I have had a request to post my labor experience with Brylee, it is way way way long and I won't feel bad if ya skip reading this one all together. I actually wrote this back in June mostly for myself and maybe Bry would like to read it someday. So anyways it's way overdue but here ya go.......
The Birth Story of Brylee Allred
June 9th 2009
By Amber Allred
I woke up at 2:30am early morning of Monday June 8th to a big WOAH what was that. I had been having “contractions” for a few weeks prior to this but not like what I was feeling now. So I get up and go to the bathroom thinking it might just be full blatter pressure. Nope, ten minutes later the same thing happened and ten minutes after that, same thing. I woke Jay up and ask him to go get my ipod in the car. I’m not sure he knew what was going on but disoriented, he went and got it and handed it to me. After months of practicing the hypnobirthing sessions I started listening to my birthing affirmations, they say things like….I trust my body and my baby to know what to do, or I feel calm, I feel safe, I feel secure. It is just encouraging words that help you visualize a perfect birth. At this point I think Jay caught on to what was happening, and we just laid there while I breathed through the contractions.
Morning came and I had not slept, the contractions were definitely regular every ten minutes but surprisingly there was not much pain, just pressure. We went on with the day like normal but every ten minutes I would have to stop what I was doing and focus. We made cupcakes and banana bread just to stay busy. Around 2 or so in the afternoon the contractions became 7 minutes apart. I wanted to do as much of the labor at home as I could. It was so peaceful and calm at our house, so we continued to work through the labor at home. Six o’clock comes around and they are now 4 minutes apart. Jay is giving me that look like, I think we better go. I said no, lets stay here for a little longer and he gave me the same look so I gave in and decided it was time to go to the hospital.
We arrived at Intermountain Medical Center about 7:30p.m. and the nurse checked me, I was dilated to a 4 so she decided to monitor me for an hour and see if there were any changes. An hour goes by and when she checks me again I had changed to a 5. She said, you guys are here to stay you’re in active labor. That was a bit of a relief because I always hear those stories of people that got sent home 3 times before they would let them stay so I was glad about that.
Jay and I start walking the halls, at this point the contractions were 3 minutes apart and still not much pain. I had my ear phones in one ear playing my play list of calming music I had downloaded during the pregnancy and in the other ear Jay would say words of encouragement that really put me at ease. I also had some calming oil that he would hold up to my nose, and almost instantly the smell made the contraction less intense. So we walked and walked every three minutes stopping where ever we were Jay would put his arms around me and calmly and lovingly talk me through it. Our nurse told us that the nurse next to her commented on how there is no way I was dilated to a five with the way I was handling it. I was even surprising myself at this point, because although we had practiced for months I never really knew if I was going to be able to stay calm and do it. Another thing I noticed is that when I was in deep meditation everything around seemed like a dream. I still couldn’t tell you where our room was in the hospital, we walked the same halls over and over again but I paid no attention to where we were.
We did the birthing ball with light touch massage and that was very comforting as well. Jay read me some of the book I was reading at the time and I was trying so hard to focus on the words coming out of his mouth but I couldn’t comprehend anything he was saying. I didn’t care, I continued to let him read to me even though I didn’t know what he was saying it was very soothing to hear him speak. Weeks later I actually went back and had to re-read the chapters Jay had read and couldn't remember a single word of it, it was crazy to me how powerful meditation really is.
The nurse came in to check at 1:30 a.m. and let me know that I was now dilated to a 7. Wow I thought, this is going great Brylee is going to be here in no time. An hour or so later I was at a 8. Still calm, and in control. At one point the nurse came in and I was sitting there brushing my teeth. The nurse kept saying, I cannot believe how good you are doing, wow.
My water broke at 4am. I wanted to do some more hypnobirting sessions so I told Jay that he should lay down and try to get some rest. I had been up for over 24 hours by now but did not feel tired, I knew he had to be. He laid down and fell asleep for a couple hours. I know that this was the deepest into my body I had ever been, when the contractions would come I would tell myself that I am in control of my body and I control the pain level. The mind over matter was actually working, it was amazing. It was like I was on some sort of powerful drug.
As the next few hours went by each time the nurse came in I was staying the same. I had no reason to be concerned because Brylee’s heart rate was staying right on track. That was another nice thing, I only had to be on the monitors once an hour to make sure things were going good, the rest of the time I was free to do what I want. 6:30 am rolls around somehow, I couldn’t believe how fast time was flying by. Four hours seemed like 10 minutes. The nurse explains to us that my labor has stalled and that after 7am my doctor would not be able to deliver so if we want to try to “speed things along” we have that option. I did not want to be put on Pitocin, that was one of my fears so I told her that we are fine and we would have whatever doctor that is here do the delivery.
Around 7:15am my doctor walks in, I was surprised to see him because I knew his shift ended at 7. He starts explaining to us that the birth has been stalled for a long time and that it is dangerous to be at an 8 for so long, something about c-sections and on and on and on……I can’t go into much detail about this part because this is the moment I started to feel pain and can’t remember much that was said except that Brylee might be at risk. Jay describes it as seeing the wind get knocked out of my sails. He said that it was the first time he saw pain in my eyes, the first time I grabbed the railing on the bed in pain. So I had lost all of my positive thoughts, all the calmness was gone. I was beyond exhausted at this point, the only thing in the world I wanted was to be out of pain. I couldn’t go on, I couldn’t regain my thoughts. They wanted to start me on Pitocin as soon as possible. I looked at Jay and told him I wanted the epidural. As soon as I got it and the pain had subsided I started to cry. I had this whole vision in my mind about how I wanted her birth to go and this was not the way I had envisioned it to end. He kept re assuring me that this was not a failure, that I did amazing and I am still doing amazing. I still felt like in a way I had given up.
I got the epidural at 8 and by 10am I was dilated to a ten and ready to push. I had Jay call my mom, at this point we had not told anyone that I was in labor. We wanted it that way, we wanted everything to remain as calm as possible and the only way to do that was for me and Jay to be the only ones to know until she was born. So it was a bit of a shock for my mom to hear that I was ready to have her any time. My mom and Shae headed up and got there just in time.
It took 13 pushes and she was out, my doctor almost didn’t make it. I was pushing with the nurse and before I knew it she said WOAH, stop pushing. He rushed in at that moment and her head was already out. He barely had time to put his gloves on and she just eased on out without anymore pushing. They immediately put Brylee on my stomach and one of the first thing I thought was wow, this is a heavy baby. I completely thought she was going to be tiny because throughout the pregnancy I never really got too big. She was definitely solid, not tiny at all.
She was the most beautiful thing I had ever laid eyes on, she started crying right away and I just held her tiny hand while she was staring into my eyes. They took her to get cleaned up and Jay went with her, she connected with her dad immediately, she could not take her eyes off of him. She weighed 8 pounds 13 ounces. Our little angel was born at 11:03a.m. and she was 21 inches long. And to top it all off she chose to come on June 9th exactly 3 years to the day that Jay and I met, it could not be a more special day for us.
What a perfect healthy baby girl we have, I could not ask for a more perfect pregnancy, labor or delivery. So all together I was in labor for 32 and a half hours and 3 of the 32 I had an epidural. I can honestly say that I don’t feel like a failed or gave up anymore. The outcome and goal was to get Brylee here safe and that is what I did. I am so thankful for the joy she has brought into our lives and I am so thankful for Jay because without him I know I could not have done as well as I did. What a blessing to be able to be apart of is all I can say.
