Gabbie and I

There aren't very many pictures of Gabriella and I that are flattering, but this one is an exception. Most of the pictures we have are of me, doped up, in the hospital with her. This was taken last week when I was in normal clothes, not pjs, and had make up on. Its an awesome picture and thought I'd share it.

3 Weeks Today

Gabriella is 3 weeks old today. Wow does time fly by. It really doesn't feel like she's been here for 3 weeks, but she has. My hormones have started leveling out a bit so I'm not as overly emotional as I was last week, Thank God! Gabbie is starting to sleep fairly well at night as well. Sometimes she's on a 2 hour schedule and other nights she sleeps longer between feedings. Some days are better than others, but all in all she's a pretty good baby. The Man may have to start sleeping in the guest room though, she's been keeping him up at night. She doesn't cry when she's ready to eat instead she makes this grunting noise and, unfortunately, she does it in her sleep as well. So, all night long you hear Gabbie grunt and, I have to admit, it can get pretty annoying.

She met her paternal grandparents this past weekend. They drove in from North Carolina on Friday and left yesterday morning. It was a nice visit. They also brought along The Man's grandfather so there were 4 generations together, so I just had to take a picture.



She also met her Uncle Patrick. Patrick and I went to high school together and have remained good friends. He made a special trip here from Alabama yesterday to see her. It was nice to visit with him. We hadn't seen each other since our wedding in 2008 but we have been in contact through out my pregnancy. He would always make sure to call after my doctor's appointments, making sure that we were OK. I'm lucky to have him apart of my life. Last night we sat and told The Man all the crazy stories from high school. I would go back to high school in a heart beat!! It truly was the best time of my life!



These are just a couple random pictures of Gabbie on a really cold day, all bundled up! The outfit she's wearing is a newborn size and she was swimming in it! But she had to have something warm cause it was really cold that day. The other is a picture that The Man took of Gabbie and I taking a nap. I love nothing more than holding her and taking a cuddly cat nap.




There are a TON of other pictures. Unfortunately they are not on my camera. I've been asking mother to burn me a CD with all of the ones from her camera but I haven't gotten one yet. I'm hoping I will soon and when I do I'll be sure to post more.

Gabbie is sleeping so I'm going to get some chores done and a couple other things I've been meaning to do. Until next time....Ya'll make it a good one!

Big Thanks

I'd like to thank all of you who stopped by and left words of comfort and wisdom. They really made me feel better. It's nice to know that I'm not alone, regardless of feeling that way some times. I truly appreciate all of you.

Today was a better day. I slept last night, which was a major part of my problem yesterday. I've always been one of those people who literally can't function without sleep. I get sick both physically and mentally if I don't get enough sleep. I'm very thankful that I did last night. I was up and going today. Mother came by and helped with several things. I'm so greatful to have her. Tomorrow my grandmother is coming over to help as well. Honestly there's not much to do, so I guess we will just visit.

Gabbie is sleeping now so I think I'll join her and, at least, close my eyes for a while. Thanks again all of you, you all helped a lot.

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An Emotional Wreck

Its been a rough couple of days. My hormones are all kinda crazy and life added to that isn't making it easier on me. On top of basically being the sole caregiver for Gabriella, I'm dealing with the dogs acting out, the medical bills that keep coming from my car accident last month and from Gabbie's birth, I still haven't done our taxes, my in-law's are coming this weekend and I have to get the spare room in decent shape, and my c-section incision is now infected and hurts really bad. I know that this is not an unique situation but I can't help but break down and cry sometimes. The Man is freaking out with all the crying but I honestly can't help it; sometimes I truly feel helpless and I melt down. Usually about 20 minutes after I feel like a damn idiot and tell myself that it's all going to be ok, which, deep down, I know it will be. I know I have to keep focused on Gabbie and not let all the other stuff get to me but with my emotions in a chaotic state, it's easier said than done.

I just have to keep on keepin' on. I know that in the end it will be ok. I'm so thankful for my family, especially my mother, who have helped so much over the past couple of weeks. I know that regardless of what's going on, I have an amazing support system and a TON of people who are willing to help. The Man continues to be amazing, taking care of what he can and helping with what he can't. I know that he feels bad that he can't help more. I told him to live it up now, because as soon as Gabbie is on a bottle, he's in charge of the late night feeding!!

I've made a mental list of things to do to take my mind off of all this stuff. Things like taking a shower, stepping outside and taking a couple of deep breaths, and surprisingly, saying the rosary. Now I'm not a practicing Catholic by any means, but I was raised in the Catholic church and spent 75% of my education in Catholic school. I guess the rosary is a comfort item for me and a prayer method. There have been a couple times since Gabbie's birth that I felt the urge to say the rosary. I don't know why, but I when I'm done, I definitely feel better.

I think I'll stop here and try to get the taxes done... at least get them started. Thank you for listening to me, I feel better now and I've realized that my blog is another thing that I can do to take my mind off of life. I'm thankful for that.

Parenthood

All I can say is...well actually there are no words to describe the past couple of days. Gabbie and I were released from the hospital on Friday morning. Since then life has been filled with tears, family, poop, sore nipples, cake, more poop, sleepless nights, more tears, and did I mention poop. Its been crazy and beautiful all at once. I'm exhausted but I'm hanging in there. The Man has been amazing!!! Not only is he taking care of me but he is taking care of Gabbie too. The house has been filled with family and I loved every minute of it. I love to watch my family with my daughter; it's awesome to see how much she is loved. These are just a few pictures of her birthday and homecoming.











Yesterday and today she went for her first outings. We had to take care of the insurance stuff and she had her first doctors appointment. Gabriella is a very healthy little girl. When we were released, she weighed 5 lbs 8oz. Now she weighs 5lbs 13oz which is 1oz away from her birth weight!! YIPPY!!! That means mommy's milk is doing its job. The Man and I were very relieved to hear that she is doing so well. When we spoke with the pediatrician in the hospital, he was a bit concerned about her weight and not getting enough breast milk. At that time, my milk hadn't come in and Gabbie wasn't having many bowl movements, thus resulting in her being borderline jaundice. Now we know she is good to go!

The Man goes back to work tomorrow but my mother is taking the next couple of days off to help me around the house and get into some king of route. Next weekend the in-laws will be in town so I need to have the house ready to go for them. We are also going to conquer the little things that got skipped on my "to do before she's born" list, things like organizing the linen closet and getting all my craft/sewing supplies in order. I want to keep all my craft stuff at hand because I'm still working on several little projects, but I want it all to be easily put away.

Life is as good as can be expected. There have been good moments and not so good ones. There have been times where my patients was tested along with my sanity but I wouldn't change it for the world. When I start feeling helpless, I just look at that little girl and everything is automatically better again. Don't get me wrong, its been rough but we've gotten through it. I know that this is life now...unexpected, unrehearsed, unknown. It's kind of exciting and scary at the same time. There's no longer a tomorrow where I know what will happen and what I'll have to do, there is no consistency to life and I kinda like that.

I know that I'll be relying on my blog to vent and let the world know just what I'm going through. I'm glad that I have blogging as an outlet and I'm sure that I'll be taking advantage of that. Well it's almost time to wake Gabbie up and get her some dinner so I will stop here. Until next time....

I'm a Mommy

Gabriella Grace was born yesterday, Feb. 1, at 10:55 am via c-section. She weighs 5lbs 14oz. Here's a sneak peak.

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D-Day

Well, today is the day. I went to the doctor around 2pm yesterday with some lowered fetal movement. Turns out my blood pressure wasn't doing so well. So they admitted me and are going to induce in the morning....or a couple of hours really. I'm ready for her to be here but not knowing anything about labor and delivery scares the hell out of me. Just the unknown of it...but I'll find out soon enough.

As of about 2am I was 2 centimeters dialated...so we r moving in the proper direction.

So I'll be back in a while to let u know how we are doing. In the mean time send prayers and happy thoughts.

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