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