The Hanway Family

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7-PCQBmgvA

It works best if you view it in high quality.

I missed getting the first half on camera, but she started out on her back.

We waited 2 hours to see the doctor yesterday. Abby has bronchiolitis again and another double ear infection. She's going to be on steroids, antibiotics, and breathing treatments. I went to pick up her prescriptions today. We'll go back on the 18th to make sure everything is ok, if I don't take her back in before then.

Abby had her 4 month check-up today. She was 16 lbs even, which is the 90th percentile. She is 24 7/8 inches, which is the 75th percentile. I don't remember her head measurement, but she is now at the 25th percentile, compared to 10% at 2 months.

Everything checks out good. Thankfully her heart murmur is gone. Her ears looked good. The click in her hips never returned. However, she still has some raspiness in her chest, which is from another cold. We will have to take her nebulizer home with us. The doctor gave us a few strict rules for when we are home.

I know some people probably won't be happy with these rules, but it's the way it is. I know she'll be around smoke and pets anyway, and the doctor said her congestion will probably get worse from the smoke and we'll probably have to do breathing treatments, but I want to minimize this as much as possible.

Her doctor thinks that her fussiness in the evenings and frequent wakings is from her being hungry, so we now have the ok to start rice cereal. I will just be giving it to her in the evenings to start with. Right now, I don't plan on starting any solids until 6 months.

Abby rolled over for the first time on Saturday! She had only been on her stomach for a minute or two. I had the camera out, but I missed getting the big moment on camera. She hasn't done it again since then, but I'm sure she will again soon.

Here is the Baby in a Box video that Christopher requested.

http://www.youtube.com/v/JJ8ECj9kw_A

I am going to MU to help conduct intern interviews in a few weeks. Mom is going to watch Abby while I'm gone. She will be in KC all day Nov. 12 and the morning of Nov. 13 for those of you that want to see her. I am excited to have 2 nights to myself, but I probably won't be able to sleep because I'll be wondering why I haven't heard her cry.

Abby had her two month check-up yesterday. She is doing excellent. She is up to 12lb 6oz, which is the 95th percentile and is 22 inches long. She seems so much longer than that. The doctor said that she has a small head, which I don't see. Apparently she only measures at 10%, but it is growing steadily.

Her hip click is now gone, which is excellent news. The sad part of the appointment was her shots - three needle sticks and an oral vaccine. She tried to spit out the oral vaccine. When it came time for the shots, she screamed and cried like I have never heard her before. She didn't even want to stop long enough to take a breath.

Tomorrow is another big milestone - the first day of daycare. It's going to be sad, but at least the first week will be a short one. We have a few things finishing up in the laundry for her, but otherwise she is all packed and ready to go.

We took Abby to the doctor on Monday because she has thrush, which, in turn, she has given to me. We both got some medicine that will hopefully clear it up. She now weighs 9lb 3.5oz. The doctor was impressed with how well she has gained weight the last two weeks. Her jaundice has also disappeared.

Abby's hip ultrasound came back normal, which means it showed no signs of the hip dysplasia. Yay!

The baptism has been scheduled for August 31st at 10:30 mass at St. Regis. We will be having a get-together at Mom's house afterwards.

All the pictures that we've been taking will now be posted at hanway.shutterfly.com. I'll post a few here occasionally, but that's where most of them will be found.

Abby had her hip ultrasound yesterday. Luckily Leonard went with us because I was dead tired. Abby had been up every hour and a half or so the night before, so I didn't get more than half an hour of sleep at a time.

She did not want to cooperate at all. She screamed and cried the entire time and it took two people to hold her and a third to do the ultrasound. She even peed on the table for them. Luckily the poop stayed in her diaper.

We won't find out the results of the ultrasound until next week because her pediatrician is out of town, but the technician thought everything looked good. I keep crossing my fingers that she won't have the same hip problems that I did.

Abby's bilirubin levels have "decreased significantly", according to the nurse! That means we don't have to check them anymore and that she won't have to go under the lights. Her weight is also up 5 oz since Friday, which means we can go up to 5 hours between feedings. I'll probably try to make sure she still eats at least every 4 hours. She was so grumpy when we would have to wake her up.

We have an appointment for a hip ultrasound on Thursday afternoon. This will be the first time taking her out by myself. We will see how it goes. I'm not sure how long it will take to get the results of the ultrasound.

Abby had her first check-up with the pediatrician today. Unfortunately, she is still nearly half a pound below her birth weight. She has been sleeping too long, so now we have to make sure she eats at least every three hours. That's going to be hard because it is difficult to wake her up and to keep her awake while she eats.

She is also jaundiced, so we had to get her blood drawn to check her bilirubin levels. They were high enough that I have to take her back in on Monday to get them re-drawn to make sure they continue to go down. Luckily they aren't high enough to have to go under the lights.

The doctor also wants to schedule her for a hip ultrasound because she though she could feel clicking when she manipulated her hips. When I told her that I also had hip problems when I was born, she said it tends to run in families, so not to be surprised if she does have problems as well. We will find out on Monday when her appointment is.

So far I am very impressed by her pediatrician. She called at 8:00 on Friday night to tell us the results of her blood work and to tell us about wanting her to come back in on Monday. I hope I will continue to like her.

Abigail Elizabeth arrived Sunday, July 13 at 9:17 pm. She weighed 7lb 11oz and was 20 inches long.

We arrived at the hospital at 10am Sunday. It was strange to just check in and be shown to the room. After I changed into my gown, there was a lot of paperwork to fill out. Then they started my IV. Of course, they didn't get it in the first time and they spent 5-10 minutes digging around in my arm before they switched to my hand. It was pretty painful.

At my appointment on Thursday, I had been 1cm dilated and 50% effaced. When I was first checked at the hospital, I was dilated 2cm and 80% effaced. That meant that I could skip the Cytotec and go straight to the Pitocin. By 11:15, the pitocin had arrived from the pharmacy and was hooked up to me.

The nurse said that once the pitocin was started, it would take about an hour before I started getting regular contractions. 12:15 came and went with no pain, then 1:15 and 2:15 and still nothing. The monitor showed I was having contractions, but I didn't feel anything other than a little bit of back pain.

The doctor came in around 4 or 5 to brake my water, attach a monitor to the baby's head and put in an internal contraction monitor. She was amazed that I wasn't feeling any pain. That all changed after my water broke. At that time I was 4cm dilated and 90% effaced, so I went ahead and asked for the epidural because the nurse said it be 45 minutes before the anesthesiologist got there, then another half an hour before the epidural took effect. However, it only took about 10 minutes for him to get there. I don't remember the pain being that bad.

Around 7:30, I was having a lot of pain to where I could feel in internal monitors moving and felt the urge to push. The nurse came in and checked me and I was 9cm and 100% effaced. At that point, they started to bring in all the supplies to prepare for the delivery, including the warmer.

At 8:30, I started to push and it felt like I didn't even have an epidural - it hurt more than anything I have ever done. I was surprised when the nurse said that she could see lots of hair. I figured that because I didn't have any heartburn during pregnancy that she would be bald. I was also surprised that the doctor would only be in the room for the last 5 minutes of pushing.

Abby was born at 9:17 pm. She had her hand up by her shoulder, which made that part of delivery a little more difficult. She has a full head of dark hair and blue eyes. Leonard was able to cut the cord. It kept popping out from the scissors because they were small and the cord was fat. She weighed 7lb 11oz and was 20 inches long.

Abby had to have heal sticks every hour for the first 24 hours to check her blood sugar, so we let her stay in the nursery that night. All her sticks were good and she passed her hearing test with flying colors. Luckily they brought in food about half an hour after I had her because I was absolutely starving!

I am going to be induced Sunday, July 13. I have to be at the hospital at 10 am. They will give me a dose of Cytotec to help soften the cervix. After 4 hours, I will be checked and either given another dose of the Cytotec, or started on Pitocin. As of yesterday, I was dilated 1cm and was 50% effaced.

The doctor decided to induce me Sunday because my amniotic fluid is low. She performed well on the NST and according to the ultrasound, she went through a growth spurt. Three weeks ago, she was estimated to weigh 5 lb 6 oz. Yesterday, her weight was estimated at 7 lb 11 oz.

We are very excited. Leonard will be off work all next week. I'm not sure I could have made it another week because my itching is coming back and making me miserable again.

That's the view of my belly looking down.

The stroller is in the fully reclined position, ready for the car seat.

Spine, neck, and a bit of the head.

Next was a new part of the appointment - the Non-Stress Test (NST). For the NST, a monitor was placed on my belly so that her heart rate could be tracked. I laid there for half an hour or so just listening to her heartbeat, which was really nice. I could have easily fallen asleep, especially after they dimmed the lights. The purpose of the NST, I believe, is to make sure she is still tolerating everything ok. Her heart rate is supposed to increase every time she moves, which it definitely did. The doctor said here results looked perfect. I will be having one of these every week until I deliver her.

The final part was the actual doctor appointment. All she really did was measure my belly and go over the results of the ultrasound and NST. She also discussed my blood sugars. She said I was the star pupil, and that it shows in both my sugars and in the fact that I haven't gained any weight for the past 4-5 weeks. Unfortunately, some of my sugars and still high even after sticking to the diet, so she upped my glyburide to include a dose at breakfast.

At my appointment next week, I will do another NST and get my fluid levels checked. I believe that is done by ultrasound, but I'm not sure.

I decided to dress up in my pictures this week. I usually take them after church, and with this weekend being Father's Day and Leonard doing the reading at mass, I decided I would wear a dress. I think it makes me look huge, but I got a lot of compliments at church.

The crib is here and assembled! Mom and Chris brought it down from KC this weekend. We ordered it from Nebraska Furniture Mart because it was a lot better quality and better priced than anything we could get down here. We got the Munire Essex crib in a cherry finish. The crib is made of solid mahogany, so it will last for a long time. We got a convertible crib so it will also go to a toddler bed and a full-size bed.

While Mom and Chris were here, Mom worked on the curtains. She finished the valances, they just need to be hung now. When she comes back, she will bring the other part of the curtain.

Today was my weekly doctor appointment. Everything went well. The glyburide that I have been taking for the last week has worked well for lowering my blood sugar. My fasting numbers in the morning have dropped about 30 points. My appointments only last 10-15 minutes. It's a pain because it's an hour drive each way. Luckily I usually don't have to wait at all before I get in.

Next week's appointment will be longer. We will get to have another ultrasound. Yay! I will also start having non-stress tests (NST). This is just to make sure she is doing ok. The doctor said it's no big deal and is non-invasive.

Last weekend we had our childbirth class. Truthfully, I didn't get much out of it. I enjoyed the hospital tour and seeing the rooms. There was also some information on inductions that I learned. Surprisingly, they didn't spend much time on breathing during labor. I thought this was going to be a big part of the class.

I am really looking forward to this weekend. Mom and Chris are coming down and we will be bringing the crib. Mom is going to make curtains for the nursery. I already have all the fabric, it just needs to be washed.

It's been quite awhile since I've posted belly pictures, so here they are. They're at a different angle because Leonard didn't want to get off the couch. Unfortunately, I now have stretch marks. Thanks Mom. I didn't think I had them until a week ago, then I discovered they were on the underside of my belly and I can only see them in the mirror. They just seem to keep getting worse now. I can say that I am definitely getting bigger.Yesterday were able to get the trim back up in the room, along with the door. We also put together the glider and ottoman. We replaced a few of the ceiling tiles. They look a little off because they are a different shade of white, but that's ok. Just a note, when I say we, I really mean Leonard. I didn't do anything other than hold a couple of pieces. I probably won't put up pictures of the room until Mom and Chris come and we get the crib put together. It finally came in this week and Mom should pick it up this week. Yay!

I've been keeping a secret for the last two weeks. I didn't want to tell anyone while we were at home because I didn't want it to be a big deal. I failed my three hour glucose test and was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I am checking my blood sugar four times a day. Last Thursday I met with the dietitian to tell me what kinds of foods I can eat and how many carbs I can have at each meal. I have until next Tuesday to see if I can improve my sugar levels on my own. If not, then I may be placed on medicine. Even with the trip home, I didn't gain any weight because I was still trying to reduce my carbs.

Top of the head.

Heartbeat - 150 bpm

Spine

Leg

Here are some pictures from the Hanway shower. We got some cute things, along with some things that we really needed. We got lots of gift certificates that will almost certainly go towards diapers.

This post is a little late, but that's ok. I had my first shower on May 10th. I had a great time and April and my cousins did a great job of hosting the shower. Aunt Rosanna gets special thanks for letting us use her house and Aunt Tina gets thanks for making a great cake. Here are a few pictures from the day.

Leonard and me


My pile of presents


The beautiful quilt that Grandma made


Her first Chiefs outfit. Hopefully they are doing better by the time she can wear it.

It's the lamp from Maegan, or is it the one from Susan and Jill?


The delicious cake that Aunt Tina made.

We'll be headed home again this weekend for Grandma and Grandpa's 60th anniversary and another shower. It'll be our last trip home until after the baby's born. No more travel after this. I can't wait for the mariachis and to see Uncle Joe and the boys. I missed them on their last trip here, so I am more excited about seeing them than I am my second shower.

I took my picture a little late this week. I won't have one for next week, but since I'll be seeing almost everyone, that will be even better. I feel like I've gotten really big in the last 2 or 3 days, but strangers who see me keep telling me I'm small.

Last Thursday night, she decided to flip around. I could feel her moving around all night long, and since then the only place she has really wanted to kick is my bladder. It sucks. I'm hoping that she moves before the weekend so that everyone else can feel her kick.

My doctor appointment last week could have gone better. I have my first UTI. Luckily I don't have any symptoms, so that's good. I had absolutely no idea that I had one. I'll finish up my antibiotics on Thursday. Unfortunately, I failed my 1-hr glucose screening test. That means I have to take the 3-hr test, which is scheduled for Thursday. If I fail that one, then I will be diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I really hope I don't have it because I like my occasional ice cream in the evening. I didn't think I was big enough or had gained excessive weight to make me fail.

Friday night was interesting, to say the least. About two weeks ago, I was bitten by a tick. I know I got him in the evening after work, but I didn't find it until the next morning. I pulled it off like normal and didn't think anything about it. Last Thursday, while I was out of town, I noticed that the bite had a rash around it - about 4 in. in diameter. When I got back into town Friday afternoon, I ran by the doctor in town to have him look at it. Of course, the doctor is gone already, even though it's only 2pm. The nurse took a look at it and told me to call my OB ASAP and that they would probably have me go to the emergency room. I hadn't been worrying up until that point. I called my OB's office, but of course she doesn't work in the office on Fridays, so I had to leave a message with the on-call nurse. After what seemed like forever (about 3 hours), the nurse finally called back and told me to go to Labor and Delivery at the hospital in Texarkana. I called Leonard, and luckily he was finishing up at work, so he was able to make it home pretty quickly.

We made it to the hospital a little before 7 and went up to L&D. Not surprisingly, they didn't know anything and they sent us to the ER because they said they didn't know anything about tick bites. Once in the ER, we didn't have a long wait to get a room because there were only 4 people ahead of us. The triage nurse said that they always send pregnant women past 20 weeks upstairs for everything. We told them we had already been up there, so luckily they kept us down there. None of the doctors wanted me as a patient though, because I am pregnant. The doctor finally arrived a little after 8. Apparently, no one told him I was pregnant because he didn't know until he walked in the room. He looked at my rash, then left. The nurse came back later and drew blood, which is being tested for Lyme Disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and one other illness. Other than the rash, I don't have symptoms of any of them. I'm on antibiotics as a precaution - 500 mg of Amoxicillin, 3x a day. We finally made it out of the ER a little after 10pm, not really knowing any more than when I went in. I'm hoping that I'll get the test results this week, but because they had to send them to an outside lab, I'm not holding my breath.

I can't believe I am already in the third trimester. This pregnancy seems like it is just flying by. There's not really anything new to report. I have an appointment on Tuesday. I'm not looking forward to it because I have to do the one hr. glucose test. If I fail it, then I have to do the three hour one that I've done a couple of times before.

Leonard took a few pictures today. You can't see, but I'm wearing my anniversary/Mother's Day present - a diamond necklace and earrings.

She had a quiet day on Friday, but after I had a can of pop, she was moving around like crazy. I had a small glass of Coke at our baptism class today and it was like she was having a party.

After watching the teenager in the pew in front of us at church this morning, Leonard and I both agreed that she is never going to be allowed to leave in the middle of mass because she gets a call on her Minnie Mouse cell phone. Mom would have killed us if we even thought about doing anything like that.