Almost 3 weeks old

Abigail saw the pediatrician for her two week check-up last week and she is doing fabulous. She weighs 6lbs 6oz, so almost an entire pound in one week. She had grown 1/2 an inch and is very healthy. We are currently working on breastfeeding as her mouth was too little up until now. It is going rather well and we are getting the hang of it finally.

Perhaps the most wonderful thing ever is seeing her smile and laugh. In her sleep she will laugh hysterically and it is probably the sweetest sound ever. I cannot wait until she laughs when she is awake!! But I am not trying to hurry a thing.

Shawn and I love being parents and can hardly believe how precious and beautiful Abigail really is. We made her, it is just astonishing. She is going through a stage right now where she only wants to be held so she typically sleeps on my chest or else she is not happy. I do not believe you can spoil a baby too much and it is just deepening her bond with both Shawn and myself.

Her great Grandma Max came out and has been spending time with little Abbie. Also for thre days last week her Grandma from Florida, Becky, came out and had a wonderful time bonding with baby Abigail. It was great to have some time with her.

Abigail is 9 days old

Wow, how fast time flies by. Abigail is 9 days old today and she is gaining weight and becoming more beautiful every day. Right now she is such a daddy's girl. Her little face lights up when he comes home from work, it is so amazing to see. We are working on the breastfeeding but her mouth is still too little to feed herself this way so I pump 6 times a day and we feed her. She has this little baby bottle and she loves to hold it while she eats. Abbie is a wonderful baby, she almost never cries and she just watches you and smiles. It is amazing being a wonderful, although the sleep deprivation is a bit difficult. I am still healing from the c-section which is very painful at times, but all is well. Next week we go to the pediatrician for Abigail's two week check-up and then off to the lactation consultant to hopefully get our little girl breastfeeding. Boy would that save me a lot of time!!!!!!!! I do not care how much sleep I lose, or how much work I have to do, I am so in love and I will do anything for my little girl.

Abigail's first two days

Abigail is doing fabulous. She is eating like a champ and absolutely adores her daddy. Shawn has barely even let me hold her and I am her mom!! At this point, I have yet to change a dirty diaper or even put her clothes on because Shawn is such a wonderful, hands on dad. It is amazing and I feel so blessed. She has now met Grandma Judy and Grandpa Mike, Grandma Diana and Rolando, Uncle Bert, Uncle Kyle, and her godmother Carla. She is going to be so loved and adored.

Pictures of Abigail's Birth

Abigail Is Here

Abigail was originally suppossed to arrive on October 12th but due to decreasing amniotic fluid levels and my health suffering the doctor, Shawn and I decided to begin inducing her Thursday October 9 at 8pm so she most likely would have been born Friday night october 9 or Saturday October 10. However, when I went in for my pre-testing on Tuesday October 6, the doctor became concerned about my failing health and stressing out Abigail so he sent me directly to labor and delivery to start the induction. At first he put this tape around my cervix with prostoglandins in it that are suppossed to soften the cervix. I allegedly had some small contractions but luckily never felt even one. Then after twelve hours of the tape, I was started on Pitocin, which starts contractions of the uterus. Again, I was contracting but not feeling them. However my hips began to hurt and due to the Pitocin I was forced to lie still in the bed so they could monitor Abigail. I just could not get comfortable and I was starting to get very irritated so Shawn and I decided to go for an epidural to make me comfortable. We would need the epidural anyways for the c-section if that was needed later. That was the best decision we made as I was able to relax. Finally, after about 18 hours of "laboring", Abigail's heart rate started to decelerate slightly when I was contracting, and still only barely 2cm dilated, so we went with the c-section. What an extremely strange feeling knowing people are cutting you open but not being able to feel it at all. I got kind of scared but all went great and out came Abigail, gorgeous and perfect, and yelling plus starving!! She took to breast feeding great and sleeps for hours at a time until we wake her up to eat. SHE IS SO PRECIOUS!!

Full term!!! 35-37 weeks

Abigail and myself have been doing better. We went out to Standley Lake for Labor Day and Shawn and my last holiday without kids!! It was fun but a little too much for me overall. I just do not feel very well and that just makes me not want to socialize. However, it was nice to go out in our beautiful RV and hang with our friends on the lake and by the campfire. The RV makes life so much easier because you can shower, do dishes, and have a fridge!! We went out on Thursday night and it was wonderful for me on Friday because everyone had to go to work so I was all alone. Shrek and I went for a walk by the lake together and we slept soundly until 10am. It was amazing!! We then spent the weekend boating and hanging out and came home on Monday. My dear friend from high school Sarah came out with her daughter Leah and brought Abigail so much cool stuff!! It is so nice to connect with old friends, and it seems like there was never a day where we were not in touch, despite the fact that it has been about 12 years since we last saw each other.

Abigail now has to be monitored three times a week and we also get an ultrasound every week to check the amniotic fluid as well as Abbie's growth. She was a bit behind but has made a miraculous recovery in the past two weeks. She not only has been gaining an absurd amount of weight but her amniotic fluid has increased as well. At 36 weeks she weighed 5lbs, 5 oz, gaining a whopping 7oz and at 37 weeks she gained 9 more ounces and is now 5lbs 14oz. Plus her bones and organs have begun to catch up to where they should be and in three weeks she has gone from being in the 8th percentile to the 29th percentile!! I swear Dr. Austin scared her into staying in my belly for longer when he told her he was going to deliver her early. Now we are considered full-term and at my appointment this week the doctor said she may even come late. What a rollercoaster ride!!

Baby shower and 31-34 weeks

First and foremost I have been slacking on the blog. Life has been one hectic rollercoaster since I last wrote.

The Friday before the baby shower I went to the doctor and was having some spotting and other issues so the doctor put Abigail on a monitor and we were told we were in pre-term labor. It was scary, but all turned out well and I was told to just relax over the weekend and not go to work the following week.

Abigail's baby shower was fabulous and my mom, Shawn's mom, Grandma Max, Aunty Cathy, and Aunt Charlie were among those who came and helped immensely. Abigail has so many people who love her already and I can hardly wait for her to meet them, including myself and Shawn!! During the baby shower, I opened presents for over two hours!! It was very overwhelming for me, as I had not been feeling well at all and was on "bed rest". However, it was worth it and Abigail will be beautifully clothed and have plenty of toys for months to come. Plus, Aunt Cathy and Uncle Walt brought her a talking rocking horse that is in her room so she can be a cowgirl before she knows it. Everything we received is so wonderful and I had such a great time. It is nice to know we have so much love and support around us.

The next day, Monday, I went back to the doctor and was told I had gained 10 pounds of water weight over the weekend and my blood pressure was 170/120!! I was also spilling protein in my urine, which shows that your organs are not functioning properly. Immendiately I was put on bed rest and Dr. Austin said there would be no more work for me. This was quite a shocker as I was only 31 weeks pregnant but with how I had been feeling it was also a relief. Luckily, I have a very realistic doctor and he said just to take it easy but that I could still go swimming and stuff.

So then the next week, I went in for an ultrasuond and Abigail's amniotic fluid had dropped down to a 7!! Dr. Austin immediately put me into the hospital for three days and did constant monitoring of Abbie's movements and heartbeats while monitoring my blood pressure and proteins. It was intense at times but nice to know that Abigail was doing well and I was doing okay. Shawn was so sweet and slept on a couch that he pulled right up to my hospital bed. My mom was also wonderful and made sure Shawn was well fed and that my spirits stayed up. Dr. Austin gave me two shots of steroids intended to speed up Abbie's lung development and then explained to us that she would be delivered before September 16th. Finally we were allowed to go home and told to just rest and relax. I made Shawn take me directly to Target so we could buy the few things we still needed after the baby shower such as the changing table pad. We need to be ready in case she comes early!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!