Ellie Callait Johnson

Leon here. Brittany has decided to allow me to post from time to time. I guess a bad post is better than no post at all right? Well, I just wanted to let everyone know that we have a beautiful, wonderful new addition to our family! We named her Ellie Callait Johnson. One might ask, "What's up with that middle name?" I'll tell you. Ellie Johnson is just such an all-American, vanilla name, so we wanted to spice it up a little bit with the middle name rather than going with the usual Marie or Anne. Callait is an ancient Greek word that means beautiful and honorable. It is pronounced ku-lay. We hope that Ellie will live up to this name by being beautiful both inside and out, and by always striving to be honorable in the choices she makes throughout her life.

Brittany with her oxygen mask about an hour before starting to push

So here's the story: on Monday, September 13, we went to the doctor's office and had him strip Brittany's membranes in hopes that we could start labor a little sooner than her due date of the 27th. We didn't think it would happen soon if it worked, but to our surprise, Brittany started having powerful contractions at about 2 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Not wanting a repeat episode of our adventure in Thatcher when they flew Brittany out to Mesa in a helicopter, we waited a few hours to be sure it was the real deal before going to the hospital. Once we got there, Brittany was already 5 centimeters dilated and 90% effaced. They gave her an epidural as soon as they admitted her and then we just napped until about 10 a.m. We had a big scare at about that time because the nurse came in and gave Brittany an oxygen mask, explaining to us that each time Brittany had a contraction, the baby's heart rate dropped drastically. She said that maybe a cord was wrapped around Ellie's neck. This worried us a little bit (well it worried Brittany a lot), and each time she had a contraction we could see that the heart rate went down from around 150 bpm to about 60 bpm. However, the nurse didn't seem to be too worried about it and said that if it was serious the doctor would be in there to help out.

Our little Ellie just after coming from heaven



So, Brittany continued to contract and dilate until about 11 a.m., when the doctor came in and said that it was time to push! It was so exciting and Brittany did such a good job. It made me feel so much love towards her to see her doing such a good job and giving her all to make sure our baby girl  came into the world safely. What an experience it was when I first saw her head protrude a little bit! I could see from the first glance that she already had a lot of gorgeous blond hair. Brittany kept on pushing and finally got to the point where the head stopped going back in so much each time. It was very sad for me to see that the doctor decided to do an episiotomy, I was shocked to see him just grab some scissors and make a huge cut. But it worked and sweet little Ellie came into the world at 11:48 a.m. on Tuesday, September 14, 2010. We were so grateful to Heavenly Father for sending us such a healthy, happy baby. She hardly cried at all when she came out, which we thought was a little weird, but it turns out that she just isn't a big crier.  They weighed and measured her, and she came in at 7 pounds 1 ounce and 20" long. As soon as the birth was done Brittany said, "That really wasn't bad at all, I could do this again soon." And the truth is that she was blessed to have a smooth delivery.

Mommy with our little angel

After the delivery, we were surprised to have a visit from my uncle Jim. He was the first to come visit us and we were very grateful for his support and caring. After that, we were moved to the post-partum room and enjoyed receiving visits from my mom Julie, Brittany's mom Jackie, Britt's brother Jaxon, and my sister Lisa. Several of Brittany's classmates and friends from PA school also came to congratulate us and wish us well. Ellie was certainly the star of the room and daddy may have been a little too much of a baby hog, so people didn't get to hold her very much, but I just wanted to hold her close and be with her as much as I could. I just wanted her to know that her daddy will always be there for her to take care of her and love her.

Daddy with Doctor Huish and baby Ellie

The first night with her was something to always remember. She slept like an angel and mommy and daddy just got to hold her and cuddle her all night. I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch, but it seems like Ellie is going to be a very chill baby. She almost never cries, and when she does, she stops as soon as we get her fed or warmer or whatever it is that she wants.

Well, I have much more to write, but I'm going to have to do it in a later post. Talk to you later!