The Campbells: February 2011

Ella Grace Campbell was born on February 9, 2011 at 9:33 AM. She weighed 8 pounds 7 ounces and measured 20 inches long. She has a full head of thick, brown, silky hair, the most perfect button nose, sweet dimples and the chubbiest cheeks you’ve ever seen. I fell in love instantly. You may or may not know what my very first thought was 9 and a half months ago when we surprisingly got a positive pregnancy test. It wasn’t “I’m not ready” or “How can we do this financially?” or “These kids are way too close together” (although I did eventually think those things). At that moment it was actually “How in the world will I ever be able to love another child the way I love Clara? It’s just not possible.” As I went through my pregnancy I trusted that my heart would grow and somehow I would be able to love two children equally and uniquely. I can now testify that I am blown away with how true this is! I’m not gonna lie, I was a little skeptical this could actually happen. The moment I saw Ella my heart somehow doubled in size. (Kind of reminds me of that scene in How the Grinch Stole Christmas). Somehow, I love Clara more than anyone in the world, yet I love Ella more than anyone in the world. It doesn’t seem to make sense but somehow it just works. Sorry to be all mushy, but hey, I just had a baby. :)

I thought I would share Ella’s birth story in case anyone was wondering. On Tuesday, February 8th (my due date) my water broke at 5:00 in the evening. It broke differently than it did with Clara’s labor so it took at least an hour for me to determine that’s what had really happened. I texted Jason: “You wanna have a baby?” He got home from work and we finished packing our bags while Clara “helped.” By 7:30 no real contractions had started. I really wanted to walk around to try to get things going but it was VERY cold outside. So where was my number one choice for a walking expedition? Target of course. So me, Jason and Clara went on a little Target outing to see if my body would respond to some walking. I had a few contractions here and there but nothing really consistent. The midwife on call informed me that we would need to come in at 1AM (regardless if labor had started) since my water would have been broken for 8 hours. I had a feeling things were probably going to go a lot like Clara’s labor. We got home and put Clara to bed. Our last night as a family of three was a very sweet time. We read “On the Night You Were Born” to Clara (one of her favorite books), hugged and kissed her like crazy and told her she would officially be a big sister the following day. After a little rest we left for the hospital (still with no consistent contractions). Once we were checked in and settled into our room the midwife came in and immediately told us we would need to start pitocin. I knew in my heart this was how things would end up again. You’d think since I’d been through it before it wouldn’t seem as scary, but I have to admit, I definitely didn’t feel ready to go through it again. I was really discouraged with how things were turning out so I called my friend Amber to update her. She immediately asked me if I would feel better if she were there. For some reason, knowing she would be there took a lot of my fear away. It was around 4AM and she was on her way! Now that’s an amazing friend. Before they started the pitocin Jason and I prayed together. We prayed we would trust God with labor and delivery and He would give us peace about everything. Once again, it was really a humbling time realizing we can’t always be in control. It was also really cool how the Lord took care of us. It turned out Debbie (the midwife that delivered Clara) was coming on at 8:00. This made me feel 100 times better! Also, the head nurse asked if I wanted to request a specific nurse when they changed shifts. There was one in particular that I LOVED and she just happened to be coming on as well! They started the pitocin at 4:45 AM. At 9:00 I was 8cm and minutes away from pushing. I only had to push for about 10-15 minutes (as opposed to 75 minutes with Clara) and Ella was born!

Since being home, things have gone about as good as I could hope for. Besides a trip to the ER with high blood pressure and a case of mastitis, things have been going very smoothly. Ella has been awesome at breastfeeding from the moment she was born and takes no time to eat. So far she has slept very well, as most newborns do, although sometimes she has a hard time falling asleep. We are learning more and more about her as each day goes on. It’s fun, yet very tiring, learning all over again. Clara seems to absolutely adore her. She doesn’t get to see her very much right now since Ella sleeps so much, but when she does she gets the biggest smile on her face and has lots of giggles. We are definitely working with her on her being “gentle.”

The past week and a half we've had a lot of help from family and it STILL seems like a lot of work. There are many times I think to myself “how in the world will I do this alone?” I just have to remember people have been raising kids for a few thousand years so somehow I’ll manage too. Jason will be going back to work soon and then the real test begins. I’m expecting it to be extremely challenging to say the least. But I love these two girls so much that it will all be worth it....even if I don’t brush my teeth for a couple days. HAHA!

Arriving at the hospital

Just born

Me cutting the umbilical cord (Jason was too grossed out to do it)

Meeting for the first time

Daddy and his girls

Clara holding Ella for the first time.

She would get upset if we tried to take her away. Too cute!

Mommy and her girls

Dimples!

Daddy has been Clara's #1 playmate the past week and a half.

Sweet girl

My new necklace. Their birthstone colors look so pretty together! (Jason's Valentine's Day gift to me)

This video is of Ella being born. You don't see anything gross, I promise. But you may not want to watch if birth stuff weirds you out. Jason "surprised" me by filming it. I was beyond excited he captured this moment!

Just born

Dear Ella,

Today is our due date (although the Dr's due date isn't until the 8th). Thank you for not coming during the hours when roads were icy and/or closed, I heard they were pretty bad. Your dad suggested several times we could just go to a different hospital if needed, but I was not going to have that. HAHA. Also, thank you for taking your time to make your appearance. I have definitely needed this time to mentally prepare myself. I am just so excited to meet you, my sweet daughter, and see what you look like! The most we’ve got left is about 2 weeks, whether you and I are ready or not! I love you very much and will see you soon…

Love, Mommy (and Daddy)

Here is a little update from my appointment on Wednesday:

I got checked for the first time and she said I was a "loose one" cm dilated. In other words maybe, 1.25 cm? haha. (in case you don’t remember I was a zero with Clara up until the day I had her. So this is definite improvement from last time!). She also said my cervix is really soft (which just means it's ready to go). Last week I had Titi while this week I had Theodorah. She even commented on how low Ella is and how her head is right in my pelvis. She said all I need are some contractions and things should progress well. Theodorah said she was pretty sure there was no way I’d go 12 days over like last time. I still feel like I will go past the due they have for me (which is the 8th) but who knows…. I also asked her how much she thought Ella would weigh and she said maybe around 7 lb 8 oz.

My friend Jessica, who has the same due date as me, just stopped by our house on their way to the hospital to have her baby! Her water broke tonight so her little boy Noah, Ella’s future friend-boy, will be here soon. Definitely makes everything more real!

Out taking our monthly pictures