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Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Continued growth

Caroline went to her pediatric appt today. She has gained 5 oz - we are thrilled!!!!
We will go to Sanger cardiology to check on a small VSD in her heart - but are expecting it to close on its own. Our appt will be 1-2 months away. We will also be referred to the Carl Watkins Early Intervention Center for physical and occupational therapy after she gets bigger!!!! It is run by the government so our tax dollars are at work for us! We will get care for Caroline at no extra charge and the best news of all the therapist come to your house from 0-3 yrs. So Little Carley will not always have to be with a sitter or at extra MMO. So This is another praise!!!!
I also was released from the OB with my incision today. I will return Aug 23 for my regular post partum check. So I am feeling stronger each day and I got to drive the girls to the pediatric office today.

Monday, July 30, 2007

Genetics visit

Today was a long appt. We went to see Dr. Spence. Overall it was a good visit on what we know. I wish I had more clear answers for us and everyone else. Caroline's genetic blood work, or fish study all came back negative. These are great reports and rule out lots of things for us. Do we know a name for her existing abnormalities all clustered together? Right now we do not have a complete diagnosis. We will see Dr. Spence in 3 mo. and possibly start some physical therapy to work on our low muscle tone. We need to concentrate on sleeping, eating, and gaining weight. We are told to treat her as a normal baby until we find reason to not treat her normally. So by faith, Cameron and I are expecting milestones and normal development. She may always be a petite little thing and may not reach her milestones the same time as Carley, but as long as she progresses and reaches them we are in good hands. We did more blood work today to retest her red and white blood cell count. her red count was low, but not abnormally low. Dr. Spence just wants to see if her levels have risen since the NICU stay. We are also waiting to hear from pathology about the placenta size in utero. There is a metabolic blood test for Caroline that we have not received as of yet either. So we have things to continually pray about. It was disappointing to not have a complete diagnosis, yet encouraging that we are able to bring this before God who does have the answers and a complete diagnosis. I also feel a diagnosis may limit our expectations for Caroline. So as we learn more each day we will keep you all up to speed. I am content to take all this one day at a time and trust in the Lord with all of the unknowns. We do not know what Caroline will be able to do in the future, but we also have not been given anything at this time to limit what Caroline may be able to do.

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Sweet Caroline Neil Diamond

Below is a link to the Neil Diamond Song Sweet Caroline. We have been playing this song all day.

Cameron

http://youtube.com/watch?v=OqDTlwq532M

Today is a new day

Caroline is eating more and still sleeping well. This weekend will hopefully allow us to get some extra rest and down time. Our schedule is pretty packed. We average a dr appt 4 days a week and some days two appt. We Have our big genetics appt on Monday. This will be a hard day for Cameron and I as we receive a diagnosis for sweet Caroline. Pray that we are able to care for her and receive whatever the dr tells us. I truly covet all of your prayers at this time. We need them daily. I went to my dr and now have a bladder infection. Pray for me to feel better every day. My pain is more manageable now, but I still cannot do a whole lot around here other than feed and hold little Caroline. We will have three weight checks next week. Her goal is to gain 3-5 ounces a week or an ounce a day. We do not know what the future holds for our family and Caroline. We know many permanent changes will have to take place. But we know who holds the future in His Hands.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Caroline's Visitors


Our Yard Stork


Carley wanted Mimi to feed her baby Caroline also!




Nana (Sue) Papa (James)


Ellen our next door neighbor


Kim and her sister Kelly (Aunt Kelly)


Aunt Kelly, Uncle Matt, Carley, Kim and Caroline


Uncle Matt and Caroline


Aunt Kelly and Uncle Matt






Kim, Papa Frank, Carley, Caroline

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Eye Dr. and home visit

Today has been a mix of emotion for me. I appreciate all of your comments it lifts my spirits and helps me to press on. We went to the eye dr this am and had Caroline's eyes dilated to check for ROP - this is an eye condition that causes preemies to go blind and have cataracts. We also checked for tear ducts and that things were going well there. All was well at the eye dr. No ROP and she does have tear ducts that seem to work!!!!
Carley is settling down and allowing others to do for her cheerfully now rather than mommy. It is hard to not bathe her, lay beside her and hold her when she asks to be held. She is continuing to go to her MMO and is doing great there too!
We also had a home visit from a neonatal NICU nurse and these visits have been approved and covered by insurance for the next 3-4 weeks. It is just another way to check on her growth and progress and keep us from running back to the pediatrician every week. We discovered she has a newborn rash that should subside in a week. It is not treatable and is not contagious or necessarily caused by anything. This was a comfort. We do have a genetics appt and hope all is truly well. We hope we have received honest and true results thus far. We do not know if further testing will result from this visit on Monday. We also weighed and measured Caroline. She is 4.1 and I thought this was good. They told us we need to feed her more food in quantity and keep measuring everything and to now keep a record of ounces pees and poops. No one has told us this before - nor has anyone told me to give more formula than breast milk. So I have been pumping like crazy and getting 2-3 full feedings a day. However, now we are to give a certain ratio of each. It is time consuming and frustrating to not know exactly what to do and know all of the details at one time. Things by far have been good, but now we are receiving details. We measured 16 1/3 at birth at CMC. At Prov. Peds we measured 17". I questioned Cam and I said can she grow that fast - that is great! Well we discovered her legs are two different lengths. Why has no one figured this out between Nicu, neonatalogists, and pediatrician visits?
I was angry and discovered it together along with the nurse. Her comments were something is going on and Dr. Spence is wonderful and will have some answers for you on Monday. I am not so sure we will have answers. I am also not so sure I am ready to receive answers. Please pray for me to have wisdom to discern what is true and what I should do as a mom. Sometimes we feel drs. are hem hawing around to make sure we are not freaking out or maybe they really do not know what is wrong! We do know babies born breach can have hip dysplasia and need a brace for six weeks. It is quite obvious to me we will need this or more. Her legs are at least 1-1/2 inch difference. Sorry for the details , but thought we may need some more specific needs lifted above to our Heavenly Father inspite of my human comprehension. We will keep you all posted and will post again Thur/Fri after two more appt.

New Pictures





Monday, July 23, 2007

God is Faithful!

I had a dr appt with the OB to remove my staples. My incision is fine thus far. Caroline is sleeping and eating like a newborn. She was awake today for a while and some yesterday. We hope she is growing daily. She finishes most every bottle we give her. We have many appts.this week : Tues - eye dr. Thur. - pediatrician and I go back on Friday to check my incision again. I am up and moving about. I will not be able to drive for another week. Pray for the eye dr appt - tear ducts. WE will go to a cardiologist to follow up that all small holes in Caroline's heart are sealed. This may not happen for a while, as this is typical of a newborn. On Aug 9 we will have a hip x-ray to make sure hips are even due to being breach.We are thrilled and feel blessed to have received normal test results thus far. Things will be confirmed Mon from our geneticist appt. God is faithful and wants us to trust him even when we do not know all of the answers. Carley and Daddy went to swim lessons tonight and she has finally made progress as a little otter! It has been a challenge. She has had a hard week with all of the changes, but seems to be adapting better today. We will be in touch with any new news!

Saturday, July 21, 2007

New Black and White Pictures of Caroline

Here are some new pictures of Caroline.




7-20-07 Coming Home Again


7-20-07.
Well we got to come home from the hospital again. Kim was discharged from the hospital on Friday and they released us to come home. Kim is in some pain and has trouble getting around but for the most part things are good.
Caroline is doing great. She is eating every three hours like a clock and sleeps like a champ.

We are so glad to be home and out of the hospital. It was a wonderful experience in the hospital but there is nothing like being at home.

We hope that this time Kim gets to stay home from the hospital longer than one day!

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Kim's Message

I am giving the webmaster a break. Cameron has done a more than fabulous job of posting, playing baby nurse, and being a bedside nurse to me. I am so grateful to God for giving me such a special husband who is able to handle caring for Caroline as well as myself.
I need prayer for healing and for my swelling to be gone soon! It is affecting the amount of milk production that I am giving Caroline and I will know more next week after my lactation visit if I will continue to pump or not. I am very frustrated that I am not able to care for Caroline and hardly for myself. It is very overwhelming to think how I will physically be able to care for my girls and feel strong and healthy. I have been strong and in survival mode these last days. I do not know how I would face this time in our lives without each of you dear friends and family surrounding us in prayer for God's healing hand. I praise God for all the things Caroline has already been able to overcome and able to be with us already! It is a comfort to have her in our room.
Love to you all!
Kim

Caroline's First Doctors Appointment



Kim is still in the hospital recovering from her abdominal surgery.

I took Caroline to her first doctors appointment at Providence Pediatrics today. She saw doctor Downing.
They weighed Caroline and she weighed 4lbs, she measured 17 inches long. She is less than 5% on the percentile chart.
The doctor examined her and we discussed the genetic issues we previously knew about.

The pediatric doctor is going to send us to a genetic specialist to have him examine Caroline, to determine what is going on.

No new test result at this point. So today's appointment was more to just establish her with the pediatric doctor.

We have a follow up appointment with the doctor on Thursday of next week.

Kim is now up out of the bed and going to go for a walk around the maternity ward to see if the swelling will go down.

More updates to come....

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Kim's Status 7-18-07 9:50AM

7-18-07 9:50AM
Well Kim is doing well. She has been sleeping alot as they have her on some pain medications. Caroline is at the hospital with us and doing great. I fed her last night every few hours and she is sleeping like a champ. We have really enjoyed getting to hold her and visit with her.
To be honest I think it is good for Kim as she has something to keep her mind off all that has gone on. I am taking care of Caroline so she don't have to worry about that, she can just visit with her.

I have been reading all of the comments posted by you on the blog and that has really seemed to help Kim. Please continue to post comments on the blog as I will read them out loud to Kim.

Thanks again for everyones support and I will update everyone as things progress.

Black and White Photos of Caroline

Here are some new black and white photos of Caroline.



Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Back to the hospital we go- Kim surgery 7-17-07 3:45pm

Well it has been another eventful day in the Abbott house. We brought Caroline home last night for the first time. She did really well last night and I gave her two feedings during the night and she did excellent.

This morning at around 10AM Kim called me at work to inform me that her incision had come open and we needed to go back to the hospital.
We went back to the hospital and it appears that Kim's c-section incision has split open and she would have to have surgery to have it repaired.

So at 11AM Doctor Meek took Kim into the operating room to repair her c-section incision.

We are back a CMC Pineville and the hospital staff has allowed Kim to recover and stay in the maternity ward. We were really excited about that because we love the rooms, the nurses and we can have Caroline with us with out the risk of exposing her to others in the hospital.

I am at Kim's bedside right now and she is sleeping. 3:55pm. She is recovering from the surgery and it appears the repair surgery went very well.

Please continue to pray for Kim and Caroline as this has been an overwhelming experience for us, both physically and emotionally.

Threes company- we got to leave the hospital today-Monday 7-16-07



Well the three of us got to leave the hospital today. Cameron, Kim and Caroline all got to come home from the hospital today at 6pm 7-16-07. Dr. Payne said that Caroline was eating on her own, and she had been in the room with us for most of the day and did great. Therefore she was released from care and would be allowed to come home. It was quite an adventure getting her little 4 lb body in the car carrier to ride home.

Here are some pictures of us leaving the hospital.

7-16-07 5:30PM Good News- Chromosome Tests


7-16-07 5:30pm We met with Doctor Payne Caroline's neonatologist. He informed us that he had some preliminary good news. Caroline's preliminary chromosome testing came back NORMAL!

This is still just the preliminary testing however it is a step in the right direction. We were excited to hear some news.


Thank you to everyone that has been praying for Caroline and please continue to pray as we still have the details Chromosome test, and the Genetics tests to pass.



Above is a picture of Caroline's neonatologist Dr. Payne.


Monday, July 16, 2007

Caroline comes to visit us in the room today 7-16-07 11AM

We met with Doctor Payne the Neonatologist this morning at 9am. Doctor Payne is allowing Caroline to visit us in the room today for a while. They would like to see how she does feeding with us and see if she remains stable.
She had her first professional pictures made this morning.
More updates to come today. We are hoping to get the preliminary Chromosome test today.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Carley drew a picture for Caroline "Barney"


Carley drew a picture for baby Caroline for her to keep in her bassinet. Carley says the picture she drew is of Barney.

Caroline's size in Perspective

Here are some photos to show Caroline's size in perspective. 4.2 lbs



















The gold ring on Caroline's wrist is Cameron's wedding band!



More examples of Caroline's size.

Sunday 7-15-07 Caroline has Jaundice

7-15-07 11:55Am
This morning Kim and I met with the Neonatolgist. He informed us that Caroline had some jaundice and would have to be placed in a light box to help clear up the jaundice. Kim was having some pain today and the doctor has asked that we stay here in the hospital for another day.

We are going to visit Caroline in the NICU in a little while.

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Our visitors

Caroline's Visitors