Brittyn Elizabeth's Birth Story

Brittyn Elizabeth Williams was born at 1:49 am on April 14, 2012. But her birth story began much earlier than that!

After I had the procedure done on Wednesday afternoon (April 11), I was in mild pain for that whole night. I slept until about 3:15am, and then I couldn't really turn my mind off so I just laid in bed thinking about what was about to come. I got up around 6:15, and we got to the hospital around 7:15. When I got there, my friend Kimberly, who is also the best Labor and Delivery Nurse known to man helped prepare me to begin labor. They started medicine to get the process started, and continued to give me the medicine every couple of hours.

I really thought we would have her by lunchtime that day, but lunchtime came and went and I was still not making progress. One of the reasons I have always had C-sections, is because my doctor says that I have the "cervix of steel" that pretty much refuses to dilate. They were consistently giving me medicine, and I was only progressing to like a 2 for most of that day. I did not take anything for the pain all day throughout all of my contractions, because I really thought I could go without it, and that she would come quickly. When we got to 11:00pm that day, I realized I was wrong, and started taking IV pain medication so that I could sleep. Even though I took the medicine, I could still feel contractions all night long and still by morning was not making much progress.

Since I had been in labor over 24 hours by Friday morning, my doctors decided to try a different fun procedure. I don't know the proper name for it, but it consisted of a balloon being blown up in my uterus, which was designed to put pressure on my cervix, and help it dilate. The balloon is designed to come out once the cervix is to a 4 or a 5. After a couple of hours, I still wasn't progressing, so they tied a big bottle of water to a string and tied it to the ballon and let it hang off my bed. Um yeah. Not pleasant. I continued to take the pain medicine throughout the day. My contractions began getting really strong and close together, and very painful. They stayed this way most of the day on Friday.

By this time, to say that I was frustrated is an understatement. I was very confused and irritated. I and many of you were begging God to let my little girl be born, and He wasn't allowing it. I just could not understand why in the world He would want me to labor for SO long, only to have the end result of a stillborn baby. There were a lot of tears needless to say, but I just kept having to remind myself that He is God and I am not and "His ways are NOT my ways and His thoughts are NOT my thoughts". We did not want me to have a C-section, because to have one I would have had to have a vertical cut on my uterus, and since I already had a horizontal one from my other sections, this would mean that any other pregnancy I might have in the future would be a risk, and I would always have to deliver around 36 weeks. I care about Kailey and Makenna too much to take that sort of risk, so that would have definitely meant that Brittyn would be our last child.

By 7pm I decided to get an epidural. I had been in labor for 36 hours, pretty much feeling every contraction, and the balloon had still not come out, which would imply I was only a 3. One of my doctor's thought this might help relax my body and make things happen as well, so I didn't argue with the suggestion. The epidural worked wonders for me. I felt so much better.

Ok...dont' read this next part if you are squeamish, but it is an important part of the story!

After about an hour I began to feel really nauseous. My nurse gave me a pill for nausea, but it did not help. My nurse went out of the room and my nurse friend Kimberly (who was now off duty) and my friend Erin snuck in the room to check on me. Thank HEAVENS they did. All of a sudden I had to throw up and I had no way of getting to a trash can or anything due to my epidural. Kimberly grabbed a bag just in time and I threw up everything I had eaten for my entire life. BUT, as I did that balloon SHOT out of my cervix. It was actually quite comical, and was definitely a good sign. The doctor came to check me and I was a 5!

Brittyn was still pretty high, so it took awhile for things to progress. At around 12:15am the doctor came to check me again and things started moving more quickly. By 1:30 I was fully dilated and then I started having major contractions and at 1:49 am, and after nearly 43 hours labor, Brittyn was born. Thankfully, the placenta and everything delivered at the same time as her, so I didn't have to have any other procedures done. Casey was able to cut the cord for the first time ever, which was really special. They brought Brittyn back to me in her special blanket, after she was cleaned up. She was 14oz and 10 inches long. They said she looked "perfect" and they couldn't find anything wrong, so we still don't know how she died. Casey and I spent time looking at her perfectly formed hands with fingernails, and perfect little feet. She had a tiny little nose and tiny little ears. The sad part was, we are pretty sure she must have passed away a couple of weeks ago, based on how she looked. Even though this was the case, she was still our third baby girl, and it was still so very hard to let her go. Our moms, my sister Laura, and Erin, all got to come and see her. They helped us take a few pictures and say goodbye.

I could feel everybody praying for us in those moments because I had the strongest feeling of peace as we were saying goodbye to her that I have ever felt. I thought I would be a crying mess, but instead I only cried some, and enjoyed being with her the rest of the time. We still have a long way to go in this journey, but I know God is with us, and I know Brittyn is with Him in Heaven right now.