The Day Alyssa Michelle Barfield was Born.

It was November 19th, 2003.

Pam and Ealy came to pick me up right on time 5:20 am. Brett met us at the hospital from work. Poor guy had to work all night then go to the hospital. I was there right at 6:00 am! Nurse Sandra took me to my suite #8! It was a big room. I undressed and they started the IV’s. Brett was busy admitting me so Mom and Pam stayed in the room while the nurses got everything started. I had gained 22 pounds total this pregnancy which was great in comparison to the 42 pounds that I had gained with Trent.

Anyway, they came and took blood, checked my vitals, then at around 7:00 they started my pitocin drip. For the next hour every fifteen minutes they increased the drip and after a while I started to feel the contractions. They seemed to be stronger on my left side. Brett held my hand and Mom rubbed my back. I worked through them. Dr. Simpson-Jones came in around 8:00 and broke my water. That REALLY hurt. She laid me completely flat and did it. I remember talking the whole time to keep my mind off of what she was actually doing. She draped my legs and the floor. Brett said he was glad she was doing that because he didn’t want his new shoes to get messed up. Knowing he was joking, she looked at him and said that he shouldn’t have worn them then. I told her I felt as if I was getting my teeth cleaned. She laughed. But once again I really didn’t feel and big gush just a warm feeling. But it really hurt; looking back I think she must have scraped my membranes alittle bit to get me going.

Immediately after she broke my water I told Mela (my nurse)to call for my epidermal. During the wait I was REALLY starting to feel the contractions. Brett was so good at helping me work through them.
The anesthesiologist finally arrived around 8:40. I was alittle nervous about moving. But I did fine. In it went and it really didn’t hurt very bad. It just felt like another needle prick. I felt the comfort almost immediately. With every contraction I felt less and less. He waited around about another fifteen minutes to make sure everything was OK. The pressure was really getting intense. My left side was still hurting. It was a dull crampy feeling in my upper leg. I remember the anesthesiologist talking on his cell phone and popping up to tell Mela to check me because of all the pressure that I was feeling. I told Mela that I thought I needed to push. She said well let me check you, and don’t you surprise me! The checked me and her eyes got really BIG. She said, “Yelp! You surprised me.” She could see and feel the head! I was clearly 10 centimeters and ready to push.
Before she could even call for her Dr. Simpson-Jones came briskly into the room. She said, “Let’s see what's going on in here!” She said that I was ready to have the baby! Unknowingly to me, she was at the nurse’s station watching my monitor when she noticed a decrease in Alyssa’s heart rate. The umbilicord was really tight pressing against her neck. Everything then happened so fast. She instructed me to push and Brett started counting. Within 10 minutes at 9:20 am out came Alyssa Michelle Barfield.

Mela asked Brett to cut the cord, but Dr. Simpson-Jones interrupted stating that the cord was “alittle” tight and that she would have to cut it. She lifted Alyssa on top of my stomach. She looked really blue and wasn’t breathing. The nurses whisked her away and I kept saying, “Suction her mouth!” “Suction her mouth!” I was trying to concentrate on what the doctor was doing to me instead of Alyssa. I told Brett to go over to her. The resuscitation team quickly came in and finally got her breathing.

I couldn’t believe that she was finally here. She looked huge! I thought for sure that she was over 8 ½ pounds. She had dark hair and really, really chubby cheeks.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl.

Alyssa's 1st Birthday