Kayla knew from when she was a teenager she would have a boy and his name would be Jacob.
It took her quite a bit longer than she expected to have him!
He ended up being baby number 5!
In this part of the interview you will hear about her first 6 births.
Ranging from 3 medicated hospital births, to a birth at home where the midwife didn’t make it in time.
Sheridan: Kayla, can you go ahead and introduce yourself?
Kayla: I,first I’ll start off with how many kids I have.
I have seven kids, had those seven kids in about 12 and a half years. I live in a tiny town in Southern Colorado and we have a hobby farm and, three, I’ve got three boys and four girls. Sorry. And there’s one of them.
That was my almost five-year-old. and I think that’s pretty much it for intro.
Sheridan: I would love to hear about a time that you’ve experienced the divine nature of pregnancy birth or mothering.
Kayla: Okay. I don’t even know where to begin cause I saw that question and I would say that all of my labors, even from conceiving, my first, Clair to having my last baby, it’s all just been a very spiritual experience for me.
even as a teenager, I had,I don’t know if they were just like small glimpses or whatever, but I knew that I was going to have a little boy named Jacob. even as a teenager.
Kayla: My first baby, it was a girl and so I knew that obviously it wasn’t my Jacob. and so she, she came out, it was a long 27 and a half labor. she was born posterior and my husband and I, when we first found out that we were pregnant, I was of the mind where it’s just I’m having this baby with an epidural and anything you say can not change my mind.
And my husband was like a little bit hesitant. he was born at home by his mother and, he had a little more natural minded view of pregnancy and birth. And, so in a way it was just kinda like just a topic of, like this is my body and I have a say over it, whereas where he was coming from, where it was just like, I want the best for you and the baby.
And so let’s talk about that, and as the pregnancy went on, I got more and more “converted to the natural side of birth”. And it was just like, okay. So by the time I was in labor, he was like, we’re going to have this baby natural without any pain medications and anything like that.
Her being posterior, my, my cervix, didn’t progress past a six. and I was very tired and, 27 hours where it was just like, we’re not making any progress. And it was just one contraction after the next. And I just remember grabbing onto the side rail of the hospital bed and just like digging my fingers into it because the contractions were so hard.
and her head was just pushing against my cervix, but it wasn’t opening at all. and so I opted to get an epidural because I was exhausted. sorry. Three hours of pushing. And she finally came out and there was my daughter just beautiful. And she had a cone head. And I just remember thinking that she was the most beautiful thing in the world.
Kayla: And my husband was just like, look at her head, is that normal? But it was really funny.
Kayla: but then, so time went on and, then I got pregnant again with my second. And again, we opted for a hospital birth. I don’t really know why we didn’t really discuss it or anything like that. it was just in my mind that’s what you do and, that’s where I wanted to have him.
Oh, yeah, we found out that it was a boy. I had a feeling that it was a boy, already. Before the ultrasound. And, so we go in, we find out it’s a boy and I automatically, it was just like, oh, there’s my Jacob. And so what we found out that he was, a boy at 18 weeks. And so for the rest of the pregnancy, we called him Jacob.
And, the labor and delivery was really fast. But the negative side of that was about two weeks before I went into labor. I had, I was really clumsy. I fell in the shower and I broke my tailbone. and yeah, that it did not it, it did not feel good. So I opted for another epidural because he was pushing against my tailbone.
And, that was like worse than the actual contractions.
So he was born and my husband and I, we looked at each other and we looked at the baby and we both just we were like wide-eyed and it was like, this is not Jacob. Like he did not look like a Jacob and he basically named himself. so we named him Landon. And, but after that, I was really confused because it was like, I know I’m supposed to have a Jacob.
and then I was getting some other impressions that I was supposed to have a Jacob, but I also knew that our last baby was going to be a girl. I had some spiritual impressions, from that, just, we never put a number on how many kids that we were going to have, because we both felt like we needed to.
bring in as many children as Heavenly Father wanted us to bring in. and so we had our first two and then I knew I was supposed to have a boy, but I also knew that our last one was going to be a girl.
Kayla: so after the first two I got pregnant again, and I didn’t really have her pregnancy was like textbook pregnancy.
and she was born with an epidural again and all throughout all of these pregnancies, I was trying to do the natural method, but it seemed like things would come up, like Lillian, she was posterior and I wasn’t progressing. Like I wanted to first time moms. And my mind was just frazzled. And then second baby, my tailbone had broke and it was just like, the pain was unbearable and it wasn’t so much the contractions.
Kayla: The third one, I was, I was getting over the H one N one flu. and so I was coughing throughout that entire labor and delivery. and I just could not get in the zone as much as I wanted to because I would contract and it would make me have a cough, like a cough attack. And so right. it just never worked out how I wanted it to.
so she was born and we named her Mary,
Kayla: and then the fourth baby, again, it was very textbook. and this is where I,imagine, I think this is when it dawned on me that I had never been wrong about the genders of my kids up to this point. because I went in for an ultrasound three times with her and every time her legs were crossed.
And so we couldn’t see, what gender she was. and that’s when I had this settling feeling where it’s just it’s another girl. With that feeling, it was like, where’s my Jacob. like I knew he was up there. I just didn’t know when he was going to come.
And I knew it wasn’t our last baby either, even though she was a girl, because Jacob was still missing. And so we knew that we weren’t done having kids. And so we go to the hospital with her and it was a normal labor up till about six centimeters. And I realized this about myself, that when I get to about six centimeters, I start going into transition.
And I, afterwards I realized that this is a very common thing, but you start to feel very, frantic and unsettled I would start pacing around the room where it’s just just very uneasy about where I’m at in my labor, and I didn’t know that,I wasn’t very, educated, but that to me was like a light bulb where it’s just oh, that’s where it started making sense to me how close I was to the end, because I get that.
Panicky feeling uneasiness. and so my husband, I started looking at him where it’s just okay, I think I’m ready for an epidural. And he would look at me and he was just like, Hey, I know that you can do this. I know that you can, and I would have another contraction and he’d helped me breathe through it.
And then I’d look at him and be like, no, I need that epidural.
Kayla: Anyway, the anesthesiologist was outside the door and I was going through a contraction and my husband looked at him and just held up his finger, wait, after the. Labor started happening really fast. And 10 minutes later she was born.
So he was like, he told the anesthesiologist, he’s no, don’t come in. I know that she can do this. I was so mad at him afterwards, like finding out that he told the anesthesiologist not to come in, but we laugh about it now because it’s just that was a turning point in all of my pregnancies because he was, she was small, she was six pounds and three ounces.
but the first words that came out of my mouth after I had her without any pain medication, I looked at my husband and I was like, I can do that again. The nurses, they both looked at me horrified, cause they were just like, are you serious? Like, that’s what you’re going to say after you just had a baby.
Kayla: It was the most exhilarating experience that I had ever felt up, like ever. and that, like I said before, it was just a turning point. because that’s when I decided, okay, I can do this and I can have a home birth. so that was baby number four.
baby number five, came pretty quick after her they’re 19 months apart.
and he, you look at him. and you see his personality and he’s very much my way or the highway. And he’s been like that since the beginning. After Vera, my baby number four was born. I had decided that I really just needed a break and, I put my foot down and I said, Heavenly Father, I cannot have a baby right now, period.
Kayla: And we all know when you put your foot down, Heavenly Father has a sense of humor and he sends you another one. so I, we got pregnant again and that’s when I knew without a doubt that it was my Jacob. I had a very spiritual experience, before he was born, I didn’t know I was pregnant at the time, but there was one day that I was doing laundry and, I had the laundry basket in my arm and I was taking it out of the room.
but I, I saw a little person run out the door. and my first impression was like, oh,that’s my daughter. And I remember like picking up my basket because they were just the right height to where they might’ve hit their head on the laundry basket, And so I was trying to dodge, the child, and two things happened.
Kayla: I realized that there wasn’t really one there, but I also realized that the person that I saw was just this dark haired little boy and. I realized my daughter, who I thought it was, she’s very fair and she’s very blonde. and I just stood there, like aghast, almost just thinking to myself,second guessing myself to where it’s did I really see that?
Did I not see that? And I just, I don’t know. I just broke down crying a little bit because I knew that I was pregnant at that point and I knew that it was going to be Jacob. and so we had a home birth with him. I didn’t have any ultrasounds, but I knew that it was a boy. And he was by far the most, spiritual birth probably out of all of my kids.
The veil was just very thin when he was born and. There were three, four people attending the birth. There was my husband. there were two midwives working together. and then my sister-in-law. And my sister-in-law, she is a huge advocate for, natural. she wants, she wanted to be a midwife.
Kayla: She wanted to be a doula. She had, before my husband and I got married, she was, I can’t remember if she said she was certified to teach hypnobirthing classes, but I know she took them and,was in the works of teaching other people, the hypnobirthing method. and so I, I really wanted her to attend Jacob’s birth because I knew.
After having my first four, I knew that I was going to get frantic. and with my husband, he’s, he was a good coach, but he’s still a man. And so I had a very specific job for him. I needed him to apply counter pressure on my back, because I get really bad back labor. And it’s amazing what you learn about yourself every time that you have a baby and all of these little light bulbs, just come on, So my husband was applying the counter pressure. My sister-in-law was coaching me with like breathe in, breathe out, And the midwives were, it’s funny. They, my, talking to the midwife after she’s I don’t feel like I did hardly anything. She was just there for the ride. Cause I was, I was leaning over my
bed and I was close enough to the ground where she just guided him towards my stomach, And so it, it was very, just, he, I feel like his birth was very graceful and he was born in the middle of the night.
So there wasn’t any disturbances. The room was nice and dim. And I think I had music going in the background, but I think I started turning it off because I was irritated with it. I don’t know why, but, I just wanted it quiet, anyway, so that’s Jacob’s story and he is baby number five.
Baby number six was born two and a half years after Jacob and his was a wild ride. I found out that I was pregnant. he was planned and we, we were very excited. but at this point, having five kids, my body was just having a hard time, near the end of Jacob’s pregnancy, I started having a SPD, which is a synthesis, pubis dysfunction, and, my pelvic bone in the front, because of all the relaxin that my body was making, my pelvic bone would pop in and out of place.
Kayla: And it’s a very painful right in that pelvic area. And,near the end of his pregnancy, I was like walking on all fours, because I couldn’t walk normally. And the crazy thing is that it’s completely hormonal, pregnancy related. So as soon as he was born, I didn’t have it anymore.
Kayla: Like it’s the craziest thing. so with baby number six, Glen. I wanted it really bad, to, I was so ready to be done having kids, but again, it was just like, Nope, I knew. That he was a boy. And I can’t really explain like how I knew these things.
It, I, and I don’t want to make it sound like I’m bragging or anything like that, because I don’t feel that way at all. I just, I, it was just a thought, a feeling and those feelings and thoughts were, correct. Whenever the gender was, revealed, I just knew and maybe it’s mother’s intuition or something like that, but I. I was about, 12 weeks pregnant. And it was just like, I know that this is a boy. And I remember crying because I was just sick and pregnant and not wanting to do this again.
And I just remember having this impression where it’s just like, well, you have, you have this one, but you’re all, you also need to have your girl. And it was just like, ah, so that’s when I knew that it was a boy. Yeah.
Sheridan: Maybe that was a little blessing because it gave you a few months to get ready to that for that.
Kayla: Yeah. There was definitely a lot of mental,I really had to mull things over,like seriously, six baby. I was so ready to be done. and,
Kayla: so anyway, his birth was pretty good. I was seeing a physical therapist for SPD because I had gotten it again. and he, his birth story was with the same midwife.
I actually went into the, into labor the same time that I did with Jacob. And, so my water broke, which that’s another funny thing. All of my kids, my water broke as the very first sign of labor,with all of them. That’s fine. Yeah. And so I never had any contractions or anything like that. My water would break and I just knew I was in labor.
So my water broke and we were going through the motions and I called my midwife and I was just like, okay, I need you to get here. and she was just like,it’s pretty late. Why don’t you sleep? Why don’t you lay down and try to sleep for a little while because your water just broke.
Kayla: And the problem with that is that she lives about an hour and a half away from me. Oh dear. I was calling her and I was just like, Hey, I know you have to drive. maybe you should think about coming down. And she’s okay,she’s very laid back. And she’s okay, we’ll, I think in her mind, she was like, she was worried that I was rushing into things and not, like not really thinking.
Clearly, but in my mind, it was like, I know at this time my labors go fast. I think you need to get here. so then after I got off the phone with the midwife, I called my sister-in-law same sister line. She comes over and it’s so funny because on her way over to my house, she had this feeling where it’s like, where’s the midwife.
So she actually called my midwife and said, what do I need to do if, if you’re not here in time to deliver the baby. And my midwife was telling my sister-in-law what to look for and what to do. And she’s oh, but that’s just an emergency cases. And she’s I’ll be there.
My sister-in-law gets here. And I had some time distortion a little bit, so I can’t remember exactly timeframe or anything. But there was a time that I do remember I’m in, in deep, heavy labor.
Kayla: And I just remember looking at my sister-in-law and I’m just like, okay, where is my midwife?
Where is she? And my sister-in-law, she looks at me and pats me on the back. She says, she’s close. And so I’m just like, okay. And then I have another huge contraction. And while I’m going through that contraction, my sister-in-law looks at her brother, which is my husband. And she mouths to him and she’s like, “She’s not close! She’s like 40 minutes away!”. And my husband, he kinda gets like this panicked look a little bit as he realizes the situation that we’re in, he like composes himself and he’s “okay, Kayla. It’s okay to have this baby without the midwife.” And I’m just like, what? like I, I’m in active labor here and I’m just like, where’s the midwife, where’s the midwife.
And I, anyway, they were very gentle with me and my sister-in-law and my husband, they were just like, Kayla it’s okay. you’re in good hands. This baby’s coming. All you have to do is push him out. And the midwife will get here. So I pushed and he was born and three minutes later, my midwife walks in through the door and, she was able to deliver the placenta, but she missed the baby, but it was fantastic.
Yeah,
Sheridan: that’s a great, that’s a great, I love that your sister-in-law and your husband both just stayed calm and gave, not that you needed permission, but they reassured you, it was
Kayla: okay to just have the baby. and it, I feel I feel like they did give me permission in a way, because it was like, in my mind, I couldn’t get past the fact that my midwife wasn’t there, and it was just like, and it was just like, because the, your body, when you’re in that position, it’s going to do what it’s gonna do.
And, but I was almost working against my body at that point. Not realizing it, but I was keeping the baby inside of me because I was not, mentally prepared, And so when they were just like, Kayla, You can have this baby it’s okay. And it was just like, oh, okay. Yeah, I am. Okay. and so I really needed that during that time.
so anyway, that was Glen
Sheridan: I love it. it has a lot of twists and turns. there’s so many things that I love about it, that I’ll just touch on a few. I love how
you shifted how you started thinking.
I just want. The epidural hospital birth, you shifted mentally, but then ended up with a few of those, but that was okay. It was like part of that progression. And then I did have to chuckle, but also is mad that your husband was like, no to the
Kayla: anesthesiologist
Sheridan: But then he knew like the baby was born 10 minutes later.
So your husband
Kayla: must’ve more in tune than I was. Let’s just say right.
Sheridan: That often moms, when they’re at that very end of transition, just about to push you’re thinking, this will never end exactly around. You often can be like, oh no, like you’re done. Like it’s almost
Kayla: done. yeah. And she was right there.
He’s just Kayla, I know you can do this. and
Sheridan: then that empowered you to go on and say, yeah, I can do this and have your home births.
So what a journey you’ve been on.
Kayla: It’s been good though. I wouldn’t change a single thing.
Sheridan: Yeah. That’s awesome. thanks so much for sharing with us today.
Kayla: Yeah. Thank you for this opportunity. It was fun.
Sheridan: It was so great talking to Kayla and she actually had a lot more to say, so next week, you’ll get to hear the second part of this interview, where she shares a medical event that occurred five days after her baby Glenn was born, which landed her in the hospital. Then having faith to move forward, having that seventh baby.
Even after that scary experience. So definitely come back next week and hear the rest of Kayla’s story.
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