Rya-Jo Kay Campbell made her arrival!!

(This is a long one)

Rya-Jo Kay Campbell made her debut on April 18th, at 6:39am. Not exactly the date or way we all expected her to come, but she is here none the less. Tuesday the 14th I went to the doctor to have a stress test done on the little one. She had not moved much and I was beginning to worry. The test results were fine and doctor sent me home to just relax and keep track of kick counts. That Thursday was my regular 37 week appointment, and I was asked about her kicking again. Which again she was rather quiet. The doctor did an ultrasound and then another stress test. He noticed that her heart rate dropped several times during this test and that concerned him, as well as my high blood pressure.

So he said he was going to send me home to be on complete bed rest as well as watching my blood pressure. But before I left he wanted to check to see if I was dilated at all. When he entered the room to check me he told me that he had spoken to a specialist who said it would be best for me to be in Labor and Delivery at the hospital to do a 24 hour monitor on Rya. He then checked me, and told me I was dilated to a 2. So Zoe, Jon and myself headed to the hospital after a quick stop at home, to start what I thought was going my 24 hour stay.

Over the 24 hour period there were some drops again in her heart rate. And Friday night at 8pm the doctor decided it would be better to induce my labor. I finally got an epidural after some time and that was by far the weirdest feeling I have ever had. I couldn't move my legs at all! It was funny, yet at the same time didn't feel good either. After 8 hours of trying to sleep on my left side and hoping I would progress, no progress. So at 5 something AM my doctor decided it was time to go in and get her out. I was shaking uncontrollably on the way into the operating room and in there as well. My mind was racing, was I really ready for all this? Was this going to hurt, can I stop them and keep trying?

The second Jon walked into the room and made eye contact with me I felt completely at ease. I knew everything was going to be just fine. After a lot of pressure and pushing and weird weird feelings, I saw them move my little baby girl to the warmer table. Jon started to take a lot of pictures and they announced her weight and length. She weighed in at 4lbs and 10oz...17.5 inches long. She is/was TINY! One ounce smaller than her Aunt Ashley. She ended up having the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck and was also trying to come out face first.

She ended up having some eating issues, temp issues as well as breathing issues. She spent a week in the Special Care Nursery at the hospital. After eating wonderfully and able to maintain her temp, she was sent home on oxygen. She will be looked at on Friday to see if we can remove her oxygen tank or not. I think there is a really big possibility that she will not have to go any longer because from the moment we walked in the front door she has maintained her oxygen levels so well.

So all in all, she is amazing. I don't think I could be more in love with someone than I am with her. As hard as the pregnancy, emotions, labor and delivery were I wouldn't change it for the world. Except for maybe have her totally healthy when she came into the world.

Here are some more pictures, please enjoy! I certainly do!!!