the midwife to come check on me, but then decided to go ahead and check me herself. She pulled up the bed sheet and exclaimed “OH! WE HAVE A BABY!!!” My baby’s head was completely out, and his face was on the bed. ON THE BED PEOPLE! The nurse quickly slapped the emergency button on the wall. Within seconds, our room swarmed with staff and the midwife ended up completing the delivery with her bare hands! There wasn’t even time for her to put her gloves on!

It took a few moments of good rubbing, but then our baby took his first breath of life and began to cry!

And THAT, my friends, is how I threw up my baby! I never even had to push!

photo credit: Kevin Harrison, edited by Ashley Harrison

photo credit: Kevin Harrison, edited by Ashley Harrison

photo credit: Kevin Harrison, edited by Ashley Harrison

We are so grateful for the safe arrival of our son!

Briggs Hunter Harrison  8lbs 6oz and 21in long