Life with Gabriel at 9 Weeks Old

A pile of feet! My feet, Chase's feet, and Gabe's little foot on top...Chase's feet are almost as big as mine!

Chase laying next to Gabe on the couch with the morning sun beaming through the window on his face

Still trying to capture the perfect smile on camera...getting closer.  You can see a dimple in this one!

Gabe loves bathtime (more so than Chase did at this age).

All snuggled up in a towel after a bath

Little foot in my hand

Here I am typing up another blog update, which means I'm still alive after returning to work a couple weeks ago.  So far, life back at work is good, but it's super busy.  My boss has my group on overtime right now, but I'm struggling just to meet 40 hours a week with Gabriel's doctor visits and just dealing with life in general with a 3 year-old and newborn.  My perspective is that I'm beyond thankful to have a job and I enjoy what I do at the shipyard, but, family still comes first and my babies won't be babies for long.  With that said, I'm doing all I can to keep up with work and still spend as much time as possible with my boys.  I feel as though we've all settled into a pretty good routine so far with me being back at work.  My weekdays begin with me getting up at 5 to pump breastmilk and get myself ready for work before Gabe and Chase wake up.  Tim gets Chase ready in the mornings while I get Gabe ready, and I bring the boys over to my grandmother's house in the mornings around 7 and make it to work by 7:30.  Sounds hectic, but in all honesty, it hasn't been near as chaotic as I anticipated. 

I get off from work at 4 and Tim picks up the boys from my grandmother's house on his way home from work.  Then, I soak up every moment I can with Chase and Gabe in the evenings, which usually involves me wearing Gabe in the Snugli carrier (same thing as the Baby Bjorn carrier I used with Chase) while I'm cooking dinner, packing lunches for the next day, or doing other odds and ends around the house.  If I didn't wear the Snugli carrier, I wouldn't get anything done--it keeps Gabe content and I can even nurse him while he's in there.  Speaking of nursing, Gabe and I are still going strong and he's survived solely on breastmilk.  I pump twice at work to keep the supply going.  Unfortunately, even with being an exclusively breastfed baby, Gabe still has digestive issues.  Much like Chase, he's a gassy baby and it sets in after every feeding.  The gas drops and gripe water help some, but they don't completely alleviate the discomfort and fussing.  At Gabe's 2-month check-up yesterday, Dr. Baust thought he might also have reflux on top of the gas, so we're trying out infant Zantac to see if it will help--I pray it will, because it's a pitiful sight to see a baby in discomfort. 

On a positive note, Gabriel is consolable as long as he's held and walked around (again, I'm thankful for the Snugli carrier).  And, on an even more positive note, he's otherwise healthy and growing, currently weighing in at 12 pounds, 4 oz, and in the 95th percentile for height at 24.25 inches.  He's such a strong baby too.  He's been lifting his head up on his own since birth (no exageration).  He's also been rolling on his stomach since he was just a couple weeks old, but he's still not strong enough to roll all the way over. He goes back to Dr. Baust at 3 months for another check-up to determine if the Zantac is helping with the fussiness after feedings.  Dr. Baust also wants to check his vision better since he didn't get a good enough glimpse at his eyes during the last appointment since Gabriel was so fussy.  To top off the last appointment, Gabe also had a shot, so he was not a happy camper.  Poor baby!  He slept well by the time he got home from that appointment.  As far as his sleep schedule goes, he's sleeping longer stretches at nights.  I usually go to bed around 9 or 10 and place Gabe in the bassinette in my room.  On average, he's been waking up around 3 in the morning for a feeding and then he goes back to sleep until time for me to get him ready to bring to my grandmother's house.  As soon as we can eliminate the 3 AM  feeding, I'll put him in his crib.  For now, it's nice to have him in my bedroom so I can quietly feed him without waking everyone else up and it also allows me to lay down with him while nursing so that I'm still getting a decent amount of rest.

As for my other baby (yes, Chase is still my baby too), he's become quite the doting big brother.  He snuggles up to Gabe all of the time and asks me if he can hold him, but I don't think Chase can handle carrying something a third of his own weight.  Nonetheless, he seems to be doing well around Gabe and I don't see any jealousy coming from him like I did during those first few days.  On a comical note, Chase noticed I have a freckle on my belly and he thinks that's where Gabe came from so he pointed to a freckle on his leg and said that he had a baby brother growing on his leg too. HA, HA! He comes up with crazy stuff and keeps me rolling!  Tim is still his best buddy when it comes to cutting grass, going to the park, and "helping" daddy with things, such as washing the car. Chase is now potty trained (excluding the occasional accident, which is to be expected), so our little guy is growing up so fast.

Chase has had a fun summer so far in going to the bounce-house, park, beach, and playing with the water hose.  My grandmother has a kiddie pool at her house too.  Much to my surprise, my mom took on watching two other little boys this summer, so it turns out Chase has extra playmates.  He's also meeting new friends at school.  He's been going to Faith Outreach Education Center once or twice a week to go on fun, summer field trips with the school and get acclimated to the school.  K3 begins in late August and he'll be attending Monday-Friday from 8-12.  Meanwhile, my mom and grandmother will be watching Gabe, although up to this point, my grandmother has watched Gabe more than my mom has since my mom has been preoccupied with the other two little boys.  Bella comes over my grandmother's house a few times a week too, so Chase has no shortage of playmates and my grandmother has her work cut out for her.  I really don't know how she does it at 86 years old, but I'm so, so thankful for all she does for my boys.  Whenever I type these blog updates, it reminds me of how much I have to be thankful for in general.  God is good!

  

6 Weeks Postpartum

My Patriotic Baby at 5 Weeks Old on Memorial Day

Chase being sweet to his baby "broller" 

 Kristen Clay's sweet daughter Addyson May (3 months old) and Gabe (1 month old)

 Chase leaning up against the tent during his first backyard camping experience with Tim over Memorial Day weekend.  This was solely Tim's idea and I thought it was sweet for them to have this bonding experience together. Gabe and I enjoyed sleeping in the cool house while they enjoyed the hot, sticky weather outside : )

Love the pouty face in this picture

Here we are at 6 weeks postpartum.  I saw Dr. Kathy O'Connell yesterday for a check-up.  My body is back to "normal," although I think every pregnancy leaves its marks on a woman one way or another.  I'm still 4 pounds shy of my pre-pregnancy weight, but overall, I'm healthy and on the right track. I've been cleared to return to work beginning Monday, June 4th....but, I decided 6 weeks wasn't long enough so I'm taking off one more week.  The feeling of dread of returning to work has already set in for me mentally.  Fortunately, my dear mother and grandmother will be sharing the duties of watching both boys while Tim and I work, which gives me peace of mind.  I know I've said this before, but I can't stress enough just how thankful I am to have family to be the utmost childcare providers for my boys.  God has been so good in meeting my needs as far as childcare goes. 

Gabriel is sleeping for longer stretches on some nights, and I'm praying we're headed towards a consistent sleeping pattern now that I'm down to just one last week off from work.  It's not going to be easy getting a 3-year old, newborn, and myself ready in the morning before going to work an 8-hour day on 5-6 hours of broken sleep.  Getting ready for work will involve nursing and pumping; and, there will be more pumping to be done while at work.  Breastfeeding is still going well, and I hope to continue to do it for a few more months if my body will allow it.  I was able to make it through 6 months with Chase before my milk supply dried up so I'm hoping to do the same with Gabe.  Gabe hasn't had any formula up to this point and he won't even take a pacifier.  There are pros and cons to the pacifier situation: obviously, the biggest pro is that I won't have to worry about weening him off of a pacifier if he never takes it; however, the con is that when Gabe gets fussy he wants to nurse constantly instead of taking a pacifier.  Unfortunately, Gabe's fussiness has increased over the past few weeks.  He reminds me a lot of Chase as a baby with the gassy/colic spells.  Once he works through the gas, he's content again.  I try to watch what I eat and use all of the over the counter "remedies" such as gas drops and gripe water, but none seem to help but so much.  Thankfully, this is just a short lived period of time for babies and Gabe is consolable when he gets fussy; walks in the stroller and car rides seem to do the trick better than anything else.

As mentioned in my last posting, Gabriel is well over 10 pounds now and he's already outgrown newborn diapers and clothes. We've moved on to 3 month clothing and size 1 diapers.  Chase, on the other hand, only needs diapers at nights now.  I've worked with him diligently (and so have Tim and my grandmother) to get him potty trained and I'm proud to say that he's getting the hang of it and doing quite well....which leads me to my next point.  Now that he's potty trained for the most part, he can begin K3 preschool in the fall.  I registered him at Faith Outreach Education Center (FOEC) earlier this week and I'm so excited for him to start attending a Christian program that will not only teach him the normal K3 fundamentals, but introduce him to more Christian principals. Chase will also attend some of the fun summer activities FOEC has going on June through August.  This will be great for him as well as my mom and grandma as it will give them a break from having both boys at the same time all summer.  So again, I'm super excited for this opportunity and praying Chase will fit in well at FOEC.

The main goal for the next week is for me to soak up every last moment I can with Chase and Gabe before I return to work on June 11th.  I have no idea when I'll have the chance to update the blog again after returning to work, but I'm sure Tim and I will both post intermittently on Facebook.  Until then, enjoy kicking off your summer!