Eli Bradley

Eli Bradley

Nickname so far: Lil Buddy

Birthday: February 25th, 2012

8 lbs 14 oz 

20.5 inches

The Birthing Story 

(for those who are interested)

When the Ultrasound technician told us that our little boy was around 9 lbs. with a week still left until the due date, our Obstetrician Dr. Parekhji recommended we induce soon to prevent some of the complications that can occur with a big baby.  I had really wanted to go into labor without an induction this time around, but after a lot of deliberation and prayer we decided that it would be best for the baby, me, and the girls if we induced early.

         At my appointment earlier that day (Friday, February 24^th) I was not dilated at all.  But when we arrived at the hospital the nurse announced that I was at a 3, we thought she was joking.  But nope, we had to change the plans for inducing, and ended up just hanging out for a few hours, played a game of Settlers, and went to bed.  At 1 a.m. they started me on Pitocin.  By 7 a.m. my labor hadn’t really started yet.  I wasn’t surprised because with the girls the Pitocin had never gotten things going.  After some heated discussions between my OB and the nurses, the Ob got them to dramatically increase the amount of Pitocin.  Things actually picked up, and I started having Labor pains.  I wanted to tough it out as long as I could before the epidural, not wanting to be stuck in bed for hours and hours.  By 11 a.m. I decided that I couldn’t take it any longer (pain level 7) and asked for the Epidural.  It helped a lot, but I wasn’t near as numb as it had made me before.  I was only dilated to a 4 at this point.  At 11:37 am Dr. P arrived to break my water, so I was super glad I hadn’t waited any longer to ask for the Epidural.  After everyone left I told Brad he should go grab some Lunch real quick.  Almost immediately I started feeling really uncomfortable (pain level 4), which I thought was weird for having an epidural.  Within minutes the pressure was intense, and I called for the nurse to come back in.  She checked (it couldn’t have been more than 10-15 minutes from the last time she checked) and I was fully dilated and I was already feeling a strong urge to push.  The OB had left to go check on some patients at a nearby hospital, so the nurse went to call her back.  I called Brad and couldn’t even tell him what was going on, all I got out was to ask him to come back, and then started crying. 

            Basically the epidural wasn’t working from the middle of my abdomen down.  I’ve never gone through natural labor so perhaps it was working a little bit, but all I knew was that this was a lot more than what I was prepared for. It took a little while for Dr. P to come back, but after some quick prep and teaching me how to push through the pain, I was able to get our baby boy out in 10 minutes, 4 pushes.  I was so focused on the pain and getting it to stop that I was completely taken back when they placed little Eli on my stomach at 12:50 pm on February 25^th, 2012.  He weighed in at 8 lbs. 14 oz., and 20.5 inches long.  Brad and I quickly became overcome with emotions and of course fell immediately in love with him.  Brad cut the cord and after a quick cleaning they brought him back.  We had come to the hospital with 4 names we were debating on, Sean, Eli, Derek, and Ian.  Brad was leaning towards Eli, and I was leaning towards Ian, but once we saw him we immediately agreed on Eli.   

            Cali was so excited to see and hold him, but Laney was a little distracted by the hospital setting that she wasn’t as excited about the baby as I thought she’d be.  She kept asking about my bracelets, if I was stuck in the bed, typical things that she would be worried about.  But I knew when we got him home in a more comfortable environment she’d warm up to him.  I decided that it would be nice to be home Sunday night instead of Monday morning since Eli seemed just perfect and was sleeping and eating well.  So Sunday morning after a quick rush to get everything done we were okayed to go when we were ready. Once we got home it was nice to settle in a little bit and go straight to sleep without nurses or anyone bothering us.  It took Eli a little while to go to sleep, but once he did he slept for 5 hour stretches. 

            It feels so good having all of us here and around.  We’ve definitely been missing little Eli as a part of our family.  We’ve had nothing but a fun and relaxing couple of days.  Brad took the girls to the park for a picnic and Eli slept so well while I finished unpacking and settling in.  I’m not naïve to hope that everything stays so calm and peaceful.  But just having the 5 of us here together feels so right and good.