The Day our Whole World Changed...

Bryleigh’s Birth Story, Part One

So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you.  We ask God to give you complete knowledge of His will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.  Then the way you will live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit.  All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.  We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need.  May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father.  He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to His people, who live in the light. 

Colossians 1:9-12

As I mentioned in my latest blog, we knew that being induced was a strong possibility, and after our appointment on Monday, January 13, we realized it was very likely.  I had not made any progress over the past few weeks, and it didn’t seem likely that I’d make much more before Dr. Harris left the country the following Saturday.

Dr. Harris has been my doctor since I was 20 years old.  He was the one to diagnose my endometriosis, and he was the one to perform my first surgery to try and relieve some of the pain I was experiencing.  He has been honest with me about the difficulties of getting pregnant, but he has also been honest with my about his faith (OUR faith) in God and God’s ability to perform miracles.  I always left his office with HOPE. 

We wanted HIM to be the one there with us when Miss Bryleigh entered the world, and looking back…I’m even gladder than I ever imagined that it was he who was the doctor that was in charge of my care throughout my labor and delivery.

We were scheduled for a procedure where they would implant a device called a Cervidil at 8:00 pm on Thursday, January 16.  It was definitely a weird day to go throughout my normal routine and finish packing/getting ready, knowing just how much our lives were about to change…not to mention the fact that I was scared out of my mind!!

Saying goodbye to Emmitt and packing up the car to hit the road and go have a baby!

This was the picture we sent out to friends and family to let them know...
It's GO Time!  We just had no idea things were already going! :)

After running a few last minute errands in Arlington and dinner at Macaroni Grill, we headed to Downtown Dallas and checked in to the James M. and Darlene D. Collins Women’s and Children’s Center at Baylor Medical Center.  We filled out one piece of paperwork and our nurse for the night, Katie, came right out to take us to our room.  (This part definitely went MUCH faster than I expected!  We were in our room, H-0108, and I was in a hospital gown before it was even 8:00.)

As we got to know Katie and she got to know us, she got me set up on all the necessary monitors and began to fill out some of the information she needed to get us all checked in (you know, medical history, pregnancy history, personal information and so on…I would say blood type to be sarcastic, but she actually DID ask that one).

All of the sudden she said, “Okay, now tell me about the pain you are having.”  I assumed this was just one of those “gauge where we’re at” questions, so I didn’t really know how to answer.  I mean, I was as uncomfortable as I had been for the past few weeks due to growing a life inside of me, but I didn’t really have any pain so-to-speak.  So I just let her know I wasn’t really having pain at the moment. 

She went on to ask, “Well tell me what’s going on where the baby is.  What are you feeling right now?”   To be honest, I was feeling what I had felt since I was about 17 weeks pregnant…tightness in the area of my uterus.  It had moved and intensified as my belly grew, but there was no mistaking this tightness was something I had been feeling for the past 23 weeks off an on.  It was the same feeling that any of the nurses I talked with had shrugged off as Braxton Hicks contractions.  I explained to her what that tightness felt like and that more than anything, it made it difficult to breathe…and I honestly can’t tell you at what point those feelings had started on this specific time.

She looked at me and then back at Brad and laughed and said, “Well Carrie…those are contractions.”  This was exactly what we had prayed for.  I hadn’t been dilating anymore and didn’t seem to be making any progress, but we kept praying that God would start my labor without needing any assistance, and although we still had to get the Cervidil, He DID answer our prayers and progress was being made. 

Katie began to wrap up her assessment and started to get very quiet.  I was already laying in the hospital bed and she was working on a computer that was a little bit behind my head, so I couldn’t actually see her, but Brad was watching her pretty intently and finally said, “Are you counting something?”  To our surprise, Katie responded, “Yeah…it looks like your contractions are coming every four minutes and they are lasting about a minute each.” 

 

I was SHOCKED…and so excited!  My biggest fear was going in to the hospital, telling all of our friends and family, going through some part of the process, then not progressing enough and getting sent home.

The next few hours were a blur with nurses and residents in and out to check on things and get everything started.  I had to have my cervix checked (I’d rather give birth to be perfectly honest with you…) a few more times, and it was still showing that I was between a 2 and a 3, so we went ahead with the Cervidil implant.

Over the course of the next several hours (which I mentioned are quite a blur to me), my parents and brother arrived, and my labor rapidly progressed.  It actually progressed too quickly and our sweet little Bryleigh wasn’t getting enough rest between contractions.  Earlier in the evening, our nurse let us know that Bryleigh’s blood pressure was dropping with each contraction I had, so this was something they were monitoring…and we started to monitor too.  My mom and Brad watched as my contractions would skyrocket and Bryleigh’s heartbeat would start to decrease.  There were also hours at a time that her heartbeat was being monitored and we could hear it in our room.

Because of the issue with Bryleigh’s blood pressure dropping, I had to put on an oxygen max and I was given medicine through the IV I had been given earlier as a precaution for reasons such as these.

At some point, my dad and my brother headed back to Arlington to stay at our house for the evening, and my mom and Brad stayed up at the hospital with me.  I wasn’t able to sleep much due to all of the different things connected to me, listening to Miss B’s heartbeat, and working through what had become some pretty intense, frequent contractions.  And I’m not quite sure at what time over night, but due to those intense and frequent (too frequent) contractions, the team of nurses, residents, and Dr. Harris decided that we needed to remove the Cervidil to further give Bryleigh some relief.

Around 5:30 in the morning, after being in labor for 9.5+ hours, the contractions changed from a tightening of my uterus on the top left side (the ones I mentioned earlier that pushed on my diaphragm and made it hard to breathe) to the most intense, excruciating pain I have ever felt in my life.  At this time, I thought something was wrong with Bryleigh, or that the Cervidil had caused some sort of problem with the baby/delivery.  For a good 20-30 minutes all I could do was squeeze the arm rail of the bed and hold my breath as I tried not to wake my mom and Brad up.  My monitors had also come off at some point, so the nurses weren’t aware of anything that was going on in the room, but thankfully, Katie came in about the same time a new contraction started and both my mom and Brad woke up.  I couldn’t do much talking, and Brad did what he could to comfort me, but I knew it was time (past time…) to go ahead and get the epidural.

Katie was a LIFESAVER during this time, because I was having these intensely painful contractions while needing to sit up and sit STILL in the bed while I received the epidural.  She had previously had a natural birth, so she was able to help me breathe through the next 10-15 minutes, and it definitely made a difference!  Once the epidural was in, I was able to relax for the next few hours before family came back up to the hospital and Bryleigh’s BIRTHday got started!

Around 7:00 in the morning, we said goodbye to our fabulous night nurse, Katie, and hello to our new nurse (and someone that now holds SUCH a special place in my heart…), Theresa.  She was just as friendly as Katie and we spent time getting to know her each time she came in our room.

These ladies will always hold a very special place in my heart!!

Dr. Harris came in before he headed over to his office for the morning appointments, along with a final check by the night Resident and then a few visits by the morning resident.  I was progressing perfectly, even without the Cervidil, and the progress checks were being used to determine if I would need any Pitocin.  I was dilating between 1 and 3 cm each hour, and the other factors were progressing as well.

Alan, Candice, Tate and Olivia all came up to the hospital on Friday morning (along with Pappy) for some more time before they had to head back to Conroe for Alan’s Disciple Now, and then Brad’s parents and sister came up as soon as Deanne finished up working.  Tate was definitely a “bright spot” for me and took my mind off all that I was SO afraid of.  I had IGNORED the fact that I was going to actually have to deliver this baby for the entire pregnancy, and pretty much denied the facts for the final weeks of my pregnancy.  I treated it like a joke to most of the people I talked with, but I was honestly scared out of my mind.  I just wasn’t sure if I would be physically able to do it!

 

At some point, the nausea that had plagued me for the prior 40 weeks of my life hit full force and I spent a lot of time holding a nice little blue throw-up bag, and finally decided to get some anti-nausea medicine.  The first dose didn’t work, but I found it fitting that I threw up IN the delivery room on the day I gave birth.  It was kind of like the punctuation mark on the journey of hyperemesis.  However when the nurse heard that I had gotten sick, she recommended we try a different medicine and we went ahead with a second dose.  She let us know that any nausea I had at the time would only worsen throughout the delivery process, and I did NOT want to add that to what was about to take place.

Once I got the second dose, I was pretty much in and out of it for the rest of the morning.  I could hear what was going on in the room, but I couldn’t really respond or open my eyes.  I remember being TERRIFIED that I was really not going to give birth at this point because I couldn’t feel much of my body and I couldn’t get myself to really wake up.

I guess when the doctor comes in to check you and tells you you’re dilated to a 10 and ready to push…YOU GET READY!  I was pretty much awake from that point on.  This was the moment we had waited for, THIS was the moment we were going to get to meet our sweet little girl!

Bryleigh’s Sweet Delivery

At 12:55 pm on Friday, January 17 I got the word that it was time to push.  We had made it to a 10 without Pitocin!  Theresa had been our day nurse since she came on shift at 7:00, and she was there with us every step of the way…answering every question we had and giving us suggestions, advice, and feedback on all that was going on.

Theresa let us know that I was having really good contractions for giving birth – they were lasting a good amount of time to be able to really push with them, and there was enough time in between them that I would be able to rest, but not where we would be sitting around waiting and not making any progress.  As the delivery process started, we pushed 3 times for 10 seconds each and then rested.  During each rest, we carried on conversations, shared our story with Theresa, and got to know her even better.  It was definitely a lot calmer and laid back than I ever imagined.

This was during one of those "laid back times"

 

And during a "not so calm" time...

At some point, while I was pushing, Theresa noticed that I was not making much progress and she really felt like Bryleigh was not facing the direction she should be.  She felt like Miss B had her little face pointing up rather than down, as a normal delivery would have.

Dr. Harris came in around 2:00 at Theresa’s request, and he verified that Bryleigh was face up and looking to the left.  He did what he could to try and turn her, but he didn’t have any luck.  He also made an adjustment to the bed and had me push that way for just a bit, but that didn’t help either.  He was honest with us, and it was just about the last thing we wanted to hear at this point…we had three options: Forceps, Vacuum, or C-Section.  My initial reaction and immediate response was C-section.  I just couldn’t imagine the other two options, and I didn’t think that I was emotionally or physically strong enough at this point to go through with either of those.  But Dr. Harris could tell by my demeanor that I wasn’t convinced of any of those options, so he said he’d give us another hour to try and we could decide when he came back.

After he left the room, we asked Theresa what her opinions were and what the risks were for each of the options we had been given.  The conversation was fairly short because we all three decided that I was going to deliver this baby vaginally with no additional help…so that’s what we started working towards.  The two changes that made the largest difference were the fact that my epidural was starting to wear off and I could actually feel where and what I was pushing and the fact that we added some handles on either side of the bed for me to hold on to as I pushed.  I’m well aware that I have short arms, and that had been working against me for the past hour as I tried to push holding the backs of my legs.

I had already been praying off and on during the day, but NOW I prayed through every push, and I prayed through every bit of “down time.”  I claimed scriptures of strength and courage over Bryleigh and myself and trusted that God would absolutely give me the strength I needed to get this baby girl here as safely as possible.  I trusted in His plan for her life and for mine.

A little bit after 3:00, and with little warning, Theresa made the call for Dr. Harris, “We’re ready for delivery.”  I seriously couldn’t believe it.  I couldn’t believe that I had been able to get to this point.  I couldn’t believe that the only thing between me and that sweet baby being in my arms was Dr. Harris coming to the room and (hopefully) a few more pushes!

Our last moment before Miss B entered the world. SO thankful for this man!!

It was all going very fast with very little time to process, but before I knew it, Dr. Harris was in the room and we were pushing.  I pushed through two contractions, so a minute’s worth of pushing, and she was HERE.  I can’t even explain the amount of emotions that were going through my mind and heart at the time…I was completely overwhelmed and so relived that our dream to have a child was actually a reality.  She was here, she was perfect, and she was beautiful…and she was a lot bigger than any of us in that room ever expected!

Just like so many other moments in my life, and just like the miracle of us even being able to get pregnant in the first place – our delivery was 100% in God’s hands and all that we pushed through (literally…) would not have been possible without Him guiding our every step.  We were in EXCELLENT hands at Baylor Hospital.  Dr. Harris is a wonderful doctor who has helped me immensely over the years, and Theresa was a ROCKSTAR nurse, but I know that it was God that allowed us to be able to deliver our baby without any intervention, and we are so thankful for that!!

Miss Bryleigh Renee Hammons was born at 3:28 pm on Friday, January 17, 2014 after 20 (plus) hours of labor and 2.5 hours of pushing, weighing 9 pounds 8.6 ounces and measuring 20.6 inches long with a FULL head of dark hair.  She was absolutely perfect in every way, and her sweet cry was the most precious sound I had ever heard in my life!

When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.  I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His spirit.  Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him.  Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.  Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. 

Ephesians 3:14-19

Our first family photo! :) SO incredibly blessed by these two lives.  One made me a wife, the other made me a mommy!

I would like to say a VERY special thank you to Morgan Elliott of Morgan Hope Photography for being with us and capturing such a special day.  (Her images are seen here in black and white for this blog post.)  It is one we will never forget, and we have beautiful images to look back over each and every day as we remember such a special time.  Your professionalism captured the day perfectly, and your friendship helped calm our nerves during a time that could have gotten pretty stressful.  Thank you just doesn't seem adequate!