Sunday, August 19, 2007

Lot's to talk about!

Hola Amigos,

Let's get right down to it....

Eddie is doing fantastic. He is only 5 weeks old and weighs over 9 lbs now! He was born at 6 lbs 5 oz. His doc said he's doing great. He spits up a lot though which has us a bit concerned. Per docs orders, we're just going to watch this for now and if it gets worse to let her know. He slept 5 whole hours last night! We're hoping he repeats this tonight and that it wasn't just a fluke. He is pretty much a perfect little guy. I have to say, Kelly and I know what people mean when they say that they grow up so quickly. Eddie is literally getting bigger by the day.

With Abby on the other hand, we were (and still are) blessed to have her as a little one for so long. As of a week ago, she was at 15 lbs even! She spent over 4 months in the 14 lb range so we are so excited for this. I thought we would NEVER reach 15 lbs! We are still giving Abby momma's breast milk since she produces so much which is great nutrients for her. And to answer the question that a lot of people have asked, we did try to put Abby to momma's breast but she didn't have a clue what to do. We figured this would be the case, but it was worth a shot. It's funny though because she does throw her head in momma's chest every so often because she sees Eddie hanging out there so much. I'm pretty sure she still hasn't figured out what all the bruhaha is about. Another positive note is that we finally took Abby off the formula we've been using since day 1 and have switched her to another, more sensitive formula and it's working great. She hardly throws up anymore and what's more, I don't have to get up in the middle of night to put another dose of formula in the pump! Instead, I start her pump right before I go to bed and just set the pump to give her the entire nights feeding over one, slow continuous cycle. I'm so happy about this I can't even explain it. By the way, I couldn't do this with the other formula is because that particular kind of formula goes bad after only 4 hours at room temperature, whereas this new stuff doesn't.

Abby has gotten more used to Eddie being around and his crying doesn't seem to bother her nearly as much anymore. If she's smart, she'll be nice to him since he's going to be bigger than her in oh, I don't know, like 3 months! She still has a lot therapy appointments as well, about 6 a week and all is going well there. In fact.....(drum roll please!).... Abby is crawling now!!!! That's right! She is officially on the move. She's still working out the details but she can absolutely get from point A to point B. And she smiles as she is doing it because she is so proud of herself, which just melts my heart. You can tell that it's a modified version of the standard crawl style to acomodate her weaker left side but who cares. We're just happy because we were told that Abby wouldn't crawl at all.

This past month with Eddie has been amazing but it's been crazy too with all of Abby's appointments. It's important that we mention two very important people without whom we could not have gotten through this. Abby's Great Grandma Bette lives in La Quinta and has come out a good handful of times to help out. She stays anywhere from 2 to 5 days and while she's here, she cooks, cleans, does laundry, and helps out with the Eddie and Abby. It's a sad day when she leaves let me tell you. Kelly's mom, Grandma Cindy comes over EVERY day and also helps with everything from cleaning to laundry to diaper changing to getting Kelly food. She also goes with Momma and Abby to her therapy appointments in the afternoon. Oh, and in case I forgot to mention this before when Kelly was on bed rest, Grandma Cindy was the one who took Abby all by herself to her therapy appointments. And since Abby is re defining the nickname Wiggle Worm, this ain't no picnic sometimes. Thank you Great Grandma Bette and thank you Grandma Cindy!!! You guys rock!

I'll do my best to get back to the weekly updates friends. Sorry to be such a slacker.

Love,

Ryan, Kelly, Abby and Eddie.

PS - Kelly got her hair cut! I think it's super cute. This is how she had it when we first met. I love it!


Check out the Hair Doo


Eddie is doing what he does best here...sleeping!


Abby enjoying her first otter pop


Abby is crawling!


Mommy and Abby in her first Sink Bath


Too Cute For Words


Lil Eddie sleeping....AGAIN

Monday, August 06, 2007

Abby as the big sister

Before we get to Abby, let me give a quick update on Eddie. He is AWESOME! He sleeps, eats and poops like a normal baby! It’s great. We have no g tubes, no heart monitors, no shunts or anything to worry about. He is quite the grunter too. All day long he’s either grunting, sleeping, eating or pooping. He is an absolute joy to have around.

As far as Abby is concerned, she isn't very happy about having to share all the attention she was used to getting. She has definitely gotten better with the whole thing these past two weeks but it is going to take a while.

Like I said in my previous post, Abby is still having trouble eating these days. In fact, the past two nights she threw up. Abby has a very sensitive gag reflex. She can throw up if she cry's too hard or if she just chokes on a little saliva. So, unlike putting any baby down in her crib and letting her cry herself to sleep, Abby will throw up if she does this. The catch 22 is that she doesn't just lie herself down and go to sleep at night. The only way we can get her to fall asleep at night is to put in her swing. For whatever reason, she likes the swing and can fall asleep in the swing no problem. And that as we all know is a terrible habit that will be hard to break. But what do we do? We can't let her cry herself to sleep because she may throw up and if we stay with her and try to calm her down by patting her bum or something, most of the time she won't go to sleep. This works only some of the time. It takes about a half an hour to an hour, but I do my best to win her over. Some nights though she just isn't having it.
Anyway... we'll find a way around this I'm sure. We're also watching what we feed her and we're changing a few things here and there to see if that helps with her ability to tolerate her food. As far as her physical therapy goes, she is actually doing pretty well. She is learning how to crawl and can get on her hands and knees. It's been a lot of fun to watch because she looks and smiles at you when she is in crawling position, as if to say, "look at me!" It's so cute I can't stand it.

Enjoy the latest pics my friends. Have a great week!







Sunday, August 05, 2007

It's Coming....It's Coming!

Alrighty there Abby Lovers,

The update will be here by the end of Monday. It's been a long couple of weeks and we're getting adjusted to everything. There is a lot to talk about though and i don't want to even attempt to get into it right now since I'm so tired. I have some GREAT pics though so be sure to check back late on Monday night or first thing Tuesday.

Take care and thanks for your patience.

The Management
Abby Inc.

 
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