Happy 2nd Birthday, Gabriella! {The Short Birth Story and What We’ve Been Up to Lately}

Yesterday, Gabriella turned 2, so I figured it is as good a time as any to finally write down her birth story, or what I remember of it.  

All I remember is Gabbie was a pain and different than my other births.  I had always heard the third birth was a wildcard and it really seemed to be true with her.  I kept having contractions on and off at night in the days before her birth resulting in lack of sleep and much exhaustion! She was actually due on our 4^th anniversary, February 1, 2018 but of course took her sweet time and didn’t come until 6 days after!

I started having regular contractions once again on the evening of Tuesday, February 6^th except this time they continued through the night and didn’t stop at 4am like they had done in previous nights.  Labor was slow and seemed like took forever.  I think I asked my midwife to come around 2am and she did. I guess I thought contractions were regular but then they slowed down again.   She checked baby’s position and told me to lay on my side a certain way to see if baby would move into a better position.  I tried to get some rest in between contractions that way but not sure how much rest I actually got, haha.

I remember getting up at some point and using my birth ball and different positions to see if baby would move down and in position any quicker.  Contractions weren’t as strong as they had been and I was just frustrated wondering what was taking so long.

Originally, we had thought that a backup midwife would have to come as the assistant midwife (there are always 2 midwives at my births) but Gabbie took so long that my original assistant midwife that has been at all of my births was able to make it.  I remember wondering if the baby would be born on said midwife’s birthday since it was the 6^th, but I guess Gabbie just had to wait and didn’t want to share a birth day!

At some point after my assistant midwife got there, she was able to use some essential oils to help labor get going again.  I remember using Clary Sage oil on my stomach and shortly after contractions picked up again.  By this time, it was probably 7 or 8 in the morning and the other kids woke up.  Matthew tried to keep them in their room with a movie but I knew that wouldn’t work so they ended up joining the party around the birth pool with everyone else. 

Labor continued, with stronger contractions this time, and soon I got into the birth pool so the water could help with the pain.  Finally, at 10:29am, baby was born and it was another girl! Gabriella Nicole was 7lbs, 8oz and 19 inches long. She sure was the 3^rd wildcard birth that I had heard of but I’m sure there was a mental aspect to that. 

We named her Gabriella after the angel St. Gabriel since she is our angel baby and Nicole since that is my middle name. And she sure lives up to her angel baby name lol. She was the happiest and silliest baby and still is one of the silliest kids we know.  I didn’t think anyone could top her on the happiness scale but Victoria is coming close now that Gabbie has reached the toddler twos.

For her birthday this year, we made some chocolate chip and colorful sprinkle pancakes for breakfast… Well, actually it turned out to be more of a brunch because I went to early Mass for First Friday and went shopping after to get her birthday gift and supplies for her mini party.  I ended up finding some “Monster” colored sprinkles (blue, white, green, and purple) on sale for just 25 cents so I had to get them since I knew the kids love any sprinkles. It’s amazing how something so small can get kids so excited! Then I ended up attempting a version of the “dirt cake” that my husband’s family grew up with on birthdays. It’s basically sugar, sugar, and more sugar in the form of oreos, pudding, whipped cream, and cream cheese with gummy worms. She got a kid’s cleaning set for her birthday and kept exclaiming “Wow” as she was opening it.  I never knew you could get so excited about cleaning supplies until adulthood so I guess she has a head start, haha. 

All of the kids love the little cleaning set though, so much so that they are already fighting over it.  And yes, that does mean Gabbie used the broom as a weapon to knock someone over the head since they were trying to take her new gifts from her. (Facepalm) Life with kids, am I right?! We are planning a small get together with some family, friends, and godparents tomorrow and finishing up the celebration of her birthday with a trip to the zoo this week since weather is improving and looking more like Spring everyday, thank goodness!  A simple birthday celebration is the kind I love!

Meanwhile, I guess I should update on how the business(es) is/are going.  Matties Auto Repair is doing well. We stay pretty busy and we are so thankful that we were able to get a new lift last year because it has been super useful! We plan on adding more rocks and fixing the driveway in the next few months as the rain we have been getting has been turning parts of the yard into mudholes when driving vehicles into the shop.  It has been almost a year since we have gone full-time so we are hoping the business keeps coming. We have had to hire a few local high school kids a few times to help clean the shop or mow the lawn as Matthew hasn’t had the time so hopefully that’s a good sign for the growth to come!

Matties Medicinals has been crazy busy, especially at this time of the year when the weather is cold, everyone is indoors, and sickness is spreading like crazy.  I am currently working on a new type of DIY kit to be added to the lineup soon. I currently offer organic elderberry syrup and gummies to locals, DIY elderberry syrup kits country wide, and Pure Magnesium Oil Spray. To put it in perspective, I have done over $600 in sales since the beginning of the year. That is NOT the profit that I have actually gotten to keep, but that’s still amazing considering I originally just started it as a hobby and never dreamed it would help so much with paying the bills. Stay tuned for more products on my Facebook page HERE!

In other news, Genevieve is doing well with Kindergarten (when we aren’t butting heads, lol) and can read simple words now! I guess something I’m doing is working if she can at least read a little, haha.  Lil Matthew continues to be a little monster and Gabbie as you already know is a character and a very smart one at that.  Victoria is now 5 months and crawls everywhere as well as tries to stand and can now sit up.  I am staying busy now helping with ironing altar linens at church, planning baby showers(Carmen’s shower is coming up soon!), coordinating meals for parish moms, and planning our next camping trip after Easter. Plus, you know, the usual cooking, cleaning, changing diapers, potty training Gabbie(she’s doing pretty well but I’m taking a break from that today, haha), creating products for Matties Medicinals, and dealing with paying bills and the business side of Matties Auto Repair.  Matthew recently joined a community volleyball team so he can attempt to teach others that he is amazing at that game. Maybe he will learn something in the process too…I mean we all can hope, right?! Ha!

Just last week we celebrated our 6^th anniversary and he surprised me by saying we could go stay in Galveston for one night or something.  I took that idea and ran with it as I booked an AirBnB for one night at the last minute and more affordably$40 off!) thanks to signing up HERE! It was a super cute little cottage; I would highly recommend it and we will definitely go back! My wonderful mother-in-law watched the 3 older kids and we were able to visit the Bishop’s Palace in Galveston as well as St. Patrick’s Catholic Church where the older parishioners ooed and aaahed over seeing baby Victoria like they had never seen a baby before. We finished the night by eating at Landry’s and praying the rosary outside next to the small fireplace at our AirBnB.  It was so peaceful!

A few weeks ago we also went to the Pearland Winterfest with some friends where Genevieve got to go “snow tubing” since she keeps asking when it is going to snow. We all know that is a rarity around here so I am glad she got her snow in and got to play in it too. And today, we went to the Texas City Mardi Gras parade so the kids got to collect a ton of beads and even a stuffed animal! Honestly, I am glad there were more beads than candy at this parade though, haha.

Well oops, that turned out to be a little longer than I imagined but I guess a lot can happen in a month and I’m terrible at keeping things updated because well it’s been a bit crazy around here. Good craziness though for the most part. I hope everyone else has been having a good crazy time with their family too!