Several months ago I decided it would be fun to let you get to know a bit about my family. If you haven’t read the first two installments check them out.
Hubby’s episode
Bella’s episode
Now onto today’s member…my firstborn, Gabriel Michael.
That picture was taken a few years ago but Oh it’s one of my faves. I will post a more current one a bit down in the post. I had Gabriel the November after I turned 20 years old, so let me use some of my whiz math skills to tell you this year he will be 10!!!! When they same time goes fast they aren’t kidding.
I had a wonderful pregnancy with Gabriel, aside from the one time I puked little debbie star crunches all into the bathtub. I loathed those things for years after that incident. I craved pizza hut personal pan pizzas and Burger King whopper meals pretty much the entire pregnancy. Healthy, right?! I was basically the poster child for everything you shouldn’t do when pregnant (well I was that way with all of them but this is about Gabriel this time). Other than the Starcrunch incident I had a wonderfully textbook pregnancy.
The minute I found out for sure I was pregnant the name Gabriel Michael came to me. I knew I was having a boy from the moment my pregnancy was confirmed. During my pregnancy I was still talking to the biological father, we were doing the long distance thing, I was committed to it and so was he…or so I thought. But that’s a whole other story for a different time that I probably will never tell.
Anyways back to the story. One Sunday evening we were at a friend of my aunts and my back was hurting so bad. It kept coming and going so we went to the hospital, my mom and dad took me and my aunt (who was my labor coach since the father was not in the picture) met me there. They decided to monitor me over night. My doctor, who was a family friend was out of town due in sometime the next morning. After the overnight stay the doctor on call decided to do an ultrasound and when he did he said my fluid was low and that concerned him so they were going to break my water so I could go ahead and have this baby. Being just 20 I had no idea obviously what all this would entail but they did and boy oh boy did I feel my first real contraction.
It was about 8 a.m. when they broke my water and they monitored me. My doctor arrived around 9:00 thank goodness, Dr. Horan is so special to me, maybe it’s something to do with him delivering my first baby. On a side note he passed away a few years ago and it made me so sad. Back to the story again. Once they broke my water the contractions came and then right after Dr. Horan arrived Gabriel’s heart rate decelerated. I wasn’t sure what was going on. It happened 2 more times one of which it almost went away completely. Dr. Horan was very frank and stern with me telling me “we can wait for this to happen again or we can do an emergency csection right now, I am telling you now that we need to do the later because it will happen again”
So off they rushed me to the OR and by 10:30 I had my beautiful baby. He was facing up (hence the back labor) and looking right at Dr. Horan when he got ready to take him out. His cord was wrapped around his neck twice which is what caused his heart to stop with every contraction. Thank goodness for Dr. Horan pushing me to csection it, I shudder at the thought of a doctor not pushing it what may have happened.
Gabriel was an absolutely beautiful baby. I raised him all alone from the moment he was born. Were there hard times, absolutely. Did I have days I wanted to give up because I didn’t have any help from his biological father, sure. But in the end every time I looked at his face I gained the strength I needed to go on. His smile, his laugh and his beautiful hazel eyes gave me the hope and strength to push through the hard times.
I have watched him grown into a handsome 9 year old. He is pretty good for the most part Just like every other child he has his moments. When he was 3 I married my husband, Brent. Of course Gabriel had my maiden name so when I married and had other children he didn’t understand why his name was not the same. I remember being so broken hearted after hearing the hurt in his voice. So my husband and I sat down and talked and he wanted to adopt Gabriel. It’s what Gabriel wanted to, he wanted his last name to be Patton just like the rest of us.
We took all the legal steps and when he was 6 years old he legally became a Patton and my husband became his “legal” father. Though we did not need the adoption to go through to make it official. From the moment my husband came into our lives he has loved Gabriel as his very own, he has provided for him, he was the one who took him to sports games and cub scouts. It was he who added him to his insurance the minute he was able to. He never needed to do all that but he did. He was meant to be his father, I really believe that in my heart, it just happened in a different way than normally 🙂
Gabriel is definitely one of those all American boys involved in sports galore. If it’s doable he plays a sport each season. Soccer, Football, Baseball and Basketball. He is in Cub Scouts and involved in kids church. He is so smart it amazes me each time he brings home his report card. Though he is one of those kids who doesn’t like homework LOL, I swear you think I am killing him every time I tell him he has to do homework.
He is one of those sensitive children though he tries to act tough. He shares my love of NKOTB, that’s right I am raising the way that is freaking awesome! He is definitely my mini me. If I had a scanner I would scan some of my childhood pictures and place them next to his, we are replica’s of one another, no denying this child is mine that’s for sure. So that’s a little bit about my big man. I hope you all enjoyed getting to know Gabriel. Before I go here is an action shot of him doing what he loves:
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Toni Patton
Owner at A Daily Dose of Toni
Hi! I'm Toni. I am a happily married, christian, momma of 3 living on Florida's sunny Gulf Coast. I am a lifestyle blogger and Seint Arist. I started blogging when my last child was born as a way to share my love of all things travel, cooking, beauty, recipes, and more. Now pull up a chair, grab a glass of sweet tea and let's get to know each other. I truly hope you enjoy getting A Daily Dose of Toni!
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Toni,
That is a beautiful post — and I admire your courage for bringing a life in to the big, scary world all on your own. And you have a wonderful husband in Brent — and Gabriel is truly blessed to have such a loving Mother and Father!
And the angels Gabriel and Michael were two very great angels! 🙂
isn’t it amazing how we remember that day like it was yesterday? time sure flies!!! BP will be 2 in 3 weeks and you would think he was 21 and moving out with the way i’m acting over it. i won’t be able to refer to his age in months anymore! wah!!!
Beautiful story. Thanks for sharing.
What a beautiful story! I love the soccer picture too!
Thanks for sharing! Your son sounds like an awesome little boy! Congratulations on finding such a wonderful man to be husband and father. I pray that one day I will meet Mister Right.
Loved your story and getting to know a little about your family! Thanks for sharing! I may have to do that some day.
Thanks for sharing this, he looks a sweetheart, it’s nice to know the family behind the blogger!
Your story is very similar to that of me and my oldest- my hubby adopted him too and I ended up adopting his son from a previous marriage- we joke it was how God got the right parents to the right kids.
He is an adorable little boy!
Ok, when you said he shared your love of NKOTB, his stock just rose!
I didn’t read the whole thing though, but tell u what! it’s the single most blog I have ever seen with such a beautiful topic headers.
What a sweet story! Thanks for sharing!
Love the soccer picture. This is a beautiful story.
Love birth stories! What a handsome guy. He looks JUST like you as well:)
Thanks for sharing!
I love learning about everyone’s family. Beautiful story, with wonderfully happy ending.
I’m sure Gabriel realizes how well- loved he is.
carma 🙂
Wonderful share.