Yet Another Great Update on Abbi!

Well, it wasn't all in my head. Abbi is doing great! We took her in to get her weighed yesterday and after almost two weeks of merely maintaining her weight she gained four ounces in 48 hours! The pediatrician and lactation consultant had said they would be happy with an ounce or two! When the pediatrician came in to check on her all he could say was, "Wow. That's wonderful! Wow..." over and over :). I'm taking Fenugreek, eating a ton of oatmeal, drinking a lot of water, and nursing...nursing...nursing..., does anyone have any other suggestions? They both noticed that she was a much calmer, more content little girl. She's still not having as many messy diapers a day as I think she "should", but at least she's having them! And her little tummy isn't hurting like it was. She hasn't screamed for a few days now, though she still has her occasional fussy times like all new babies. I am so thankful that we have got a plan and it's working, praise the Lord! She's sleeping peacefully in my lap right now :).

We got our first "Jon and Kate Plus Eight" comment the other day at the grocery store, and we only have five! We don't have cable and it has been a while since I've seen the one episode I've ever seen so I pulled up some clips online to see who we were bringing to the mind of the cashier. Bri and I got a kick out of a few things that we've never seen anyone else do like we do, for instance when they pulled a step stool out of their van for the little ones to get in. Even I need to use the stool or get a hand from Lee to get into our 15 passenger van. For the most part though I saw NO correlation whatsoever. First of all, I've got it easy comparatively!!! Mine come one at a time and I have big girls (11 and almost 7) to help! Second, Lee and I don't talk to each other in the midst of our worst disagreements with the tone they seem to do on a regular basis! They do appear to love each other in a way, but the seemingly constant animosity would drive me insane! Whew! I loved the clip where she put one boy in time-out and a minute later she looks down with an adoring grin at one of her little ones and says, "Hello", then realizes it is the offender who should be in time out ;). It was interesting anyway :).

I'll keep you updated on Abbi's progress and maybe I'll get some other blogging done, like her birth story, now that the decibel level has gone down a little bit around here :). 

Another Update on Abbi!

Abbi is doing great and has been for the last 30'ish hours! When we took her into the pediatrician I mentioned to him that I was still really worried about the lack of messy diapers, and then the nurse weighed her and she hadn't gained anything in over a week and I became really worried. We have never had that happen before. Of course the pediatrician was concerned as well and went to see if the lactation consultant could see us. Come to find, Abbi is a "lazy nurser with a lazy latch". She was getting just enough to sustain her, but not enough to satisfy her and give her something to grow on. And because she wasn't nursing well (she was nursing a lot time-wise, just not well) my body wasn't producing well. The lactation consultant helped me figure out what I needed to do to help her latch properly and I got some herbs yesterday to help with production. I also nursed her whenever she was awake yesterday whether she was asking or not. Within hours she was a whole new baby. She hasn't had a crying fit since yesterday afternoon. She has had TWO messy diapers just today. We'll take her back tomorrow morning to get her weighed again, if everything is going well she should have gained an ounce or two. The lactation consultant also said that once we get things "moving along" more consistently in her tummy the tummy issues will probably clear up (and it does appear to have already!). 

Thank you so much for your prayers! God is good :)!!!

In Which Abbi Takes the Term "Daddy's Girl" a Little Too Far...

I have mentioned that Abbi had some nursing issues until pretty recently. She simply didn't care to nurse. Or, she would act as if she wanted to, but would start screaming as soon as I would start trying to feed her and keep it up until I gave up or she fell asleep. A week ago today was Lee's first full day back at work, as in 12+ hours, open to close. Abbi nursed nicely that morning but after that first feeding of the day she refused to eat anymore. I wasn't too concerned at first, I let her go back to sleep and tried again when she woke up, still she wouldn't eat. This went on all day until eight hours later when I started panicking and Lee decided he needed to come home early to calm us both down ;). When Lee arrived home I was back in our room bawling and holding a screaming Abbi, who I was sure was starving to death. Lee calmly took her, cooed at her saying, "You need to eat good for Mama", handed her to me...and she went to town. For almost an hour. I was simultaneously crying and laughing hysterically. You should have heard her little tummy fighting over that food. 

The next day she ate great for that first feeding, but at the second she started in again. I called Lee and put him on speaker phone. Guess what? I kid you not, she calmed down and ate "good for Mama". It didn't work the next time but within 24 hours she was eating pretty consistently for the most part so there were no more meltdowns (of mother or baby) over meals :). 

Now, isn't that one for the baby book ;)?

An Abbi Update

I haven't forgotten about the promised birth story. I've also got so many sweet pictures I would love to share, like this one...


I haven't had much of an opportunity for typing because my arms have been ful. Abbi has already taught her mother much ;). A few days after she was born she was crying inconsolably at about three in the morning and I finally started crying myself and exclaimed to Lee, "She's my fifth baby and I don't know what to do!". This was something I hadn't expected because our last few babies have been so relatively "easy". He calmly reminded me that she may be our fifth baby but she was our "first Abbi" ;). I've reminded myself of that every time that those "I don't know what to do!" feelings creep up. Bri was a pretty fussy baby, but looking back I think it was largely the fact that she was on formula. On top of that we just were not the parents then that we are now. Being young and unsure of our instincts we bought in to the "just let them cry" crowd, and boy did she! Over time she "taught" us a better way and by toddler hood we were fitting well into the attachment parenting crowd, though until recently I didn't realize there was an actual label to our style of parenting.

Anyway, back to Abbi...the poor baby is miserable :(. I thought we had made a break though the last couple of days, but after a time of quiet she ends up screaming again. She is wetting diapers better than any baby that I can remember but she isn't having hardly any of the "other kind" of diapers. The pediatrician and the midwife both say that that can be normal for a nursing baby but it is hard for me to accept that her screaming in such discomfort can be normal. We have another pediatrician appointment tomorrow and I am hoping that he can tell me something I can do to help her. Your prayers that if there is an issue it would be uncovered would be greatly appreciated. On the other hand, if this is truly something that she will just have to grow out of could you please pray for her mommy?! I am having a really hard time seeing her so sad and seemingly hurting and there is nothing I can do about it. We have tried warm baths and simithecone which helps very temporarily. You know I'm serious when I've actually given her something! I do not like to do medications unless absolutely necessary, I only took Tylenol myself twice after she was born and tried to time it to where she wouldn't get any when she nursed, but she was so uncomfortable that I thought the simithecone was worth a try.

Some very good news, she's doing much better at nursing!!! No real problems there at this point, yeah! In fact, nursing is often the only thing that will soothe her. I do have quite the nursing story to share but it will have to wait, it deserves it's own post ;).

He Used To Look So Small...

Andrew fell asleep on the couch the other night and just for fun we laid Abbi beside him for comparison, she's barely the size of his tummy!!!

Don't worry, they are on the couch but I'm right there beside them ;).

Loving on Abbi

Bethi and Abbi...


Tori and Abbi...


Bri and Abbi...


Andrew, the new big brother, giving Abbi kisses :)...


Every two seconds I hear, "Can I hold her, Mom?" or "Can I touch Abbi now, Mom?!". We were getting a little too "hands-on" and some ground rules had to be set ;). Though, if I must have a problem, "too much" loving on their new sibling is a nice one to have!

A couple more...

See Abbi's little foot sticking up in the crook of Bethi's arm? Too cute...


I love this one too...


I'm sure you all have picked up on the fact that all of the girl's nicknames end with an I. I wonder how long we'll be able to keep that up...

And, no, we don't call Andrew "Andi". He's always Andrew ;).