Birth story of Tanner Joseph Morey

Tanner Joseph Morey was born on Wednesday, December 17 at 6:09pm. This is the story of his birth!

I was 5 days past my due date and waiting at home with Eli and my mom. I had finished teaching and was ready to get this baby here!

December 16, 9:00pm - While shopping at Wal-mart, I had my first contraction! We kept walking around the store to get the contractions going. We rented The Chronicles of Narnia and watched it at home while I rocked in our glider and did a ton of squats. I was having contractions, but they weren’t that painful and they were irregular.
We tried to sleep, but my contractions got worse, so I couldn't sleep. I laid on the couch when they started getting painful and timed them using Excel. They were lasting 45 seconds and were 2 minutes apart. Eli called Labor and Delivery and they told us to head on over!

December 17, 4:45am - We left for Mountain View Hospital in Payson. It was snowing and my mom was with us.


5:15 am - I was only dilated to 2cm. Before I could be admitted, the nurse waited for an hour to see if I would progress at all. The contractions started getting even more painful and I eventually threw up from the pain.

My contractions and the baby’s heartbeat were monitored.


6:55am - I was at 3cm so they admitted me. I got an IV and signed a bunch of papers.


Eli ate my breakfast. I was starving!! I'm glad he was able to eat something!

My mom started calling the rest of my family.

To relieve the pain, I walked through the halls...

...and rocked in the rocking chair. (Eli didn't know that I was in the middle of a contraction when this picture was taken!)


7:50 am - Dr. Fitzgerald, the anesthesiologist, gave me the wonder drug to take all the pain away! I listened to Christmas songs on my iPod to distract myself, but the epidural wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Pretty soon, I could feel my legs tingling, but couldn’t feel the pain. Thank goodness for pain medication!
Eli was awesome through the whole labor and delivery. I love my Eli!

The pain was gone so I took a nap!


8:15 am - My nurse, Kathy, asked me a bunch of questions. I was still at 3cm.

8:50 am– Dr. Anderson broke by bag of waters. There was meconium mixed with the amniotic fluid. Meconium is the first form of poop for a newborn. Tanner would have to be given to a respiratory doctor right after he was born to clear the meconium out of his lungs. I was dilated to 4cm.

10:55 am – Dilated to 5cm. Halfway there!

11:00 am – I started having really bad stomach pain so I kept pushing the button to give me more epidural medicine. It didn’t help so they gave me something for a stomach ache. It didn’t kick-in for a couple of hours. I threw up because of the pain again. (Sorry about how disgusting I look in this picture!)

11:40 am - Dilated to 6 cm.

12:00 pm – Dilated to 7cm. Eli's dad, Lenny, showed up. He waited outside of my room for the entire labor.

1:00 pm – Dilated to 8cm. I started having really bad pain in my back. It ended up being kidney pain because the baby was pushing against it. My mom was also very helpful during labor - I'm so glad she was there.

1:15 pm – Anesthesiologist shot the epidural anesthetic straight into my IV for a higher dosage to relieve the pain.

I fell asleep once the stomach pain and kidney pain were gone.2:05 pm – Dilated to 9cm.

2:30 pm – Woke up and couldn’t feel my legs at all due to the increase in anesthetic. Major claustrophobia!!!!!!!!! I panicked so I tried to sleep and not think about it.

3:15 pm – Kidney pain came back (it felt like a constant painful contraction) and I still was really anxious because I couldn’t feel my legs. Still 9 cm. The only thing getting me through was the fact that I only had 1 more cm to go. I was excited to see my baby! Eli gave me lots of ice chips.

3:30 pm – Given Pitocin to speed up dilating the last centimeter. I could feel the contractions and the kidney pain, even with the epidural. Eli, my mom, and my sisters took turns fanning me, rubbing my back, and trying to keep me calm because of my claustrophobia anxiety. I'm so grateful for all the support I had.

4:00 pm – Baby’s head was lower, still 9cm.

4:50 pm – Given a low dose of anesthetic for kidney pain and contractions. I had to decide between claustrophobia and pain relief. We tried to relieve both. It didn't work. I was in so much pain and just wanted it to end.
5:25 pm – Dr. Anderson checked and I was really only dilated to 8cm. I had been stuck there for 3 hours. He said that my pelvis wasn’t big enough for the baby to pass through. He decided to deliver the baby by Cesarean section.

I was given an extra large dose of anesthetic through my epidural. By the time I got to the operating room, my entire body from my neck down was numb. (Pictured here is the anesthesiologist - he was so nice and really helped keep me calm.)

Eli got ready to go into the operating room with me.

My mom reassured me that everything would be alright. I inherited her body type - she had all 5 of her children by c-section because she was also too small to deliver normally. (The doctor told me that I am a c-section momma from now on unless I have a tiny baby.)


5:47 pm – Taken to the operating room. I started panicking because I couldn’t feel my entire body. The anesthesiologist tried to keep me calm and I focused on breathing to relax so that I wouldn’t panic. I asked to be knocked out but they wouldn’t do it. They had to wait for the other doctor to arrive to start the surgery.

My mom, sisters, and Lenny all waited outside of the operating room.

6:00 pm – Eli was brought into the operating room. He sat next to me and put his face right next to mine. He talked straight through the surgery about anything he could think about in order to distract me from panicking. Thanks Eli!

I was SO tired and hungry while I waited for the doctors to start the surgery. At least I would finally be able to see my baby.



6:09 pm – I heard the baby cry!!! It was the most beautiful sound - It made me cry! I couldn’t see him because of the curtain.

Eli went to see the baby while the respiratory doctor cleared his lungs of the meconium and they checked him out.



He had a cone head from being stuck inside my pelvis for so long.

Tanner weighed 7 pounds, 15.1 ounces. He was 21 1/2 inches long.

They showed Tanner to me.

It was SO amazing to actually see my baby!!! Love at first sight!

Eli took him to the nursery.


I panicked and started to hyperventilate after Eli left. I was given a drug that calmed me down – the anesthesiologist called it the “date rape” drug because I was alert and calm, but couldn’t remember anything while I was on the drug. Eli told me later that I started talking to the doctors about Disneyland and my favorite rides while they sewed me up. He was surprised that I had calmed down so much and asked the anesthesiologist what he gave me!

The next thing I knew, I was back in my delivery room with an oxygen mask over my mouth and my mom and sisters by my bed. I waited to regain feeling in my body.

Eli took pictures of Tanner in the nursery and showed me.



I talked to my dad on Skype while I waited for Tanner to be brought to me.

8:00 pm – Eli went to ask for the baby to be brought to me. They said no.

8:45 pm – My mom went to the head nurse to demand the baby. The head nurse argued with the nurse in the nursery about giving me the baby. She said that the baby had to be “bathed” first. My mom said NO, take the baby to his mom. It had been almost 3 hours since he was delivered and I still hadn't seen him. I wanted to cry, "Bring me my baby!!!!!!"

9:00 pm – As I was being taken to my recovery room, they brought Tanner to me. I held him for the first time. He was beautiful and perfect! How had this little person just been living inside of me???!!!

He had my lips and nose and Eli's eyes and chin.

My precious angel - such a miracle.
After my mom, Aly, and Kristie held Tanner, they left. Eli and I admired our darling baby boy. He was perfect. It was a LONG & exhausting day but so worth it when I held Tanner in my arms.

Tanner Joseph Morey. Born December 17, 2008.

We are grateful that he is here and love him more than anything! He is the best Christmas present we could have ever gotten!

Here's a slideshow of pictures of Tanner's first 10 days of life: http://www.flickr.com/photos/33768143@N05/show/