The Latest On Abby

Written Monday Night, October 23rd, 2006

Well, the MRI we had last week went well. The area that controls the left side of Abby’s body was fine. She still favors her right side, but Abby’s developmental therapist said to hold off on doing anything for right now. She is after all, still moving her left arm, just not nearly as much. Personally, I’m a bit concerned about the whole thing, but I am confident with some therapy to encourage Abby to use her left arm, she will overcome any problems that may arise in the future.
Abby was eating very well at the beginning of last week and is getting very close to taking a full bottle. A full bottle is still 75 cc’s and Abby got up to around 70 cc's a few times last week. It usually takes Abby about an hour to finish. Some days she’s really calm and has her suck, swallow breathe coordination under control and other days it’s a real battle. She cries and grunts and squirms and throws her arms about. When that happens we just throw in the towel and finishing feeding her through her g tube. In fact the past few days this is exactly what was happening. We’re not sure why this happens either. It could be a number of reasons. This morning though she took 55 cc’s for me and 60 cc’s for Kelly this afternoon. That’s still not a full 75 cc’s I realize, but it’s a big improvement from the past few days. A couple steps forward then a couple steps backward I guess.
Abby’s developmental therapist said that she is very happy about how Abby is moving overall. She likes how her legs are kicking and she likes how strong her neck is getting. She bobbles her head all around when we hold her now as she tries to hold it up. It’s adorable. And she’s really starting to smile and coo. I can tell that she wants to laugh at the funny noises and faces I make at her, but for now she just flashes the cutest smile I’ve ever seen. I’m sure the giggles will come later.

And that’s about it for now folks. Oh….Abby is 8 lbs 8 oz! That’s a long way from 1 lb 10 oz huh? She’ll be 6 months old on the 29th. Crazy huh?

Please say some prayers for Abby’s eating. That’s the biggest topic of concern at the moment. Remember, the sooner she can eat 100% on her own, the sooner we can get that that G Tube out of her.

Have a good week everybody. We love you. Enjoy the latest pics!