I'm sure many of you have heard already, but Ryley Cooper Campbell was born December 31st at 11:22 am! He weighed 8 lbs and was 18.5 inches long. Will got his wish for a tax break after all! He's just about the same size Grayson was when he was born, but has a little more hair and it seems to be more of a light brown color. It'll be interesting to see if it changes color and gets blonde like his big brother. :)
I had heard from many people that the second baby goes faster than the first so I was in high hopes of that happening this time! However, it sadly was NOT in the beginning! Our experience with the Army hospital though wasn't the greatest starting out though which I think had a great deal in how slow things went. I started having contractions at 1am Friday morning. They were typically about 6 minutes apart so we headed into the hospital that afternoon. However, once I got into the triage room they slowed down and they sent me home. We let the staff know that Grayson was the same way and I had to be given Pitocin with that labor to get things moving. However, since my water hadn't broken yet they didn't want to admit me into the hospital. I was told to come back when my water broke or contractions were 3-5 min apart. Contractions continued to grow stronger and more painful throughout the night, but remained irregular. After another sleepless night for myself and only able to take Tylenol every 6 hrs for the pain, once everyone else was awake Will and I headed back to the hospital around 8 Saturday morning. My sister Laura happened to be visiting for the week with her daughter Addie so it was perfect timing so Gray could stay home with her. Once at the hospital for the second time, we were unsure at first if nurses were going to admit me, but when they got ahold of the Dr on call he said to go ahead and he'd break my water. After we got into the delivery room, things finally went quickly as people say it should with a second baby! Thank goodness!! Turned out I was already 8 cm dilated and contractions came on steady once the water was broke. I was able to get an epidural about 40 min before Ryley was born. However, due to my back surgery it didn't take very well since I was having a lot of back labor pain. After looking back, I realize I probably could have just gone without any epidural since it was only 10 minutes of pushing and Ryley was born! I was terrified at the thought of pushing again for 3 hours like I had to with Grayson so I wanted the epidural just in case! From the time I was admitted and in the delivery room to the time Ryley was born, it was only about 2 hrs. While the day before was very discouraging to be sent home, I was thankful it was a quick delivery! Unfortunately it was so quick that Will never had time to go back to the car to get my bag so we'd have the camera when Ryley came! We never did get the typical photos of Ryley being weighed and measured. Below are pictures we took when my sister came with Grayson and Addie, her daughter, that afternoon to visit.
Grayson noticed the baby right away when they came in to the room and wanted to see the baby. However, he didn't want to hold him and it took a little coaxing to get him to give baby brother a kiss on the head. :) Addie enjoyed getting to hold her new baby cousin and then Grayson and her colored for awhile so Aunt Laura could hold Ryley for a little while before both kids got antsy.
My sister had planned on staying until New Years so she took the kids home and Will stayed with me and Ryley that first night in the hospital. My friend, Mel, here in GA took Grayson the next day for him to go to her house and play with her girls. Grayson was upset and didn't quite understand what was going on and where me and Will were. He calmed down, but Will went home Sunday evening to stay with Grayson. Grayson was very happy to see Daddy again and spend time with Will!
The pediatrician said Ryley was doing well. He passed all his screenings (i.e. jaundice, hearing) and was able to go home as soon as paperwork was done! Ryley is eating well and has no problem getting the milk he wants!! We're happy to be home and thankfully Will has the next 10 days off to stay home and help out with Grayson and Ryley. Once he returns to work, my mom is coming to stay for a couple weeks until after Grayson's birthday. It will be wonderful to still have an extra set of hands to help out with Grayson during the day for the rest of the month! I'm tired, but don't feel like a Zombie like I did with Grayson. We'll see how long it takes for that to hit! :) Hopefully Ryley stays the same and will continue sleeping a good 4-5 hr stretch at night like he has the last two nights. I'm not holding my breath for that though! :)
More pictures will be posted next weekend so be sure to check back! :)
