Mommy's Check-Up

I went last week for my post baby check-up and Dr.Mammel said everything was great. While I was there I asked him about Gabe's low birth weight and what may have been caused that. It is said that birth weight usually is close to what the parents size was at birth, when you are full-term.
He believed that I had developed toxemia and that was the reason he was going to induce my labor. That was the reason for the extreme swelling in my hands and feet and all over for that matter and the reason for the huge rise in my blood pressure. He said that chances are I won't develop that again, it is common in most first pregancies. Also that next I probably won't be so lucky to give birth to such a tiny baby.

1 Month

I really can't believe how time flies it seems like yesterday we were driving home from the hospital... Gabe started out a tiny little thing, not at all like any of us were expecting but is growing so quickly! At about 3 weeks he started sleeping in his crib in his own room and even gets himself to sleep, sometimes he doesn't even cry at all. I only started so soon because I got really frustrated one night trying to get him back to sleep after he nursed and went and put him down in his crib. Within 7 minutes he was sound asleep and slept until after 8 the next morning. I guess between the dogs and Michael and I moving around all night he just couldn't sleep well. He has slept through the night once but is waking up just once a night to nurse and then back to bed. At 3 1/2 weeks he grew out of his preemie diapers and clothes and into his big boy newborn sizes! The pooping and peeing out of his diaper has stopped so we don't have to change his clothes every half hour. I think the Pampers diapers had a lot to do with that, they just fit better than the Huggies. He is such a handsome boy sometimes I can hardly believe he's mine!

Hard Life!

I had to post this picture because it is the cutest picture ever. He loves taking naps in his Boppy Newborn Lounger that Gigi and PopPop got him. I love my Lil' Man so much it is just unreal!!

A Day of Firsts

Well on Sunday, July 8th Gabriel had a very busy day.
Since his umbilical cord had fallen off he was ready for the pool! His bathing suit was huge on him even though it was a newborn.

He actually really liked the pool and being out in the sun. Sorry I somehow took no pictures of him actually in the pool, but I will next time he is in. I guess our family has another little water baby on our hands.

As well as his big day of swimming Daddy and I also took him to his first baseball game.
We went to the Lakeland Flying Tigers game at 6pm that evening.

Ok so Gabe slept through the entire game but we are pretty sure he still had a great time.

I am sure that we will enjoy many more games together.

Also Gabe and Mommy took a shower together when we got home and Gabe LOVED it!!!

Check-Up

Well this past Friday was his 2 week check-up and it went great. He head grown to 20 3/4 inches long and now weighs 6 lbs. 14 oz. I can not believe how much my little man is growing and how fast. The doctor was very proud of how well he is eating and so is Mommy and Daddy. His umbilical cord had fallen off the day before so we gave him his first real tubby bath with the help of Gigi of course. He loved just laying there in the warm water!

Happy 4th!!

We had such a fun 4th of July! Aaron, Angela, Charles, Alex, Mandy, Emma, Gigi and PopPop all came over to our house for the day. It is really important to all of us that the kids all grow up together and are close to one another. Gigi fixed a delicious lunch of ribs and baked potatoes and Angela brought a tasty dessert. We planned on going swimming but the weather really didn't allow it. While Gigi watched Charles and Mandy and Emma went home to take a nap the rest of us went and saw Transformers, which was a great movie.

Daddy insisted on the sunglasses even though they were huge on our Lil' Firecrackers face!!

Church Boy

At only 10 days old Gabriel had his first Sunday at church and he was a perfect angel. He was awake for all the praise and worship then slept through the message.

Michael and I have been attending Lake Morton Community Church for the last 3 months. We are really enjoying it, all the people are great.

Sunning

Well of course Gabe couldn't get in the pool yet because of his umbilical cord but him and I enjoyed sitting out under the umbrella by the pool.


I can't wait for him to be able to go swimming with everyone!!

Gabe and Daddy!

Here a just a few adorable pictures of Michael and Gabriel together.

I couldn't be more proud of Michael and the way he has stepped up to the

challenge of being an amazing Daddy.

Gabe is such a lucky boy!

Already 1 week old!

First off on the last post I put that he was 21 inches long when he was born, but he was only 20 inches.

Well it is crazy to think that he is already a week old, time really does fly by. For as small as he is he is very strong. Grammie and I did this little photo shoot so you could all see how much he has grown in a week.

He is such a good baby, Michael and I are so blessed. He only wakes up once a night and barely cries at all.

He's Here!!

I went to the doctor on June 20th at 3pm. When I arrived my blood pressure was really high as it had been the last 3 times I had gone. Also my protein levels were really high and Dr. Mammel said he was concerned about my health. He said that Gabe would be fine considering I was more than 39 weeks, so nearly full term. He told me to be at the hospital at 9 am the next morning. So we decided to go to dinner with Alex, Mandy, Emma, and PopPop. At 5:45 I started having contractions, we went on to dinner and they continued about 10 minutes apart. They all needed to go to Target so I said we would go and I could walk around to see if they continued. Well they did and were coming about every 8 minutes. Mandy said I needed to hurry up and call Dr. Mammel at the hospital, he was the one on call that night and the next day. Michael and I went on home because I wanted to straighten up and take a shower, the contractions were then coming about every 6 minutes. At 8:40pm I called the hospital and Dr. Mammel told me to come on in, we got in the labor and delivery room at 9:00. They got me all hooked up and Dr. Mammel came in about 9:30 and broke my water after that things really progressed quickly, by 1:30 am I was pushing. Gabe was born at 2:54am on June 21st. He weighed 5 lbs 11 ozs and was 21 inches long.

Gabe's Room

For all of the people that live out of town or just haven't made it over to see Gabe's room I thought I would post some pictures. I put a lot of time and thought into putting it all together and had lots of help as well.

The bookshelf and table by the glider were made by Papa, Michael also helped. I think it is really special for Gabe to have those things that were made just for him by the people who love him most. Grammie and Papa also bought the glider for us, which is the most comfortable seat in the house. Then my parents bought the crib and changing table.