Thursday, July 30, 2009

Lots of news today. First the important stuff. This morning we met with Dr. Puttgen at John Hopkins Dermatology Clinic to discuss the port wine stains on Abbi's face. The process of visiting the clinic for the first time went very well, and Jenn and I both thought that all the nurses and doctors were wonderful.

Now the info. The birthmark on her cheek is a port wine stain, and the birthmark on her forehead is probably as well, however the doctor said she would say 50/50 as to whether it would fade or not. Abbi has some birthmark that runs onto her eyelid and a little bit of spots on her nose. The doctor felt that all of those would most likely fade. We discussed with the doctor options for laser treatment of the birthmarks, and we were told that with treatments we and Abbi could expect 50 - 90% reduction in the port wine stain birthmarks. They are willing to start those treatments as early as 3 months if we decide to pursue that course for her.

Next news - there is a new gallery of pictures online now as well. As I've been doing, I'll be pulling individual images out here to showcase. For example, today's picture is of Abbi in an outfit picked out by Jenn and she's laying on the blanket that my mom crocheted for her. We took this picture and the others to get a picture of Abbi for her announcement, which has been ordered and should be on its way to us soon!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Nothing really new to share news wise, so here's another picture of Abbi.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Today was Abbigail's two week pediatrician check up and everything is going great for her. She is up to 9 lbs 1 oz. Which means she's gained weight back up to and past her birth weight, which is great news! So things are going well. We have a dermatologist appointment at Johns Hopkins on Thursday morning for her port wine stain on her face. Hopefully we'll be able to get some concrete information about the one on her forehead to find out if it is a port wine stain or just a stork bite (that will fade).

This picture was taken over the weekend. Its one of those artsy angled shots. Right? Either way here she is!

Monday, July 27, 2009

Yesterday was another busy and fun day with the baby. Yesterday morning we had our first trip to church with Abbi. We weren't running to late for church with her, but we did realize half way there that we had forgotten things that we needed. Luckily they weren't things we had to have, but it was still a little frustrating.

Abbi slept through her first church service (something I'm sure will continue for quite a while) and then we headed home. After lunch and a nap, we took time to do Abbi's first photoshoot by me. Jenn got her in a cute outfit and then we setup her up for some pictures. The purpose was to get a good picture of her for her birth announcement that we will hopefully be ordering soon. Tomorrow is Abbi's two week checkup and today is her two week birthday. Time flies!

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Today was a good day for the new Harrah family. We had plenty of firsts that I'd like to share about. Our first first, was a very very long sleeping in this morning. That was very nice. Our second first was that I changed Abbi's diaper today and for the first time she didn't wail as if she was being murdered. She just laid there and enjoyed the process.

This evening we headed out for our first trip out. We went to Target and then had dinner at Five Guys all the while Abbi was sleeping away in her carseat. We didn't garner to much attention in Target, but plenty of people smiled and looked at the cute baby in Five Guys.

Our final first, not so much baby related, was that our power was out this evening. I don't know how long because it was out when we got home. I do know it was back on by 10:45. That being said, it was another first for Abbi, her first encounter with the failure of our power grid and BGE. A good day overall. And for tomorrow, another first as well, but more on that another day.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Last night we had a bit of awake time with Abbi after dinner and all and decided to get her on her stomach for a bit of tummy time. Since kids these days (like how I worked that in there) aren't supposed to sleep on their stomachs even though we all did as kids and we're still alive! Either way, last night we had a bit of tummy time. Abbi doesn't seem to hate it, but at the same time I wouldn't call it fun either. She lasts about 5-7 minutes before the screaming and crying set in and then we're done. But we'll keep at it, and hopefully she'll have a smile while on it like the kid on the box did.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Last night was better than the last. She wasn't up as much as the two nights ago which meant that Jenn as able to get some sleep too! This is a picture of Abbi from the hospital, taken on her first day of life. And while she's only 10 days old today, her birthday seems like forever ago!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

At only minutes of age Abbi was picking her nose. Ever ready to be a great father, I had the camera ready to take an embarrassing picture of my daughter!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

I want to write a paragraph here and explain the purpose of this page. Many people Jenn and I know with babies have websites for their kids so they can share pictures and such. As a web developer I felt compelled to something a bit more for Abbi. So I created a copy of my blog for her. Only pictures of Abbi will be posted here, and of course my blog will feature her from time to time, but I intend to regularly post here with information and pictures about her. There are links to on the side to photo galleries and such, and at the top is her most recent growth information.

So last night was another first for our little girl. Abbi had her first bath where she was able to get "in" the water. We didn't fully immerse her, but her bottom was in the water and she still didn't like it. This was all because yesterday, the greatest thing ever happened.

Her umbilical cord fell off! I can't describe how gross it was. It smelled, it looked nasty, it was just gross. When she's older and asks what it was like to take care of her as a baby I will tell her that her umbilical cord was gross. Other than that...now she's got a cute little belly button.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Jenn and I have been parents for a week today! More importantly Abbi is a week old today! I can't believe an entire week has already gone by. We can't say thank you enough to all those that have visited us, provided support and of course provided delicious food for us to eat.

I took this picture on Saturday of Abbi while Jenn was holding her. I happened to have caught her in one of her few moments a day of awake time. This morning when I left for work mom and daughter were hanging out in the bedroom together wide awake, and had been for a good while, so thats pretty cool. I look forward to her being awake more so that Jenn and I can interact with her. Enjoy!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Last night we gave Abbi her first bath. She screamed the entire time just as we expected, but once she was all clean, and done screaming, we settled down together and enjoyed some quiet family time. Last night was a bit of a rougher night for Jenn. It seemed like Abbi was awake every hour hungry. I doubt she was actually awake that much, but it certainly felt that way. Enjoy!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Keeping with my recent tradition of wallpapers. Hopefully others will think this a qualified pictures, although I will admit that I'm a bit biased. This picture was taken yesterday at the hospital. They came and took pictures of her for us to buy at ridiculously high prices and we put this dress on her for those pictures. After the hospital photographer left, I did my best to take a few pictures that were staged the same way, and they turned out ok. The dress is the dress that Jenn picked out to take Abbi home in. Enjoy!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

I feel obligated to share more pictures of our new daughter. So in order to keep with that obligation, and probably expectation, today I have a picture that Nancy (Jenn's mom) took of Jenn and I holding Abbi together after she had been tagged and wrapped up. Things have been going well this second day of her life and we're hoping to head on home soon, they are telling us that we'll be able to head home this evening. Thanks to everyone that came by and visited us yesterday in the hospital, you're presence and generosity were welcome and much appreciated. Enjoy!

Monday, July 13, 2009

She's finally here (and I finally have the energy and time to talk about it) so here are the details. Our daughter, Abbigail Cadence Harrah was born this morning at 2:28 am. She weighs 8 lbs 12 oz. and is 21 1/2 inches long. The story of this little girls birth is somewhat long, so settle in for a good read.

Yesterday around 12:30 am (Sunday) Jenn woke me up to tell me that her water had broken. She cleaned up and then we headed out to the hospital. They admitted us to triage for observation and then around 4 am they took us down to one of the birthing rooms. When Jenn was admitted she was 1/1.5 cm dilated and we figured we had a long day ahead of us.

Once down in the birthing room, they got Jenn on some fluids and waiting until 8 am before giving her anything to move the process along. They wanted to see how she would profess on her own. She didn't. So they gave her some gel to speed things up. They administered the gel twice (again around 12:30). Each time they did this the contractions got a little rougher for Jenn and opened up her cervix a little bit more.

Then around 3:30 or so, they decided to start giving Jenn some Pitocin to induce stronger contractions. It was successful, but it lead to the baby's heart rate becoming very erratic. So they stopped the pitocin, and things slowed down from there. Her body was however, continuing to move along on its own, slowly dilating bit by bit. After hours and hours of contractions, that were quite painful, Jenn decided around 7:30 that she wanted to get the epidural. That was in place and relieving her pain by 8:00. From there Jenn slowly dilated from 6 to 10 cm over the next 5 1/2 hours. They checked her at 1:30 and decided it was time to start pushing.

It took Jenn about 40 minutes of pushing and at 2:28, our little girl was born. Jenn did a great job and both mom and baby are healthy and going strong. jenn is recovering well, and Abbi is getting used to the world. Enjoy!