Welcome Elliott Theodore!

A quiet baby, right from the start

We have been blessed and honored with a new baby boy!  Born February 1, 2012, Elliott Theodore Serrano came into the world with no complications, and is a sweet angel of a baby. 

We are thrilled to have this new addition to our family.  Jason is a wonderful big brother and showers him with gentle kisses and head rubs.  He sleeps very well and has not shown any signs of the GERD that plagued his big brother so much.

Elliott loves to be in the arms of his family, and has begun to smile and vocalize with us.  He is a great communicator who seems to instinctively understand what Mommy needs to see or hear to know what he needs.  He and I have been getting along famously!


Elliott came a bit early for us - He was due on February 14.  When I went to my weekly doctor visit on Monday, January 30, the report was that I was not dilated at all, and so we would be waiting a bit longer.

Much to everyone's surprise, I began having contractions the very next morning, at around 3:15 am.  At least, this is when they started waking me up!  The contractions did not increase in intensity, and tapered off around 7 am.  Convinced that I still had a long labor process ahead of me, I went ahead and drove to Fallbrook (30 miles away) to visit a client for the day.  Instead, Elliott decided to start contractions again around 9 am and they continued throughout the morning. 

Brothers!

At lunchtime, I called the doctor's office to let them know that things had started, and asked if they wanted to check me again.  We agreed for me to be back at the doctor's office at 2:30 to see how far I had dilated.  Still anticipating a long process, I was not overly concerned and was looking forward to see what the dilation was! 

So, it was quite a shock when, after the exam, the nurse-practicioner urged me to go home and get my bag and then go straight to the hospital!  I had dilated almost 4 centimeters in 24 hours, and she was concerned I'd miss my opportunity to deliver at the hospital if I waited any longer.

The first time Elliott saw his Daddy

Left with few options (my parents weren't due to arrive for several more days!  We hadn't packed a bag yet!  We had no plans for how to get Jason to and from school!), we scrambled to come up with a game plan.  Enter our wonderful friends! We are eternally grateful to  Denise and Connor Cook and Bonnie and Mark Regalado who jumped into the adventure with us! They embraced our situation with love and grace and did anything we asked to make sure the family was taken care of.  

Mommy and Elliott in our recovery room

Elliott's delivery was easy and fun.  Our labor nurse, Liz, was awesome and really made the delivery a beautiful and fulfilling experience.  Our wonderful doctor, Dr. Murillo, was a joy to be with and she was very excited to be able to deliver our son.  Even Tri-City Hospital and its employees surpassed our expectations with their professionalism, efficiency, and nurturing bedside manner.

Overall, we are thrilled with how everything happened and are thankful to God for providing us with such wonderful people and resources throughout the experience.

Elliott is now home with us and is a joy to us all each and every day.  We look forward to you meeting him one day!

Ready to go home!