Finding Routine

We have been home almost a week now. The biggest difference is not going to the hospital and not getting as much sleep.

Abigail is doing great. We weighed her last night and she is up to 4 pounds 7 ounces. So she is gaining about an ounce a day. Really good! She has set off her monitor about once every other day or so. So far the only alarm she has is set off is slow heart rate. She recovers on her own and it isn't near a scary as it sounds. Abby has alarmed a couple of times just laying in her bed, which is something new. Usually an alarm happens during a feeding if it is going to happen. There is a nerve in the back of the throat that drops heart rate when swallowing. Her little body is still learning to regulate that drop and not let it get too low. The alarms that have happened in her bed I have no clue about.

We got the girls a pool for the back yard. It is about 30 inches deep and 10 feet wide. The girls love it! We figured that it wouldn't be much fun being stuck around the house since Abby can't go anywhere yet.

Thank you all for your continued prayers. God has provided for us in all kinds of ways. I know He is hearing you. Please pray that Abby's body develops past the different needs for the monitor. Pray that Jeff and I get rest, and have wisdom in parenting while tired. Pray for Samantha and Mackenzie to grow in their love for their sister and for each other.

Aaaahhh! Home!

We brought Abby home on Tuesday afternoon. They sent us home with an apnea monitor. Sometimes when Abby is eating she forgets to breath and her heart rate drops.

Abigail was 3 pounds 15 ounces when we left the hospital. Yesterday we went to the pediatrician's office and she now weighs 4 pounds 4 ounces. Yay!!! We found out that we will have the monitor until Abby is 2 months alarm free. It has been interesting having the monitor, because I actually have a little more peace of mind with it. If she stops breathing or her heart rate is too high or low an alarm sounds (think louder than a smoke detector). So, when she is grunting and making noises, or completely silent, I can relax a little better knowing she is doing just fine.

Samantha and Mackenzie were so excited to get to bring Abigail home from the hospital. We took them to lunch at the hospital and after lunch we got to load everyone up in the van and head home. I do think they are figuring out that a little sister isn't as much fun as they thought she would be. They were ready for a baby they could feed and diaper themselves. Not quite what they got. The big sisters love Abby and really like getting to hold her.

Wednesday I got to take a nap on the couch with Abby and it was great! It has been so nice not having to run up to the hospital and leave Samantha and Mackenzie.

Our doctor says that if Abby keeps growing really good in the next week, we can start spreading out her night time feedings a little. Jeff and I are really looking forward to that. I have been setting one alarm at night to get up and pump, but Jeff had been sleeping all night since we got home from the hospital. Now, we are up twice a night and going through all the normal sleepy parent stages.

We are so blessed! Abigail is healthy and growing wonderfully. She has two fabulous big sisters that love to help. God has shown His faithfulness in the small things and the big things.

God has been showing me much through Joshua. In the first chapter of Joshua God tells him that he will go and possess new land. Joshua will have to fight for it and lead a huge group of people. Then, three times God tells Joshua that He will be with him and to not be afraid. So, each day as something new pops up I have to remember that God is with me and not to be afraid. If He had to tell Joshua three times, then I guess He won't mind reminding me as often as needed. God is faithful all the time!

Abigail Comes Home !!!

Abigail came home from the NICU today. Her sisters are so excited (they haven't realized how boring she is yet), but the dog doesn't quite know what to think.

Up to Today

Abigail is growing great. Tonight she weighed in at 3 pounds 13.5 ounces.

The past few days have been a little up and down for me. The nurses began mentioning that Abby might come home on the weekend, so we have worked a lot on getting ready for her to be here. Then we got a call on Saturday afternoon. The nurse practitioner told me that Abby was anemic and needed a blood transfusion. Anemia in little babies is not a lack of iron in the blood, it is just a lack of blood. Abby was low on blood from all the different labs they run on her from time to time. Her little body just doesn't replenish itself like a big baby. After giving me all the information she asked me if I had strong feelings one way or another about the transfusion. I told her I was just shocked. After getting off the phone, I went to my bed room and hit my knees. I poured out my fears and tears to God and knew he understood all of my feelings. Then He reassured me that even then He was with Abby and taking care of her.

The transfusion went fine and she is doing great. Today she got her first bath. Up to now she has only had sponge baths. I promise she really enjoyed the bath, even though the picture might look otherwise.



We haven't had specific word on when she will come home, but we are hopeful it will be in the next few days. She may come home with a monitor if the doctors think it will be best. I will keep you posted.

Thank you all for your continued prayers. Pray Abby continues to grow and stay healthy. Pray that once she is home that she will remain healthy and have no problems. Pray for Samantha and Mackenzie- they want to see her so bad and it is hard for them to keep being told 'not today.' Pray for Jeff and I to have wisdom about all the details of having Abby home, and our ability to be good parents.

Quick Update

Abby is doing great. She now weighs 3 lbs 6.9 oz. We have been told she might come home this weekend. They are adding some formula to her milk so that she will get some extra protein, phosphorous and calcium. If her tummy handles this well then she will very likely come home quick. If her tummy doesn't handle it good, then it will be a few days to let her tummy get better and then I am not sure after that.

She is growing wonderfully. Last night when I was holding her God's Word just kept coming to mind. He knit Abby together inside of me in such a way that she was totally ready for this world. God made her wonderfully. May she grow in wisdom and stature, in favor with God and man.

My hope is in Christ not in what the doctors tell me. I have to admit that this took me a minute because after the doctor said they were adding formula to Abigail's milk it took the wind out of my sails. She hasn't done well with adding things to her milk in the past. But I had to remember the faithfullness of my Father/Creator. Like I said above, He made Abby perfect at 2 pounds 13 ounces, He can help her little tummy handle this. Or He will help me handle it, whichever needs to happen. We are blessed beyond our imaginations. My hope is in the unfailing Creator of this world, the Author of my story and Abigail's, the Redeemer who loves me.

1 John 4:8 says God is love. 1 Corinthians 13:8 says Love never fails. Let us all try to remember that in our everyday ups and downs.

Busy, busy, busy

Sorry it has been a little while. Abigail has been without a feeding tube for over 48 hours and gained weight yesterday. So, we are preparing to bring our tiny precious girl home.

A few things we have figured out:
-She has blonder hair than her sisters had at birth. So we will see what her hair ends up like in a year.
-She only 'talks' to us when she needs to burp.


I will try to post pics and let everyone know when she will be coming home.

Thank you for your prayers, love, and support.

A Big Gal

Abby is now in a crib and not in an isolette! She is such a big girl!




Jeff figured out that Abigail's name is very close to saying 'a big gal.' She acts like a big girl. Tonight Abby took her bottle so good. The nurse said that if Abby keeps doing this for 24 hours then we will be looking at going home very soon. We are also supposed to bring her carseat up there so that she can try the 'carseat challenge.' The challenge is that Abby will sit in the carseat for a couple of hours and the nurses make sure that she doesn't have any dips in breathing or heart rate. So we are hopeful, but we know it still could be a little while before she is headed home. We will let you know.


Samantha and Mackenzie are doing great. They are having a good time at Noni's house today. I think they believe that it is like summer camp. They stay with a grandma and then get to see Mom and Dad a little each day. I will post some pics of them and the fun they have had while waiting for Abby to come home.

Pray that Abby will want to drink her bottle and nurse. Pray that Jeff and I will be as rested as possible and be ready for Abby to come home. Pray for Samantha and Mackenzie to continue to handle not having Mom and Dad like they are used to.

Thank you all for your prayers. I cannot tell you all the little and big ways that God is answering your prayers everyday.

Big Foot

While checking out our newest little princess we have noticed that she has really big feet compared to the rest of her. We will just take this as a sign that she is going to fill out just fine!

Abby is now 3 lbs 4 oz. She moved to a different spot in the NICU last night. So her room got a little bigger, and we may see a few different nurses than we have had.

Samantha and Mackenzie are excited this morning because we are all going to see, Samantha says, "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang live and on stage." The girls really love this movie and we are all looking forward to a little fun together. Mackenzie asks everyday if we can bring Abby home. She is really ready to see this little sister she has heard so much about and seen pictures of.

I keep trying to put in a video, but it won't load. I will keep trying to find a way. We have a video of Abby with hiccups and one of her 'talking' to us while she is getting burped.

A Thankful Heart

Okay, so I have been complaining a lot in my mind about pumping milk for Abigail. I know it is the best thing for her and that we will eventually get to nursing, but I have been discouraged none the less. Then yesterday evening and this morning God kept telling me to be thankful in everything. Which reminds me of Corrie Ten Boom's story and her needing to be thankful for the fleas in her bed. So I worked on thanking God for the opportunity to pump milk and be able to give it to Abigail.

Then something awesome happened. When we saw Abby this morning our nurse asked me if I was ready to try breastfeeding. I was floored and excited to get to see how Abby would do. She did great. We had a couple of minutes of Abby eating like a pro. The whole time I was holding back tears of appreciation to my ever faithful Father. How could I ever question His provision or love for me? So I will use this to remember to be thankful in everything, even when it hurts, isn't easy, and I would much rather complain.

Thank You Jesus!

Two Weeks

Abigail weighed in at 3 pounds 3 ounces on her two week birthday. She has gained 6 ounces over all and is doing great.

The doctor added a formula feeding today and we will see if she tolerates that over the next day. Hopefully she does great and continues to grow.

Samantha and Mackenzie have spent this week at GG's house having fun swimming and playing with GG and Papa Tom. They ask everyday when Abby will come home. They are ready to get to see and hold their baby sister.

I am really ready for Abby to come home too. I have been pumping milk for her and I am really tired of it. Ready to get to nursing and leave the pump behind.

Thank you all for your prayers. I feel like I say this a lot, but it is so powerful and so priceless to us.

Quick update: Abigail weighed in at 3 lb 3 oz Wednesday night.

Update

Last night when we saw Abigail she dropped 20 grams, but it wasn't enough to change her pounds and ounces. Still 3 lbs 1 oz.

We talked with our nurse about her progress and found out about some milestones she has to reach. To get out of the isolette (warmer) they usually require babies to be 1800 grams. Right now Abby is 1380 grams, but she is roasty toasty in her little bed and may get out of it before the 1800 grams. Then she has to prove that she can gain weight consistently in a regular bed, since she will be using more energy to stay warm at that point. Abby also has to take every feeding from a bottle. She likes the bottle, but it wears her out to take it at every feeding right now. So we have no set date for when she will be coming home, but we will definitely let everyone know as it gets closer.

Abigail is developing just like any other new born. She stays awake much longer than before and really likes taking her bottle. I will try to post some video we have of her with the hiccups. She also only grunts or makes noise when she needs to burp. I think we have a video of that too. It is really cute, as soon as she burps she gets quiet and is ready to finish her bottle. She drinks about one ounce and usually needs burping 2 to 3 times.

All of the nurses love on Abby and it is great to have such wonderful ladies caring for our sweet baby girl.

What a great weekend

Abigail had a great weekend. She gained 40 grams yesterday and is now officially 3 lbs. 1 oz. Yay!

Samantha, Mackenzie and I (with some help from Daddy too) made some lady bugs to decorate Abigail's room with at the hospital. We gave some to family and friends and they are writing blessings and prayers for Abigail on them. [If you would like to send a lady bug we will gladly hang it in her room- we just can't make enough to get one to everyone, but we would love to have your prayers and blessings to pass on to Abigail.]

We are so thankful for all your prayers. Please keep praying for Abigail to put on weight. This is really her last milestone she needs to accomplish. It is absolutely amazing to watch her as she becomes more alert and curious about her surroundings. She is a huge (tiny) testament to how awesome our Lord is and how He can knit together someone so tiny and perfect.

Little Blessings

Abigail lost an ounce and is now at 2 lbs and 15 oz. We know that it is normal for all babies to fluctuate in weight, but we were really excited to get to say 3 lbs for a short while, and we know that she will get there again soon.

We have had wonderful nurses taking care of our Abigail! Yesterday our nurse was Linda, who has been in the NICU for a long time and has given us great encouragement time and again. It was no exception yesterday. Linda told us that she thought our schedule was wonderful. We go and visit Abigail at two feedings a day. We usually spread them out so that we don't wear her out by bottle feeding two times in a row. Linda told us that if we think about what Abigail would be doing if she were still inside me that we were giving her the best care possible by only seeing her twice a day. If Abby was still inside she would spend her days and nights sleeping, sucking her thumb, and growing. This was great for me to hear, a gift for my heart. The fact that we are going twice a day is because of my doctors orders to only be in the car twice a day, and to not drive for two weeks. So yet again God was taking care of me- I would have been wearing myself out going up there; and taking care of Abigail- I would have been wearing her out too.

This morning was fun because we love to get to know our nurses and we had a new one this morning. Christy is very sweet. And as we were feeding Abigail, Jeff and I were listening in on Christy talk about her sister who is a pediatrician that is getting deployed soon. She talked about her brother-in-law, who is also a doctor, and as we listened Jeff and I wondered if it wasn't an old friend of ours. So we asked, admitting to our evesdropping which Michelle laughed about, her brother-in-laws name. It is our old friend Jacob, who we lost contact with, but love very much. So, God gave us another random little blessing of being able to connect with our nurse in a special way. And we can now get in touch with Jacob and see how he and his family are doing.

We are blessed in so many ways. Abigail is doing great. She is awake more of the time when we are there feeding her. In fact she was still awake when we left today, but she was falling asleep fast. Thanks to everyone for your prayers. Thanks to our family and friends for helping take care of Samantha and Mackenzie. Thanks to God for being ever faithful and constantly present.