I have a 1 month old?!?

So, Gabe will be a month old on Saturday. That is crazy to me! I cant believe almost a month ago, I had a baby. Well Gabe is doing great. He is getting bigger by the minute thanks to a combination of breastfeeding and formula. After two days of crying and screaming, we figured out that I was not producing enough breast milk to satisfy the baby all day long. He was fine with it in the morning, but as the day went on my supply diminished. When Gabe doesn't get fed, he becomes a grumpy monster. Definitely a Rallo! We started alternating feedings with formula and he is doing much much better. Thank goodness for all meatballs involved =)
To be completely honest, I hate breastfeeding. Everyone told me that I would feel this utopia kind of connection with the baby by breastfeeding and really, I don't. To me, its completely uncomfortable and really inconvenient. I know its healthier for him, which is why I still do it, but I really do not like it. While pregnant, I thought I would love breastfeeding and would not care about doing so in public or in front of family. WRONG! The first time I had to feed him in public was at the pediatricians office and it was horribly awkward. I would much rather pump and have a bottle on hand to give him ( which is what we do now when we go out) Thank goodness for pumping! It gives me the sense of normalcy out in public and makes me want to take the baby out all the time. I was very hesitant at first to go out with the baby in the very beginning because I had the fear of having to feed in public. So again, thank goodness for my pump and formula.

Gabe's first bath in a baby bathtub was well, memorable. He did great. He didn't cry and seemed to like the water. Here he is after we wrapped him up. While Mike was in the nursery getting the baby's PJ's, I started to smell what I thought was poo. I honestly thought the I got baby poo on me sometime during the day and was just now smelling it. I checked every where and there was no poo. Mike walks out of the nursery and I lift the baby up (still wrapped in his towel) and I ask Mike is the baby pooed. Well Mike starts laughing and says he sees something on the towel. We take him in the nursery and discover Gabe has pooed everywhere in the towel. He was not happy after we discovered his surprise.

Needless to say, he had to be cleaned again. Thanks Gabe.

Now to my favorite mommy product. It has to be my boppy.

This comes in handy for breast feeding. It places the baby at the perfect height to feed and makes it much easier on my arms. It works perfect for bottle feeding too. I use it every time the baby eats. Otherwise it makes it very tiring and uncomfortable for both parent and baby. Mike uses it for bottle feeding as well but he uses it more to let Gabe lay across his lap. Mike is currently taking masters classes and is doing homework on his computer all the time. Not to mention he is constantly on gun and car forums =) So while Mike is on the computer he puts the boppy on his lap and lays the baby across it. This way the baby can sleep, and Mike can watch the baby and be on the computer at the same time. It's great for both Mom and Dad.

Thats all for now. We have a big weekend coming up (Gabe gets to meet his Uncle Nick for the first time!) so the blog will be updated again very soon!

So I decided to start  blog. I did this for multiple reasons. The first reason is that we don't get to see family very often so I figured this was a great way for everyone to keep up with whats going on in our lives. Especially with our newest addition, Gabriel. When we get our next assignment, I'm sure we will be farther away from family and keeping in touch will be even more difficult. So this was even more of a reason to start the blog. The second reason  is I didn't want to blow up my facebook with personal pictures and comments about Gabe. I would rather do it here =) So please enjoy the site and have fun keeping up with our everyday lives as new parents!

Where the name came from: 4meatballs
Before we got pregnant, we adopted the most precious dog ever  from the SPCA. I did this while Mike was at water survival back in March 2010. When he came home there was a puppy! Surprise! Well,we named him Meatball. Mostly because I thought it would be a funny name for a dog. Meatball is what I like to call our  "fur child." We spoil him rotten just like he was a child. So after Gabe's arrival he become our second meatball. That leaves myself and Mike as the two remaining meatballs. Corny I know, but I had to come up with something creative to make sure you guys remember the blog address.

So I am a mother of two, Meatball and Gabe.

Gabe was born February 3, 2012 at 1:10. He weighed 7 pounds 9 ounces and was 22 inches long. I have to say that after having my first child, I didnt think labor was hard. Yes, I did get an epidural but they turn that bad boy off when you start pushing. Not to mention that the meds only stop the pain, not the pressure of the baby. So once the epidural stopped, I would say I felt everything. For me, I was just focused on getting him out as fast and safe as possible. I didnt have time to focus on the pain. My focus was on seeing his little face for the first time! After two hours of pushing, Gabe was finally here! and it was awesome. Mike and Mia were in the delivery room and witnessed the whole thing. No, Mike didnt pass out and yes he watched the whole time. Something I said from the beginning was that I didnt want Mike to watch. But once I started pushing, I cant imagine him not being there. He, as always, was a wonderful partner.

Most people, in my opinion, stay away from the epidural because of the effects it has on the baby. I have to say, Gabe was extremely alert and had his eyes wide open immediately after birth. I was surprised myself, but am truly grateful he was awake and I could expierence him completely. I would not change a thing about my birth expierence if I could re-do it. Here he is right after being born.

Something else I want to include in each of my blogs in my favorite baby product. Being a new mom, I had NO idea what to buy or what was best for my baby. I did what most new moms probably do. I turned to google and researched. Hopefully, my favorites will help out some of my future mommy friends! My first product I love and couldn't go without is the Fisher Price Rock 'N Play. It is awesome. It is a pop up chair that rocks forward and backward. It is the perfect height for the baby to sit next to me while I'm sitting on the couch. For me, it worked as a great transition for Gabe to go sleeping in the rock n play to sleeping in his bassinet. Something else that we did to get him to sleep in the bassinet was to warm it up with a heating pad first. This was a tip that another fellow mom gave me and worked GREAT! Obviously dont leave the heating pad in the bassinet. Heat the sleeper up and remove it before you place baby in. Common sense =)

Well thats it for now. Hope family and friends continue to read the blog!

Love the 4meatballs