Brady Paul Burless has Arrived!!

I'm so sorry for leaving you hanging...

On Monday, July 21st at 12:41pm, our son, Brady Paul Burless was born at Winnie Palmer Hospital in Orlando. He weighed 7 lbs. 15 oz. and was 21 inches long (exact same measurements as Katelyn, isn't that funny!). Our c-section went very well...having a scheduled c/s is the way to go! After a strange night...I started contracting just after midnight and they came about every 5-6 minutes for an hour and a half and they were getting more and more painful, then they just stopped... we were able to spend the morning with Katelyn and my parents at home, then said a quick goodbye (Katelyn cried a bit). We checked into the hospital right on time, at 10am, then had to wait a while to be called back to get ready for the c/s. I think it was about 10:45 when we were escorted back by a sweet nurse named Millie. They hooked me up to what seemed to be a million monitors...I had cords coming from all directions! My OB stopped in to say hi and to see if we had any last minute questions, then noticed from the monitor that I was contracting again. She told me it was a good thing we were scheduled for now...looks like I was going into labor. Once the nurses found out I didn't know the sex of the baby, they started guessing. After watching the fetal heartbeat and looking at my belly, they all guessed a girl. They had me convinced!! I had myself already to be welcoming baby Sarah Grace in a matter of minutes....afterall, who would know better than OB nurses?? My epidural was put in, then I started shaking uncontrollably (side effect of the epidural). They couldn't get an accurate blood pressure with all my shaking...at one point it registered at 354/100!! I started getting emotional as the time got closer, then they let my sister Ali come back to see me before they wheeled me into the OR. Once I saw her, I just started crying. I was so nervous and excited and just couldn't believe in a matter of minutes, I'd be holding my baby. She had to leave, Bryan had to stay behind to get into his surgery gown, so the nurses wheeled me down the hall. Once I got into the OR, the radio was playing and a U2 song was on. The nurses and I talked about how much we loved Bono and I couldn't believe how relaxed everything was. The anestethiologist (sp?) was a woman my age and was super nice. She never left my side. Once Bryan came in, I started crying again...I just couldn't believe we were there and the baby would be born in a matter of moments. I never saw my dr., she was on the other side of a huge blue tarp, but someone told me they were starting. We just waited quietly, then they warned me I'd feel lots of pressure as they pulled the baby out. I heard my dr. say "this one has a big head!" I waited to hear the cry, then they said, "it's a boy!" I couldn't believe it!! I looked at Bryan, who had kept this secret for months. I knew he was estatic to have a son, something he's wanted so badly for so long. I was so happy! Brady took a while to take that first breath and cry and it took forever to hear him. Bryan told me he was blue and the cord was wrapped around his neck and his first apgar score was only a 4. Finally, we heard him cry and the weight and height was read out to us. Bryan was able to go over to where Brady was being examined, then they finally brought him to me and laid him on my chest. I was so afraid of dropping him because I was quite numb and my arms felt very heavy. He lay quietly on me and I was able to take a good look at him...very curly brown hair, dark blue eyes, sweet little chin...perfect little boy!! They took him to the nursery with Bryan in tow and gave me a medicine to make me sleepy for the rest of the operation. I kept dosing in and out of sleep, then they took me to recovery. I was pretty out of it, but I realized the nurses were concerned about the amount of blood I was losing. They paged my dr. and she came in to see me right away. I was given a shot in my leg (still totally numb) and they kept checking me. The shot didn't do what they wanted, so I was given another shot in the opposite leg. I could see the concern on my nurse's face, which made me nervous. I could see all the blood they were cleaning up from me...it was a lot! The head nurse stayed close by and then they had to give me a pill to help my uterous contract. I'm so glad I was on drugs, or I would've been in a panic. I'm also glad Bryan wasn't there, so he didn't get worried. Everything finally stabilized and my sister and Bryan were able to come back to sit with me. I was still so drugged, so I had trouble keeping a conversation going. I was finally taken to my hospital room at 4:30...3.5 hours after my surgery (I was only supposed to be there for 1 hr.). I was soooo thirsty, and my nurse gave me ice chips and I swear it was the best treat I ever had!! Ali, her husband Rob, and Bryan were waiting for me in our room. Our room was amazing...we had an incredible view of downtown Orlando and the room had a very modern look with dark hard wood floors, a chocolate brown glider/rocker, granite counter tops in the restroom and an armoire for our clothes, etc. plus a murphy bed for Bryan. Brady was wheeled into our room at about 5pm, and I was finally able to hold him. He had just had a bottle in the nursery since he had to wait so long for me, so he was content and sleeping. We all took turns holding him, then my parents arrived with Katelyn. She was so excited!! My mom brought Brady over to her and let her hold him (with lots of help!)...so sweet to see them together at last! I was so, so sore and still a bit groggy from all the drugs, but I was able to eat some chicken broth and jello and I felt so much better after some food. What a wonderful, wonderful day. Ever wish you could press rewind on a day or a moment in your life? Today was one of those days for me :-)