Life as a Leach

I'm guest posting this week on a friend's blog, but figured that some of you newer blog friends might like to read up on Abby's story too.   Cerebrocostomandibular Syndrome...ever heard of it?!  Don't worry, neither had we until October 22, 2010.  This ugly syndrome tried its best to take our daughter from us, but we serve a God who is SO much bigger than a syndrome no one has ever heard of!  Here is our story... Abby was diagnosed prenatally with Pierre Robin's Sequence, which is a small jaw and airway, as well as a cleft soft palate.  We were concerned, but confident that we could handle the potential feeding and speech issues that would come with it.  She was born at 34 weeks due to my fluid levels being too high. Shortly after her birth, a routine preemie xray showed that about half of her ribs were in multiple pieces, her sternum was not in tact, and her spine had a curvature and a hump.   Later that morning, we met with the geneticist who ga...

Personality Seeing Abby for the first time in the NICU was surreal. That is really the only word to describe it. This little 4 pound peanut mixed up in a tangle of wires and tubes was my daughter! The foot wrapped in gauze is the same foot that kicked me and stepped on my bladder. The tiny hands curled up next to her mouth were in the same position they were during so many of the sonograms. The hair that we saw floating in the amniotic fluid, the same hair that was admired by so many sonographers, is every bit as long and full as everyone said! Abby will definitely be a bow wearer. She is beautiful to us and has been showing the nurses and doctors her feisty side! She clamped down on one NP who stuck her finger in her mouth; the NP declared her a rude little girl! (She has quickly become one of our favorites who has been excellent at explaining things and answering our questions!) Yesterday, she kept trying to pull out the trumpet in her nose. I told her repeatedly tha...

Psych! Apparently, my internet is working! Yay, Dad! :) Look forward to more frequent posts again now. What would you do without my daily ramblings and updates?! Sign My Guestbook Read Tributes Friday, October 22, 2010 9:41 AM, EDT Short post because i'm on my iPod: Abby is here! She came at 12:12 a.m. Weighing 4 pounds and measuring 17 inches. She is currently breathing on her own and is being examined by lots of specialists today to check out some things that hadn't shown up on sonograms. We will be more specific about those things when we have more detailed information. In the mean time, please pray for our girl---specifically that her fighting spirit we've seen so much continues!! She's going to need to fight hard. Thanks for your support! Sign My Guestbook Read Tributes Saturday, October 23, 2010 6:42 AM, EDT Entering the World With a Splash! On Thursday night, I started contracting heavily at 7:45. My meds were due at 8:00 anyway, so...