Brady Louis Campbell

Here he is! I know it took me a very long time to get this posted, but you wouldn't believe how unbelievable busy he has been keeping us! 

Brady was born on Monday, October 20th at 7:27 am. Here's the condensed version of his birth story......My water broke around 7pm Sunday night. Contractions started around 11 pm - they were very strong and close together from the start. Rob woke up to all my "birthing noises" around 2am. We called our doula and she came over around 4am. I was begging and insisting that I no longer wanted a natural childbirth and needed to get to the hospital to get an epidural. She checked me and I was 4-5 cm. We left for the hospital at 5am. By the time we arrived, got checked in, & my midwife checked me again it was around 6:30 and I was already 8-9 cm. I was screaming for the epidural and the anesthesiologist was actually walking through the door. But my midwife, doula, and Rob kept distracting me and put me in the shower and sent him away instead! My doula had me kneeling in the shower and told me to do some "mini pushes" to help push the last bit of my cervix away. All of a sudden my body just started pushing on it's own. It was crazy...I didn't want to push because each time I did it hurt sooo bad, but I couldn't stop myself from doing it. I got back on the bed around 7am and they put the "birthing bar" on the bed for me to use. I pushed for about 25 min and Brady was born at 7:27.

We don't actually know how much he weighed at birth because something was wrong with the scale in the room. When they first weighed him he was 7lbs 8oz. However, the following day he weighed 8lbs 6.4 oz. Since babies almost always lose weight after birth for him to gain over 14oz is impossible. The doctors at the hospital are guessing he was probably closer to 9lbs at birth. He was 21 inches long.

I did have a 2nd degree tear, however, recovery has been much easier than I expected. I've already lost 27 out of the 38 lbs I gained! Breastfeeding is going very well...although I did have a mini meltdown the second day home from the hospital because I couldn't get him to latch on properly. Things have drastically improved though and Brady is well on his way to mastering the boob! Here are some pictures...

Hospital Pic

Showing off his strawberry blonde hair

1st Tummy Time

Chillin' in his bouncer

1st Bath @ home

Trying out his swing

Getting cozy w/grandma & Frank

On Wednesday Brady took his 1st outing. My bible study class at church was having it's final meeting and everyone wanted to see him so we took him by. Afterwards we stopped by the pumpkin patch to snap some pics. Unfortunately the patch was closed "due to a bad shipment of pumpkins" so we didn't get to take many pics. But we had fun anyways!

My Water Broke!

Woot woot! My water broke this evening around 7pm, but I'm not yet having regular painful contractions. I called my doula and she said to go about my normal routine and try to get some sleep tonight and then to call her back when I can't ignore the contractions any longer and she will come over. So that's what I've been doing....cleaning and getting things ready. I actually just got done mopping the bathroom floor! Hopefully things will pick up and I'll be holding my baby boy by this time tomorrow night! I will post again as soon as I can (not sure if the hospital has wireless internet or not). PLEASE PRAY FOR ME!

It's My Due Date!

Where is this child they keep telling me I'm going to have???

Tour de Nursery 2008

Well I've finally completed the nursery and am getting so excited about getting the actual baby to go in the nursery! I thought I would take you on a little tour since it is finally complete AND clean...which I'm sure it won't stay that way for long once the little one arrives. First of all here's a recent picture of the belly. This was taken on Monday at 36 weeks & 2 days. Is it possible to get any bigger? 

First up, here is what you see when you first walk in the door. The crib is to the left and the changing table/dresser on the wall to the right. The picture frames above the chair are filled with cute scrapbook paper for now, but once we have some pictures I will add them and the scrapbook paper will be used as the mat. You can also see the two adorable crosses behind the chair. The one on the bottom I bought soon after I found out I was pregnant. The verse on it reads, "He has called you by name, you are his"  - Isaiah 43:1. And the one on top was a gift from my momma, it reads, "Children are a gift from God" - Psalm 127:3. They go with the room perfectly. 

Here they are up close.

And here is Frank waiting for baby brother to come home. 

Here is the crib wall. It is kind of basic, but I wasn't sure what to hang above the crib without it overpowering everything else in the room. I found this simple barn star at TJ Max for $5.99 and repainted it (it was originally red) using leftover wall paint. You can't see it in this picture, but I painted a few layers alternating between blue & brown and using a paper towel to "wipe" some of the fresh coat off, giving it more of a distressed look. 

And here is an up close shot of the bumper ties I made, since the original ones that came with the bumper wouldn't fit around the rails properly. These things gave me more grief than the crib skirt did!

Here is the changing table/dresser. Don't get excited the "C" sitting up there is for our last name. I have made his other initials but took them down for the picture so there would be no guessing going on! I can't wait to show them off though. I stole Jessica's idea of decoupaging scrapbook paper on wooden letters that you buy at the craft store and they turned out really good. First I painted the edges of the letters a dark brown, then I mod-podged them to the back of 12 x 12 scrapbook paper and used an x-acto knife to cut them out. After they were good & dry I took a heavy duty nail file and filed around the edges of the paper to give it a more "vintage" appearance. Lastly, I globbed some more mod-podge over the entire letter to seal the paper on really well. 

For the "C" since it is special and will sit in the middle of the other two initials after I finished with the above steps I used my handy hot glue gun and covered it in really funky/colorful buttons. It turned out really well. Unfortunately you can't see it very well in this picture. I would go take an up close shot, but I really don't feel like it right now...you're just going to have to suffer through until I reveal the other two initials!

You can also see some of our stash of cloth diapers sitting on the 1st shelf...the rest are hidden in the top drawer. Since we're using cloth we didn't need a traditional diaper pail, so I just bought a Simple Human garbage can from Bed Bath & Beyond with a WAHMIES waterproof pail liner. 

This is the adorable Pinocchio print that my grandmother found at a flea market and gave to me since she knew I was originally wanting to do a vintage theme in the room. 

Some of you may remember Lulu from a previous post. Here she is in all her glory sitting to the right of the changer/dresser. She greets you as soon as you walk in the door. 

And above her hangs the guest book from my shower in August. I can't wait to finally have a picture of the boy to put in it!

In other news....I had another appointment with my midwife yesterday. And we had our final ultrasound. I am happy (and relieved) to report that Baby C is head down and it was quite obvious (cough cough) that he really is a boy. Let's just say he is very well endowed. The ultrasound also measured him to be about 6 lbs 12 oz. I've been having lots of contractions lately, but nothing regular or timeable yet. I hope I start making more progress though because I don't want him growing too much larger!

Rob has been having some tooth troubles lately. He went to the dentist last week and one of his old fillings had cracked (a while ago) and some icky stuff started happening to the tooth. The dentist thought he might need a root canal but wasn't sure. He definitely would need a crown though. So the dentist sawed his tooth down to a nub and put a temporary crown on it until he returned in about 2 weeks to get the permanent one. But Tuesday morning he woke up in excruciating pain and called the dentist. They sent him to see the root canal specialist this morning and lucky Rob was blessed to spend 2 hours in the chair having a root canal. Now, I've never had one before, so I'm not quite sure of the process, but apparently he has to back next week so they can finish it and then he still has to back to our regular dentist to have some other smaller cavities fixed. The total cost of this grand adventure...$1300 - after the insurance pays their part. Maybe he'll listen to me next time I tell him to brush his teeth!

Pregnancy Brain

I swore I had a dentist appointment this afternoon. I planned my whole day around it. I even double checked the calendar as I was walking out the door. So arrived at the office, signed in, and began reading a magazine in the waiting room. Normally our dentist is always on time, so around 10 after I began wondering what was taking so long. At quarter after the receptionist finally calls me up to the window and explains to me that my appoint isn't until NEXT Monday. Meanwhile all the other patients are staring at me (probably trying to control their laughter). I was so embarrassed. When I got home I checked the calendar again and sure enough my appointment is for Monday the 29th...NOT TODAY!

This baby needs to come soon...he's making me lose my mind!

Thankful Thursday (and other randomness)

Well, my pregnancy brain has officially gotten to me. Looking back at my previous posts I realized that I completely forgot to post a "Thankful Thursday" last week. Shame on me. I'll try to make up for it in this post. Here are some things I'm thankful for:

-my mom & dad are driving down for one last pre-baby visit this weekend.

-2 new (OK, the first that I've ever signed up for) classes that I am taking at church. The first class is a Bible study using the first book below and the second class is taught using the other. I'm really excited because Britni & I are taking the 2nd class together. She has written a really good post about the book on her blog...however, it is password protected. But send her an email (or comment on her "fake" blog) and she will give you the password...trust me, she loves new visitors! 

    

OK, back to my list....

-Rob, my great hubby, who has been trying really hard lately (or at least offering) to help me get things done around the house and getting final things done for the baby. 

-Finding my midwife and doula who have given me back my confidence in trying to have a natural childbirth. 

-Finally getting our one remaining guest room (kinda) put back in order. (This is after we had to condense 2 guest rooms into one, to make room for the baby's nursery).

Now, back to my awful pregnancy brain. Three nights ago I was making spaghetti for dinner. I put the noodles on to boil and went about my business. When the noodles were finished I drained them and put them in a bowl, then turned to get the sauce. I stood there for a minute a little confused and finally said "where's my sauce?" Apparently I thought it was going to cook itself. I had completely forgotten about it! Luckily I'm no gourmet chef and prefer Prego out of a jar. And since I'm too lazy to make "real" meatballs I always just brown up some ground beef and add it into the sauce....which I had already cooked earlier in the day. So I just had to take out the beef, mix it in with a jar of Prego and pop it in the microwave for a few minutes. Dinner was saved! Unfortunately I also forgot to make garlic bread, which there was no time for at that point. Rob's least favorite meal got moved even farther down on the list (if that's possible). 

I'm Dreaming of Skinny Clothes!

Why is it that in the beginning of my pregnancy I was so excited to get a "bump" so that when I wore my newly bought maternity clothes I would actually look like a cute pregnant lady rather than a fatty wearing too big clothes....and now that I'm nearly 33 weeks (tomorrow) I desperately can't wait to shove these ugly, high waisted, no shape pieces of cloth into a closet and not have to look at them again for a few more years? For the last 3 nights I've spent my time searching the internet for post-pregnancy clothes. Why, oh why, do I do this to myself?

So, do you think it would be realistic if I completely stopped eating after this child comes out of me to lose, say, 45 pounds in a week? Where, oh where, did that cute size 2 body that I had when I was 19 go? Now, I not only need to lose the 25 pounds that I've put on since being pregnant, but an additional 20 would make me the happiest girl in the world! *Pouting* I just want my waistline back and to be able to bend over and put my shoes on again!

Of course those delicious chocolate chip cookies I made yesterday aren't going to help any!

So Much to Blog About!

First of all, I must admit that I am a blogging failure. Yup, that's right...I am a failure. I started this blog (like I do all new hobbies) with extreme enthusiasm, but somehow I never seem to find the time (in my oh so busy days - ha!) to update the thing. Leaving me with no other choice than to type incredibly long posts...so brace yourself (I'll try to be as short & blunt as possible). In fact, I may have so much to say & so many pictures to show you this might just take a few posts...

First up, here's are two pictures of my current fatness. These were taken last Saturday when I was 31 weeks exactly. I can't believe how big I am...please tell me it's not going to get any worse (yeah right!). I have two goals for after this baby is born...#1 Become anorexic and lose the weight as quickly as possible. #2 I plan on living in a tanning bed for about 3 months to bring some color back to my nasty pale self. 

And for you freaks out there that enjoy seeing naked bellies, here ya go!

I am also very excited to inform you that I decided to switch from my C-section and induction  happy OB/GYN to a much sweeter and natural childbirth oriented midwife. For those of you freaking out right now (like my mother), NO, midwives (at least not this one) are not back woods country bumkin witch doctors. I will still be delivering at a hospital (a very good one) and my midwife works in a practice under 7 other OB/GYNs in case there are any problems or emergencies that arise where I would need their expertise.

I am also very excited because I believe I have found a doula that we are going to hire. We are meeting her tomorrow morning to officially "interview" her. I have already spoken with her on the phone and emailed her many times. Her philosophy on birth seems to be very similar to my own. For those of you who don't know what a doula is, I'll tell you...we hire her basically to help me achieve the unmedicated natural labor/birth that I want. When I go into labor she will come to our house & help me labor at home until it is time to go to the hospital. This particular doula also has the knowledge/ability to "check" me to see how far dilated I am (so I don't go to the hospital too soon). She'll then stay with me after we arrive at the hospital until after I deliver the baby. Basically she's there to massage my feet, feed me my ice chips, and remind me to breathe as well as suggest other pain relieving techniques to help me get through the birth naturally. I know, I know, most of you are rolling your eyes at me right now and probably think I'm crazy! I know I am, but I'm still determined to give it my best shot. 

Now, take a look at this beauty....

It's finally official...I have a college degree! Now squint your eyes real hard and check out those words right above the seal...Magna Cum Laude....what do ya know, as it turns out I might actually be smart after all! Woot woot! One of the downsides of graduating in the summer, however, is that there is no commencement ceremony - we have to wait to walk with the fall semester grads in December. I'm not sure yet if I'll be doing this, considering we'll have a 6 week old at that point. Guess we'll have to wait and see how I'm feeling. 

I also want to share my excitement about some new blogs I'm enjoying. My friend Britni turned me on to Kelly's Corner which I am loving. She and her hubby struggled with infertility for a long time before she finally got pregnant. Her story and her unwavering faith in God is really inspiring. After discovering her blog I also discovered (from Kelly's blogroll) Big Mama & Boo Mama. You really need to take the time to check these blogs out...they are hilarious! I also want to welcome my friend Sarah to the blogging world! Hi Sarah...I added you on my blogroll. Congrats on the new blog, I can't wait to read about the fun stuff happening in the Wessel Clan's life!

Ok, this is all for this post...I'll be back in a little while with another one...