A Walk and a Bath

Yesterday was a day of firsts for Abigail.  She went on her first stroller ride and she had her first real bath in the tub.  She had a few baths and sponge baths at the hospital but yesterday she finally got a bath in our tub.  She did well during both events and Cooper was there to help.  She has been doing great at home and was up to 9lbs 10oz when the home health nurse came yesterday.

Tuckered out

She's not sure what to think about this (Her g-button is stained by meds)

Cooper the supervisor

All clean

Today we had an interesting visitor in our driveway.  I think he felt welcomed by some of the decor in Abby's room.  This screech owl has shown up a few times in our yard.  He is awesome and I finally got a few shots of him. 

Mr. Owl

Abby's room

Hanging out in her crib

A Few Recent Pictures

Hello

Grandaddy Joe

We've had a few visitors over the past week but other than that not much new. Aunt Terry and Uncle Pat came in to visit and got to meet Abby for the first time. They went to a Ranger game to celebrate Aunt Terry and Grammy Sherry's birthday's.  Abigail wore her Ranger gear to greet them.

Uncle Pat and Aunt Terry

We are not condoning this but it was pretty cute

Aunt Terry

Twins Grammy Sherry and Great Aunt Terry celebrating a birthday

Yesterday we had a few folks over to celebrate Grammy Sherry's Birthday.  We had a nice time visiting and catching up.

Aunt Brittany

Today a home health nurse came to draw labs for Abigail's liver.  Getting stuck is nothing new to her, she did just fine.  We are just getting used to feeding her and giving her meds while getting everything else done. Not alot has gone on other than that which we are okay with.

Getting my foot stuck is a piece of cake!

Trying to Find a Routine

The last few days have been going just fine.  We have been trying to get used to life at home with Miss Abby.  Just about everything revolves around feeding every three hours.  We are trying to find a steady routine.  Abby is our first child so we are finding out about the joys of sleeplessness and exhaustion.  We both would trade sleeplessness for hospital vigils any day of the week.

Yesterday we got our first dose of traveling with a feeding schedule.  Abigail had an appointment with her pediatrician, then we headed to my mom's retirement party to celebrate.  My mom is retiring from teaching and many people came out to show their appreciation.

Grandmother Jane and Abigail

It was pretty crazy trying to manage the carseat, diaper bag and the backpack that carries her feeding pump/formula.  We learned the first lesson the hard way, gravity is key with the feeding pump.  We will get the hang of it soon I hope.

So far, we are managing well at home and haven't had too many mishaps. Today we added another bit of crazy to the mix. Cooper, our five year old German Shorthaired Pointer, came back home to a big surprise.  He is probably not that thrilled with his new sidekick right now but hopefully he will warm up to her soon.  He already started barking at me when I was trying to console her by rocking her in my arms.  He's a bit high-strung to say the least.

Cooper's first time to meet Abigail

Get used to it man!

We did take a few minutes yesterday to get her all cleaned up with a sponge bath and she didn't mind too much.

Tonight Stephanie went back to work from maternity leave.  She will be missed at home but she has to get back to taking care of other kiddos now. That's all for tonight, take care.

Welcome Home!

Time for an update on Abigail's transition to home.  Everything went well during our night "rooming-in" and we managed to get a few hours of sleep.  Abigail gets fed every three hours and has a few medications periodically so we were in charge of those.  We bottle feed her at 9, 3 and 9 and put the remainder of the feed on a pump that goes through her g-button.  Preparing the pump, bottles and meds can keep a person busy. After a night in a room by ourselves taking care of her we signed all of the documents for discharge.  Someone from each specialty came by and gave instructions for her care and made sure we were prepared.  Many others stopped in just to say bye.  We were very antsy but finally by 2:30pm she received her immunizations (which she did great with) and had her final feed. 

 

By 3:30 Abigail was all dressed up and ready to go!  A few final pictures later and Stephanie, her nurse Alex, and Abby in her carseat met me at the front door to load up.  It was a great feeling to have her all loaded up and driving away.

 

Abigail did great on the ride home and we were greeted by our parents as we pulled up to the house.  We have been busy ever since.  Tomorrow we will take Abby to see the pediatrician for her first visit, so we'll see how that goes.  Thanks for checking in on our family.

Rooming In - Headed Out

Tonight we are Rooming-In and tomorrow we will head out of here!  For the past few days Abigail has been in the Progressive Unit, a step down unit of the NICU.  We have been busy during that time making arrangements for Abigail to come join us at home.  Stephanie was able to miss work on Thurday, Friday, and Saturday nights so that was a huge blessing.

Abby's set up in the Progressive Unit

We moved her into a private room this afternoon and so far it has been a busy day. We had our morning visit, got the house fairly squared away, and came up here at 230pm to begin our stay. Since then it has pretty much been us taking care of her.  Giving meds, preparing and running feeds, giving Abby a bath, and all the other cares have kept us busy.  We will no doubt be exhausted like every other new parent but we have been waiting too long to be worried about that.

Abigail is weighing in at just over 9 lbs and her color is looking good. Early this morning she will have one last set of labs drawn and before we leave she will get her 2 month old immunizations.  Enough time has passed since heart surgery and she can finally have those shots.

Abigail had two primary nurses during her stay here at the NICU.  One for days and one for nights.  Alex was her day primary nurse and Rachel was her night primary nurse.  She has been here for long enough to have had most of the nurses in the unit and we are grateful for all of them.  These two girls in particular, helped to maintain continuity of care and we are certainly thankful for them.

Abigail's night primary nurse Rachel

No caption needed

Abigail's day primary nurse Alex

So we hope the rest of the night goes well here and we look forward to Abigail being sent on her way with well wishes from the staff. Thanks for checking in.  Perhaps we will get to show her off in person with you soon.

Something We've Been Hoping For

On Monday, February 21 Abigail Elise Tettleton was born.  She has spent the past 90 days in the NICU. On Monday, May 23, if all goes as planned, she will be released to go HOME. We are somewhat hesitant to announce it because we know what can happen in a few days time.  But when Monday comes, and we are really walking out the doors, then we will take a moment to rejoice.  And believe me, we will rejoice! 

We will say goodbye to this scary but amazing place!

We have spent the past few days arranging outpatient doctor visits and trying to get things in order.  Miss Abigail will be a busy bee for a long time to come with doctors and therapists and who knows what else. The tentative plan is to Room-In on Sunday and be discharged Monday.  Rooming In is part of the process to leave the NICU and will include us doing all of Abby's care.  

She will leave her castle and all of her crying friends.

She will move in here and meet her good bud Cooper!

We would like to once again express our gratitude for your diligent prayers for our daughter and our family. This is great news and we are so thankful for it but please continue to keep Abigail in your prayers.