Moments from Abi-G's 2nd week

Sleeping during tummy time. That Baby-wise book says we decide when she sleeps. Ha!

Looking so cute in her outfit

Bath Time! She loves her baths, which makes it so we love her baths!

On Sunday I realized she was two weeks old, and I cried. It has gone by so fast, and she is growing so much, and I felt like I didn't enjoy her as much as I should have. A good realization to have early on, I suppose.

At her first Dr.'s appt she had gained weight past her birth weight. We were so proud! They also said she shrunk 1/2 an inch, and then at another appt this week she had grown an inch and a half. Something tells me that it may not be the most accurate way to measure their length. :)

The different faces of Abi Girl!

You may be sick of pictures of Abigail, but we aren't! We can't stop taking pictures of her. These are some great ones of her sweet face.

We miss you Aunt Natalie!

My twin sister Natalie was so awesome, and came to visit. She flew here the day after she graduated from BYU, and flew back the day before she moved across the country to Rochester, NY. Isn't that amazing? She is wonderful. She held Abigail tons, and loved her. She took her during the night except for when she needed to eat, she changed lots of diapers, fixed us dinners, cleaned the house and spoiled Abigail with some really cool books!

Her stay included the day of our birthday! It was fun to spend the day with her! We have a tradition of shopping together for our birthday and buying each other gifts. Jeff let us go for a couple of hours the day after our birthday this year, and we had a lot of fun, then we watched Confessions of a Shopaholic and laughed the whole way through. She also taught me a neat way to make headbands and necklaces with two types of fabric flowers, and she made a bunch for Abigail and I.

Thanks so much for coming Natalie! We miss you already!

Congratulations Amy and Jevin!

As I mentioned earlier, Jeff was gone for 5 days right after Abigail was born. He went to see his youngest sister get married. He was very reluctant to leave us, but I really really encouraged him to go ahead and buy the ticket, and we are both glad he did. He really deserved a little break. He has been working so hard non stop for a long time without a break. Also we are both so excited for Amy and Jevin. They are a really cute couple! Their wedding looks gorgeous from the pictures, and I'm sure Jeff would love to share his experience, but just in case he never gets around to it, I thought I would post a few pictures.

Long Body

One last picture. Here she is with her Aunt Natalie, showing off her long body. :)

Abigail first week at Home

Well, I survived Abigail's first week at home, even without Jeff. I wouldn't have made it without my parents, though. He went to see his sister get married, and I am so glad he did.

Here is her first time in the carseat. She had a very uneventful and happy ride home from the hospital, which I was so grateful for. Don't worry, we did buckle her in. :)

Here she is with her Grandpa Clark.

Here is her coming home outfit. It was one of my outfits from when I was a baby.

She loves her Grandma Clark.

Proof that we made it to church on Sunday. Abigail is in her carseat, it was just so bright we kept her covered.

Pretty in Pink.

Today is my parent's last day here. I am dreading them going. They have been so helpful, and generous, and so sweet with Abigail. My mom has helped me get her room all together and has been sewing and sewing these past 2 days. She also has taken her at night so I have been able to get rest in 4 hour chunks. It has been awesome. My dad has fixed tons of things around the house, and mown the lawn and has kept really busy doing nice things for us.

Abigail is a sweet, sleepy baby, which is probably how all newborns are, but we think she is pretty special and unique. :)We learned pretty quick that we needed to try to keep her awake at least for part of the day so she would sleep better at night. She is very slow to cry. She loves her baths, and sucking on her hands. She is also very strong. She can hold up her head pretty well, and when she is on her tummy she can raise it up, and turn it from side to side. She doesn't cry when she is on her tummy, and doesn't need to be swaddled all the time, in fact she likes her hands to be free. She can roll from her back to either side, and she could roll over if she could figure out how to tuck her little arm under. I love her little smile that she gives when she is sleeping, and her myriad of facial expressions. My mom and I think her eyes are going to stay blue, because already they are getting lighter. We'll see, though.

Aun Mas Fotos! Abigail will be bilingual of course...

I may not think this later, but she has the cutest cry.

The nurse said she had never seen a baby so alert and awake right after being born.

More Pictures

Nichole holding Abigail for the first time

Abigail's very first picture

The night before the delivery

Right before leaving for the hospital

The Story

So I figured I would post a picture and video first since that is what everyone really cares about, but for those of you who want a little more detail, here you are. Something I started doing about a month ago is writing letters to Abigail. Here is the one I wrote for her today:


Dear Abigail,

Let me tell you about the day you were born. You were born on a Saturday, August 6th 2011, in the Methodist Hospital in San Antonio, TX at 11:44 AM, but let me go back and start with Thursday morning. We went in to see one of your three doctors, Dr. Largoza, and your mom told her that she has been itching all over for about a week. The doctor told us that this is a symptom of Cholestasas, which is a build up of bile acid. She said that we would need to do a lab test and wouldn’t get the results back until Monday or Tuesday. I asked what this meant and she stated that if Nichole did have Cholestasas, it increased the chances of us having a still birth. I really didn’t like hearing that. Just the thought of losing you made me really scared. We went to do the lab, then after thinking about it decided we didn’t want to wait until we got the results back. We figured, if your mom had already been experiencing all the symptoms of Cholestasas for a week, we didn’t want to wait another 4 or 5 days! So, we called the doctors to talk about it, but they were both resistant, saying they wanted to wait until Monday when she was 38 weeks. Dr. Largoza finally consented to have your mom come into the hospital to do some other tests. The results came back that there was in fact an increase of bile in her liver, and they decided to induce her the next morning. We got a room and they started her on citadel to prep the cervix. We were both pretty excited. That was a long night at the hospital. Your mom and I were both pretty uncomfortable and the nurses kept coming in and out, etc. Of course your mom was way more uncomfortable than me because she was having contractions and stuff. Anyway, in the morning they gave her pitocin, and then they broke her water. That was when the really painful contractions started. She asked for an epidural and that made things way better. Still, she kept throwing up and the doctors were worried about her heart rate being too low. Things moved along pretty quickly though, and before we knew it you were ready to come out. Everyone was really surprised at how easy the labor was. Your mom had three contractions that she pushed on and out you came. You were all grey and slimy and your head was cone shaped. I couldn’t believe it though. I was just so amazed! It was probably the most spiritual experience of my life seeing you. They cleaned you up really quick and gave you to your mom to hold. She was so excited. Then they took you to the NICU and I got to spend some time with you, just you and me. You were so awake and interactive. You just kept looking at me and it seemed like you were smiling. I was so amazed at how much your expressions reminded me of your mom. That made me love you so much more, because I love your mom so much. I’m so glad you are finally here Abigail! It’s party time!
-Dad

Abigail's first movie appearance

This is just amazing.

Introducing...ABIGAIL!!!

More pictures, video, and explanation to follow. I'll just say seeing Abigail be born was the most amazing, spiritual experience of my life. We are very excited! She is so beautiful. We can hardly believe she is really ours! We are so blessed. So far she looks very healthy. She weighs 6 lbs 11 ounces and is 21 inches long. I think she looks a lot like Nichole. Thank you all for your prayers. It has been a long and stressful pregnancy, but seeing her makes it all worth it.