Life As We Know It: One more week!

Can you believe it!? My little boy will be ONE year old in exactly one week! Where did the time go? Seriously!?

I was looking through some old pictures tonight and it is so crazy to think of everything we went through. All of those days and nights in the hospital, the sleepless nights at home, the dirty diapers, the bottle cleaning, the smiles, and the laughs... all of those things got us to where we are today. Yes, it's been one crazy year... But we've loved EVERY SINGLE MINUTE of it!

During the next week, I'm going to be posting about Gabriel Lee's first year of life. With plenty of pictures along the way. So tonight, we will start with the first couple of months of Gabe's life.

Well, it all began on June 20, 2011 at 12:35 p.m. Yes, that's when Gabriel Lee Schiff made his entrance into the world. At just 2 pounds 3.6 ounces he made sure that we all knew he had a great set of lungs! That was the day it all started; that was the day that both my life and Jesse's changed forever.

Why is it so hard to choose a name for your child? Jesse and I could not agree on a name for the longest time. It wasn't until I was admitted into the hospital that we finally agreed on a name. Now, the middle name was a given. And before anyone goes and gets any kind of ideas... Gabriel's middle name is after Jesse and I. Both of our middle names are Lee... so of course, our child's middle name had to be the same. I don't remember how we exactly came up with the name Gabriel...I'm sure it's in a previous post. But I do remember Jesse saying that name and having that "Ahhh, yes!" moment. You can't go wrong with Biblical names. You just can't!

If you remember, we spent the first 2 months or so of Gabe's life in hospitals. About 4 weeks in Carbondale and 5 weeks in St. Louis. Looking back now, Cardinal Glennon Hospital was the best thing that could have ever happened to us. Don't get me wrong, Carbondale is a great hospital, but for preemies like Gabe, I'm still not convinced they are the best for him. Had he not been transported to StL, we could have faced a very different life. So, I am grateful to the doctor at Carbondale who had the good sense to admit she wasn't equipped to handle our situation and sent us to a better place. Though we were mad in the beginning, it was the best thing that could have happened.

Let's not forget that Cardinal Glennon was very good to us. Of course, Gabe got to ride in style to the hospital in a helicopter. Probably the most expensive helicopter ride, EVER! haha. Anyway, we were very blessed at the hospital. I received free meals all day and we could stay with Gabe all the time. The hospital was literally 5 minutes from my brother's house, which made it very convenient for us as well. I won't lie though, we were happy when the hospital told us we could take Gabe home. We were grateful for what they did, but ready to get the heck out of there!

Gabe came home and adjusted as if he had not just spent 2 months in a hospital. It took us awhile to get used to not hearing the beeps of a machine or the nurses coming in every 3 hours. Who am I kidding... it didn't take us long at all! haha. I remember just wanting to sit and stare at him. For the longest time I was so worried that he would forget to breathe and I wouldn't be there to stimulate him to remind him. When you are used to hearing a beep everytime the heart rate changes or the oxygen level changes, it's hard to not wonder if something is happening that you're not aware of. So I had to keep reminding myself that he had not had an episode the entire week before we came home. I had to tell myself that he was stronger & bigger and that there was no need to worry. But honestly, what mom doesn't worry? I think every mom has sat and stared at their child at least once.

Once Gabe came home, he did better than anyone ever expected him to do. He was gaining weight better than he was in the hospital and he was changing and learning something new every single day. I can remember thinking... Man, is he really going to wake me up every 3 hours to eat? Am I ever going to know what it feels like to sleep in again? And let's face it, I hadn't really slept well since I had gotten pregnant. My pregnancy was pretty bad and sleep during my pregnancy wasn't the easiest by any means. I think we all remember my post on my sleep while I was pregnant. If not, let me give you a refresher! It went something like this: Can't sleep on my left side. Must sleep on right side. Body pillow must be between legs and up between my arms. Adjust. Get comfy. Have Jesse cover me up. Finally, RELAXATION. OH NO, have to pee. Get up. Walk to bathroom. Start over.

Yep, so it's safe to say that sleep was pretty non-existant during the entire pregnancy. And no, it didn't get much easier while in the hospital either. While I was in the hospital, it wasn't easy sleeping when nurses are coming in to check on you every 3 hours. Or when your oxygen level goes down and the baby stops moving like before, and you get put on oxygen for 3 hours. No, sleep was not happening. But hey, looking back now... From the pregnancy, to the hospital stays, to bringing Gabe home... I wouldn't trade any of it for sleep. Maybe I've been a bit sleep deprived on some days...but that boy sure does know how to make Mommy smile.