Bradley Richard

Brad was born February 18, 2008 at 34 weeks via emergency c-section at 2:53am. He weighed 4 lbs 7 oz and was 17 inches long.

I was having contractions on and off all day. My water broke about midnight. We woke Billy up and the 3 of us left for the hospital. Billy was excited about being out when it was dark. Since we lived in Florida we didn't have anyone to watch him and so he was going too.
When I got to the hospital I was 5cm, I was ready for the epidural. When they were doing the epidural, they punctured the dura around my spinal cord, called a wet tap which causes a horrible headache.
Then, after all that was over, the same thing that happened after Billy was born, my blood pressure dipped and the baby's heartrate, but this baby didn't pick back up. The nurse started rolling me from side to side then up on my knees, back and forth to get him to pick back up and then started calling for help. My doctor hadn't even arrived yet and a resident came in and said they needed to do a c-section, they started wheeling me out immediately, people all around me and I waved goodbye to Rich and Billy. Rich couldn't leave Billy but even if he wasn't there it was happening too quick for Rich to get ready. When I got in the operating room, people were running all around me and they were calling for a NICU team, I remember them scrubbing my belly, my epidural never kicked in and I was so scared. Then, a nurse that was holding my hand put a mask on my face and the next thing was I woke up in recovery. They gave me a general so I was asleep for his birth. When I woke up, I felt my belly and wanted to know where my baby was, a NICU nurse came in and said he was ok and gave me a picture of him. The doctors told Rich after he was born that they were in such a hurry to get him out that they cut his face. IT wasn't bad and there is no scar. He was really bruised, the whole side of his face was purple. I could barely speak for a week from being intibated. We were both pretty beat up, but we were ok. From the time they decided to do the c-section to his delivery was 6 minutes. While I was still asleep, a nurse asked Rich what the baby's name was. He said my wife wants it to be Bradley and she said "Well, that is his name then"



He spent 10 days in the NICU







The three of us couldn't wait for him to come home...




Brad loves to eat, build with blocks, dance, go to the Y, calls, and have snacks.

William Lewis

Billy was born January 30, 2007. He surprised us very early arriving at 32 weeks. Hhe arrived at 6:26pm, weighing 3 lbs 11oz and was 16.9 inches long.

Throughout the night before he was born, I kept waking up feeling times of upset stomach, I thought. Eventually I couldn't sleep through it and called my mom about 6am. She said I needed to call my doctor. I decided to be at the office when they opened at 8:30. Rich said I just had indigestion since I was cleaning the night before and ate an entire pizza. So, he went off to law school and I drove myself to the doctor. By the time I got there, I could barely walk, the contractions had become so painful. My doctor saw me at the desk, trying to pay my co-pay and I could barely stand. They put me right in a room, hooked me up to monitor and examined me. I was 1 cm and 100% effaced. She said I needed to go to the hospital and that I shouldn't wait for Rich and that since it was rush hour they called an ambulance. I met Rich at the hospital. They tried to stop labor giving me Magnesium Sulfate but I kept progressing. At 7 cm, I got an epidural and was finally able to relax a little. My blood pressure dropped and the baby's heartrate right after the epidural but his heartrate picked right back up and all was fine. Right before he was born, my doctor called a NICU team and they were all there as I pushed him out and then they took him and checked him out. He was really doing well, just tiny and really early, but healthy. We were so lucky. We had not picked out a name yet and thought we had more time. We chose his name in the delivery room. (A trend that we continued 2 more times!)




He spent 5 weeks in the NICU.





When he was released he weighed 4 lbs 10 oz. He spent the next 9 months on an apnea monitor at home.



Billy is now 2 and a half year old, he loves going to the YMCA, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, watching Ninja Warrior with his Dad and brother, B-ball, doing sticker books and puzzles.