Quick Abigail Update

I just wanted to give you a quick Abigail update before we headed off to Primary Children's for her first follow-up visit with her cardiologist.  I never thought one of my children would have their own cardiologist. Don't only old people have a cardiologist?

This will be one of many visits up through adulthood that she will likely have at Primary Children's. Apparently, a lot of 40 year old people continue to frequent Primary Children's hospital for follow-up visits because the complex nature of their heart problems is something that the physicians there are used to dealing with.  They are problems that most cardiologists don't see.  And that makes sense.  That is probably due to the fact those children that don't have their complex heart problem diagnosed and treated as a child don't make it into adulthood.

Home life is becoming more normal.  It's been so fun to the kids dote over their sister.  Our 12-year boy, Jeffrey, has been perhaps the most affectionate and tender with her.  He's crazy about her, volunteering to do anything she needs, including diaper changes (we'll see how long that lasts).

She is starting to sleep better, waking up only once during the night.  She also is starting to nurse again.  Just over a week ago, we committed to the bottle just so that we could get her fattened up so that she could leave the hosptial.  The bottle was easier, and therefore, she could take in more calories in one sitting without getting too tired and/or expending too many calories in trying to eat.

We were afraid that too much bottle in the beginning would make the breast unappealing, but even after we came home from the hospital we were afraid to nurse because we didn't want the good eating habits to take a turn for the worse.  She was still slightly under her birth weight when we brought her home, so weight gain was still a high priority.  At home, she was taking so well to the bottle, as she increasingly would drink more ounces by the day.  Beyond that, it is complicated for Lisa to nurse and pump, as the baby can't possibly keep up with the milk production that Lisa is currently putting out.  That means that you have to nurse as long as Abby can stand it, and then pump afterward.

Thus, it was with some trepidation that we introduced the breast again, so we did so slowly. A little here and a little there. And so far the results have very good--despite the fact that she is also getting simultaneously bottle fed.

I want to say a few things about her nursing, including the fact that her being literally tongue tied (another small defect that I haven't mentioned that I'll develop later) has not seemed to affect her ability to latch-on and nurse well, as it usually does.  But we're going to be late for her appointment if I don't quit typing.  I should have time to bang out a couple of posts this weekend that I've really wanted to get to. One of those includes some lessons I learned from some comments that President Eyring made in a recent conference regarding a baby that he just blessed at Primary Children's.

I'll leave you with a few photos Abigail's first bath at home--the traditional first bath by grandma: