Happy 1 month Abby!

Happy 1 month, Abby!!!

To catch up on everything...

We welcomed Abigail Jane Blackwood to the world on Wed. October 15th at 3:34am!

The birth story...

We were watching tv on Tuesday evening and I felt a funny "pop" in my stomach. Sure enough, my water had broken. Our neighbors took Katie for the night and we headed to the hospital. We got to the hospital at about 10:30pm and I was having very light contractions that were not too painful. They admitted me and the contractions eventually got more painful. After about 3-4 very painful contractions, I called for an epidural. The doctor was awesome! He gave me the epidural and I was able to feel/move my legs the whole time (the idea of feeling paralyzed freaks me out) but I felt none of the contractions. Our labor and delivery nurse was awesome too. She was great at explaining what was going on and I felt much more clued in than with Katie. The nurse left us once I got the epidural and told us to get some rest b/c it would be awhile before we'd push. Abby had different plans. Ric went to sleep for about 10 min before I woke him and asked him to get the nurse. Abby was born about 30 min later. Abby had a lot of fluid in her lungs when she came out so they took her pretty quickly to the nursery to clear it all out. She was 8 lb 3 oz and 20 3/4 in long. She spent an hour or two in the nursery and then got to come up to my room where we stayed for a day and a half.

At home...

While I thought Abby was eating well, we found out at the doctor that she was losing too much weight. Babies are supposed to lose up to 10% of their birthweight and then start gaining but Abby lost about 20%. I actually mixed up the day that I was supposed to take her to the pediatrician and took her two days earlier than our appointment. I think it was divine intervention because, from everything I've heard/read, it could have been really dangerous to her to go much longer without getting nourished. The doc recommended that we feed her often via bottles so we started feeding her every 2 hours. It was pretty exhausting. After 5 days of those feedings, we went back to the doc and she had gained a lot of weight. So, the doc told us we can slow down on her feedings which has given us much more sleep! Abby has been a very sweet baby. She only cries when she's hungry or needs a diaper change. I think she's going to have a wonderful disposition. Katie has taken to Abby very well. At first, she didn't have much to do with her but wasn't too upset by her either. However, recently she's shown more love towards Abby and wants to help burp her, feed her, etc. I think they'll be good friends as Abby gets bigger.

Updates on Abby being at home...

I started the above blog 2 weeks ago and never got it posted. Since then, Abby has started smiling! It's early for a baby to smile but if you coo at her she gets a little grin. She's so precious. She has been a little more awake the past few days which makes for a tired Mommy and Daddy. Feedings are continuing to go well and we go back to the doc on Monday so we'll see what she weighs. The poor little girl has to get her first shots too :-( Abby also had her first real bath at 3 weeks old (see pic).

Halloween...

Katie was a Texas Longhorn cheerleader for Halloween and Abby just dressed in a Halloween onesie. Abby, of course, didn't go out trick or treating. Katie was really into Halloween this year and is still talking about it weeks later. She did the funniest thing that night - she would knock on the door and then set her pail down and make a face at whoever answered the door. Then, she'd say trick or treat. She did it at every house, like she thought that was just part of the trick or treating (see pic below). Here are some pics from trick or treating and the little party we attended right before. Her friend Steven didn't want to keep his Pablo/Backyardigans costume on.

Well, that's about the best "catch up" I can do for the past month. More blogs to come...