Greer with the Merrills

We just got back from going to Greer with John's family.... Does it look like this little girl had fun?.... She was such a good girl.... She traveled well, slept well, and was full of lots of smiles. It was a GREAT trip!!

Lovin' Our Little Girl

There is not much to report.... I just wanted to share some pictures of Abigail and her adorable smiles. This little girl is such a sweet baby. I love her more all the time. She continues to be a good little sleeper and is entertaining herself more and more. She is getting better and better at holding things/playing with a toy. In fact, she will even get mad if she happens to lose the toy she had.... I just love loving her.... Last night John had her laughing and making new laughing sounds I had not heard before -- super cute!!

Modeling her Disney Cheerleader outfit from Aunt Wendi in DisneyWorld

Look at that bear getting smaller and smaller....

Seven Months Old

It is really hard for me to believe that my little miracle is already seven months old. She has got to be over 14lbs now.... Her little personality just keeps coming out. She is so sweet and easy going, but has a very stubborn side, too (just like her parents). We have been trying to get her to do more tummy time -- which she is not a big fan of.... The other day we put her on her tummy -- She cried a little, and then sucked her thumb and went to sleep. I don't think tummy time does much good when she doesn't even practice moving. She has begun to sort of roll over -- if she is at the right angle, and usually if she is mad. When we can convince her for a few minutes that her tummy is fun, she is getting better and better at holding her head up, and sometimes she will try a "flying" position.

She is loving the Exersaucer more and more She is getting better at her grabbing skills, and, of course, most of the things are going in her mouth. She also has to be in the mood to lie on her back. Recently, she has tried lifting her head while on her back -- guess she was trying to tell me something. With a little support, she really enjoys sitting up to look and play. She is also getting more and vocal -- be it happy or complaining. I Love It!

I love it when she smiles. It is a heart melter when the smile slowly builds while she is staring at you, and then it is just this big, beautiful smile. She has also learned to flail(sp?) her arms up and down and wildly kick when she is excited. I love watching her get so excited!.... I think she is also trusting that I will get her out of bed because she is not waking up and crying as much as she used to -- instead she is just making cute noises. She continues to love sucking her thumb. We still get her to take a binky sometimes. She has figured out how to sometimes hold it, and she even tries to do both sometimes. Plus, she also attempts her whole fist at times.

I have still been struggling with her not being able to nurse and me not being able to produce enough milk. I think she is just your average smart baby, and she knows the bottle is faster -- because she latched on earlier - but we were still thickening her milk then. However, I wonder if the positioning may hurt her some, too. So, I think I may be finally giving up on getting her to nurse (very sad day) -- you put her in position now and she just turns to get away. We have both shed tears in our efforts.... I just try and be grateful for the few times we got to experiment with it. We will see what happens when we get to have another baby -- We met with a lactation consultant and it might be more than Abigail's early arrival that prevented me from producing very much milk....and even though it sometimes is crazy and frustrating, I just can't give up pumping yet -- grateful technology helps me get her what milk I can. I am just so grateful that Abigail seems to be such a great eater - because preemies seem to be popular with eating issues.

I love that she loves to have me put her to sleep. I know I will probably regret it later, but it makes me feel better right now since we kind of missed out on the nursing bonding. At home she can sometimes just go in her bed without fully being asleep (fabulous) and go to sleep, but when we are not home, it is often a different story -- she must think she is going to miss something -- and fights sleep -- and generally screams at others' efforts until I take her. She is letting John put her to sleep more and more, though.

We sure do love our little girl. She loves to sing little action songs with her Daddy. Her favorite seems to be "Pat-aCake". Daddy is her favorite for playing, and she loves Mommy for cuddling... and she has us both tightly wrapped around her little finger.

Thanks for reading the long update...

What a comparison....one week to 30 weeks


Ready... Set... Eat.... We have let Abigail try rice cereal twice in the last week, and she seems to really like it.

New Toy

We let Abigail try the ExerSaucers that both of her grandmas have, and we decided it was time for her to have one. (A few weeks ago she was not interested yet.).... I think she likes it!!.... (Thanks Grandma Merrill!) We are so fortunate to have both sets of grandparents nearby and very willing to spoil us. (I can't forget all of the aunts and uncles, either.)

I love her smile in this one!! She is just so CUTE!!!.... "Look at Me! I am a big girl!"




Abigail fell asleep (for a much needed nap) at the end of the store adventure, but awoke shortly after getting home. I let her watch John setting up the ExerSaucer -- She fought going to sleep, but sleep obviously won.

NO MORE OXYGEN!!

We had another pulmonologist appointment this morning, and I was nervous to go because of her recent infection. However, it was a great appointment!! Abigail weighed in at 13lbs 10oz, and we now have NO MORE OXYGEN!! or apnea monitor.

Sorry to those of you who have been extra worried about our little girl and her being sick. She still continues to remain very happy and content - just not when we are suctioning her out. She is still working on getting over it, but is doing well. Respiratory infections will probably be a frequent visitor in our home, but we will just work on being extra careful. Change of seasons and allergies will keep us on our toes.

Happy 28 Weeks!! Abigail has now been home for as long as she was in the hospital.... Kind of crazy, but she REALLY looks A LOT like my baby pictures in this picture.

Enjoying her new booster seat from the school baby shower. Abigail is very social and likes to be a part of what is going on. The days for feeding her rice cereal will be here before I know it.

Sleeping peacefully -- I think this may have been after one of her times of puking on her clothes.

Holding her "Oxygen Graduation Certificate" - as the doctor was calling it. Abigail is holding the doctor's instructions for the oxygen and monitor to discontinue.... Soon the tank in the picture below will not be taking up space in my living room. I am grateful we have things like oxygen tanks to help with health conditions, but I am also grateful I get to have it leave my house.

Baby's First Time Sick and "On the Charts"

I knew it was going to happen sooner or later -- Sweet Little Abigail has a respiratory infection. I am glad we caught it when we did so it would not become something like pneumonia.... Thursday night we put her to bed like we normally do, and around 10:00 we heard her crying and kind of gagging. I was expecting to find spit up in the bed because of a spit-up incident last Sunday. The bed was cleaned and it was just saliva we were suctioning out -- but alot of it.... I was a little nervous, and Abigail spent the night with us -- sometimes just on my chest and stomach. She tried to stay asleep, but kept waking up -- and then would go back to sleep after a suctioning.

I debated calling the doctor because I don't want to be the overly dramatic mother who calls about anything, but I just kept thinking I needed to. Plus, with a holiday weekend approaching I did not want her to get worse and have to take her to an Urgent Care or ER with doctors I would not know and who wouldn't have her records.

The doctor said it was an upper respiratory infection, but that we had caught it early.... Considering, Abigail has remained pretty happy through most of it. You can mostly just hear how stuffed up she sounds. She definitely does not like the routine suctioning she gets. She is getting the syrup form of medicine instead of a breathing machine -- won't be surprised if we end up with one of those.... I had been noticing some wheezing earlier in the week, and was watching it to see if it got worse.... With Abigail's prematurity and the time she spent on a ventilator, we will probably have to be extra careful with her lungs and breathing.

The doctor's visit did get us another weight check. Abigail is now just over 13 pounds and has made it to "the charts" for her weight. She is still only in the 5th percentile for her weight, but she is still now on the charts for a six month old. YEAH!!!

Abigail's temporary bed so she can sleep on an incline -- yay for the carseat carrier.... don't mind the very mismatched blankets

Enjoying her new Bumbo chair. This past week we went to a baby shower for me and some other new moms at my (former) school. They spoiled us with many new gifts. Thanks!!

I finally took down the Pack-n-Play after it became more of a laundry holder. It was one of those kind of bitter-sweet things. I want Abigail to get bigger and stronger, but as many moms know, it is happening very fast. Moving her out of our room was just another sign of that to me....

First Time Swimming

My sisters are all swimmers/lifeguards and have been wondering when and if Abigail would be going swimming this summer -- at least one sister in particular keeps wondering.... I found her a swim suit that could help keep her protected from the sun, and we attempted swimming on Friday night. I was not too sure about using our community pool with the germs and all (a doctor said to avoid public pools), but no one was there at the time....Abigail was not too sure about it all, but I was happy she never got mad -- as the water was a little cold -- and she is not a fan of being cold. We didn't stay very long because of the temperature, but we had a fun time... and then bathed her really well when we got home.

Six Month Check-Up

Monday we went to Abigail's six month check-up at the Pediatrician. We even went in through the "regular" door and sat in the waiting room. Before, we went in through a side door they told us about, and then were immediately put in a room -- to avoid contact with others. I figured we could do things the "normal" way now that she was off full time oxygen -- and the waiting room was virtually empty, thankfully.

Here are Abigail's current measurement comparisons:
Weight: 12lbs 9oz from 1lb 14.9oz
Height: 23.5 in from 13.8 in
Head: 16 in from 8.8in

The doctor is still happy with her progress. He said we could stop the higher calorie diet because she has made good catch-up growth. He also said to stop thickening her milk -- and see how she does -- so far she is doing well. With this wonderful news, we are going to see about doing more with nursing.... We will see what happens.

Abigail also seems to be developing on track. He said we need to have her doing tummy time for fifteen minutes, four times a day -- and increase the amount every few days. We have not made it there so far -- Abigail is not a big fan of her tummy anymore, but we keep trying.

The six month check-up brought Abigail another round of vaccinations. A few hours later we did end up giving her Tylenol, but she seems to be just fine now. As you can see from the picture, little girl spent a good part of Monday sleeping.

We are so grateful she is doing so well!!

HAPPY SIX MONTHS OLD!!

Oh how I love this little girl!!.... Can anyone believe that she used to be so small that Daddy's ring practically fit on her arm? Now it sort of fits on two of her fingers. She is so much fun to laugh and smile with. She is learning that her hands and feet can do things individually. Lately, we are finding that she moves in her sleep. We have found her perpendicular to where we left her.... She is such a good little baby, and we are so grateful for her!

Sweet Moments

So today I was at my parents house to help my mom with some flower orders, and John stopped by on his way home from work. At the time a family friend was there also-picking up her son. She was holding Abigail as she started her bottle.... I missed it, because I was, I believe, talking to someone else, but.... The ones paying attention said that when John came in and started talking, that Abigail's eyes looked up in excitement and began looking for Daddy.... How Sweet!!! Abigail also loves to play "Pat-a-Cake" with Daddy. I try it, too, but she never smiles and laughs as much as when he does it.

It is fun and interesting the things that Abigail prefers John or I to do - compared to each other.... Oh, I love her!!!!