Abigail @home

Hey everyone! I wanted to let you know that we are adjusting to our new life @ home with our precious Abigail. She is doing great! She is a good sleeper & only gets up one time through the night to eat. She has gone on a few stroller walks through our neighborhood & slept through both of them. Being in her car seat puts her to sleep. She loves to play in her bouncy chair & went out on the patio in her bouncy chair for the 1st time today while her Mommy & Daddy cooked bratwurst on the grill. She is 19 wks. old & weighs 9 lbs. We are so happy to finally be @ home as a family! Happy Labor Day weekend!
Michele & Kurt

Abigail-134 days old

Hey everyone! We are excited to inform you that Abigail was discharged from the NICU this evening!! After spending 8 wks. @ Riverside & 10 wks. @ Children's we are finally @ home as a family! She slept the whole way home & woke up a short while after getting home to eat. She is home on oxygen & an apnea monitor which monitors her oxygen levels & her heart rate. She will more than likely be on oxygen & an apnea monitor for at least a few months. She has an appt. @ the bpd clinic in 2 wks. when they will determine if her oxygen can be weaned down from 0.4, which is a low level of oxygen. Abigail is now 19 wks. old, almost 5 months old. We will keep you updated on her progress. Stay tuned...
Michele & Kurt

Abigail-132 days old

Hey everyone! Here is an update on Abigail. She is now 18 wks. or 4 1/2 months old. She now weighs 8lbs. 12 oz. She is doing good with her feedings. They took out her ng tube(feeding tube in her nose) last Sat. & she is on ad lib feedings which means that she eats on demand. The good new is that they are going to watch how she eats & gains weight over the weekend & if she does well she could be coming home early next week! We are ready & excited to bring her home. We will let you know when she is home. Thank You to everyone for your continued support which is still needed & appreciated. Stay tuned...
Michele & Kurt

Abigail-114 days old

Hey everyone! Abigail was 16 wks. old on Mon.(8/4) & was full term on 7/23. She is getting big! She now weighs 8 lbs. 5 oz. & has rolls on her arms & legs. I never thought that we'd have a chubby baby! They are continuing to bottle feed & I have started to breastfeed her. Learning to feed by mouth may be a slow process, but we hope she'll get the hang of it before too long. The still have her ng(nose) feeding tube in until she can be fed by mouth on a consistent basis. She's having a little bit of a hard time because her gag reflex is still very sensitive. She loves her baths, especially getting her hair washed. She continues to do good on nasal canula. We have her rainforest swing & bouncy seat set up in the family room at home. She loves to fall asleep in her swing in the NICU. They haven't given us a send home date yet. It just depends on how well she starts to progress with her mouth feedings. Stay tuned for further updates on Abigail!
Michele & Kurt

Abigail-96 days old

Hey everyone! Here is my 10th blog. Abigail is now 13 wks. old & was 39 wks. gestation on Wed.(7/16). She will be 14 wks. old on Mon.(7/21). The good news is that Abigail went on nasal canula on Sun. July 13th & is doing great on it! Nasal canula is just oxygen prongs in her nose. Abigail is breathing all by herself! This is what we've been waiting for most of her short life. She still has her feeding tube in. They moved the feeding tube from her mouth to her nose. They did this so that when they start bottle feeding her there is nothing down her throat. Bottle feeding will be a slow process. They attempted to feed her a bottle for the 1st time today but she didn't take much & gagged some on the breast milk so they will try again next week. It will take time, but eventually she will get the hang of bottle feeding. She has to learn how to suck, swallow, & breathe at the same time. She now weighs almost 7 lbs. Abigail is making a lot of good progress. Stay tuned for further updates on Abigail!
Michele & Kurt

Abigail-83 days old

Hey everyone! Abigail is 11 wks. old & was 37 wks gestation on Wed.(7/2) which one of the nurses told me is considered full term. She will be 12 wks old on Mon.(7/7). Abigail now weighs 6 lbs. 3 oz. at last check. The big news is that Abigail is now on cpap! She went on cpap on the 4th of July. So far she is doing really well on it. When I talked to her nurse this morning she said they turned her oxygen down. With cpap she has oxygen prongs in her nose with a little mask that covers her nose. It is forced oxygen into her lungs, but she does all the breathing by herself. Abigail is such a big girl & is so cute! They encourage her to suck on her pacifier so she is breathing through her nose which makes cpap more effective for her. She still eats through her feeding tube but if she does well on cpap they will start feeding her from a bottle in the next couple days. So there are exciting changes happening & we hope that she succeeds on cpap. Maybe the 5th times a charm. STAY TUNED FOR FURTHER UPDATES!
Michele & Kurt

Abigail-62days old

Hey everyone! Here is my 8th blog. Abigail was 8 wks. old on Mon. (6/9) & 34 wks. gestation on Wed.(6/11). Abigail was transported to Nationwide Children's NICU downtown on Thurs. evening. They got her settled in & we went to visit her & see her new home. We will miss the nurses, doctors, & other staff who cared for her at her 1st home, but hopefully by being at Children's she will get better sooner & come home with her Mommy & Daddy sooner. She is on a floor at Children's that specializes in BPD (bronchopulmonary dysplasia) & other lung diseases. We're confident that she is getting the best care. We don't know much yet, but they plan to wean her oxygen down a little bit every other day until they find a comfortable oxygen level for Abigail on the ventilator. The goal is to get her on cpap, but it will be a slow process. It could take her several weeks. She now weighs 4 lbs. 13 oz. & is eating 37 oz. of breast milk every 3 hrs. & has graduated to newborn diapers. I am now able to hold Abigail in a cradle position. She does pretty well with it for the most part. We are almost done decorating Abigail's Pooh room. We keep telling her that she needs to come home so she can see her bedroom. We don't know when she will be coming home at this point. Time will tell. STAY TUNED FRO FURTHER UPDATE ON ABIGAIL! Michele & Kurt