Gabe's Blessing

On Sunday, May 1st our little Gabriel was blessed. Rob did a great job, blessing him to be able to feel the Spirit, to some day marry in the temple, and to have a special love for the people around him. Gabe looked so handsome in his suit (sewn by me!), baby blue tie and all (tie not sewn by me)! I felt so blessed as I looked around the Sacrament room and saw all the family that was there supporting our baby Gabe. Thanks for all that made it out! It was a great day.

Pictures of Gabe

Me and Gabe ready to go for our first walk. He looks so tiny here!


I'm decorating Gabriel's room in a pirate theme, so I made him this blanket and my Mom crocheted him these cute little pirate booties!

I made him this monkey hat forever ago and it's fun to finally have a baby to put it on!
Sucking on Aunt Missy's chin. Who needs a napkin, eh?
Big sister Ava :)
Big sister, Jocelyn. She looks so grown up here to me!
No little boy has ever been as cute as my Gabe. Check out those luscious lips! Don't you just wanna kiss 'em?
That's all for now, folks. Just wanted to show off my baby :)

Gabe's Birth Story

Gabriel Glenn was born on February 5th, 2011. He weighed 9 lbs even, and measured 20 1/2 inches long, with a head circumference of 15". Here is his birth story.....

At about 3:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, and at 40 weeks, 4 days gestation, I awoke to my first contraction. It was strong and very obviously the real thing, after having "practice" contractions for several weeks now. I was in bed alone because every Friday night Rob and Jocelyn have a sleepover in the living room. I went back to sleep but kept waking up with each contraction, about every 15 minutes. At about 4:00 I decided to go tell Rob that things were starting, but that I was still in the early stages and that I planned on going back to bed. He was so funny. I nudged him awake and said, "I'm in labor..." His eyes popped wide open and he said in a panicked whisper, "OK...What do we do?!" I just laughed at him and told him, "Nothing. I'm going back to bed, and you should too." I should have known he wouldn't be able to do that though. I went back upstairs and soon heard him clanking around in the kitchen and vacuuming the living room. Cutie. :)
So this is when I called my sister, Missy, who had a three hour drive from Vernal, and then next I called my mom. Mom showed up probably around 5:00 a.m. and we just took it easy in my bedroom until Missy pulled into town at about 7:30 ish. I could tell that I still had a while to go, but the contractions were all very strong and coming on about every 6-8 minutes. This is when we called my midwife, Heather.
Heather and her two assistants got here around 8:00,I think, and we waited for a while before I decided to get checked. When she checked me I was 5 cm dilated.
I got into the tub, which felt great. My mom, who also played the role of doula, helped me stay relaxed and remind me of my Hypnobabies techniques. Now I'm going to come right out and say that this was not my relaxing Hypnobabies birth like Ava's birth was. I don't know if it was because Gabriel was bigger, or if it was because I wasn't able to get in as much practice before labor, but it was definitely harder. Each contraction was very strong and I had to keep saying my cues like, "peace" and "relax" as I had a contraction to remind myself to be limp and not to resist.
The water eventually got cold, so I ended up back out in my bed. My birth team was so awesome. Everyone was involved with counter-pressure, doing the knee press, light touch massage, or whatever I might have demanded at that particular moment. Things were pretty intense at this point.

After a few hours I was back into the tub, just trying anything to be more comfortable. The tub ended up NOT being what I wanted, and within just a few minutes I was climbing back out. My midwife suggested that I try the birth stool, which is basically a toilet seat looking thing that allows you to squat and not have to support your entire body with your legs. At this point my contractions were right on top of each other. As soon as a contraction ended, I stood up from the tub and before I could climb out, another one was right there. I was feeling very grunty and pushy at this point and was full on pushing by the time I sat on the birth stool. With each push I could feel Gabe's head coming down another inch, closer and closer. My mom sat behind me and supported me while I leaned forward into one of the midwives. At this point my water broke and Gabe's head was right behind. Rob was right by me and as Gabe's head came out I heard him excitedly say, "Holy crap! It's a baby, Miggy!" Yes, Rob. I am VERY aware. Hahahaha...

With another push Gabe's shoulders came out and I couldn't push another second. I told the midwives, "Just pull him out now!" Which they did :)

Right off the bat Gabe was SCREAMING! It was very reassuring to hear that, because if he could scream like that he had to be healthy. He was placed right in my arms and he screamed for about 20 minutes non-stop. My midwife actually took him at one point to make sure there wasn't something obvious that could have been hurting him. There wasn't, though, he was just letting us know what he thought of this cold, bright, loud world. :)

We made our way to the bed, nursed, & cut the cord. A while later we measured him and found out that he is quite the big boy! I was so proud. :)
After a few stitches, some Papa Murphy's pizza, and some clean up, the midwives took off and left us with our new little man. The girls came over (they were at Rob's parents) and met their new baby brother, who they loved immediately. We sang him "Happy Birthday" and just nestled in bed for the rest of the day.
Although this wasn't a text-book Hypnobabies birth, it was still wonderful. Intense, yes. Hard, yes. In total it was about a 9 hour labor, similar to Ava's birth, so I feel like that wasn't too bad since Jocelyn's birth was 15 hours of labor in a hospital, hooked up to all sorts of drugs and two hours of nurse-directed pushing. Even though it was hard, it was short lived and nothing went wrong. Most importantly my sweet baby boy is here and I'm obsessed with him in every way.
Every time I have a baby I am so surprised at how much I can love them. I never imagined that boys would be as much fun as girls but I was SO wrong. Welcome, baby Gabe! We are SO happy you're here.

I know, it's been forever since I've blogged and you're all missing me terribly. So here's what has been going on: I'm extremely pregnant right now. My "due" date is a painfully long seven days away, but I'm sure it will be more like a painfully long ten or eleven days away before our little guy decides to make his debut.....'cause that's just the way I roll. I'm heavier now than I ever got with my other two pregnancies and I'm definitely feeling it. Last Sunday I got to the point where even my Large size shirts are all not large enough to cover my protruding torso. After standing in my closet, throwing clothing here and there, I gave up. I put my pj's back on and dramatically flopped down on my bed and complained to Rob that I had "nothing to wear!" He calmly stroked my hair and told me, "You've got just a few more weeks, babe." To which I replied, "Two weeks is a long time to be in your pajamas!" and then I cried. But just a little bit. He may not have even noticed. But then I got over my moment of frustration and moved on with my day. But just a little bit.

Jocelyn turned 4! I just can't believe it. She started primary also, and she absolutely loves it! Apparently her class is one of "those" classes, you know, with the extra rambunctious children. Her teachers tell me, though, that she never lets it get to her. She sits in her seat with her hands folded, listening to instructions and always willing to give a prayer or answer a question when called upon. That's my girl. :) I'm so proud. For her birthday we had a Rapunzel party and her favorite toy ended up being a unicorn on a stick...the kind with the horse head that you can straddle the stick and ride around on.

Ava is growing too. In just a little more than a month my baby will be two and I will have a new one month old baby by then. I sometimes feel bad for her short-lived baby life, making her a middle child before she even saw it coming. But she is really so grown up. Her vocabulary is quite lengthy and developed and she has no problem keeping up with her big sister. I don't really want to say it out loud (so instead I will just type it), but she is very interested in potty training already. She will always tell me when she has just peed or when she is pooping and often asks to sit on the potty when her sister is going. Last night I placed her on the toilet and she pushed and pushed until a few tiny drops of pee trinkled into the toilet! I couldn't believe it. Then this morning she woke up especially early because she couldn't stand to be in her wet diaper one second longer. I'm not jumping the gun, though. I will continue to do this for her as long as it is fun but I'm going to let her take the lead. Jocelyn didn't potty train until she was 3 and Ava is not quite 2, so this could very well be a fluke. I also realize that as soon as the baby is born she will likely regress a bit and I would MUCH rather change a diaper than clean up poopy panties.

Rob started a new job yesterday! I know, I know. He starts a new job like every year. Well, actually just every time we have a baby. I don't know why it's worked out that way, but it has. The company he was working for was a good 45 minute (one way) drive every day and he was putting gas in the truck every four days, at $40 a pop. The programing team he worked with was also dysfunctional and so he was generally unhappy where he was. So he thought he'd start looking around, and what do you know, the first company he applied for he got! I know I'm biased and whatever, but Rob really is exceptional at what he does. This is really where his talent lies and I'm so glad that people are taking notice. I couldn't be more proud. So now he works just in Provo, about a 15 minute commute. We got a little raise, but besides that he will be saving probably $100/month just on gas, they pay 100% of our health insurance, and they pay for his phone contract. So yeah. Huge blessing. It has been a little over a year since our bout of unemployment and I still don't feel like we have been able to get on top of our finances. It will be such a nice feeling to get on top of debt and build up a good amount of savings.

Other than that things are just pretty chill. We're getting the house ready for the home birth and trying our best to stay healthy throughout the long winter that Utah inevitably brings each year. I'll keep you posted on the big changes that will be happening over the next few months....Peace!