Abigail is 19 1/2 months old.

Abigail is now 19 1/2 months old & weighs 13 lbs. She is a very busy girl. She is now sitting up by herself & is crawling everywhere! She is doing the army crawl, but is trying to get up on her hands & knees to crawl. She is learning more sign language. She knows the sign for more, eat, & milk. I'm now teaching her the sign for all done. She also can tell us where her mouth & nose are. Abigail is also finally saying Mama & bye bye. She is a smart girl! I gave her the hair brush this evening & she was trying to brush her hair. She has about 14 teeth & is working on her molars. We've started brushing her teeth before she goes to bed. We have her down to 1 bottle a day. She just gets a bedtime bottle. She is eating all real food. Her favorite foods are pasta, cheese, yogurt, & PediaSure. We are looking forward to the upcoming Holidays! Happy Holidays everyone!!
Michele & Kurt

Abigail is doing good @ school!

Abigail is in her 4th week of school & seems to like it. Today they made applesauce bread. It was yummy! She is starting to crawl more to get what she wants. She will chew on anything! She has 8 teeth & is working on getting more. I'm starting to get out her winter clothes to see what fits her. She is still wearing size 3 months. But her clothes seem to fit her better this year better than they did last year. She is trying to say more words. Today she was trying to say up.
Michele & Kurt

Abigail's 1st day of school!

Abigail is 17 months old. Today was Abigail's 1st day of school! She is going to the Franklin County Board of Developmental Delays(FCBDD). There are 5 other children in her class. Her teachers are Miss Carrie & Miss Amy. She will be going to school Tues. & Thurs. mornings 9-11:15. She seemed to enjoy school. When she got there she played for a while in the classroom. Then she went to the motor area to play, had snack, then went for a buggy ride outside before saying good bye to her friends. She continues to roll everywhere & is trying to crawl. She is getting so close to sitting up by herself. She will sit up for very brief periods of time unassisted. She is talking more & trying to imitate us. She is getting to be a big girl!

Abigail is rolling!

Abigail is 15 months old. She is getting to be a big girl! We went to see her pediatrician, Dr. Ben last Wed., & she now weighs 12 lbs. 5 oz. & is 23 in. She is rolling both ways to get around. She is a pro @ rolling. She is also doing sign language. Her favorite is the sign for eat. She is also babbling quite a bit & tries to imitate us. She has a lot to say. Her 2nd 4th of July was a lot of fun. We went to a party & she stayed up to watch the fireworks. She sat on Mommy's lap & was smiling & clapping her hands as she watched the fireworks light up the sky.
Michele & Kurt

Abigail off oxygen @ night!

Hey everyone! Abigail went to the bpd clinic on May 15th & they took her off oxygen @ night! We are relieved that she's done with oxygen & I'm sure Abigail is happy to go to bed without the nasal canula. We took our 1st family trip to the zoo yesterday. I think her Mommy & Daddy were more excited to see the animals than Abigail was. The weather was perfect & the zoo was busy. The busiest I've ever seen it. We saw the otters, penguins, lions, grizzly bears, & the manatees. Abigail was asleep by the time we got to the bobcat exhibit. It was a busy day for her. I think she enjoyed people watching more than anything else. Abigail will enjoy the zoo more as she gets older. Abigail is getting more teeth. She has 2 teeth coming in on top. We still have her in OT & PT & continue to work with her @ home to strengthen her muscles. She has low muscle tone, which is common for kids with dwarfism. Her prematurity as well as her dwarfism is putting her behind. Hopefully she will learn to sit up by herself soon. She seems to be getting closer. She is in good health & continues to thrive.
Michele & Kurt

March for Babies

Hey everyone! We participated in our 1st March of Dimes-March for Babies 2009 on Sunday, April 26th. It was a lot of fun! It was a 5 mile walk & the day couldn't have been more beautiful! We were excited to raise money for March of Dimes to help premature babies like Abigail. Abigail did so good on the walk & even fell asleep at one point. We saw Abigail's 1st NICU nurse, Tish, & she got to hold Abigail. Thank you to everyone who supported us & walked with us. We're looking forward to walking again next year. We are so thankful every day that Abigail is a healthy, thriving baby. She is finally getting teeth. Her 2 bottom teeth popped through just before her 1st birthday.
Michele & Kurt

Happy 1st Birthday, Abigail!

Happy 1st Birthday Abigail!! I can't believe that she was born a year ago. We went back to the bpd clinic on her birthday & they left her on oxygen @ night for maybe another month. I will let you know when she is off oxygen completely. Abigail now weighs 10 lbs. 12 oz. & is 22 inches long. She is still on formula bottles & is eating vegetables, fruits, & cereal. She is saying dada & loves to stick her tongue out. We had her 1st Birthday party, which had a princess theme, on April 18th. It was a lot of fun. We put her in her bumbo chair with a tray & put her smash cake in front of her. She got some icing off the top of it. Our next big event is March of Dimes, March for Babies on April 26th. This cause is near to my heart because March of Dimes raises money to help give every baby a healthy start. Their logo is one day... all babies will be born healthy. I hope so.
Michele & Kurt

Abigail off oxygen!

Hey everyone! Happy St. Patrick's Day! Abigail is doing good. We went to the bpd clinic on March 13 & they said her sats looks good without her oxygen, so they took her off her oxygen during the day! It's so nice to take her anywhere in the house or outside & not worry about oxygen. She is still on oxygen & her apnea monitor @ night, but we go back to the bpd clinic next month on her 1st birthday & they may take her off her oxygen @ night also. That would be a good 1st birthday present for her & Mommy & Daddy. Abigail is now 11 months old. She weighs 10 lbs. 9 oz. & is 21.6 inches. Abigail celebrated her 1st St. Patrick's Day by going to her 1st pancake breakfast & parade. She fell asleep halfway through the parade but looked cute in her St. Patrick's Day dress. Abigail is not sitting up by herself yet but has rolled from her tummy to her back a few times. She continues to go to OT & PT which is helping her to progress developmentally.
Michele & Kurt

Abigail's Dr. appointments

Hey everyone! Abigail had 2 Dr. appointments today. First, she went to her see her surgeon, Dr. Grondin, for her surgery follow up. He said that everything looks good & he cleared her to resume regular activity, including OT & PT. They will do a follow up MRI in about 3 months to make sure everything looks o.k. She also went to see her ENT, Dr. Merz, for a follow up to look at her ear canals. She said that she thought they looked like they're getting bigger. We will follow up with Dr. Merz in 2-3 months. Other than being busy with Dr. appointments, we are doing good. Abigail is looking forward to her 1st St. Patrick's Day!
Michele & Kurt

Abigail update

Hey everyone! Abigail continues to recover from her Feb 13th surgery & is doing better every day. We took the bandage off on Fri.(20th) & the stitches don't look too bad. They are dissoluble stitches, so they should start to fall out over the next several days. We put a peroxide & water mixture, as well as ointment on the stitches once a day. She is starting to eat more. Sometimes she eats up to 4 oz. every 3 hrs. She is also smiling & laughing more. Her little laugh is so cute! She also enjoys Mommy & Daddy reading her books. We are enjoying watching Abigail grow & learn more every day. She is so precious to us! It's hard to believe she's already 10 months old.
Michele & Kurt

Abigail home from Children's

Hey everyone! Abigail came home from Children's Monday evening. She was moved from the PICU to a private room Sat. afternoon. She is doing pretty good after her base of skull surgery. I think she is still in some pain, but we've been giving her Tylenol & Motrin to help control the pain. She is on her regular eating schedule, but is only eating 2-3 oz. right now. I'm sure she will be eating better in the next couple days. We are feeding her baby food. She is eating a vegetable @ one feeding & a fruit @ another feeding. She is doing pretty good with that. She is not sitting up on her own yet, but we hope that once she recovers more she will be able to strengthen her neck muscles even more. We are very happy to have her home & hope she doesn't have another hospital stay for a long time. She goes back to the bpd clinic in March where they will access her oxygen needs. Thank You to everyone for your thoughts & prayers.
Michele & Kurt

Abigail update

Hey everyone! Abigail is doing good & making progress with occupational & physical therapy. She is now 91/2 months old, weighs 101/2 lbs. & is 21 inches long. I haven't wrote about this in my blog, but when Abigail was 9 wks. old, she was diagnosed with achondroplasia dwarfism. It is not genetic, but was caused by a mutation in the gene fibroblast growth factor receptor type 3 or FGFR3, @ conception. Achondroplasia is the most common type of dwarfism, which happens in about 1 in every 40,000 births. It's the kind of dwarfism that Mom & Wife, Amy Rollof & their son Zach have on TLC's Little People Big World. Abigail recently had an MRI done to look for any abnormalities & they discovered that the base of her skull is compressing her spinal chord. We talked to a neurosurgeon, Dr. Grondin, who is going to do what is called base of skull surgery, in which they remove the portion of the skull that is compressing the spinal chord. Abigail's surgery is scheduled for Friday, February 13th. She will be in the hospital for 4-5 day after her surgery to recover. They may keep her on her oxygen a little longer now. We will let you know when she is off oxygen during the day. We are nervous for her to have surgery, but after her surgery I believe that she will be able to breathe even better & make more developmental progress. We will let you know how her surgery goes.
Michele & Kurt

New Year update

Happy 2009! Abigail is doing good. She is 9 months old, weighs 10 lbs., & is 21 in. long. She is still on 0.2 liters of oxygen all the time but when she went to the bpd clinic this month they said that they'll probably take her off the oxygen during the day next month. She'll just be on it at night. That will be nice. She is doing better with tummy time, is cooing, loves to shake her rattles, & blow bubbles with her mouth. She is in occupational therapy(OT) & physical therapy(PT) once a week. She has been in OT & PT for 2 wks. & it already seems to be helping her. Our goals right now are for her to learn to roll & to sit up by herself. Her 1st Christmas was special. Mommy & Daddy unwrapped her gifts from family & Santa. Stay tuned for further updates. I'll try to update it sooner next time.
Michele & Kurt