Growing and Growing

Abigail is growing so good. As of yesterday she weighed 5 pounds 7 ounces! I have added some pics over on the gallery on the right, but will post a couple here.

In this picture you can see her heart monitor band. It is a soft foamy band holding two electrode things that measure her heart rate and her breathing. She doesn't seem to mind it much.

In this picture you can see how we weigh Abby each day. She sits in a little basket while being weighed on a food scale.

The last picture here is to give a little scale of comparison on her size for those of you still wondering how big she actually is. Below are a couple of diapers and a deck of cards. The bigger diaper is still only a preemie size diaper. The smaller diaper is what she used in the hospital for quite a while. She was in the preemie size for a little while before we came home.

I spoke with our pediatrician yesterday and found out that it is okay for us to have adult visitors. We are not supposed to take Abby to church until after RSV season. RSV is a lung disease that could cause her serious problems so we will be taking it seriously. The only part I don't like about this is that RSV season is from October to April. So Jeff and I will be taking turns going to church.

We are so blessed and God has taken such good care of Abigail that it is hard for me to look at not going out much until next Spring. But I also don't want to take risks when I don't have to.

So if you want to visit just call me and we can set up a time. We will try to keep it to one visitor a day for a while, just so we don't wear Abby out.

Praise: We have been told Abby doesn't need the fortifier in her bottles and that we can start working on nursing every feeding. We also don't have to go in for weight checks at the doctor any more because Abby is growing so good. (She has gained almost half a pound in the last 4 days.)

Thank you again for your prayers. Pray for Jeff as he returns to a normal work schedule. The tired really hits him about 3pm. Pray that I get rest when I can. Pray that I will keep my mind and emotions in line with God's Word.

Six Weeks Old Tomorrow

Abby hit 4 pounds 13 ounces yesterday. She has officially gained 2 pounds!!! Yay!

Abigail is doing really good growing and spending more time awake. She is still setting off her alarm every once in a while. It has never been severe enough to scare us, but it still isn't fun hearing it go off and knowing she is having trouble.

After going to the doctor for a weight check last week we were told we could let her sleep a little more at night. So we are working on that. The most she has slept between feedings is 3 1/2 hours. We aren't letting her go too far, until we see that her growth is doing good with the space between feedings. So far so good.

Since we have been home for two weeks I am getting a little antsy about being at home all the time. If you know me at all you know I am not a germ-a-phob, and I like to visit people all the time. So, telling people that they can't come over is really hard! My goal is to let a few adults come over after she hits 5 pounds. It will be a while before other kids are let around her. Church is another thing. We are still working out what we should do about going. Jeff and the big girls will start back this week, while Abby and I stay home.

I am posting some new pics, but in uploading them to post I found out I have been a little busy and not taking pictures like I thought. So, Sorry there aren't more. I will try to do better in the coming days.

Your prayers are so wonderful and I know that God is providing for us. Pray for Jeff's rest as he begins to return to normal work schedule and less working at home. Pray for my rest. My rest is directly affected by Abigail's ability to digest her feedings and not grunt at night, and by my big girls sleeping through the night. (Mackenzie fell out of bed last night and joined me for the 2 am feeding.) Pray for Samantha as school approaches. Pray that we can shift our schedule to earlier bed times and earlier getting up. Pray for Mackenzie that she will not miss her big sister too much when she starts school back.

You all are a blessing to us and we thank you for loving us and praying for us!