Today was a Good Day!

Hello! I can't believe I actually have the time & energy to post something! This is Brady & I at the moment. He LOVES his Beco Butterfly carrier. And I love anything that gets him to stop crying! Today was a very good day, but this past week has been horrible. Brady has been so fussy and we know it is because he is so gassy. He can fart louder than a full grown man! It breaks my heart to know that he is in pain and nothing we do seems to help. We have tried simethicone gas drops and Gripe Water, both of which have only offered small relief. I've also stopped (for the most part) eating dairy products to see if that helps. I think Rob was relieved to return to work today after listening to Brady's screaming all weekend. I also think he has a new appreciation for what I've been going through on a daily basis. 

Like I said though, today was a very good day. Brady still had plenty of gas, but we managed to ward off the screaming/crying fits. I also got an unbelievable 7.5 hours of sleep last night...I feel like a new woman! I finally started pumping and I had Rob take over one of Brady's middle of the night feedings. Whew, what a relief! However, I am a nice wife and told him I wouldn't make him do it on nights when he has to be at work early in the morning.

This picture was taken last weekend, but I thought it was adorable so I had to post it. I also added a few more pics to the Picasa album.

Brady is also 5 weeks old today! I can't believe how fast time has gone by. Although much of this past month is a blur in my sleep deprived memory!

Please keep my niece Macy in your prayers. We (and her doctor) think everything is going to be ok, but she is having a CT Scan on Wednesday because her head is measuring a little larger than normal so they need to make sure she doesn't have water on her brain. Please also pray for Macy's parents (my sister & BIL). Mike (my BIL) is having some health problems of his own which I won't elaborate on since nothing has been confirmed yet and we need to keep positive thoughts. But your prayers would definitely be appreciated. Take Care!

Love, 

Rob, Audrey & Brady

Quick Update

Hi everyone, I just wanted to post an update since I haven't posted anything all week. First of all, can you believe Brady will already be 4 weeks old on Monday? Where has the time gone? I'm not sure if we should say he is one month old on that day or on November 20th (Thursday). What do you think? Leave it to me to be stressed over something simple like this! 

Guess who finally has a belly button?! Brady finally decided to give it up last Monday on his 3 week b-day. It's a good thing too, Rob & I were starting to think he was going to try to take it to college with him. 

We are all doing well here. I think I'm finally getting adjusted to not getting any sleep. It's amazing how well I can function on just a few hours a night! We are going to try to start letting Brady sleep in his own room/crib this week. We bought the "baby crack machine" which really works...knocks him out in a few minutes. So hopefully this will help with the transition. Although I think I'm more worried about it than he is!

I'm finally in the process of sending out his birth announcements...still collecting a few addresses. I was going to have fancy custom made ones printed up, but after realizing how overwhelmed I was with all the choices (and not having time to sit down and decide what I wanted) I decided to just go with ones from Shutterfly. They turned out pretty well though. Surprisingly they actually cost more than the fancy designer ones I was originally going to have made! But at least it only took me about a 30 min to pick one out and order it.

We also added a few more pics to the Picasa album, so check them out if you haven't recently (link on side bar).

Love, 

Rob, Audrey & Brady

War Eagle!

Brady showed off his team spirit yesterday. Luckily the Tigers won their game. This is the t-shirt I bought for Rob's father's day gift this year. I thought Brady could wear it during the Alabama/Auburn game, but since our baby is a beefcake I wasn't sure if it would fit him by then. Justin's (Britni's husband & Rob's best friend) family sent us a really cute Auburn Christmas t-shirt that I can't wait to put on him also. Thank you to the Bradford family (not sure if you ever drift over here from Britnit's blog or not)!

Thank you also to Britni & Justin for all the adorable baby gifts we've received from them. Brady has already been getting a lot of use out of the clothes & burp cloths! They were also nice enough to stop by our house & take care of Frank while we were still in the hospital...Thank you! 

Brady has been staying awake longer in the past few days. I love it when he is wide awake and especially when he smiles. Although I must admit sometimes I'm not sure what to do with him when he is awake. I feel bad if I let him sit in his bouncer or swing. I feel like I need to be entertaining him every minute. I usually read or sing to him (he's well on his way to mastering his ABC's) or we do tummy time. We've only been able to go on one walk so far, but hopefully that will change this week and we can get out some more. Take care!

Love,

Rob, Audrey & Brady

Our Little Piglet...

Brady had his 2 week appointment today. He's already up to 10 lbs 2 oz! Apparently mamma makes some very nourishing breastmilk! He's also grown an inch...up to 22 in. Everything is looking good! I am finally starting to feel (somewhat) like myself again...minus enough sleep. He likes to eat about every 2-2.5 hours, and usually for about 45 min at a time. That doesn't leave much free time for me to rest! I feel like breastfeeding is finally going really well. Today is the first day Brady didn't throw any tantrums at meal time and all of our feedings were very easy. I actually found myself truly starting to enjoy the bonding time, instead of being stressed out by his fussiness.

I wanted to say Thank You to my wonderful mother who came to stay with us for nearly 2 weeks and help while we got adjusted to life at home with a newborn. It was great to have you here mom! She cooked and cleaned for us and watched the little one so we could get some sleep! We miss having you here!

Also, Rob created a Picasa Web Album where we will be uploading new pics on a more regular basis (it takes way too long to upload them all to the blog). Here is the link...check back often!

Love, 

Rob, Audrey, & Brady

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???