Ellie Mae

We welcomed Miss Ellie Mae on November 11, 2025! Though we are over ten months behind updating the blog about her, I do feel like the occasion calls for a recap of her birth story.

We survived the Connecticut road trip at 37 weeks pregnant. I was very stressed about the trip, in part because of the slim possibility of going into labor early while away from home, and perhaps more so about blood clots and other related complications due to sitting for long periods of time in the vehicle. But we made it there and I was so relieved to be back.

I think Ellie definitely got the memo that I didn't want her born early. My last four babies were born 5-12 days after their due date, and she met that standard. At 41 weeks pregnant on Saturday, November 8th, I woke up panicking because I hadn't felt the baby move all night. I went in to the hospital to check on baby and the heart rate was fine. After drinking juice and eating breakfast, baby was moving again and I went home feeling comforted.

On Monday morning I went in for my 41 week appointment which included a non stress test and ultrasound. Once again, the baby had a great heartbeat but just wasn't moving much and I had to drink more juice to get her to move again. Apparently she was simply squished - her ultrasound that day measured her at an estimated 11lb 4oz! I was in total shock as I have been overdue with most of my children, but they had all weighed within the 7.5-8.5lb range at birth. The midwife said she didn't think the ultrasound was accurate, but that baby was still probably a solid 9-10lb so they weren't going to let me wait any longer to have this baby. I was sent home to grab my things (and my husband) and be back in two hours for an induction.

At this point, I was still in shock to hear I was having a whopper of a baby - and while disappointed that I wouldn't go into labor on my own, I was ready to meet him or her after a long wait! We didn't know the baby's gender yet but I was pretty convinced it was a boy. 

We arrived at the hospital around 1pm on Monday afternoon, and soon the doctor and midwife came into the room to talk to us. They had been reviewing the ultrasound, gotten a couple other opinions, and felt pretty sure that the baby was actually pretty close to the estimate from the ultrasound. When a baby is that big, it becomes more risky to do a natural birth than to do a C-section. Thus, the medical recommendation was to move forward with a C-section. We had an hour or so to discuss and pray about it. After much deliberation, we chose to schedule the C-section. That is when I realized I knew nothing about this birthing method - or what to expect - so I was very nervous. Hormones make things especially overwhelming at that stage of pregnancy.

The surgery was scheduled for 10am the next morning (Tuesday), so we spent the rest of the afternoon, evening, and night waiting in our hospital room. I didn't sleep much at all. Partly from nerves, and partly from hoping I didn't go into labor during the night and need an emergency C-section, and partly because I get anxious when I can't eat or drink when pregnant.

We made it through the long night and everything went smoothly. Though it was my sixth birth, I felt like a first time mom all over again because I had no idea what to expect. A C-section is a totally different birth experience. (Duh!) All I could remember about C-sections were the tragic stories about things that had gone wrong for people and I had to keep reminding myself that this was a very common procedure and plenty of moms have smooth experiences all the time. 

Daddy all ready for surgery!

God was faithful! At 11:41am on 11/11/25, we heard "It's a...GIRL!" and Ellie Mae entered the room crying among all kinds of joyful exclamations! I got a glimpse of Ellie going to the baby cart for her initial exam, and instantly I knew she was mine; she just had "the look!" The big question: how much did she actually weigh?? 10lb 10oz; the ultrasound wasn't far off! The midwife assured me we made the right decision to do a C-section.

I was so excited for a chance to hold my baby girl for the first time, even if it was a bit of an awkward hold while I was getting stitched back together! 

Such a sweet chunk!

She opened her eyes later in the evening for a sweet peek to reveal her Massner-y looks!

The other children didn't know any details about the baby (except that it had been born) until they arrived at the hospital with Grandpa and Grandma Massner. It was fun to tell them the news in person!

All the proud and excited big siblings!

Grandpa and Grandma Schulz - wearing pink for their new baby granddaughter!

Looking so sweet the next morning!

Recovery went pretty smoothly overall. I did have a scare when I passed a really large blood clot the evening after I got home from the hospital. I had no clue what was going on except that blood was gushing out of me. We went to the hospital and learned it was "just" a blood clot and I was fine. Otherwise, the worst of the C-section pain went away after a couple weeks and recovery went pretty smoothly. It was a good experience to put under my belt so I can empathize with other C-section moms!

As for Ellie, she was a healthy girl but we did have to spend an extra day or two in the hospital so she could be under the bili-lights. Three of our six kids have had bilirubin issues and I believe it is due to a blood type difference from mine.

Being at the hospital gets pretty long when the baby sits under the lights most of the day. Thankfully she needed to nurse frequently so I still got some snuggles in!

Daddy, however, didn't have as many opportunities for snuggles on bili-light days. He did the burping and changing for an excuse to hold her.

Finally - after being in the hospital since Monday afternoon - we were discharged on Friday and were thankful to be home with the rest of our children again. They had spent the week with the grandparents and we are thankful for the village who chipped in that week, and in the weeks to come, to help our transition go so smoothly!

The newborn clothes I had packed lasted pretty much till we got home from the hospital. And even then it was pretty tight! 

Heading home!

Home, sweet home!

So precious...

This girl has not been lacking for attention since day one!

Ellie's first real bath, wrapped in her Ethiopian bath towel from Uncle Justin and Aunt Darci who were in Ethiopia from October through December!

We also enjoyed all of our visitors!

The Massner cousins all lined up!

Ellie and cousin Myra

Uncle Johnny & Aunt Brittany - and baby girl on the way!

Adriana and Aunt Janette!

As planned, we took off two months of homeschool to adjust to our new baby and enjoy the holidays. This really helped to focus on recovery and stress reduction!

School year pictures - Boys are 4th, 3rd, and Kindergarten; Girls are 2nd grade and 3 years old!

Family Christmas photo - we got dressed back up in our wedding clothes to include Ellie before heading to Travis and Rhonda's Iowa reception!

Mommy and Ellie at the reception:)

Since I am writing this nearly a year down the road, I will also mention my huge gratefulness that postpartum has gone exceptionally well, which is the result of so many answered prayers! Not to say there weren't rough times here and there, but overall I am so thankful to have been able to cope relatively well this time around.

Ellie was a great sleeper for the first couple months - sleeping about twelve hours through the night from around 6-12 weeks; since then she has been waking up multiple times a night to nurse. I thought it was a sleep training problem, but I'm beginning to think she might actually just be a hungry girl. She has steadily hung out in the 97th weight percentile for her first ten months of life! Overall she's pretty happy and has had to be pretty tough from day one with all these big brothers and sisters around. But more on the next several months of Ellie's life in a later post...

We are so thankful for the joy this new life has brought to our family! Now that Ellie's birth has been officially honored with its own blog post, hopefully I can update again soon with a brief update of the last ten months of life at the Schulz home!