Saturday, July 16, 2011

Abby Update

Well Abby is finally feeling better since we wrote the last posting. The stomach bug or whatever she had ran its course and she is back to her smiling self.  Yesterday, Abigail had her four month old shots and took them like a champ.  She is nearly five months old but is behind on shots due to the surgeries she has had.

Visit to the pediatrician

Ready or not?  Shot time!

We've really been entertained by Abby lately.  She is using her hands more; grabbing, reaching and finding her mouth.  She is also cooing and babbling more and rolling over on her side.  In addition, she is improving at taking her bottle which is a big deal for her.  She currently weighs 11lbs 12 oz and is 25 inches long. That's 66th percentile in length and barely making it on the growth chart for weight in the fifth percentile. Her last direct bilirubin level was up slightly to 3.3 but that change was minimal.  We will get another blood draw Monday to compare.  Her color still looks good so we are encouraged.





Abigail got to meet her Aunt Debbie for the first time this week.
Unaware of the shots to come.
Happy girl

The end of the month will be busy for Abigail.  She will see an Ear-Nose-Throat specialist who will take a look at her ears to see if there is any hearing loss.  She received ototoxic drugs while in the NICU and we are still unsure how/if her hearing has been affected.

We will also be taking a trip to San Antonio to see a liver specialist.  Though her health is stable right now, it is very likely she will need a liver transplant sometime in her life.  Whether it will be a year from now, five years from now, or twenty we don't know.  At present, she is not even a candidate to be put on a liver transplant waiting list.  We will be going to get her evaluated by the doctors that would be doing the liver transplant.  Our doctors here felt like this would be a good thing to do early on. That way if things turn south quickly we would not be unfamiliar with them and vice versa.

Still working on holding my head up.
Still figuring each other out.

3 comments:

Debbie said...

What a cute girl! I love our picture. Abigail has weathered everything so beautifully, I have not doubt that a liver transplant would be another bump in the road. She is such a strong little girl. We will continue to pray she does not need it or at least for a long while. She is so cute with all her new faces and expressions.

Chrisann said...

She is so precious. I just love seeing her growing and so happy.

Anonymous said...

Steph and Jody,
Abigail looks amazing!! I look forward to reading all of her updates and continue to pray daily for her. If you need a place to stay or anything at all for yalls trip to SA, PLEASE let me know! It would be awesome if Abigail and Grace could meet. xoxo Carrie