Gabriel Paul

Gabriel Paul was born on Tuesday at 8:30 am.  He is 2.6 kg and 42 cm.  He's small, but he's doing well.  The doctors have him on antibiotics and want him to stay till Thursday.  If he's showing no signs of infection, we'll all head home.  If he's showing signs of infections then we'll stay in the hospital for a couple more days.  

Gabe's due date wasn't until June 15, so this is a big surprise for us.  Alison's water broke last Friday, so we have been concerned since it was so early.  However, we think that Alison was further along than the initial scans indicated anyway, so the actual due date may have been earlier.  Either way, he's healthy and doing well, which is what we hoped for. 

Good news:  We, and some friends, have taken plenty of pictures. 

Bad News:  The camera is at the hospital with Alison - I forgot to bring it home with me.  

We also have a couple of videos Gabe with his big sister.  One of Eva giving Gabe kisses, and one of Eva slapping Gabe on the head.  A harbinger of what will most likely be at once a volatile and loving relationship between the two.  

It is a little strange with the second one.  We feel like we don't know Gabe at all.  How he works, what he likes, etc.  We know (or are learning) all those things about Eva.  I don't remember having these feelings with Eva, most likely because we had no other child relationship to compare her to.  

But it also makes us excited.  What will he like?  Will he be spunky like Eva or more chilled out?  Will he want to play paintball with me?  Will he want to read science books with Alison?  Will he want to chase cats with Eva?  Will he be completely different than all of us?  My favorite Pixar movie is The Incredibles, a story of a family of superheros, each with their own power.  The baby has a whole bunch of powers, which the writers talk about as representing the potential that the child has.  That's how I feel with Gabe.  Excited to see what he becomes as he grows.