Due to the lack of recent blog postings, you all probably assumed that Baby Campoamor 2.0 decided to grace us with his/her presence. Your assumptions were correct! Ellis Lane Campoamor was born Tuesday, 18 September, at 5:15pm. SHE (yeah that's right - another Girl) weighed 7lbs 7oz and was 19 inches long. After an unannounced weeklong delay at the hospital (I'll explain below) we are all happily and safely at home under one roof.
Shannon started to have noteworthy contractions early Monday (17 Sept) morning. We both got up thinking the time had come but as quickly as the contractions appeared, they went away. With that, we both went back to bed. Things didnt start picking up until Tuesday morning. I went to work with Shannon stating she was fine and feeling nothing out of the ordinary. I received a text message from her stating the contractions had returned and to be ready to leave work at a moments notice. I think they came and went a few times before she asked me to go ahead and wrap things up at work and come on home. I said some goodbyes at work and left for the house. I think this was the only time during the whole delivery process where I felt sick to my stomach. As most of you know, I throw up when I'm really nervous (i.e. the multiple vomits before our wedding) and if I see or am around blood. I thought I was going to yak in the drive home and had my subway sandwhich bag at the ready just in case. I got home (noon) thinking Shannon was going to be waiting in the driveway keeled over in pain waiting for me to scoop her up and head to the hospital. However, she was in the kitchen doing dishes. What is happening!? I had time to shower and get things ready before she said she wanted to go do a few laps around the block. We did 2 laps around the block stopping to time the contractions. At the time they were about 4 min apart and lasting anywhere between 30 sec to 1 min. I also learned a few things during our walk: dont talk to her or try to make any funnies while she is "coping" with a contraction. Also, the reason we were stopping was not to get an accurate time of the duration/frequency of the contractions. She (allegedly) couldnt move - All this stuff was good to know and I put those nuggets away for future use. We decided to leave the house around 2:30pm to make sure we didnt hit any of the California traffic. We loaded up the car and off we went.
We arrived at the hospital at 3pm and after Shannon took us on a tour of the Hospital (she thought she knew where to go after telling me, "Ryan, you dont know where to go. I got this.") Roger that. So we visited a few elevator shafts and a few floors before meeting up with our midwife and arriving at the birthing center. Before admitting her they wanted to make sure she was "progressing." She measured around 5-6cm (whatever that means) and said she was far enough to be admitted. At 3:30pm we were given the penthouse corner suite with the Queen-sized four post bed and the nurse started to log us in. I think her contractions were around 3-4 min apart at this moment. Shannon sat on the exercise ball and "coped" with the contractions as they came. I think around 3:45 - 4:15pm the tub had filled up enough and the nurse gave her the option to labor in the tub. She stated that it could either drastically reduce or enhance the frequency and strength of the contractions. She decided to give it the ole college try and in she went. From here, things for me started to get a little blurry so forgive me if there is an incompleteness in my journal entries. It felt like 2-3 contractions into the tub before Shannon screamed, "Get the Midwife immediately!" After some screaming from Shannon and some confusion from me, the Midwife came in and non-chalauntly said, "Oh, I can see your baby's head. I'll call in some other folks and we can all assist you with getting out of the tub and going over to the bed." Just as soon as the Midwife said, "I'll call...." Shannon leaped out of the tub and walked over to the bed. The nurses and midwife did not know what to think. How could she possibly do that! She got up on the bed and after 2 pushes, Ellis was born! There was a little confusion to what sex the baby was due to a "short (umbilical) cord" and it covering up it's genitalia. I carefully moved the slimy/nasty/throbbing cord over to the side and announced, "It's a Girl!" After what seemed like an hour, they were all done with cleaning everything up and getting us situated. They weighed her, did a quick assessment on her and after that it was just Shannon, Ellis and I in the room. I called the grandparents and immediate family while Shannon ate dinner.
I'll have to admit, it was a pretty cool experience! Im glad I was able to be here for it this (first and last) time around. Not once did I feel nauseous or anything - not even while I was cutting the slimy/nasty/throbbing umbilical cord. I take that back... the one and only time I got semi-queezy was when the midwife held up the placenta for us to view, pointing out "the tree of life" and asking us if we wanted to take it home. I had to turn away and ask the doula to come back around one more time and wave her bottle of lavender scented aroma therapy bottle in my face. They did also ask if I wanted to come take a quick gander as she was coming out. I graciously declined. Shannon had done great! She was up walking around and asking how long she had to remain at the hospital before being discharged. After a few more hours they moved us to another room down the hall (they needed the room because it was 1 of 2 that had the tub) and we stayed there for the night with Ellis sleeping right next to us.
The next morning is where things got interesting. I picked up Grammy and Leyton to bring them up to the hospital to meet Ellis. Just as we returned, the pediatrician had just left and said her breathing was a little faster then they would like to have seen. The came back a few more times within and hour to recheck and sure enough, her respiratory rate was too high. They wanted to take her down to the NICU to x-ray her lungs and observe her a lot more closely. I turned out she had pneumonia and had to stay in the NICU for 7 days to receive her anti-biotics. The NICU was a scary place for Ellis and parents. They had trouble finding veins in her hands, feet, and elbows but after the 20th try, they were able to find one in her hand. She really was the largest and probably the most healthy baby in there but it was still our kid and it was heartbreaking to see her hooked up to all the machines and monitors. Since she was on an IV, and under the lights (for jaundice), they did not want Shannon to breast feed or for us to hold her. We could just sit there by her bedside only allowed to talk and touch her. Her x-rays revealed some fluid in the lungs but they were not sure what caused it. She had to stay there for 7 days to receive the full series of anti-biotics. We had friends that lived nearby and they were gracious enough to let us crash there over night. We would go back as much as possible to be with her and wait for updates from the doctors. After a few days the fluid started to subside and they allowed Shannon to breastfeed. She started to get better quickly, which was a huge blessing. We would juggle our time between the hospital and home to hang out with our kids. We would try to come back every 3 hours or so to feed which made days rather long. Shannon was discharged 2 days after the birth. We were just waiting out the seven days for her meds. With 2 days to go, the doctors were very happy and declared her a well baby. On Wednesday, 26 Sep, we were able to bring her home.
Things have been going good at home. LC is slowly warming up to Ellis and we are trying to work out the dynamics of the house with having 2 kiddos. Ellis is eating good, pooping a lot, and sleeping some. But all and all - we are doing good. It was a blessing to have Grammy and Papa here to hold down the fort and sustain life for Leyton. She was devastated to see them leave this weekend but we're pretty certain BB and Poppy will be spoiling her again soon.
Ellis had her check-up with her pediatrician this past Friday and she is up to 7 lbs 15 oz, and 21.5 in. Big girl!
Sorry this post was so lengthy, but I wanted to fill you all in after a week long no-blogging hiatus. Here are some photos of our new little girl
Shannon started to have noteworthy contractions early Monday (17 Sept) morning. We both got up thinking the time had come but as quickly as the contractions appeared, they went away. With that, we both went back to bed. Things didnt start picking up until Tuesday morning. I went to work with Shannon stating she was fine and feeling nothing out of the ordinary. I received a text message from her stating the contractions had returned and to be ready to leave work at a moments notice. I think they came and went a few times before she asked me to go ahead and wrap things up at work and come on home. I said some goodbyes at work and left for the house. I think this was the only time during the whole delivery process where I felt sick to my stomach. As most of you know, I throw up when I'm really nervous (i.e. the multiple vomits before our wedding) and if I see or am around blood. I thought I was going to yak in the drive home and had my subway sandwhich bag at the ready just in case. I got home (noon) thinking Shannon was going to be waiting in the driveway keeled over in pain waiting for me to scoop her up and head to the hospital. However, she was in the kitchen doing dishes. What is happening!? I had time to shower and get things ready before she said she wanted to go do a few laps around the block. We did 2 laps around the block stopping to time the contractions. At the time they were about 4 min apart and lasting anywhere between 30 sec to 1 min. I also learned a few things during our walk: dont talk to her or try to make any funnies while she is "coping" with a contraction. Also, the reason we were stopping was not to get an accurate time of the duration/frequency of the contractions. She (allegedly) couldnt move - All this stuff was good to know and I put those nuggets away for future use. We decided to leave the house around 2:30pm to make sure we didnt hit any of the California traffic. We loaded up the car and off we went.
We arrived at the hospital at 3pm and after Shannon took us on a tour of the Hospital (she thought she knew where to go after telling me, "Ryan, you dont know where to go. I got this.") Roger that. So we visited a few elevator shafts and a few floors before meeting up with our midwife and arriving at the birthing center. Before admitting her they wanted to make sure she was "progressing." She measured around 5-6cm (whatever that means) and said she was far enough to be admitted. At 3:30pm we were given the penthouse corner suite with the Queen-sized four post bed and the nurse started to log us in. I think her contractions were around 3-4 min apart at this moment. Shannon sat on the exercise ball and "coped" with the contractions as they came. I think around 3:45 - 4:15pm the tub had filled up enough and the nurse gave her the option to labor in the tub. She stated that it could either drastically reduce or enhance the frequency and strength of the contractions. She decided to give it the ole college try and in she went. From here, things for me started to get a little blurry so forgive me if there is an incompleteness in my journal entries. It felt like 2-3 contractions into the tub before Shannon screamed, "Get the Midwife immediately!" After some screaming from Shannon and some confusion from me, the Midwife came in and non-chalauntly said, "Oh, I can see your baby's head. I'll call in some other folks and we can all assist you with getting out of the tub and going over to the bed." Just as soon as the Midwife said, "I'll call...." Shannon leaped out of the tub and walked over to the bed. The nurses and midwife did not know what to think. How could she possibly do that! She got up on the bed and after 2 pushes, Ellis was born! There was a little confusion to what sex the baby was due to a "short (umbilical) cord" and it covering up it's genitalia. I carefully moved the slimy/nasty/throbbing cord over to the side and announced, "It's a Girl!" After what seemed like an hour, they were all done with cleaning everything up and getting us situated. They weighed her, did a quick assessment on her and after that it was just Shannon, Ellis and I in the room. I called the grandparents and immediate family while Shannon ate dinner.
I'll have to admit, it was a pretty cool experience! Im glad I was able to be here for it this (first and last) time around. Not once did I feel nauseous or anything - not even while I was cutting the slimy/nasty/throbbing umbilical cord. I take that back... the one and only time I got semi-queezy was when the midwife held up the placenta for us to view, pointing out "the tree of life" and asking us if we wanted to take it home. I had to turn away and ask the doula to come back around one more time and wave her bottle of lavender scented aroma therapy bottle in my face. They did also ask if I wanted to come take a quick gander as she was coming out. I graciously declined. Shannon had done great! She was up walking around and asking how long she had to remain at the hospital before being discharged. After a few more hours they moved us to another room down the hall (they needed the room because it was 1 of 2 that had the tub) and we stayed there for the night with Ellis sleeping right next to us.
The next morning is where things got interesting. I picked up Grammy and Leyton to bring them up to the hospital to meet Ellis. Just as we returned, the pediatrician had just left and said her breathing was a little faster then they would like to have seen. The came back a few more times within and hour to recheck and sure enough, her respiratory rate was too high. They wanted to take her down to the NICU to x-ray her lungs and observe her a lot more closely. I turned out she had pneumonia and had to stay in the NICU for 7 days to receive her anti-biotics. The NICU was a scary place for Ellis and parents. They had trouble finding veins in her hands, feet, and elbows but after the 20th try, they were able to find one in her hand. She really was the largest and probably the most healthy baby in there but it was still our kid and it was heartbreaking to see her hooked up to all the machines and monitors. Since she was on an IV, and under the lights (for jaundice), they did not want Shannon to breast feed or for us to hold her. We could just sit there by her bedside only allowed to talk and touch her. Her x-rays revealed some fluid in the lungs but they were not sure what caused it. She had to stay there for 7 days to receive the full series of anti-biotics. We had friends that lived nearby and they were gracious enough to let us crash there over night. We would go back as much as possible to be with her and wait for updates from the doctors. After a few days the fluid started to subside and they allowed Shannon to breastfeed. She started to get better quickly, which was a huge blessing. We would juggle our time between the hospital and home to hang out with our kids. We would try to come back every 3 hours or so to feed which made days rather long. Shannon was discharged 2 days after the birth. We were just waiting out the seven days for her meds. With 2 days to go, the doctors were very happy and declared her a well baby. On Wednesday, 26 Sep, we were able to bring her home.
Things have been going good at home. LC is slowly warming up to Ellis and we are trying to work out the dynamics of the house with having 2 kiddos. Ellis is eating good, pooping a lot, and sleeping some. But all and all - we are doing good. It was a blessing to have Grammy and Papa here to hold down the fort and sustain life for Leyton. She was devastated to see them leave this weekend but we're pretty certain BB and Poppy will be spoiling her again soon.
Ellis had her check-up with her pediatrician this past Friday and she is up to 7 lbs 15 oz, and 21.5 in. Big girl!
Sorry this post was so lengthy, but I wanted to fill you all in after a week long no-blogging hiatus. Here are some photos of our new little girl
This is little miss Ellis only a few minutes old. We are going to have to dig up some photos of LC as a newborn but we both think she looks exactly like Leyton did.
Shannon and Ellis - only a few minutes old
This was her aquarium in the NICU.
Shannon was finally allowed to breast feed LC so here she is trying to get her to belch. Which she does quite well. The noises that come out of this kid are unimaginable.
Because she was slightly jaundice, she had to be under the UV lights and one day on the "TRON" blanket. They gave her these sweet shades to block out the bright lights.
One of the cuddlers (a volunteer who goes around calming babies down) made her this beautiful sign for her tank.
Grammy and Ellis at the Hospital. ~17 hours old.
LC and Ellis meeting for the first time. As you can see, Leyton was thrilled.
The four of us.
Aunt Sonya, Uncle Ben, Cousin McKinley and Piper were in town for a few days so they were able to meet Ellis too.
Ellis receiving her hearing test
(Finally) going home!!!
Leyton, her doll Stella, and Ellis
So tired!
Bath time complete.
There is so much I missed so you will have to check back for some of the holes to be filled in. Thanks for all your prayers. We truly are blessed with two girls!
