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Gabriel's such a lucky boy to have such wonderful grandparents right next door! I don't know what we'd do without them. Because of their support, Ty and I are able to grab a cup of coffee at the bookstore a couple of times a week by ourselves....this small space of connection makes all the difference in the world.
And meanwhile...Gabriel gets to connect with his Nana and Papa.
Look how much he's grown! At one month, Gabriel is becoming much more of a little person. He has a wonderful personality. He loves looking at our faces and practicing making his own facial expressions. He goes through 'happy,' 'thoughtful', 'disturbed', 'mischievous'...and an odd little expression where he purses his lips together in a small 'o.' Mom says I also used to make this same expression. When we read books to him, he gets very quiet, opens his eyes wide and
focuses on our faces. He especially likes it when baba reads to him.
Currently, his favorite book is 'Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain', although 'The Raven' by Edgar Allen Poe comes in a close second. The latter we read to him in utero - and is especially appropriate given he's our little Halloween baby (my parents call him 'boo'.) He has finally gotten the hang of the whole breastfeeding thing. Mealtimes are much nicer now that neither of us are frustrated at each other through the process. And although Thursday night was one of the worst nights we've ever had (he was up fussing until 5:30am), last night was, in turn, our *best* night. He slept soundly, waking up every 3 hours to nurse - and then going right back to sleep. He is still sleeping in bed with us, but we plan on transitioning him to his co-sleeper after next week when winter vacation starts (getting no sleep and then teaching the next morning does *not* sound like a good plan.)
As for motor development, he is starting to lift his head up and hold it for a few seconds. He can track objects for a few seconds as well. When he has his tummy time, he likes to push with his feet and scoot forward. He actually travels a good distance this way. Whenever he lays on his baba's chest (which is a lot, since it's his favorite spot), he will grab hold of her shirt and hold on tight. He and Baba practice punching drills when he is sitting on her knees (Uncle Scott will be happy to hear this.)
His favorite commentary is 'ah - ah.' One of his favorite past-times is looking at the black and white shapes his Nana printed off for him - he just looks and looks. He also likes his swing (thanks Erica!.) Here is a photo of a satisfied little smile as the sing rocks him to sleep. He actually can't stay in the swing long as he doesn't quite fit yet!
I just recognized there are few pictures of me holding Gabriel on this site- so here we go. He's so small! With his jaundice and lately, my overactive milk producers, breastfeeding has been a struggle around here. I feel I am always either feeding him or trying to get him to eat. We got the jaundice cleared up, and I've started feeding him 'uphill' so the poor guy doesn't have to worry about drowning himself in milk. It's a whole new world around here! It's been nice to interact with him on a non-milk basis. (Although he still looks at me with these greedy little eyes that light up and seem to say 'I know you - your the milk lady!) :-)
First coffee at the bookstore.
One of my favorite pics of Ty and Gabriel
Who's that?
What's it like to be smaller than a house cat?
Tired....
...but happy.
Wow - it's been an absolutely crazy 2 weeks. I know everyone wants to see pictures - so I'll use the photo journal approach here to reflect on the past 12 days.
Here we are, a family of three, minutes after Gabriel's birth. From first contraction to birth, the whole labor lasted 5 hours. I'll post the labor story later - suffice to say it was so fast and intense that I don't remember much of it! The most I remember was pain, my breathing, and Ty's touch.
It's hard to find words to describe the love that filled the room and surrounded our little family that day - but I think this picture does a good job of giving a little glimpse. (PS - the flowers are from my Ty, to assure me that although I'm now 'a mom', I'm also still her beautiful wife.)
Ty holding her son for the first time.
The doctor placed Gabriel on my chest as soon as he was born. Here we are after we both got a chance to catch our breath and really 'look' at each other.
Gabriel in hospital garb. Notice the 'hug' tag on his foot. If the tag gets within 5 feet of any exit, the entire hospital shuts down. Yikes - there's no escape! And trust us, although the labor room and staff was wonderful, we really wanted out of there quickly! The night was horrible, with nurses coming in every hour to check either my vitals or Gabe's. We finally escaped around noon the next day (thursday).
Unfortunately, Gabriel's white blood cell count was low (so possibly a bacteria infection) and his bilirubin levels were high (so possibly jaundice) when we left the hospital so we had to go to the clinic the next day (friday) so they could check his blood again. Poor kid - by this time he had already been pricked twice at the hospital.
The tests showed that although his white blood cell count was fine (yeah!), his bilirubin levels had increased even further, so on monday they ordered some photo light therapy for him. We had to put this little light pad on his back for as long as possible - and then go *back* to the clinic on tuesday.
Here's our yawning yellow baby - jaundice makes you sleepy.
Wednesday they called us with the results and said we had to go to the hospital asap as Gabe's bilirubin had increased and if not brought down soon would reach a dangerous level (he was at 23, and anything above 30 could cause harm.) So - back to the hospital we went. He looks to tiny and helpless in that big machine, it was hard to watch. Although we didn't want to be there, if you have to be in the hospital - peds is the place to be! There was a bed for both Ty and I, free coffee and snacks, dvd's to rent and a playstation in the room with us. After several more foot pricks, the tests finally showed that his jaundice was down to safe levels (around 11) and we went home the next day.
Let's hear it for baby power! After 10 days of craziness, Gabriel was finally healthy, happy - and home in time to watch weekend football.
Ahhh...home. Peaceful sleep in his Baba's safe hands. A happy ending to a crazy week.
