Wednesday, December 27, 2017

The Birth Story of Ellie May Gooch

It's amazing how each pregnancy and delivery has been SO different! I was induced with Raegan and had a great experience so I wanted to do the same thing this delivery. My original due date was December 2nd, I knew I wanted to go a week early again because that's what I did before and it worked out great. This time was a little tricky because it was right around Thanksgiving. So when I had my 34 week appointment I had told Dr. Nelson what I wanted to do, but that put me on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and he was going to be out of town so he moved my due date up 4 days. It was the perfect time because Brynlee had that week off from school and Adam and Grandma & Grandpa Gooch had that Thursday off already so it made it a little more convenient. At that point I had not progress. I went in at 36 weeks and he had said I was at a 1 and 90% effaced. That made me super nervous, I had everything planned out and perfect and I did not want to go earlier than we had planned. I wanted to take it a little easier so nothing would happen, but I had already volunteered to help in Brynlee's class for her Halloween party. I was in charge of the craft and we made monster slime, which was the craziest station! I was so exhausted and in pain when I left.

That Sunday I was in pain and having Braxton Hicks contractions, so I scheduled an appointment the next day to make sure everything was ok. Which is was, nothing had happened. It's funny to think back after delivery and going through real contractions...because what I was feeling was NOTHING compared to the real thing. I had my 37 week appointment that Wednesday and left super frustrated. Raegan was always a champ at the appointments with me because my Dr always had a bit of a wait. This week we waited out in the waiting room for an hour and a half...then finally made it back to the room and waited another 30 minutes. Then when Dr. Nelson came in he seemed rushed and kind of out of it (which makes sense because he probably was delivering babies that night). Then he checked me and said I was at a 1...and only 50% effaced. So I was super annoyed that I had "digressed" from the previous appointment.

For sure this last week I had checked out. All of the big things were done and I wanted to just relax. As far as we know this is going to be our last baby, so I decided to completely spoil myself and make sure everything was perfect. So I got my hair, nails and eyelashes done. The Sunday before we had cleaners come over and our house was spotless when they left and it was the most amazing feeling! We were scheduled for that Tuesday and most likely would've gone in at midnight to get started. I had my last appointment Monday the 20th, Adam came with me. He worked that day and then had the rest of the week off. It is SO nice to have his parents and family close by that are always so willing to help out. Me and the girl's met Jared at the Dr.'s office and he took them to his house and Grandma was going to pick them up after she got off work. I was sad to leave them, but was excited to meet our little one and I knew they were in good hands and would have a blast that week!

We were the last appointment of the day. I never asked how far I had progressed, but later they said I had. But I was SO nervous because I was doing the Foley balloon catheter again. Last time they started it when I went into the hospital and this time they were putting it in the office and we would go home and wait. I remember last time it being super uncomfortable and wasn't excited for that part again. He put it in at about 4:45, it didn't hurt at all and we were able to talk through the plans for the next day. Dr. Nelson had said it could be as early as a couple hours that we would need to go into the hospital and if nothing had happened by the next morning then we could come back in and he would break my water so the hospital would take us in. This time I wanted to deliver in Scottsdale because I had heard that it was an amazing hospital and you kind of got celebrity treatment that. That sounds great to me! But...they only downside was it was super hard to get into. When you get induced they call you when they are ready for you. So that is why we had the plan we did. :)

When we left the Dr.'s office we were able to go on a little date before all of the fun started. We went a did a little shopping then went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Adam had a lot going on at work and was pretty overwhelmed and I was super nervous for everything that was about to happen, so we weren't super hungry but figured we should eat because it could be a while before we ate again. At this point I was starting to feel pretty uncomfortable, so we took our cheesecake to go. We had two cars so we had to drive home separately. Adam was pretty nervous to do that so we were on the phone the whole drive home. I was having contractions pretty regularly when we got home and was feeling really uncomfortable. It was about 7:30. I was supposed to fill the catheter 4 different times, but only did it once when we got home and was super uncomfortable and didn't fill anymore. I just layed back on the recliner and we started an episode of Monk. I was having contractions consistently every 5 minutes. Adam was getting really nervous and kept saying we should probably head in. I thought it was way to early and didn't want to go in and have to go back home. So we watched the end of the episode and I was now having them every 4-5 minutes and they were about 45 seconds of pretty intense contractions. Adam wouldn't wait any longer so we loaded up and headed to the hospital.

On the drive and when we got to the hospital my contractions were every 4 minutes. They put me in a pre room (not sure what they're called) and filled out paperwork and answered questions...which Adam had to do most of the talking because I couldn't talk through my contractions. They took out the catheter and checked me and I was at a 6 so they checked me in and we got transferred to the labor and delivery room. I told them when I was transferring that I wanted an epidural a soon as possible. Once we got settled the anesthesiologist came in and I got my epidural. It was about 11:30 at this time. Last time with Raegan once I got the epidural I slept for the next 4 hours...which I assumed would happen this time, not much of this delivery was the same as Raegan's. I didn't get ANY sleep the whole night. I also didn't get more than 3 hours of sleep the night before because I was so anxious. I was pretty exhausted...and frustrated that I couldn't fall asleep. I got the WORST acid refux! They gave me some medicine that was supposed to be awesome...and it didn't touch it. I couldn't feel my legs at all, I was freezing and just wanted sleep. They checked me again at 2:30 and I was still at a six. I assumed something would've happened by now but obviously the epidural completely slowed things down.

They started a little bit of pitocin to get things moving again. It worked, my water broke at about 4:30, which was a weird feeling. I will have to add that we loved our L&D nurse Shelby. She was awesome and so great the whole night! She checked me and I was at a 9 1/2 so they called Dr. Nelson to head over. At that point my epidural and worn off and I could feel everything! I was in SO much pain! I was bawling like a baby and dreading overtime another contraction would come which was every 1-2 minutes. They called in the anesthesiologist again and it took him about 15 minutes to come back in. The funny thing is...I just kept thinking I made sure to have everything done (my hair, nails and eyelashes, makeup...) and now I'm crying so hard I'm going to look so ugly in my pictures. Ha! Dr. Nelson showed up at about the same time. We waited about 15 minutes for the meds to kick in before I started pushing. It was SO fabulous when the meds kicked in and I couldn't feel anything. Adam and Shelby had to hold my legs for me because I couldn't move them at all myself, and I only pushed through 2 contractions (about 5 minutes) until she started coming out. Dr. Nelson had me pull her out after he got her shoulders out (which I think is so cool). I put her right on my chest and was so in love! She had the sweetest little cry, and a head full of dark hair like her sisters. She was born at 5:17 am weighing 6 lbs 13 oz.


We were in the L&B room for about 2 hours and then were transferred to the post delivery room. This hospital didn't have a nursery so sweet Ellie was with us the whole time, in fact, all of her Dr.'s would come to our room and do what they needed. I think I'm a little different because I love the hospital experience after having a baby. I stay as long as they let us. So we stayed the two nights that is allowed. I love the time with just me and Adam and our new baby. Adam is a trooper and stays the whole time with me too. So I snuggled little Ellie the WHOLE time...I only put her down when she was getting checked or a night when we tried to get sleep. The first night she didn't sleep on her own much, so I held her in the rocking chair for a couple hours and tried to get a little sleep then Adam took her for a couple hours so I could finally sleep longer than a half an hour at a time. 

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

The Weekend We Went to Vegas and Adam Turned 32

It was time for a little family get away, and it's been a while since we've been to Vegas so we thought it'd be there perfect birthday trip. Adam took off Friday, so we headed there Thursday night. We made one stop on the way for dinner at Burger King and it was quite eventful. Adam has just ordered, I needed to go to the bathroom, and all the same time, the food was ready, Raegan had a horrible blow out, and Brynlee needed to go the bathroom desperately. But we made it through! :)

Friday the Cox had school, so we headed by the beautiful Lake Mead for a little hike.  Lake Mead is just gorgeous! So it was a scenic hike. It started out great, we were all happy. Adam ran up this little hill that was all rocks, and Brynlee wanted to follow, she didn't make it to far until she slipped on loose rock and fell back words. It was earth shattering for her! Especially when she saw the tiny bit of blood from it. It was quite the emotional rest of the hike. 

We went to a buffet for lunch that day, which ended up being one of my favorite parts of the vacation. It was hilarious! When we showed up there were people in the tables all around us, and when it was time to go we were all by ourselves. We were a circus! Raegan didn't stop eating the entire time, and when she wasn't chewing, she was screaming MOM or yelling until we gave her more food, so funny! Brynlee didn't eat much, but was super hyper and just had a good time, she definitely enjoyed the desserts though. We ate at one of the casinos, which was really nice in a beautiful area, so we just walked around and did a little shopping after.  The rest of the night we hung out with Kim's family. It's always so much fun with them. They are always up to play and there's hardly any down time. So that evening we went to play kick ball, which we all loved.

Saturday Kim was nice enough to watch our kids for the night while Adam and I had a little get away. I was super nervous to leave them (Raegan mostly) because she didn't sleep at all the 2 nights before, and I felt so bad leaving Kim with her and possibly loosing a whole nights sleep. But both girls ended up doing pretty good, slept through the night, and Brynlee had an absolute blast playing with her cousins. As for me and Adam, we always LOVE a nice little getaway and a lone time. It's amazing how good it is for us. Even though it was just for a night it was so so nice. We got a room at a Sheraton resort at Lake Las Vegas. It was beautiful there! The resort was so nice also. It had 2 nice big pools, a hot tub, kayaking, fire pits and a little beach area. We hung out at the pool for a little while then headed to the strip for the night. We just walked around for a little bit then went to Ceasar's Palace and watched people gamble and loose their money. I really do like going to the strip, and it's been a while since we've been there. Then we headed back to the casino we went to for the buffet, the Green Valley Casino, and put $40 down on black jack...lost it, so we headed back to the hotel. It was an amazing night. We just relaxed by the pool again on Sunday morning (Adam's birthday), then picked up the girls. Kim was so nice and got Adam a birthday cake, so we had that then took off. Both girls were passed out shortly after and slept for a good portion of the trip, which is always nice. When we got home we opened presents and enjoyed the rest of night relaxing as a family. It was such a fun weekend...and getaway! And boy howdy do we love this birthday boy!! Celebrating his birthday is always one of my favorite times of the year. I love him more than he'll ever know! So grateful I get to spend this life with him, he is so supportive, loving and so much fun to be with! And boy does he make 32 look good! 































Monday, May 11, 2015

Mother's Day 2015

Another great Mother's Day in the books this year! Adam always does such a great job pampering me.  He always makes me a delicious breakfast in bed, this year was his famous omelets and he gave me the rest of the freshly squeezed orange juice. He got the girls all ready for church, cleaned up, made lunch a dinner and let me decide what to do that day. So we did a few of my favorites; went for a walk, hung out as a family without any screen time :) and had a yummy dinner out by the pool. It was a perfect day! I can't begin to describe how grateful I am to be a mother! I've been blessed with the sweetest little spirits in my life, I just hope to one day be the mom they deserve. I love them with all of my heart!



Sunday, October 19, 2014

The 2nd Month of Life With Rae

We have all just been enjoying life to the fullest here with our newest addition. I've been trying my very best at giving both girls the attention they need. It's been easy since Brynlee wants to help out with Raegan, so I excitingly let her. Brynlee has kept busy with a few of her favorites: painting, coloring and playing games. One of our outings this month was the doctors office.This appointment both girls got shots, which was hard...for all of us! I remember how hard Brynlee's shots were as a baby, Raegan went first and of course it was so sad...but not as hard/sad as it was to watch Brynlee. With her being older and being able to verbilize and know what's going on was so so sad. She was such a great little helper with Raegan and was so sweet when she got her shots, and when she got up for hers she had no idea what was coming.  She was just talking to the nurse, and then I had to hold down her hands (and I hate that) and once the first shot went in she started crying and screaming was looked at me with the most heartbreaking look and just said "What is this?! What is she doing?!?" It was so sad. So we went and got some ice cream to make us both feel a little better.  For Raegan her measurements were:

Height: 24" (91%)
Weight: 11 lbs 13 oz (76%)
Head Circ. 38cm (33%)

We had a neat little outing to the new Phoenix Temple open house as a family. We took one of Adam's coworkers and his dad with us. It was so fun to watch Brynlee experience going to the temple for the first time. She really was so excited to go and see the temple, and she did surprisingly well, both girls did really well. Luckily Raegan slept almost the entire time, once we walked out of the temple she started crying. Brynlee the whole time was like "What's that? What's this?" She was so cute. Once we left she asked if we could go back to the temple again, make a mama happy. I had to add in a beautiful picture of our beautiful home AZ! Goodness I love this place! It's starting to get beautiful weather, and as always it's just beautiful! This night was no exception with this beautiful sunset.