Happy Birthday, Ellis!

On Thursday, April 10th, we decided to take a family walk on the trails near our house.  I had been to the doctor 2 days earlier for my 39 week checkup and hadn't made too much progress since the last week.  Earlier that day I had started having some small contractions here and there and decided that maybe a nice long walk would induce labor!  I even posted these pictures on Facebook with the comment "Took a long family walk on the trails tonight.  Hoping to get this baby out!" 

What would be our last family pic with only 6 feet. :)

My big belly and my big boys!

The trails we walked circle around a large shopping and restaurant area, so we stopped off for dinner at one of our favorite places, Mandola's.  

Lane LOVES their bread!

After we got home that night I snapped this pic of my belly.  Excuse the messy bed in the background.  I just had a feeling that this might be one of my last nights with a baby in there!

{39 wks 3 days}

 

And boy, was I right!!  Around 1am, my contractions really picked up and were coming every 10-13 min and lasting about a minute long.  I started timing them using an app on my phone and they quickly became so painful that they were waking me up every time.  I was basically taking 10 minute naps and waking up with each contraction.  They were STRONG, and I could tell they were not Braxton Hicks!  By 3am I couldn't take them anymore, so I woke up Kyle and let him know what was going on.  I decided to get in the bathtub to see if they would go away or continue.  The tub felt great in between contractions, but they continued and I can remember them feeling just as painful in the water as they did in bed!  I knew then that this was probably the real deal!  If it had been mid-day I would have already called the doctor, but with it being the middle of the night I decided to wait it out and see if they got closer together.  (My doctor had always told me that they needed to be about 5-7 min apart to be serious enough to go to the hospital.)  

For the next few hours, they continued to come every 10 min on the dot.  I remember them hurting so badly that I would literally say "ouch" out loud over and over, my body would stiffen, and I would have to do the labor breathing techniques I learned 4 years ago at childbirth class!  6am rolled around and I absolutely couldn't take it anymore.  I decided to call the doctor on call and she got back to me immediately, advising me to go ahead and get to the hospital!  The time was here!!!

The next 30 min were a blur.  I rushed downstairs to get the rest of my belongings packed and added to the bags I already had packed and waiting.  We had to wake up Lane and get him in the car, and Kyle took a quick shower.  My contractions were really picking up and getting unbearable.  I went out to the car with Lane while Kyle did some last minute things inside and I remember laying on the horn for him to get his booty out there!  We arrived at the hospital at 7:15 am and were in our room by 7:30 or so.

Smiling through the pain--excited to see Ellis' sweet face!

The nurse checked me right after I got changed and into my gown.  I was already dilated to a 6 and was told my water could break at any time!  Looks like those all night contractions had done the trick!  I was relieved to hear I had progressed so much already and knew it wouldn't be long until we could meet our little girl!  

The nurse wrote this "plan" on the board while we waited for Ellis' arrival

By 9:00 am I had my epidural and was feeling MUCH better.  There was a scary moment soon after, where the baby was in a little bit of distress.  I had rolled over to my left side and evidently Ellis didn't like that too much.  The nurses all got really serious looking and had me flip back to the right side, while intently watching the monitors.  The next thing I know, Dr. Walker, the on-call doc came rushing in out of breath.  I knew then that whatever was happening was serious.  Things quickly turned around and Dr. Walker said I must have just gotten in a bad position that was affecting the baby.  She ended up breaking my water while she was there, and things really got moving!  This was at 10am and I was already dilated to an 8.  The nurses went ahead and called my doctor to head to the hospital!  (She was at the other hospital she works out of that day in Lakeway.)

Having some ice chips and all smiles in between contractions.

Dr. Schneider arrived and checked me at 10:20 am.  I was 9.75 cm....ready to push!  I started pushing about 10 minutes after she checked me around 10:30 am.  Just under an hour later, Ellis Paige Coots was born at 11:20 am on 4-11-14!

She looked perfect!  Getting all cleaned up...

They weighed her 3 different times and got a different weight each time.  They ended up taking the middle weight of 7 lbs 8 oz, and measured her length as 20 inches -- the exact same weight AND length as I was when I was born!!!

Kyle snapped these pics of her on his phone.

 

All cleaned up and in Mommy's arms!  The best feeling ever!

Our first family picture with our baby girl!  Just missing her big brother...

Getting her first bath

She had to lay under the heat lights for a little bit to get her temp back up.

Our perfect girl!  Very alert after her first meal.  (She nursed like a champ right away!)

The nurses brought me an ice water cocktail complete with a diaper koozie!

9 months of waiting to conceive, 9 months of waiting for delivery, and it was ALL worth it!!!  We are so thankful for a uncomplicated delivery and a healthy baby.   

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ELLIS!

She's Here!

Just hours after my last blog post, contractions began in the wee hours of the morning.  After laboring at home for 6 hours, we headed to the hospital at 7am on 4-11-14.  Only 4 hours later, we welcomed our daughter to the world!

Ellis Paige Coots

Born on 4-11-14 at 11:20am

7lbs 8oz & 20 in long

All cleaned up and looking beautiful!

We have been busy, busy with our new addition and her big brother.   In the past week, we have had family in town, Lane's soccer games, school, and Easter, all while adjusting to life with a newborn and a 4 year old!  I hope to update again soon with her detailed birth story and lots more cute pictures!  For now, here is the LAST installment of our chalkboard pictures.  What a collaboration it was!  Thanks to big brother, Lane for being such a trooper for 9 whole months!

 

We are so glad SHE'S HERE!

Pregnancy Update: 39 Weeks

Still no Ellis!  Our sweet girl is taking her sweet time and as Lane says "She must like being in your tummy better than coming out."  He also told me "Mommy, I love Ellis so much even though she isn't even here yet!"  Gotta love that kid!  

He was feeling pretty peppy for our weekly chalkboard picture this week and kept making funny faces!  I had mentioned that this would hopefully be our last one, so he turned on the silliness!  I find myself 4 days away from my due date now, so he may have to gear up for one more picture on Monday when I'll be 40 weeks.  I wish I had a crystal ball to predict the future!

On Tuesday, I went in for my 39 week checkup with Dr. Schneider.  I was hoping for a big change when she checked my cervix, but no such luck.  Last week I was at a 2 and this week she said "I could maybe call you a tight 3" with a smile on her face as if she was just trying to make me feel better!  I was about 50% effaced, and she said I could go into labor tomorrow or it could be another week.  She has always said she would only allow me to go one week after my due date without inducing.  Let's hope this baby decides to make her appearance on her own!

Here are the rest of the details from the doctor visit:

• Blood pressure normal--120/78
• Baby's heart rate was in the 150's
• I lost 0.8lbs since last week, bringing my total weight gain down to 20 lbs and some change

Since my appointment I have had increased contractions here and there throughout the day/night, but nothing major.  We are crossing our fingers we get a baby this weekend!

Waiting on Ellis...

For the last 2 weeks I have had the mentality that Ellis could be here "any day now."  I guess it is the fact that I delivered 3 weeks early with Lane.  The anticipation is growing and we can't wait to meet her!  While we wait, we have been keeping ourselves busy at home and enjoying the company of our firstborn.  His life will be drastically changing soon, as will mine and Kyle's, and I am trying to soak up the last couple of weeks with my only child!  Looking back on my pictures from these last 2 weeks, I am realizing that we have been doing a whole lot of going out to eat!  I haven't been cooking quite as much as normal and we have been trying to get out of the house, resulting in a lot of eating out!  Soon, our meals out will be a little more stressful, so I guess we will enjoy the "tables for 3" while we can!

One night we went out for crawfish at Pappadeaux, only to find out that they only serve crawfish 2 nights a week.  We missed out on that one, but ended up going to a different crawfish place the next night to get our fix!  Lane has been loving this crayon/paper holder that he got from Nate for his birthday.  He takes it into every restaurant and has fun coloring and drawing pictures.

One afternoon after school we ran by to pick up dry cleaning, and walked next door to TCBY for some frozen yogurt.  Lane hadn't had this in a LONG time and loved it!  He got fruity pebbles, m&m's, strawberries and sprinkles on his. Yum!  :)

One of Lane's favorite things to do is eat at Chick Fil A and play on the playground.  He is really good about eating all of his food before asking to play.  He loves their nuggets that much!

 

He was looking awfully cute that day in his new shirt and fresh haircut, so I took a couple of pics of him on our porch.  Such a handsome little dude!

 

Daddy has been getting home pretty early from work since the deal he has been working on closed.  He is quickly taking over my spot as the "favored parent."  Lane was a pretty big Mama's boy for a long while, and lately he has been swaying over to Daddy's side.  Those two are best buds!  Now that it stays lighter longer and Kyle gets home earlier, they have been taking advantage of the extra light and playing outside each evening.  Lane loves to ride his cop car, Ziggle, and tricycle, and has fun playing cops and robbers, t-ball, and soccer with Kyle.    We have also been playing lots of family games and doing puzzles when it gets dark.

We are so excited that baseball season his here!!  Lane wore his Rangers shirt on opening day and had his game face on!  Too bad the Rangers lost...

We have watched every game so far, and Lane still says his favorite Rangers player is Elvis Andrus.

I was treated to an awesome concert later that day...

 

Lane wore a new outfit to school this week.  His first pair of colored skinny jeans.  Lol!  It's getting warm enough for short sleeves and he has some new spring and summer clothes I am excited to dress him in!

 

On Wednesday, I took Lane to the new museum called The Thinkery.  It just opened a couple of months ago and Lane had a really good time.

   

One of his favorite things was a giant magnet wall with magnetic wooden blocks.  He played here for a good 30 minutes!

Best friends!

There was a neat playground that Lane climbed on for a while.

He loved "grilling steaks" at this exhibit.  He would flip them and make them sizzle, then bring me a plate to taste.

 

Such a cute chef!

Our music man found the drums!

We stopped for a snack and Lane found a pretzel in the shape of an "e" for Ellis!

Back to the fun!  This exhibit was watercolor painting with spices.  They had all different spices that made different colors and smelled very strong.  Lane said they smelled "disgusting."

He also enjoyed the kitchen/farm area.

More fun...

At this exhibit, Lane had to build a foam airplane and use the launcher to try to shoot it into a basket.

 

Scout was due for her vaccines, so Lane tagged along one afternoon to offer his support.  Aren't these two cute?!

 

On Friday night, we went out for pizza at East Side Pies.  We had heard it was one of the "must try" pizza places in Austin.  We were planning on going to the UT baseball game that night, and East Side Pies was really close to the stadium, so it worked out perfectly!  Gotta love a good, greasy slice of pizza!

Lane was decked out in his collegiate gear to watch the Horns.  Of course, he didn't watch much of the actual game, but did have a lot of questions and begged the entire time for a hot dog bun and ice cream.  Not a whole hot dog...he won't eat the weenie.  This was all after eating a slice of cheese pizza at dinner!  We made it through about 3 innings and although he probably could have lasted longer, we decided to leave, stop for ice cream on the way home, and watch the Ranger game in the media room. 

 

Two cute Longhorns!

Saturday morning was Lane's second soccer game.  It was a chilly morning and only 5 players showed up out of 8.  Then, to make things more difficult, one player refused to play and the other hurt his knee at the very beginning of the game.  That left our 3 little guys to play the whole game against a team of 8.  Only 4 kids from each team can go on the field at a time, so we were only outnumbered by one, but we had some tired boys after the game was over since we had no subs!  Lane did really well again and had fun.  He came soooo close to scoring his first goal.  He was open, right in front of the net, the ball came right to him, and.....he whiffed.  It was funny and cute and disappointing all at the same time!  He didn't seem to even care, and Kyle and I were just cracking up!  I am hoping with all my heart that I don't miss his first goal while I am home with Ellis.  I am not sure if I will be able to take her to many of the coming games because of the weather and how young she will be, so chances are I will have to miss a few of his games.  I'll be so sad if I miss a goal, but hopefully Kyle can catch it on video if it happens.  (And it very well could NOT even happen this season, which is ok!)

We took it easy Saturday after soccer, and that night Kyle grilled some delicious steak/chicken kabobs! It had been a while since he had grilled and they were pretty tasty!  

On Sunday we went to brunch at Texas French Bread and stayed home the rest of the day relaxing and watching the Rangers, cleaning house, and playing with Lane.

Lane almost never falls asleep mid-day unless he is forced to take a nap in a bed, but all the fun this week must have worn him out!  Kyle was all proud that he "got" Lane to fall asleep on him.  :)

Even Scout joined in on the lounging!

We've been keeping ourselves pretty busy, but still no sign of Ellis Paige making her grand entrance!   No real contractions, and I am still feeling pretty good, so who knows if this will be my only "Waiting for Ellis" post or not!!  I very well might be drafting a similar post in the following week.  Crossing my fingers I don't have to, though!!