May 2, 2012

My Sleeping Angel in his carseat

Baby Gabe's First Bath (Check out that belly....Momma must be feeding him well!)

He blinked right when the camera flashed! Almost got a pic with his eyes open...

Proud Grammie Pam, Mommy, and Gabe at the hospital

Daddy and his two boys (this is Tim's FB profile pic)

Chase kissing his "baby bruller" (my FB profile pic)

Today was Gabriel’s official due date, but, thankfully, the Lord decided for him to come sooner! My last day of work was Thursday, April 19th. I had a doctor’s appointment that afternoon and Dr. Curtis informed me I was 3 cm dilated. In spite of the dilation and progress towards labor, she still felt I was healthy enough to continue on with work and suggested I continue working into the following week. I respectfully rebutted against her suggestion letting her know that I was done with work with or without a doctor’s note. My natural instinct told me there was no way I could continue working with the way I was feeling—not that I was feeling completely miserable, but I just had a lot of pressure on my bladder and could literally feel the baby descending more with each passing day. I was feeling more Braxton and Hick’s contractions and discharge everyday too. I also had more swelling than ever before, but still not enough for my blood pressure to budge outside of normal limits. I explained my work conditions to Dr. Curtis in great detail—not that I actually work on the ship anymore, but just the walk in and out of the shipyard gates is trying enough, not to mention the three flights of steel stairs I have to climb every day to get to my office. She finally agreed to write me out of work starting Monday, April 23rd and I made the call to just take a vacation day for Friday, April 20th.


Good call on my part! Little did I know on that Friday that it would be the last day of peace I would get before our family of three grew to four. I got a much needed pedicure first thing that morning since I hadn’t been able to reach my toes in quite some time. Throughout the day, I felt more pressure and drainage. Within just a couple hours of Tim getting home from work I told him that I wasn’t sure if I’d make it through the night without a baby coming. By this time, I was feeling more contractions, but they still weren’t strong enough or close enough together to rush to the hospital. So, we went about our evening as usual. Tim gave Chase a bath and then shortly afterwards, I told him it was best for us to go to the hospital since the contractions seemed to be getting more consistent. We had arranged for Chase to go to my grandmother’s house that night. Ironically, as soon as we got in the Tahoe to drive away from the house, the contractions subsided, although I do remember feeling an especially strong one on the James River Bridge (maybe it was all of those bumps on the bridge). After we dropped Chase off at my grandmother’s house for the night, we made our way to Mary Immaculate. Sure enough, the nurses checked me out around 11 PM and confirmed I had ruptured membranes (partial water breakage). It was like reliving my labor with Chase all over again because the same thing happened with him where my water had only partially broken.

I made it until around 4 AM the following morning—still no Gabriel, but felt stronger contractions at that point. I caved in and got the epidural. You may recall my Facebook post coming through around this time that said, “Thank God for popsicles and epidurals!” My mom came to the hospital after she had ended her nursing shift that morning and she stood by my side along with Tim as the nurses periodically checked me for dilation. As with Chase, the dilation was taking FOREVER. Dr. O’Connell checked in on me and put me on Pitocin some time later that morning to speed up the contractions and dilation. Alas, around 2:00 PM I was at 10 cm and ready to push. Unlike my labor with Chase, I felt more rested this time around since Tim and I had had the entire night prior to relax in the hospital without visitors as we waited for progression. I remember getting a few power naps in that night. Tim even ended up snoring on the loveseat in the L & D room.

Praise the Lord, it only took about a half hour of pushing with Gabriel. I didn’t tear too badly either (but, I’ve still felt better in my southern hemisphere). Dr. Kathy O’Connell was the OB on call that weekend and she was AWESOME! I’ve said this before, but it’s such a comforting feeling when you know your doctor is a servant of Christ; I know without a doubt that both Dr. Yonker and Dr. O’Connell are both Christian women and I couldn’t have asked for a better pair of doctors to bring my two boys into this world. All of the staff at MIH was very accommodating. Gabriel arrived in the world safe and sound at 2:44 PM weighing in at a whopping 8 pounds, 3 oz—a day before Chase’s birthday and just 2 oz bigger. Gabriel was measured around 19 inches in length, but I suspect he was still too curled up to get an accurate measurement because his little legs are just now starting to stretch out more at almost 2 weeks post partum.

The next few days were a blur: sleeping when I could, breastfeeding Gabriel around the clock (thankfully, nursing has been easier this time around than it was with Chase), and transitioning from the hospital to home. Chase’s first reaction to Gabe seemed like he was in a state of shock. Then he went through phases where one minute he was asking me to send the baby “bye-bye” to the next minute of adoring Gabriel as his “baby bruller.” Thankfully, I had Tim’s mom to help me out for most of that first week at home—the help really came in handy for entertaining Chase and keeping up with the house so that I could focus on Gabriel those first few days and nights at home. My mom and sister came by to visit later on in the week bringing me lasagna (Laurie makes the best lasagna). Dawn, Emily, and Ruthie came by to visit over the weekend. My dear friend Liz came by on Monday with an enormous tray of spaghetti and fixings to go along with it. Today, my dad came by with lunch from Bojangle’s and got to spend a couple hours with Chase and Gabe. We went for a stroll around the block on this beautiful, warm day. And as for my other half, he’s been a HUGE help with Chase since Gabe’s arrival—he’s taken Chase to the park several times and done lots of little things to keep him entertained so that I can focus on Gabe. Too bad he doesn’t get paternity leave so that I could have his help everyday for the next few weeks. With all of that said, I’m thankful for the help of my family and close friends.

Gabriel seems to have such a sweet spirit to him. Although it hasn’t been a full two weeks yet, he seems to be a less fussy than Chase was at this age and he’s already doing well at sleeping for longer stretches. On average during the nights, he wakes up 2-3 times for feedings and usually falls right back to sleep after a hearty meal and diaper change. Thankfully, I’m still getting 4-hour stretches of sleep during the nights in between feedings. As mentioned before, breastfeeding is going well; Gabe is already back up to his birth-weight and we have another weigh-in at the pediatrician’s next Tuesday. Gabriel was never the slightest big jaundice and all is healthy.

As appearances change so much during those first few weeks and months of a newborn’s life, it’s hard to tell who Gabriel favors. He doesn’t have as much hair as Chase did at birth and the hair that he does have is more of a dirty blonde rather than a strawberry blonde. I’m pretty sure he’ll have blue eyes like Tim’s side of the family or my dad. He seems to have my upper lip, but not my jaw line—in fact, we can’t figure out whose jaw line he has since he’s got a triple chin going on right now, LOL! Nonetheless, he’s beautiful. It’s funny how I envisioned him looking so much like Chase—I can see some similarities, but he’s definitely got his own unique traits and I can’t wait to watch them develop as he grows. I can’t even begin to say how bizarre it is to hold a newborn again after being around Chase at over 30 pounds for so long. It’s definitely a blessing to hold something so tiny and full of life and it’s as equally humbling to look at Chase and reminisce about him being that small just 3 short years ago.

For the next month, it’s just the boys and me! My focus other than trying to keep my sanity, rest, and maintain some sense of normalcy around the house is to try to see if I can get Chase any closer to being potty trained; look into preschool programs for Chase; try to tackle other odds and ends around the house; and, last but not least, bond with Gabriel and ensure I still show the same love and attention towards Chase. This is an awesome time to be off from work as the weather is warming up and I hope to make the best of these next few weeks even if it is exhausting at times. I feel very blessed to be a mother of two beautiful boys. Thank You, Jesus, for the opportunity to experience another one of Your magnificent creations.