Elias Ezekiel Bradley

Born: March 8, 2010 at 10:14pm
at Community Memorial Hospital, Ventura
8 lbs. 3 oz.
20 in. long

It was a wild ride, but he is here! Praise the Lord!!! We went into the O.B's office on the 8th for our routine last check up before the baby was to be born, and surprise surprise...our little guy who had been head down the entire last part of the pregnancy had pulled a stunt maneuver and had wedged his behind in the birth canal instead of his head. This is called "frank breach." He was ready to come out and it was impossible for him to turn...so our Dr. gave us our 2 options...
#1 C-section (the most used in this situation)
#2 Regular Delivery...but with the risk of having an emergency c-section
should the baby go into stress. (our Dr. is one of the only ones in the state that will do this kind of delivery...I am so grateful to have him and that he gave us the option)

I was really bummed out at the thought of having an unexpected surgery at the last minute especially since I had such a smooth delivery and recovery with Noelle, and was expecting the same with this one. So, Adam and I had to make the quick decision on the spot of what to do...#2 it was. So the Dr. stripped my membranes to put me into labor...it worked a few ours later, the contractions were 3 mins. apart by that evening when we checked into the hospital. He broke my bag of waters and all of the sudden it was on....the contractions became serious business, and then I was ready to push. They rolled us into the operating room, just in case and had the anesthesiologist standing at my head ready to knock me out should we need an emergency c-section. Everything went super smoothly and he was out in about 10 minutes and 3 big pushes. Bum first...then legs, and lastly the head. I must say, it was one of the most nerve wracking processes I have ever been through, yet also a bit exciting. The nurses were not all on board, it was split about 50/50. Most had never seen this kind of delivery since most Dr.'s will not attempt this and automatically do the c-section. Once Elias was out, everyone was kind of giddy...the anesthesiologist, the Dr., the attending nurses. As they wheeled us out of the O.R. the halls were filled with chatter of delight and amazement.

And we are so thankful for everyone praying for us. The Lord is so faithful and we are so grateful for His provision for our family, and for the safe arrival of little Elias. He is a delightful little guy already. He has an adorable round little face and a calm disposition. Pretty much just sleeps all day and occasionally has a sweet little cry. We love this little one so much already, and are so happy he has joined our family.

Elias = The Lord is my God.
Ezekiel = Strength of God.

We have already had some visitors as you can see in the pictures above. Thank you dear family for trekking all the way out here to visit our little man, and for taking such good care of Noelle and the Izzy dog.

So far some of the family have been calling him Eli and Zeke...

Let the wild rumpus begin!