Calliope Viola Campbell

Wow is really all I can say. She has arrived! And what an arrival she made.

(DISCLAIMER- I am recounting my labor and delivery and some of it is gross and TMI)

On Wednesday morning at about 3am I woke up to use the bathroom. I was feeling lots of pressure, but neither of those things were strange or out of the ordinary. When I got to the toilet there was a huge gush of water before I could even get started. It being 3am and me not quite having my wits about me I wasn't sure if my water had really broken or not. I went back into the bedroom and asked my husband if he would get up and take a look and tell me what he thought. Even now when I write that I'm not really sure what better he would have known than me. But as we walked back to the bathroom there was another huge gush of water that confirmed my original suspicion. So first of all let me say that my water breaking was the funniest most comical things that has ever happened to me. It was nothing like the movies or TV shows because for me it didn't just drop in one big gush and was over. My water kept spilling for like 15 minutes, even in the shower, so the whole time I was laughing my ass off. The funniest part was my hubby, he kept saying ok, let's go to the hospital and I was busy trying not to get water everywhere I went. I had to dictate to him everything I needed from one spot because I wasn't interested in having a trail of water all over my house. 

We left for the hospital immediately and started the long labor. Right away they put me on pitocin to jumpstart contractions. That was the deal all day long. My body was just not responding and they had to give me the maximum possible. So around 5 or 6 pm I got an epidural thinking that things were getting going and that the baby would be coming soon. Not so much! The epidural slowed things down a bit and we didn't make any progress until 10pm. By then I was fully dilated and ready to push even though little lady's head was still not completely there. I didn't care, it felt better to push through it than to wait. So I pushed for about two hours and little lady arrived at 12:31 am on Thursday morning. She weighed 8lbs 5 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. While everyone was gushing over the baby I wasn't feeling well. The pitocin worked for my labor but was not working on getting the placenta out. The doctor was having some difficulty and I was losing lots of blood. My BP dropped and I was feeling terrible. My doctor was a rock star and pushed on my belly to get the placenta to come out and my uterus to start contracting. The rest of my visit in the hospital was awesome, lots of cuddles with my little lady. 

She is perfect.

Today she is already a week old and it took me that long to sit down and write this post. Whoa. This is not gonna be easy. 

Ciao, more soon.

XO

S

Dear Daughter

Today is April 14, 2013, a perfect day for you to make your arrival. You have a ton of people out here waiting to meet you and that keep asking when you might make your grand entrance. I really truly thought today would have been the perfect day, but apparently, until this moment you disagree. I really don't want us to start on the wrong foot here... I know that you will come when you are ready but won't you listen to my wise and sage advice and come tonight? I'm in a good place at work and the house is clean. The crib is here, your room is ready, there are lots of clothes and diapers to keep you happy. Our bags are packed for the hospital and sit by the door, just in case!
I've been trying lots of things to entice your arrival; I ate a ton of pineapple yesterday, cleaned like crazy today, I'm making a super spicy dinner for tonight... not sure what else you are looking for. I'm not above trying the yoga labor inducing dance , but I was hoping that you would come on your own.
Ok, tomorrow is Monday and back to work for me. I hope that you think about coming before our induction date because I think that would be ideal but I understand if you are just chilling and waiting it out.
We all love you already so much and can't wait to meet you.
Love
Your Mamma

The view from where I sit

No big announcement! Not ready yet. This lady still needs some time to cook.
But I felt like I needed one more post to pull it all together. A sort of "State of the Union" address.
Today I am 37 weeks pregnant and unless I go into labor naturally over the next two weeks my doctor will consider inducing me at 39 weeks. There are two reasons for this; 1) anxiety 2) She is a big girl and there is no reason that she can't come and meet us all at 39 weeks.
Which, if you at home are counting, puts me at about 2 weeks until this darling daughter comes into my life. It still doesn't seem real, but more real than it did 20 weeks ago. My belly is huge and I am starting to feel the constraints and limitations of being 9+ months preggo (I know, depends who you ask...). Sleeping is getting more and more difficult. Leg cramps, heartburn, turning over, little feet jabbing you in the ribs and just general feeling uncomfortable leads me to sleeping less and less. The days are less dramatic. Yes I am waddling and there is a lot of pressure everywhere but it is much more manageable. Now that the end is in sight I am less apt to complain. I do think I will miss this belly. I love rubbing it and seeing her move and shake and get the hiccups. But I am so excited to meet her and get to know her and start our life together. I am still working and plan on it until the very last day. Although I would love a day off, I think I might go stir crazy if I took too many days. And anyway Greg is home on April break the week of the 15th and I can get him to do all the things I would have been doing had I been home. Win- win!! He is also getting really excited. I think having a date in mind put things in perspective for both of us. Now all we talk about is what we need to get done.
So that's it... for now.
Ciao
xo
S