Wednesday, October 31, 2012

A.J. Ellis Missed The Signs

At least, on October 12 he did. Which is why, as Molly Knight reported for ESPN.com, AJ and Cindy Ellis gave birth to Audrey and Elizabeth Ellis in the passenger seat of their car:

Ellis was away playing baseball when his daughter, Ainsley, 4, and son, Luke, 2, were born. So when Cindy woke him at 7 a.m. to tell him her water broke, he asked if he had time to shower before they left for the hospital.

“The doctor she likes is about 30 miles from our house,” said Ellis, who makes his home in Milwaukee in the offseason. “But with our other kids she was in labor for hours and hours, so we thought we had plenty of time.”

Said Cindy: “He’s really quick getting ready, and I had to pack, and we had to wait for my sister to get to our house to watch [Ainsley and Luke].”

But by the time they got into their car at 7:25 a.m., Cindy’s contractions were happening every 45 seconds to a minute.

She began screaming at her husband that she didn’t think they were going to make it to the hospital.

“And I’m thinking, this is 2012, not the 'Oregon Trail.' Of course we’re gonna make it,” Ellis said. “So I’m calmly telling her we’re making it. I figured she was just panicking because she was in excruciating pain.”

As Ellis merged on to the interstate, Cindy laid down the front passenger seat and turned to face out the rear window of the car. Writhing in pain, she got down on all fours and gripped the headrest.

“I kept telling him the pain was not normal, but in his mind it was,” Cindy said. “Then a minute later I felt the head.”

They were 18 miles from the hospital.

Audrey Elizabeth Ellis was born a minute after that, sliding on to her belly down the passenger seat and looking right at her terrified papa. She was two weeks early.

It's a really nice piece by Knight. As well as a good reminder never to buy a used car from A.J. Ellis.

Congratulations, A.J. and Cindy (and Ainsley and Luke)!

photos courtesy of A.J. "Soohoo" Ellis

6 comments:

Pistol Pete Reiser said...

Good for them!!!!!

His wife is NEVER going to let him live that down.

Steve Sax said...

Wives never hold grudges.

Hideo Nomo said...

SanFranDodgerFan thinks someone else should have driven Cindy to the hospital.

spank said...

That's a heartwarming story.




*cries*




Neeebs (The Original) said...

Mom said that I was born in a back seat of a Greyhound bus.

Dusty Baker said...

I hooked up with your mom in the back of a Greyhound bus, Neeebs.