With all of our other kids, we've had them all come to the hospital to help take the new sibling home. It's a tradition I love. They all gather round as we dress the baby in their going home outfit, then we all pose for a family picture before we all take the baby home. I seriously love it. But, this time Scott worried that having them all come might be too much, so he called home and asked the kids what they would prefer. He said, "We can check out now and come home or we can wait for you all to come here and we can do it together." They all said, "Just come home now!" So we started the process of checking out. We got one last weigh in of Gabe. He was down to 7 lbs 14 oz, which was in the "normal" range for weight lost after birth.
Before we could come home, we had to fill out the birth certificate. Up until that point, we hadn't given Gabe a name. When I became pregnant with Gabe, I was certain he was a girl. I thought a girl would make a perfect 4 boys and 4 girls, so I assumed he was a girl. At my 16 week ultrasound, my dr told me he was 90% sure it was a girl. So I picked out a name. Tess. My baby was going to be Tess. But then I had my 20 week ultrasound, and we discovered that my little Tess was actually a boy. It threw me for a loop. I hadn't even considered that it might be a boy. I didn't have the slightest clue as to what we would name another boy. So he was unnamed for months. I didn't even have a list of names for months. But finally, toward the end of my pregnancy, I came up with 2 names I would be ok using. Gabe and Luke. As the time drew near to have him, I was strongly leaning toward Gabe, but I think Scott preferred Luke. So, on the third day, before we could take him home, I found myself staring at the birth certificate, asking Scott "What do I write for his name?" Scott thought for a moment, then quietly nodded and said, "Gabe". Gabriel Kington Howell. He was named.
I dressed Gabe in his tiny outfit. He did not love it.
When Gabe was first born, and the doctor laid him on my chest, I said, "Oh, he's so small!" Dr Lowder said, "Nope, that's a big baby." It's true, as far as newborns go he was big, but even at 8lb 10oz he was so tiny.
Scott and I attempted a selfie of Gabe with us (since we didn't have to whole family there to get pictures with).
We were all ready to leave. The nurse signed our discharge papers, and told us we could leave anytime. As I was chatting with the nurse, Scott's phone rang. It was Savannah, and she was very distraught. She was trying to clean the house for us to come home to, but nobody was cooperating with her. The boys wouldn't help and just wanted to play. And Grandpa had decided to vacuum, but according to Savannah he was doing it completely wrong. As I chatted with the nurse, Scott sat in the corner trying to talk Savannah into calming down. I could tell that there was complete chaos at home, and I suddenly didn't want to leave. The nurse smiled (she had raised 5 kids, so she understood) and said, "I'm just going to go out and shut the door and you can stay in here as long as you need before you have to go home to that". And I did. I waited at least another half hour, till Savannah called back to say that things were ok. I knew that whether I was ready or not, I would have to go home and be a mom to 8 kids eventually. So we strapped Gabe in his seat and left the hospital.
When we got home, the house was clean and the kids were happy.
Kate was very happy to have her baby home.
And just like that, our life began with Gabriel in it.
