Back Home

We are back at home for the next few days and enjoying the familiar surroundings. Maize and Abby continue to do really well together (beyond the few dog kisses, which Abby doesn't seem to mind at all). We all sleep better in our own beds, so we've felt much better today than we had for the last few days.

Abby took her first trip to Ann Arbor today and got to visit the dental school and our dental school friends Brad and Lori Randall and their new baby Jeffrey (and big brother David). We had a great time visiting with friends and getting out for a few hours. Abby also had her first grocery shopping experience, but she slept through the entire trip to Meijer's, so I don't think she'll remember any of it.

Tomorrow is Abby's two week checkup at the doctor's office. The last two weeks have certainly flown by. She is starting to respond to us, smile when she is awake, and is eating tons since Sunday. We are having a lot of fun watching our little girl change each day.

Photo Diary - Meeting Family

Abby got to meet her great grandma Joyce Obreiter today. We took a picture with the four generations of Obreiters.

















Abby also met Uncle Nate and his friend Courtney (along with the rest of the Hodges clan.







We also took our first complete family photo (Maize included).

Visiting Grandmas

Abby is half way through her first trip to visit all of her grandmas. So far we've had a fun, but eventful stay. Steve and I managed to remember all of Abby's things when we were packing up the car, but in the mad rush to get everything in before my appointment, we missed packing my bag. Luckily, Mom and I are roughly the same shirt size and I had put extra pants into one of Steve's bags. So, with a little shopping I was able to make sure I had clean clothes for the weekend too.

Abby smiled at us for the first time while she was alert on Friday (10 days old). I was telling her about her fingers, chin, lips, and nose and apparently the word fingers is funny to her because she just started smiling when I said it. She is getting to be pretty interactive when she is awake (which isn't often ~ she loves sleeping). Steve and I are SO fortunate to have a very content and happy baby. Between the two of us we can only recall about 3 or 4 incidents of real crying in the last 11 days, and most of those were related to outside factors, like needle sticks.

Well... we started typing this because Miss Abigail wanted to be wide awake after she had her 5 am bottle, but the click of the typing has put her to sleep, so I am going to take advantage of the opportunity to sleep for an hour or two more as well. We will add pictures from Abby's adventures when we are home next Monday. Until then take care :-)

1 Week Old!!!

Today Miss Abby is 1 week old! And what an eventful week it has been. It hardly seems like it was 7 days ago that we were in that operating room welcoming Abigail ~ it seems like she's always been a part of this family. We are so thankful for God's gift to us in our daughter and for the fact that she seems to be one of the world's most content and fuss-free babies.

So... on to the recent developments. On Monday (yesterday) we were cleared to stop using the the bili-light on Abby, so we were finally able to unplug her and enjoy some real snuggling, along with a short walk to the mailbox, a trip to Jen's old office to show off Abby, and a stop at Walmart and Kohl's to pick up some necessities. Abby has already used up all of the newborn diapers that we had stocked for her (since we thought she was going to be a big girl we had only purchased a few newborn size upfront and had lots and lots of size 1). We also needed some newborn sized pants, since the size 0 to 3 months pants come all the way up to her armpits.

We visited the doctor today and Abby had regained all her birth weight and was looking great. She is eating and filling diapers like a champ. And... we even got 3 hours of sleep in a row last night. Needless to say, we are all feeling much better. So much better that we are going on our first visit to the Grandmas houses this weekend. I'm sure Grandma Mary and Grandma Yvonne (and the Grandpas too) can't wait for Abby's first visit.

Under the Lights

Abby is spending another day under the light to see if we can get past this bout of jaundice. Her number hadn't come down at all from yesterday, so it's another day (and night) of phototherapy for us. She is looking much better, eating more, making more diapers, and being alert more often, which are all good signs.

The beautiful afghan that Arlene Shock (who Jen worked with at Washtenaw County) made for Abby - you can see the light coming through the holes in it.

Four Days Old on Day Five

Unfortunately for Abby, day 5 of being a big girl required a trip to the hospital lab, even though she was discharged yesterday. Our little gal has a bit of jaundice and is undergoing phototherapy (where they use special lights to break down the offending bilirubin in the cells). She started using her biliblanket yesterday afternoon and we have been faithfully switching it from her belly to her back every hour on the hour (which made for a very, very long night). So... this morning we got ready and went for our trip to the lab, where we had to let the nurses poke poor Abby's heel to get a blood sample. Fortunately, her levels are on the way down and she will hopefully be done with the light therapy sometime tomorrow.

On the bright side, the therapy is working and Abby is getting much more active and looking much less yellow. Last night she had her first sustained period of playfulness, which was a relief to us. She spent the time from 1 am to 2:30 am kicking and waving her arms and responding to us, which was really neat, even though we were both exhausted and wishing she would just go to sleep so we could catch a few hours of much needed rest. She's also been eating (albeit from a bottle) a lot more and making the messy diapers that come with eating more. All good signs that she will be over the jaundice soon.

Since Abby is on the light pad 24 hours a day, I have been housebound, and mostly stuck in a chair holding her to make sure the light pad stays on her little belly. For those of you who know me well, you know this is making me stir crazy, but she is well worth it. Steve had his first adventure of grocery shopping on his own. I made a list, but I know where everything is at the store and he had to do a little hunting, so it took longer than he thought it would. We do have everything that was on the list, so that was good.

We are back to the lab tomorrow for more blood testing and hopefully good news that we will be off the phototherapy.

Our Little "Peanut"

While we were sitting at the hospital the other day with not much to do besides watch daytime t.v., which gets old really fast, we started really studying our little girl. At that point I told Steve I was sure there was a character from the peanuts that had round cheeks and spiky black hair. Sure enough, we found him. While Abby is certainly not a boy, she does have a resemblance to Shermy, the boy who always has to be a sheperd in the Charlie Brown Christmas movie. Now watching that movie will always give Steve and I a little chuckle.

Day 4 - Going Home

Abby and I were discharged from the hospital this afternoon and Steve, Abby, and I made it home at 1 pm today to start the adventure of life with baby. Abby seems to like her new digs, including the bassinet. She's been too sleepy to check out much beyond that and the couch.

Abby has some mild jaundice, so even though they sent us home, Abby has to be on an ultra-violet light pad as much of the day as possible. She doesn't seem to mind when she has to lay on it to get the light on her back, but it is a trick to keep it on her belly, since she does like to wiggle her little arms.

Abby had some firsts today. Since she is very sleepy from the jaundice, we've had to pump milk for her and give it to her by bottle. She really loved the bottle, so we are hoping that we will be able to transition back to breastfeeding when the jaundice is passed without too much struggle. Since Abby has been chugging down the bottles, we also experienced the first throw up. She got me good, and herself, and the arm chair, and the area rug. It was quite the mess - and my white sweater may never be the same.

3 and 4 Days Old - A Photo Diary

Being Alive - Day 3

Abby has started day 3 of being alive like a champ. Last night she decided that sleeping three hours a stretch would be a good idea and Steve and I certainly agreed with her. We did have to cheat a little and let her suck on her pacifier to get her to quiet down after being fed, but she doesn't seem to have any confusion when it comes to eating, so we aren't worried that her pacifier time will affect breastfeeding.

Abby got a good report again today from the pediatrician who is going to be checking on her during our last few weeks in Tecumseh. She is a little jaundiced, but he said overall she is doing great. She's been sleeping a lot during the day and being awake a little too much at night, so today we are going to try to reverse that by keeping her a little more stimulated during the day.

And... we have been cleared to go home tomorrow, so we will be enjoying a nice long shower and sleeping in a nice king sized bed soon. I'm sure Abby will like her real bassinet, which belonged to her Grandpa Hodges and his siblings too, much better than the hospital "fish bowl."

Enjoy more of Steve's first foray into photography - he's doing great in all of his new roles.The infamous pacifier
This is 3 am-ish right after the really long day of labor and delivery. I was so exhausted I could hardly keep my eyes open.
Our little girl has lots and lots of dark hair - we were thinking we may be able to pass her off as a Chippewa tribe member when Steve starts his new job in June.