A few more pictures of Gabriel in the gallery!

Okay, okay, I’m destined to be a camera-happy Mom…this is just the beginning. While Gabriel was awake this morning I tried to catch a few candids of the funny faces that he makes. One of the pictures is shown. Rather than duplicate efforts, visit my photo gallery to see the rest.

Grandma Dinah came to visit today, so I put Gabriel in one of my favorite outfits for him. I wanted to get a couple pictures in this adorable, nautical onesie.

He’s asleep in his swing:

Starting to get fussy:

Tired of the flash and Mommy messing with him:

The pacifier will take care of that:

My hubby has always said that all babies were ugly. I wondered if he would think our son was ugly. He thought he would. He just simply thought all babies were ugly…

Now our son is here and he’s beautiful. Granted when he first entered the world, he was purple and covered with goop, but the moment he got cleaned up he was so beautiful. Mike not only agrees that he’s a beautiful baby…he’s even admitted that he would probably see other babies differently.

He’s a proud papa and a wonderful husband.

I always assumed that breast feeding was entirely natural…thus it would be very easy right? Brother, was I mistaken. We (Gabriel and I) have pretty much figured it out, but it wasn’t easy. Mike was reading up on it and part of the reason it is so difficult is because it takes 40 facial muscles for Gabriel to breast feed and only 4 to bottle feed. To top it off, Gabriel was taken to the ICU immediately and they had to feed him by bottle to ensure that his blood sugars stabilized. Then, after that I was still to ill to have him around without Mike. So, by the time I got to try and breast feed, he had already spent over 24 hours on the bottle. Not to mention, my milk hadn’t dropped yet, so I didn’t have much to give him.

The nurses tried to help us out, I even had a couple of lactation consultants stop by. Whenever they were helping, it seemed to work out well. Then when it was just the two of us, it didn’t work too well at all. The day we were supposed to leave, my milk dropped…but the hospital didn’t want me to feed him until after his circumcision. They though it would be done earlier in the day and then found out mid-day that it wouldn’t get done until that evening. So, my poor, little boy had to spend the day without eating much. All the while, I was filling up fast. By the time he could eat, my breasts were so full, large and hard that my nipples flattened out entirely and he couldn’t even grab on. So, he ended up back on the bottle. I was able to get some relief by pumping and we tried through out the next few days to breast feed, but I just couldn’t get him to latch on. Partially because I wasn’t doing it right and partially because he wanted the instant gratification of a bottle.

It was so hard. I would struggle with him at the breast for about 20 minutes, all the while he was crying and getting frustrated. I felt terrible…like I was starving my child. Mike would get concerned too, because he didn’t want Gabriel to get so upset. As we went to our first doctor’s appointment and he lost a pound since his birth weight…which is normal but still made me concerned knowing that I didn’t think he was eating well. The doctor suggested I go to a breast feeding class at the hospital that was taking place later that day. It ended up being a support group but regardless, I’m so glad that I went.

The consultant that ran the group showed me how to hold him and how to manipulate my breast so it would fit in his mouth. He latched on right away. I knew at that moment that he hadn’t had a single good latch since we started trying. Then, we took him off the breast and I did it all myself. It worked!!! He latched on again and spent about a good 10 minutes eating. I was so happy that I actually teared up. I was even able to move him over to the other side and repeat the effort.

We have since settled into a very comfortable position, laying down and feeding that works very well for us both. If we are laying down, he’ll stay latched on until the breast is empty. I’m so glad that he’s eating, but I’m still so surprised it was so difficult. How did we manage to survive as a species if it is so difficult? Why does it seem to come so easy to other mammals?

I’m back and blogging! A huge thanks to my handsome husband for keeping you all informed during my recovery. I’m home now and feeling great. I’ll fill you in on all of our new parenting trials and discoveries a bit later. First, I wanted to post some more pictures:

Gabriel with his Great Aunt Cathy.

Great Grandma Grove and Gabriel.

Great Grandma Roddy and Gabriel.

My beautiful boy asleep in his bassinet.

One of my favorites…the two most handsome and wonderful men in my life.

Also a few more family pictures from the baby shower. This is EunJu and Albert, Gabriel’s Aunt & Cousin.

Tiffany & Perilee, Gabriel’s other Aunt & Cousin.

I know people get rapidly tired of baby pictures… But you can stop reading anytime you want. So…

Jen’s brother, John stopped by early in the day, and we got this shot of him with Gabriel:

Here’s one of Mom (who’s feeling much better):

Just a few of Gabriel. He opened his eyes and looked around for the first time today, so I got some pictures of that:

Then some vagrant (who must have been detoxing in the hospital) wandered into the room and wouldn’t leave unless we took a picture of him with the baby. He didn’t hurt anyone, though, so we took his picture and on his way he went:

Okay… I got sick at the hospital, but that’s good news for you. “Why” you ask? Because when I came home to recuperate, I brought the camera with me. So I have uploaded some of the baby pictures. Why should you care about that? If you don’t… Why are you still reading this? And let’s be honest… You skipped ahead and looked at the pictures before reading this anyway, didn’t you?

Papa Roberts with Gabriel:

Grandma Grove and Gabriel:

Grandma Roberts

I think it’s important to note… Look at all this kid’s hair! That’s my boy. Jen and Gabriel are both doing much better. Gabriel get’s to be in the room with Jen now (as long as I’m there, Jen can’t move around too much yet). Jen was feeling the effects of an anti-seizure medication she had been given, but it’s wearing off now. Hopefully, she’ll be feeling up to being photographed soon (there are none of me because this was a bad hair day, besides… no one really wants to see me anyway).
And, since yesterday was the first day I saw my niece… Here’s one of my Mom with her granddaughter, Parilee:

Have been taken!

…and are on the camera I forgot at the hospital…

Hang tight.

Mom is recovering nicely. Gabriel spent some time in intensive care, but he’s out and hanging with the family now. Thanks to everyone who called, emailed, blogged, or commented their support. Much appreciated.

Born March 4th, 2005.

8lbs 11ozs.

Mother and child are both currently recovering.

Pictures to follow once they’re feeling better.