Six months

I am so good at this blogging thing.  Or maybe not.  Hopefully Gabe won't require therapy due to the second child syndrome. :-)  Steve's new favorite phrase is "If this had been Trey, you would already have had ten pictures (videos/etc)."  Yep, probably so!  Thankfully we still have lots of pictures of little Gabe, but I do want to be better about documenting things so that I don't forget.

Gabe's six month check up was September 9th, and he was right on track.  He was 27 1/4 inches tall (75th percentile) and 17 pounds 7 ounces (50th percentile).  This means that when both boys are in the stroller as I push them up the steep hill near our house, I am now pushing over 85 pounds.  This makes me feel a lot better about how tired I am when we reach the top.

Gabe rolled from back to tummy by himself for the first time on August 10, 2013.  Right at a month later, he started sitting unsupported for short periods of time, sits up on his hands and knees, and either flops himself forward when up in the crawling position, or he army crawls.  Mr. Mobile is right around the corner.  He's actually got blisters on the ends of his toes today (sad!), so I think I'll have to start keeping socks on him to protect his little feet.

I think Gabe's favorite person in the entire world right now is Trey.  Or the cats maybe.  I can make Gabe giggle, but oh my goodness, Trey can make him belly laugh without even trying.  I mean, Trey can just be talking to me and bump Gabe, and the laughs coming out of that baby are hilarious!  Trey's still not super interested in Gabe, but I think he does enjoy making him smile and giggle.  Gabe has started babbling a bit here and there - it's kind of a lower pitch and requires a thoughtful face with the eyebrows all pinched together.  If Trey is being loud (which really is always), Gabe has started yelling, too.  On Steve's last weekend off, after a day and a half at home with us, he mentioned something about a sound proof room in our next house.  He said it would be for the boys, but I think it sounds like a good place to hide myself!

We've tried a few baby foods - squash (eh), green beans (not bad), rice (no thanks), and peaches (please don't ever put that in my mouth again).  He only eats just a few tastes at this point, but he's obviously fine in the weight category, so I'm not in a huge rush to supplement our nursing.  He enjoys gnawing on cold apple slices and really enjoys bites of fruit smoothies.  Gabe is just crazy interested and excited about any food that we have, so if it keeps him happy at meal times, we'll let him take some tastes.  We've also started letting him play around with a sippy cup, and he thinks that's pretty fun.

Sleep-wise....oh, my Gabe.  God love him.  He's not the best sleeper in the world. :-)  Through the day, he takes two or three cat naps (half an hour or so) and a longer nap after lunch when Trey naps.  All I can say about that is thank goodness because if we're at home and both boys are asleep at the same time, I'm probably asleep, too.  It's not so helpful on the housework front, but especially since Steve often gets home from work after Trey's bedtime, the nap is the only thing that gets me through the evening!  Gabe's cutting molars though (no other teeth yet), so things aren't really getting any better on the nighttime sleep front.  Between that and the fact that Trey regularly wakes up between 1 and 2 am and gets up to come find us, Steve has just been sleeping on the twin bed in Trey's room.  If both boys are going to keep waking up in the middle of the night, my worries about Gabe disrupting Trey's sleep may just get thrown to the wayside so that we can stick both of them in the same room!

Three Months!

It's been harder to sit down and blog than I thought it would be!  I decided to not try to catch up with a two month post for Gabe and just skip to three months.  There!  Now I'm ahead! :-) (Except now that I'm sitting down to finish this, I'm four days late!)

We took Gabe in for his two month well baby check a few weeks ago, and he was 24 inches long and 12 pounds, 9 ounces.  Big boy!  He had to get one shot, and I was a little afraid at how he would react since he can be a bit on the dramatic side, but he cried for just a couple of seconds and went straight to sleep.  I love it when things go better than I anticipate!

Size
Size-wise, Gabe is in some 0-3 but mostly 3-6 month clothes.  I noticed today that some of his 3-6 month onesies are getting a bit snug.  Granted, he had on a cloth diaper underneath, but yikes!  In cloth diapers, we're in yellow edge (small) prefolds from GMD and Size 1 Thirsties Duo covers.  Since I like the prefolds, I ordered two dozen more last week, but I went ahead and ordered a dozen of the medium wide and a dozen of the medium.  The smalls are supposed to fit 10-15 pounds, and Gabe's obviously pushing the envelope there!  He's also on the second to last snaps on the covers, so I'm not sure how much longer those will fit.  In disposables, he's in size 2. 

Communication
He's really started noticing people lately, and I love watching him watch Trey.  He's also started smiling and giggling and appears to be quite ticklish.  Steve and I were just talking this evening about how much he's changed over the last month.  Thankfully his fussiness has all but disappeared.  His cries are easier to interpret but really only happen when he's sleepy or hungry.  We have discovered that although he can be content by himself for a bit, he really does like to be with us and be talked to.  I can understand that!  He can be pretty chatty sometimes, and he will almost always smile back at us when we smile at him.

Development
Gabe isn't a huge fan of tummy time, but he does a really good job lifting his head up off the floor.  Today (6/12), he actually has been rolling from tummy to back.  I don't think he's trying to, but his head just kind of tips him over. :-)  When he's playing on his floor gym, he actually hits the toys sometimes, but I don't know how intentional it is.  He does seem to be trying to get his hand in the general area though.  No more laying on the couch unless we're right there because he already scoots himself quite a bit whether he's on his tummy or his back.

Eye contact is very good, and he's tracking extremely well.  He does prefer to look to the left, so I will make him follow things to the right while we're playing.

Sleeping/Eating
Gabe falls asleep for the evening at about 9:00.  I nurse him before I head to bed around 11, and he's still waking up around 3 to eat.  Usually he eats again between 6 and 7.  Mornings are his sleepy time, and he typically takes one long nap in the morning while I have him in the wrap for our walk/park visit. Unfortunately, he often decides to be awake while Trey is napping, so housework or naptime for Mommy doesn't always happen. :-) He's still eating pretty much every 3 hours or so, but it really doesn't bother me.

I think that about covers the bases.  I need to do an update on big brother, too, since he's had big stuff going on his two year old life lately. :-)

One month!

Poor Gabe is already suffering from the dreaded second child syndrome.  Thankfully I snap plenty of pictures of him with my phone, but I realized the other day I did weekly updates after Trey was born.  There is just no time for that!  I have Mommy guilt for too many other things though, so I'm just letting this one go. :-)

Gabe hasn't been weighed since his one week checkup, so I'm not sure about weight/length.  We have our six week check with Lucy next Thursday though, so maybe we can find out his stats then.  We have already moved up to size 1 diapers and packed away the newborn clothes though. :-(  I'm really hoping to get him into cloth diapers soon.

I've enjoyed seeing the differences in our boys' personalities as we've settled in with Gabe.  Trey really wasn't very fussy at all, but Gabe?  Oh, Gabe.  When he decides he is hungry, there's about two seconds before he's shrieking.  Like all out shrieking.  He's fallen asleep on his own a couple of times but generally needs help getting himself to sleep.  He's still little enough that I'm perfectly fine with that, and thankfully he likes the wrap a lot.  If I just don't have the time to bounce him around to sleep, I stick him in the wrap, and we're good to go.  We've gotten quite a few good trips to the park in that way, too.  We did discover yesterday that he really likes the bouncy seat.  He doesn't seem to be a big fan of the swing (neither was Trey), but replacement batteries for the bouncy seat are on my shopping list because he will take an entire nap in it.  It's been a really nice chance to spend one on one time with Trey or get some housework done.

The little man eats a lot. All. The. Time.  I'm discovering that there's quite a bit I can do while nursing a baby.  I think the longest he's gone between nursing is five hours one night last week.  For the last week or two, he's had quite a few times when we nurse every hour.  Thankfully at night I get at least a few hours between.  Unfortunately, I keep forgetting to buy some Mylicon because after his 2 am-ish feeding, he gets really squirmy and gassy, so we usually spend the rest of the night on the couch.  I hate to bother Steve and Trey, but I will be glad when I'm back to spending every night back in my own bed!  Between trying to get comfortable on the couch and Gabe waking up frequently, I don't get much good sleep after that feeding.  I still try to grab a nap now and then if the boys sleep at the same time, but that hasn't been super successful lately.

Gabe's reminding me (as he snoozes in the bouncy seat) to add that he is an incredibly noisy child. :-)  Sleeping or awake, he is grunting, squeaking, sighing, etc.  It's pretty cute.  Sometimes when I'm trying to fall asleep, I can't help but giggle at all the noise he makes.

Trey is doing an awesome job as a big brother.  I'm not surprised though.  He takes everything in stride.  He doesn't seem too interested in Gabe most of the time, but he's nice enough.  Unless we use one of his blankies for Gabe.  That's a no no. :-)  I've tried to spend as much time with Trey as possible, but with Gabe being a bit fussy, it's been kind of hard.  We did get to spend an hour and a half playing together while Gabe and Steve napped after church yesterday, and I really enjoyed that.  And I do have to add that the boy is one of the toughest kids I know.  I accidentally shut his right pinkie in the back door on Friday, and other than crying when it happened, he has not shed a tear about it.  It's looking better, but the doctor said it might be fractured at the end of the finger, and there might be some permanent damage to the nail.  We'll just have to see.  It's still on there, and he seriously doesn't seem very bothered by it other than if he gets too rough.  He's an amazing boy. :-)  Other than Trey being a little challenging in the discipline department, I am loving this age.  He is so so smart and learns very quickly.  We've tried out markers and water colors lately, and I'm trying to actually put some of my Pinterest pins to use and do some activities with him.

Taking pictures of a two year old...he doesn't make it easy!

We've got plans to spend time with Melinda and Regina and their kids and to go to the zoo with Mom and Joey in the next week, so hopefully I'll be better about writing about what we're up to!

Gabriel Thomas Welch

Well, I thought this story would come with plenty of pictures, but unfortunately, there are none until the end! Especially because of this lack of photos, I want to write out the story of Gabe's arrival before I begin to forget all the details. Gabe's due date was Friday, March 15th. Although I was hoping he wouldn't wait that long, there really was no reason to think he would come too early. On Tuesday, March 5, I started having fairly regular Braxton Hicks contractions every 15 minutes or so, but they definitely didn't hurt and weren't even all that uncomfortable. The BH kept up the next day with a little increased frequency, but they still just felt like the regular BH contractions that I'd been having for months.

On Thursday, March 7th, Trey and I left the house early to head to an appointment at the chiropractor. She went ahead and did some adjusting to open the pelvis that she doesn't do unless you're term and ready to deliver. Trey and I headed to Mom's afterward and spent the day just hanging out there.  Before my appointment with Lucy, we took the boys to the park for about 20 minutes. While we were there, I had three contractions and went ahead and sat at a picnic table because they were a little uncomfortable. I thought I maybe just had a gas bubble or something, so I let Mom drive my car back to her house. I felt fine by the time we got there, so I just took her van to my appointment so that she could take the boys back to the park.

At my appointment with Lucy and Dana, everything sounded good. I was still having contractions, but they still didn't hurt at all. After chatting a little about getting our birth kit ordered since we wanted to give Gabe Vitamin K, I headed on back to Mom's house, laughing at Mom for her offers to drive me to my appointment. I felt fine!

The rest of the afternoon, I continued to have contractions, but other than discomfort from the tightness, especially with Gabe's feet in my ribs, everything was fine. Trey and I had dinner with Dad, Mom, and Joey and then headed back to Siloam. We got home around 7:30, and I put Trey to bed. I sat down on the couch and noticed that I was having contractions less than 3 minutes apart, and they were starting to feel kind of crampy. I chatted with Melinda and Regina on Facebook for a bit while I waited for Steve to get home but still didn't think it was anything significant.  Steve had joked about stopping by the shop (I didn't realize he was joking), so I called him back to tell him I really wanted him home.  I really didn't think I was in labor, but I just didn't want to be home by myself just in case something was up. He grabbed a few groceries and made it home around 9.

About that time, I went ahead and called Lucy because the fact that the contractions were so close together was making me a little curious. She said it would probably be a good idea to have Dana come check me before everyone settled in for the night. While we were waiting for her, Trey woke up screaming. After about 15 minutes, we got him calmed down and back in bed.  Completely bizarre! Dana made it over and checked me but because my cervix was posterior, she had a hard time reaching it to see if I was dilated. She suggested that I get a bit of a snack and try to get some rest, so Steve and I watched some tv while I ate a sandwich. By the time the show was over, I was closing my eyes during contractions, but they were still just making me feel crampy.

Steve decided to take a shower before bed, and I went to lay down. It didn't take me long to figure out that sleep was going to be a little difficult. This was maybe 10:30ish? I went to tell Steve to hurry up in the shower because I didn't want to be by myself. I felt like the contractions would be tolerable if he was with me  I sat in the bathroom with him while he finished his shower, and although the contractions were starting to cross over into pain territory, I still didn't think I was in labor.  Apparently I'm pretty dense.  I had been texting a bit with Lucy to tell her that the contractions were getting more intense, and reading back through them, I can't help but laugh. Thankfully she picked up on all the things I was/wasn't saying and said she'd feel better coming over, even if she ended up sleeping on the couch.

Somewhere in there, I felt like I needed to go to the bathroom and noticed that there was blood in the toilet. I think THAT was when I finally realized, "Oh, ok, I think this is it!" I think we went back to the bedroom at that point, but the contractions were just really intense. If I didn't relax and focus at the beginning of a contraction, I wasn't able to relax at all and would end up fighting through the whole thing.  The biggest thing that helped was just having Steve there.  I think my most frequent request of what I wanted him to do during a contraction was one word: talk.  Just talk to me.  I don't think it even mattered what he was saying, but having him talking to me and encouraging me helped so much.

By that point, we were trying various labor positions that we learned in our Bradley classes, but the contractions were intense enough I couldn't think of new positions to try, and there was hardly time in between contractions to get moved anyway. At this point, the contractions were about 50 seconds long and 1:45 to 2:45 apart. At one point, Steve had pulled out our Bradley workbook because we had tried several positions that I didn't really like, but about the time he found the page he wanted, another contraction would start, and he'd just drop the book in the floor. I kept meaning to put tabs in the book but just add that to the long list of things I THOUGHT I had time to do!

At this point, Lucy was on her way, so we were just working through contractions until she got here and could see where exactly we were/how dilated I was/etc. I was leaning up against the side of the bed with Steve alternating between holding me up under my arms and doing counter pressure on my lower back when all of a sudden, I needed to push. I had simultaneous thoughts of, "Oh my goodness...what is going on?!" and "This carpet is new!  I cannot have a baby right here!"

I told Steve that we needed to get into the bathroom (aka: off the carpet) and that he needed to call Lucy to let her know I was feeling the need to push. I think she was almost to the house by then, but since we had a bunch of snow the morning of our scheduled home visit a few weeks before, she hadn't been to our house before. Steve put my phone on speaker and was telling her how to get to the house while she was telling him what to do if Gabe got there before she did! Meanwhile, I was on my hands and knees in the bathroom floor trying to remember what our childbirth instructor had said just a few weeks earlier about what to do when you're trying NOT to push! In between pushing because it was so overwhelming and hard to not, I remembered that she said to use high tones and not low vocal tones. So I'm sure I sounded like quite the mess trying to figure out what to do! During one push, my water broke, and I really was having a hard time wrapping my mind around what was happening!

Lucy said she was pulling up, so Steve told her the door was open and to come on in. We could hear her talking to someone, but it wasn't us, so Steve told me he'd be right back. He went outside and Lucy was walking over from across the street where she had gone into the house of a bunch of JBU guys. Hilarious! My sister, Lydia, said it sounds like the beginning of a joke.

"So a midwife walks into a house full of college guys..." :-)

She came in and helped get me moved back to the bed where I'd be a bit more comfortable.  Thankfully they got me moved quickly since the contractions were so close together.  I really am not sure about the time frames in here except that I think she said something about leaving her house around 11:45/50 and running stop lights/signs on the drive that takes me about 35-40 minutes when I follow traffic laws!  So this was maybe somewhere around 12:15/20ish?  Dana showed up shortly after that. At this point, I really started wondering what I had gotten myself into with this whole home birth thing!  I had gone from watching tv and eating a sandwich less than two hours ago to this!  It had been so intense, that I wasn't sure how long I could deal with pushing like that. I said something along those lines, and Lucy told me that she could already see Gabe's head and told me to feel it. That was amazing. Knowing that his head was already crowning helped me so much mentally. I don't think it was many pushes more before his head was out (12:41) and then at 12:44, the rest of our little Gabe was delivered!

After his delivery, I was still bleeding quite a bit, but Lucy and Dana were so incredible that I didn't even realize there was anything going on. Even Steve said from what he could see and hear them talking about, he thought I just had a tear or something. They gave me a shot of pitocin in my hip and went ahead and called an ambulance, just in case. I think at one point, I asked Lucy, "Am I going to be ok?" and she replied, "You're going to be just fine." There was just a calm sense of peace in the room that I knew she was right. I did go ahead and call Mom to let her know that Gabe was born and to have her come over to help with Trey in case I had to go to the hospital. Gabe was laying on my chest with towels over us, and after I delivered the placenta, the bleeding got much better. He had pooped at some point, so the two of us were covered with goopy baby poop, but eh, no biggie. The EMTs came in, and we had quite a lovely visit, ha. :-) They checked my vitals and gave me some IV fluids and said I was ok to stay at home. Thankfully things were fairly normal after that. :-) Gabe and I got all checked out and I got a few stitches while Steve slept in the hallway with Gabe. Judging by the snoring, Daddy was pretty tired!

Gabriel Thomas Welch
3/8/2013 12:44 a.m.
7 pounds 6 ounces
20 inches long

Daddy holding Gabe while Dana checks him out and Lucy documents everything.

And check out those lovely clean sheets and nicely made bed!  What amazing ladies!

Trey meeting Gabe the next morning.

 

 This was not exactly the home birth story I had envisioned in my mind, but I can't imagine it being any different or more perfect! No pictures (sorry, Regina!), birth pool lying deflated in the cleaned out playroom floor, the plastic mattress cover packed in the container in the playroom, ha! We were SO not ready! Goodness knows there were several opportunities to get flustered, but I really think Steve and I were too oblivious at first to get alarmed, and then once Lucy and Dana were here, they just took everything right in stride and kept us calm. God answered our prayers for Gabe's birth above and beyond what we even asked.  And gave us a story that I will absolutely love to reread over the years to come!