Baby-Gabey

**Warning: Semi-graphic photos to follow.

I realize that I am the worlds worst blogger.  There have been so many times during this pregnancy, that I wanted to sit down and record all of the details.  I am disappointed that I have never taken the time, but working full-time and taking care of a three year old did not leave much time for blogging.
Anyway, most of you know that we had a lot of difficulty getting pregnant with both of our children.  We tried for two years with each of them.  You can imagine my excitement when I discovered on my birthday that we were expecting!  This pregnancy was very different than the first.  I was way more tired and way more hungry ALL the time.  I had super-intense cravings.  Strangely enough, I was cold all the time.  My eyes became 100% intolerant to contact lenses, which is why I've been in glasses for the last four months.  Needless to say, Rich and I were convinced from pretty early on that we were having a boy, and were so excited when we discovered that we were right!
We tried to fill all of our free time doing fun things with Addisyn.  We took two incredible vacations, saw several movies, took countless trips to the zoo, and spent lots of time with friends and family.  I will always cherish the time that we took to spend together in those last several months.
So, let's get to it...

Baby-Gabriel was supposed to be a scheduled C-section for Wed, Jan 19.  I had been having horrible insomnia for several months.  I remember posting on Facebook at 5 am on Jan 17, saying that I had not yet been to sleep.  I finally closed my eyes at about 5:30 am.  I woke 3 hours later when my water broke.  Of course, we did not have a single thing packed for any of us.  We stayed at the house for a couple of hours getting bags packed, showering, making phone calls, etc.  We arrived at the hospital at about 11 am.  After that, things moved pretty quickly.  I.V.'s getting started, papers being signed, family arriving....and before I knew it, I was headed to the O.R.  Baby-Gabes was born at 1:16 pm, weighed 7 lbs 12 oz, and was 19 inches long.  He was beautiful and healthy.  I had asked a very close friend of mine who is a photographer, if she would consider being in the OR with Rich and I, to capture the first moments of Gabriel's life.  Her photos have been so special/emotional for me.  Here are some of my most favorite pictures from that day.

Again, some of these pictures are a little graphic, but too amazing not to share...

Contractions!!  Yowza.

Our final picture as a family of three

Surgical-assistant

Almost time!!

January 17  1:16 pm

Our first-glimpse...

The first picture as a family of four!!

                                           Holding my son for the first time....priceless.

Thank you so much Mandy Stansberry for doing this for me!  I cannot tell you how special these photos are to us.  We love you, and are so happy that you were a part of this day!