1st night out without the baby

Last night my sister volunteered to watch Kedzie for us.

She told us she would earlier this week, so it gave us something to look forward to. Man, we are lucky to have family close by! I know I have several friends, who have NO ONE around to watch their babies and parents really do need a little time together.

Our outing consisted of a trip to Costco (to purchase stuff for the baby and I convinced the hubby I needed the new Taylor Swift CD. I know, I know. So, he handed it to me and wished me a Merry Christmas.)

This was the pic that started the baby conversation. Ah, well.

Next, we went to Buffalo Wild Wings. It is no Cafe Spoonz, but it was a "Daddy request," and before I start my diet, I figured I should get some onion rings and wings in. We watched some football and laughed at some of the people there who were cheering a bit too loudly.

I tried to make a conscious decision not to talk about the baby, but it was too hard. As we were sitting at the table, I showed Jon a picture that I had taken of Kedzie that morning, and then I proceeded to look at probably 50 or more pics that we had taken in the last week.

It is funny how your life changes so quickly. We have been married so long with just the two of us, and now we are a family of three (plus Chauncey).

I love it.

Now, if you will excuse me--I need to listen to my Taylor Swift CD and drink my coffee before Kedzie wakes up.

My birth story--The most stressful day ever...

Tuesday, October 16 started out as any normal day.

Hubby and I went to school, it was a decent day at work and then we had a doctor’s appointment. Since I was a little over 38 weeks pregnant, we are frequent visitors there.

Typically we have to wait to see the doctor for at least a half an hour. That day was no exception.

The doctor started to measure my fundal height and she was concerned because I had not shown any growth—my belly was measuring at 35 weeks and I was 38 weeks pregnant. She was concerned, and wanted me to come back the next day for an ultrasound. (A week before, she had measured me and mentioned that she did seem to think that Baby Campbell was going to be small, but she was not worried.)

As she was looking at scheduling the ultrasound, she decided that she could get us in that night—and she would just do the ultrasound in the office.

I was getting pretty worried at this point.

We went in the ultrasound room and the doctor started looking at the baby. Kedzie was hardly moving. The doctor could not get an accurate measurement on her head and after an hour of stressing me out, she decided I needed to go to labor and delivery.

I asked her if I could go home and get my stuff. She said, “no, you are going to the hospital. You are having a baby tonight.” Her nurse even walked me over. (Her office is connected to the hospital.) I was freaking out and in shock: shaking, my blood pressure was through the roof. Everything had been going so well all pregnancy. How could something be wrong with my baby?

I was only dialated to a one. I had been a one for weeks. The doctor was deciding if she wanted to start me on Pitocin or Cervadil. I was contracting (probably due to the stress) about every 3 minutes. Due to the contractions, the doctor decided to put me on Pitocin. I continued to have contractions every 2-3 minutes during the night.  Needless to say, I did not sleep at all.

The next morning I was still only dialated to a one. I was completely exhausted. The doctor kept upping the Pitocin every 40 minutes. My contractions were still consistent. After 11 hours of contractions, the nurse suggested that I really should think about an epidural. (Of course, by this point, I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t been offered one before. I didn’t think to ask, but I was in some serious pain….contractions, back labor, etc.)

I got the epidural. Let me just say, that nurse was really my savior, and the epidural. She made sure I was on my side positioned properly to try to get the baby down. Because of the epidural I couldn’t feel anything and was able to get about 2 hours of sleep.

Finally, by 4pm I was feeling some pressure and I was dialated to an 8. It was working! She called my doctor and let her know I was ready to start pushing.

Then after approximately two hours of pushing, (I will leave out the rest of the gory details—but if you talk to my hubby he can fill you in on some of his highs and lows), Kedzie Emmalyn Campbell was born at 5:53pm on October 17^th. She was 18 inches long and 6 pounds 15 ounces. She is completely and totally healthy and beautiful—she is a bit tiny, but precious.

We are totally in love.

On our way home from the hospital. Call me, maybe?

Nothing for the baby to wear? Problem solved!

I will admit it--I am a clothes horse.  I love to shop. I really like to find good deals. My favorite store to shop at is Maurice’s. (I will be so happy to not be pregnant anymore so I can wear my Maurice’s clothes!)

During my first trimester my mom, sister and I went shopping and we bought a bunch of maternity clothes. I really haven’t bought any clothes for myself in the last two months—which never happens. But I figured, why buy anything else? I will only be pregnant for another…two weeks.

So, now the focus has switched to the baby. I had been stressing out because I did not have a lot of baby clothes. I know, she can wear onesies but I want her to have some cute stuff.

Well, yesterday, some of our friends brought over two huge boxes of baby clothes.

What a blessing!

As soon as our friends left, hubby and I opened up the boxes—excitedly, like two kids at Christmas. We started organizing everything into sizes. There was a ton of stuff!

I don't think Chauncey was as thrilled as we were about the baby clothes.

Everything was in great condition. There is quite a bit of summer clothing, so she will be completely set until next fall. I will buy a few pairs of pants here and there depending on how cold the Texas winter gets. I did already warn Mr. Campbell that I will be purchasing new outfits for Kedzie for Thanksgiving and Christmas. (A girl has gotta have new clothes for the holidays!)

And, to make matters even better, my sister and her husband came over last night. We had a nice dinner—an Italian Feast from a new restaurant that just opened in Kyle, ilario’s.  (The food was good, but my brother in law doesn’t think the restaurant will last, because the cook was rude to the waitress. :)

Anyway, I had already started washing up all the clothes and my sister helped me fold and sort everything! I am happy to say, after three loads of laundry—Kedzie’s dresser is completely full.

For someone who had been stressing out that her baby was going to be wearing onesies and pajamas for the first six months of her life—a full dresser is a good thing!

A sick dog, a pregnant lady and a day with no students

Today started off as any old day, except we did not have students today. It was a professional development day—it’s the only “break” we have until Thanksgiving. I had been looking forward to this day for quite some time. I knew I would be able to sleep in at least a half an hour, and I would be able to sit down for a bit today.  Also, we got to go out for lunch! That is a luxury people in the “real world” don’t realize they have.

Anyway, I took Chauncey for his morning walk and realized the poor guy is not feeling well. He must have eaten something because he…well, I won’t even go there.  I brought him back in and didn’t really think anything else of it.

We headed to school. We had a few meetings/breakout sessions.  I got to feel smart in one session, because we were talking about Atomic Particles—and I was able to contribute. 7^th grade Science was coming back to me. (I taught 7^th grade Science for two years.)

I was also able to have a little time in my classroom. Baby Campbell will be here in less than 2 week and I need every second I can get for planning. I had over $100 worth of copies to send to the print shop and got a bunch of grades in.

It was a pretty successful day.

Then we got home.

I should have known when the house smelled like #2. I sent Mr. Campbell upstairs to check out the damage. And it was BAD. Presents left for us in every room—except for the master bedroom. The nursery, the hallway, the spare bedroom, and both of the rugs downstairs were all a gross mess. Thankfully, I had a large bottle of carpet cleaner and a ton of paper towel.  We cleaned for about an hour and still have a few spots to work on.

I think the worst part is; I have to restrict the dog’s food intake for at least the next 12 hours. Chauncey is one of those dogs who would eat every 25 minutes if he could. We give him a rationed amount of food each day and measure it out in a Ziploc baggie—or else he would eat ALL DAY LONG.

Poor guy. Let’s hope tomorrow is a better day for him.

And, let’s hope this baby stays put for at least 10 more days. (That is how much vacation time I have saved up to be off through the holidays without having any $ taken out of my paycheck.)  Plus, I need every second I can get to plan for being out.