A Break

I'm going on a blogging break for a little while so I can focus on my family. :-)

New Clothes

Got this cute little number from a friend. When I got to the hospital this morning the night shift had put it on her. I was quite surprised, as this outfit has been in her drawer for at least 2 days now. Even her croqueted hat matched.

Another Update

I'm running out of ideas of what to call each post. Oh well...

Abby is doing well again this morning. I bottle fed her for her 11:30 feeding, then asked really nicely if I could start nursing her. How ridiculous that I have to bottle feed her, and then pump. The therapist was hesitant, but I gently reminded her of the importance of skin to skin contact, and the fact that I am still the mom...and she agreed. Good thing, because I was going to insist on it. So tonight I have "permission" to nurse her for 5-10 minutes.

Here's the latest picture. Sorry it's a little blurry, but the NICU is fairly dark.

Officially 34 weeks now!! (As of yesterday.)

Just A Quickie....

I went to the hospital for a quick visit. Didn't have too much time, as William was at a friend's house, and I wanted him home to take a nap so he can go to the airport tonight to pick up Grandma. (He still thinks Umpa is coming!)

Anyway...Abby's Bili level dropped from 10.6 last night to 8.8 this morning! HUGE progress the doctor told me, so they've ordered her off the light therapy. That means she's more alert, and eating more as well. She did very well on her nipple feeding this morning, eating about 2/3 of the bottle before tiring. Since arriving at the NICU she's been very good with her breathing, having very few brady spells. She had none last night, which is so exciting!

The Little Programer

William has been adjusting fairly well to J and I being gone a lot. He's had his share of temper tantrums, but overall he's been quite resilient! J caught him in his computer chair the other day, pretending to email. He loves imitating whatever J does!

I was at the hospital pretty much all morning, feeding and rocking Abigail. She's doing great! For the first time she hasn't lost weight, but she hasn't really gained, either. The nurses assure me that's completely fine. She's still under the bili lights as her bili went up .5 from yesterday. Again, all normal for such a little one. I did her 9am feeding, and she ate like a champ, with no vomiting. She's still on just 1 nipple feeding per shift/twice in a 24 hour period. She tires quickly, so she still hasn't been able to completely finish a bottle. Thankfully she tolerates the feeding tube well.

My First Nipple Feeding

After we got home from touring a NG plant we dropped William off at a friend's house and headed back to the hospital. When we got there the nurse informed us that Abby was doing great and hadn't vomited any of her milk up. Yes! She's really doing much better since getting off formula and getting on breast milk. She's still under the the Bili lights, but they're expecting her to be off those within a day or two.


The nurse also said that Abby was going to be nipple fed by the PTOT, so if we wanted to stick around for that, we could learn how to feed her. She didn't have to say that twice! The PT, turns out, is the same one that worked with William when he was in the NICU two years ago! Anyway, she showed me how to hold her properly, support her chin, and get the bottle in her mouth. It was amazingly difficult, believe it or not, since she really doesn't have a clue how to suck. She was thoroughly bored with the whole ordeal, but she caught on quickly and drank about 19cc, out of a 34cc feeding. The rest had to be gavaged, but it was still progress! It was so great to be able to participate in her feeding. The nurse said that since she did so great at it that they were going to up her nipple feedings to once a shift, or twice in a 24 hour period. I asked about nursing her, and they said that I could start that in a day or so. Some babies do much better at the breast than they do at the bottle. (I have lots of video of that that I'll post over on my other site.) But as you can see, she was very alert this afternoon! We're getting anxious to get her home!

20th Anniversary

This morning we woke up very early to make it to NG to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the B-2. It was one of those rare occurrences where they allow family members of employees to tour one of the plants. It was SO hot (around 100 degrees) so we didn't wait in line to get our picture taken by it (the line looked to be about an hour long!) but we did tour the inside of the plant and show W the planes that were outside. It was a fun morning!

We were not allowed cell phones or cameras, so I don't have any pictures to share, but this was one site we saw as we left the plant. Interesting....hey, Noah was mocked too, for building HIS ark in the middle of the desert!

Update - July 17

I was able to get to the hospital early this morning, just in time to give the nurse my "liquid gold" from my hard work of pumping. She was thrilled to get it, as Abby hasn't been keeping down the formula very well. Breast milk is much easier to digest, and after she got my milk it all stayed down. It was so nice to know that I was able to help her in that!

I was also able to change her diaper again when I got there, as well as take her temp. The moment I opened her diaper she peed straight up at me, soaking her blankies and her onesie. (Yes, today is the first day of wearing clothes!!) Since she was soaked, I was able to wash her up and change her little shirt. It took me FOREVER! She's so delicate, and not at all like William, where I can just flip it over his head and call it good.

Anyway, it was great to spend several hours with her this morning, just rocking her and bonding with her. She was very alert, eyes open for a lot of the time, another first, since with all previous visits she's been very groggy/asleep.

It's my birthday today, so John is bbq-ing and then later I hope to go back to the hospital. Not quite the birthday I thought I would have, but an amazing one nonetheless.


Thanks to all who've been praying for our little gal. God is good!

Meet Our Abigail

I'm a little tired right now to post any specific details of the whole "surprise birth", but here are a few shots that were taken this evening in the NICU. J and I were both very surprised to find her in a regular bassinet, instead of an isolet with heat. Abby's nurse said she was regulating her body temp very well, and didn't need to be kept under any warmers. (Abby's nurse is the same nurse William had when he was in the NICU! We all completely remembered each other from 2 years ago.)

Here's me, holding my baby for the 2nd time. Just a little bit happy! ;-)


I know kids aren't permitted in the NICU until age 15, but I really missed not having William there with us.


The tape holding her feeding tube is making her lip a tad strange, but this was the closest we could get to snapping a picture with her eye open. She was just too bored with the whole situation to bother herself with opening the other eye.

Here's the new 2nd time around Daddy! It took a little persuading, but he finally decided that he could hold her without breaking her. She really is a peep-squeak!

J has lots more pictures that he took right after birth, but we're both too exhausted to spend time figuring out how to get them off his phone. Check back tomorrow....?

Stink Be Gone!

I was recently asked to try out a product that claimed to remove smells from washing machines and mildew smells from towels. I have to admit, my washing machine doesn't really smell, but some of my pool towels do, so I decided to give Smelly Washer a whirl.



I decided to give Smelly Washer the ultimate test - stinky, damp, pool towels that had been sitting in the basket for a few days. Those towels never seem to smell great, even after I wash them, so they were my test subjects. I followed the directions on the Smelly Washer bottle, and waited for the load to finish. I was pleasantly surprised! The smells were completely gone. Since the product is completely natural, there weren't any artificial smells in the towels, like you get from some fabric softeners.

Like they advertise, Smelly Washer is supposed to clean your washing machine as well. If you decided to try the product yourself, let me know if your washer came out smelling great! Overall I really like this product and will use it again.