Brynlie Jo Bird's Birth Story

My entire experience with my pregnancy was to say the least wonderful. I was quite blessed with a pregnancy that never really slowed me down in daily life, or made me rarely sick. I know not everyone has such great pregnancies that seem to agree with their bodies like I did so I know I am truly blessed. I loved being pregnant, I loved knowing my child was growing inside of me. Feeling every little kick made my heart flutter. Building this relationship with my child before she was even born was unlike anything I have ever experienced in my life.

My due date was September 7^th & at both of my ultrasounds they confirmed I was actually a week further than we thought. But if it’s not a difference of over nine days the doctor doesn’t change it because these sweet babies really don’t care all that much about their expected due date. So I just counted up seven days & August 31^st was the due date I was going off of. My mother was always early with each of her kids so I was convinced that I would have this sweet baby in August. Not to mention we have so many birthdays in September I thought an August baby would be so fun!! (Well that didn’t turn out like I thought did it?)

The week of the 31^st came & went but there was no sign of baby wanting to make her debut. Then over the next couple of days I started to have contractions. This made me so hopeful that she would be coming soon. Then an entire week went by, I was still having contractions pretty regularly  & my mom was doing everything to try to get me into labor. She was constantly pressing & rubbing certain pressure points on my body, making me press golf balls into the pressure points of my feet while counting cards at work. I even bounced on an exercise ball for 4 hours during a BYU game at my mom’s house trying to make my contractions more intense. Nothing we did ever made my contractions more intense. It was Labor Day weekend & we kept debating on whether we should go to the hospital just to have my contractions monitored & finally just decided to wait till my next doctors appointment the following Tuesday.

Tuesday September 8^th I went to Dr. Nance’s office for my weekly routine check. They checked my protein levels, my weight, & my blood pressure. The nurse had to walk out of the room to grab something & as soon as she got back she read my blood pressure off the machine. It was 154/98, which is very unusual for me since during my entire pregnancy I was always in the 120’s. I wasn’t nervous or anxious, nothing had happened to my to make my blood pressure so high. Dr. Nance then came into the room & checked to see if I had progressed over the last week. I figured with all of those contractions I would have progressed a lot but he said I was still only dilated to a 2 & 75% effaced. He was very concerned about my high blood pressure so he decided to send me to the hospital to be induced…I was going to have a baby today or by the latest tomorrow morning!!

I called Chance to tell him the news & my mom took me back to my house to get my hospital bags. Chance met me at the house & then drove me to the hospital. As we were driving he looks at me & says, “you know this drive to the hospital is a lot less stressful than I anticipated. At least we aren’t rushing to the hospital at 2 in the morning after having your water break in a complete panic!!” My mom & mother in law met us at the hospital at about 1:30 & we waited about an hour till my room was ready & then I was admitted. They started monitoring me & checked my blood pressure ended up being absolutely perfect. So they called my doctor to make sure he still wanted me to be induced. My dad left work to come give me a blessing before everything started. In the blessing he asked our Heavenly Father to watch over the baby & I during this labor which brought me so much peace. I had always been so scared about going through labor but I knew that I was being watched over & had faith that everything would be okay. They started me on Pitocin at about 3:00 p.m. to get my contractions going & they had Doctor Thorpe who was the on call doctor at the time come in & break my water. It was so incredibly painful & he couldn’t break it, I was too posterior & my water sac hadn’t dropped into place where it was supposed to be so they would just have to wait until I progressed a bit further. So at about 5:00 p.m. Dr. Nance called my nurse & suggested I get my epidural so that when his clinic hours were over he could come break my water. I was hesitant to get the epidural so early into my labor but knew I did not want to feel them trying to break my water again so they got the anesthesiologist & I got my epidural. Every half hour they came in to turn up my Pitocin & soon enough I was on the highest dose they could give me. I couldn’t feel them but my contractions were going crazy on the monitor. Dr. Nance came & broke my water at about 7:00 p.m. & I had progressed to a 4 so we still had a ways to go.

Around 9:00 p.m. is when things started to get a little tricky. They kept flipping me to different sides because of my epidural but every time they shifted me over to my right side baby’s heart rate would drop. Most of the time it would jump back up to the baseline heart rate but at times it would take a lot longer than we would have liked. They turned me over to my left side & put me on oxygen. At one point babies heart rate dropped from 140 to 53 & that really got us worried. The nurses were fantastic though, as soon as her heart rate dropped they were in my room trying to figure out what was going on. They made me feel so well taken care of which I was so grateful for. In such a stressful situation they really helped me stay as calm as I could. We kept on watching the monitor & kept a good eye on that heart rate. They had to keep adjusting my Pitocin & at one point they turned it completely off that would help “restart” my body & help with the babies dropping heart rate.

The nurses let me know that Dr. Nance had been in contact with them about ever half hour & that he was monitoring they baby & I from home.  Then around 12:30 my nurse asked me if anyone had talked to me about the possibility of having a C-section. This threw me for a loop because not once during my labor had that ever crossed my mind. Then the phone in my room rang, it was Dr. Nance & he wanted to talk with me. He let me know that he was on his way over to the hospital & he was just calling to make sure I was doing okay. He said he could come & check my progress but he was very worried about my baby girl & her heart rate. He told me a C-section might be the best course of action to get her here safely. I was a nervous wreck, I started shaking uncontrollably so Chance & my mom tried to calm me down. Chance was a champion during the entire thing & my mom took care of every need I had, I couldn't have done it without the two of them. My mom was constantly asking me what I needed & what could she do for me. For hours she kept blotting me with a wash cloth because I was so incredibly warm the entire time. Chance presented a strong front the entire time especially when the babies heart rate was dropping. Even though he says he was nervous he never let it show & that really helped me through the entire labor. 

I was so relieved when Dr. Nance walked into the room. Throughout my entire pregnancy I had always felt so safe, & well taken care of by him. When it came down to it I just trusted that he knew what he was doing. He said I was progressing nicely but I was only a 7+ so I would probably be in labor for another 5 hours & the baby was just not tolerating labor very well. He promised he would take good care of us & they brought I the anesthesiologist to numb me for the operation. Chance got dressed in his hat, mask & gown…. he looked like a lunch lady & it made me laugh. My mom gave me a hug, kissed me on the forehead & told me that everything was going to be just fine. I tried to give her a reassuring smile as they wheeled me down the hall in the operating room. I felt like I was in a movie, looking up at the ridiculously bright lights in the room. They transferred me from my bed to the operating table & put up a blue drape to block my view. Chance sat diagonally besides me while the brought me a anesthesiologist, and then hooked it up to this hose that blew warm air in it. The entire time I had been in labor I had been so freaking warm so when he told me he could turn the air on cold I felt so much better. Even with the air cranked on me I was still so warm. Chance said that room was absolutely freezing. I was asked if I could feel any pinching on my stomach & I couldn’t. I was so numb all I could feel was touch & pressure. Chance gently brushed his hand back & forth over my forehead, his hand were cold & it felt so nice. I felt uneasy starring at the drape or the ceiling so I just closed my eyes for the majority of the operation & tried to focus on something else.

It was about ten minutes into the operation when Dr. Murdock warned me I was about to feel a bunch of pressure in my chest cavity. After a few seconds of this pressure I heard the most beautiful cry I have ever heard in my life. It was loud & strong, it instantly brought tears to my eyes. One of the nurses walked over to me with my sweet baby in her arms & said, “hey Mom!! Okay Dad come with me.” Chance got up & followed the nurse into another room where they cleaned her up a little bit & weighed her. A few minutes later Chance walked back into the room holding our sweet girl in his arms. In that moment my whole world changed. As I looked up at him holding our baby I swear I felt my heart burst. I had waited for this moment since I saw those two pink lines on my pregnancy test back in January. That is my baby. She is my girl. She is my daughter. I am a mother.

We took a few “family pictures” & then the nurse asked Chance if he would like to bring the baby to our room down the hall to show our families. I told him to go ahead & go see the Grandma’s since I wasn’t able to hold her yet anyways. So he ran down the hall while my C-section was being finished. During the C-section the doctors & nurses were so calm which really helped me stay as calm as I could (plus whatever drugs they gave me to calm me down) It was an amazing thing to just listen to them as they worked. They talked about half marathons they had ran & it was just another day at work. The entire procedure was about 45 minutes & before I knew it I was being wheeled back into my labor & delivery room. It wasn't till I got back to my room that we were told what that when they got to the baby the umbilical cord was wrapped so tight around her neck, then lodged against my bone & her head then wrapped around her forehead. The nurse had told my mom it was such a good thing that we did the c-section when we did because if we had continued on with labor there was a very high chance it wouldn't have been a good outcome. 

I wasn’t even able to hold her for about 40 minutes because my epidural had given me the shakes so badly that I was afraid to hold her. So once those finally calmed down I was able to hold my sweet baby girl for the first time. As I was holding her in my arms & I looked at Chance & asked if I could name her. He smiled at me & asked, “well what do you want to name her.” I looked at him, he already knew what I wanted to name her. I had wanted it ever since I was pregnant. I gave her a kiss & named her Brynlie Jo Bird.

Welcome to the world gorgeous girl. I love you more than you will ever know.