Happy New Year!

Happy new year! We hope all is going well for everyone. We had a nice holiday season here in Ohio. My dad came for a visit and was able to spend some quality time with Abbie. She loved sleeping all day in his lap and being walked around the house! We celebrated the holidays over at my in-laws' houses, where Abbie got to dress up and be passed around. A nice time was had by all.

Abbie is doing well. Her collar bone seems to be healing very well. The doctor at Children's Hospital never did the nerve testing (I'm not sure why exactly) but thought it was healing ok. She still can't put pressure on it - so tummy time isn't quite successful. She can only last a few minutes before she's done - and she can't really lift her body up on the left side. But we'll keep trying. We go back for another appointment on the 27th.

Abbie is becoming a little chunk....and we love it that way!! Her cheeks and thighs are huge! And she has lots of great baby creases from all of the chubbiness. After worrying about her weight for so long, we are thrilled that she is doing so well. She is now about 13 pounds and is needing to wear size 6-months clothing already! She is eating mostly formula with about 6 ounces of breast milk each day. The nursing never did get any better. She had so many issues in the beginning - as you remember - that she never latched on very well. So my milk didn't come in at the appropriate amount. I figure that my "job" right now while home with her (I go back on February 3rd) is to do all I can to help her grow big and strong. If I need to pump 6 times a day just to get 6 ounces of milk, so be it. A little bit of my milk is better than none I guess. I do really miss the nursing, though. Its such a nice experience to have and I cried like crazy when I needed to stop. Breastfeeding is truly one of the most difficult and humbling experiences I've ever had. We'll see how long the pumping lasts once I get back to work. If I make it through 6 months, I'll be thrilled!

One of the other reasons for the nursing issues could be because I have not been feeling well since I returned from the hospital. It turns out that what my OB thought was just irritable bowel syndrome (apparently common after delivery) was gallstones (also apparently common after delivery!). A trip to the ER on December 28th at 2 AM confirmed that the pain wasn't just in my head! Thank goodness my dad was here to help watch Abbie while Matthew and I went to the ER. So, now I just wait for a surgery date. I have a consultation with a surgeon on the 16th of January and I was told to expect to wait another 2-3 weeks after that for the surgery. If you are doing the math, that puts me right at the beginning of when I should be returning to work. Hmmm....dilemma. I haven't figured out how to fix that problem yet, as I took 15 weeks of leave already in order to stay home with Abbie (which I do not regret in any way!). I'll keep you posted on my surgery date.

I'll post again soon. Lots to say about parenting and babyhood that I'd like to share!