Blackout Party at Grandmom & Grandpas!

Last Saturday night there was a big party at Grandmom and Grandpa's house - the second annual Blackout Black Friday (just one day late this year). Abbie spent most of the night in bed, but she made a brief cameo appearance just after puking her entire dinner onto Daddy's lap. But he and Uncle Brian cleaned up nicely for the semi-formal.

Thanksgiving

Abbie spent her first Thanksgiving with the Schoberl family - the only Thanksiving in America with live fireworks before, during, and after the turkey.

At least we got to introduce her to Great Grandmommy. At 95 years old, she taught Mommy & Daddy a few things about soothing a 3 week old. I guess it's like riding a bicycle.

CSI Bridgewater

Some of you know that Mommy is a crime show addict. She watches every episode of NCIS, Cold Case, Law & Order, Law & Order SVU, CSI Miami, CSI New York, CSI Las Vegas, and CSI Topeka. And if she hasn't seen an episode... it's taking up space on our DVR until she DOES see it. But even with all that "experience" under her belt, it's obvious from these pictures that she'd make a terrible forensic scientist.

Here was her attempt to capture Abbie's footprints & handprints last night...
















Tell Horatio Caine that if he's looking for the no fingered bandit with 9 toes on her left foot.... she's passed out in her crib with drool on her chin.

Abbie's Dark Secret

Don't be fooled by the photo. Abbie might be cute... but she has a dark little secret that she has shared with few people besides Mommy and Daddy. But this weekend, she unleashed her inhumane talent upon everyone who crossed her path. The secret..... her farts are UNGODLY.

Sure, they started off cute, often accompanied with a little smile or smirk afterward, which always made everyone in the room chuckle a bit. But what was unveiled this weekend was a stench so overpowering it could be considered capital punishment in most civilized countries. The stench is not only strong, it lingers waaaaay too long. In fact, the farts resulted in a half dozen "false alarms" with Mommy & Daddy racing to change her diaper convinced that it was dirty. But nope... it was just a stale fart cloud surrounding her existence like PigPen.

On the positive side, Daddy is hoping this little talent keeps the boys away for awhile.

Caption Fun!

This is the first (of many) caption contests to be held on Miss Abbie B's blog... I'll start it off, but we're looking for some good group participation. The caption could be Abbie's thoughts, or just a general comment. Winner gets to change her next diaper.

Here's the first submission...."Dad!!! Seriously? Can I get a little effort here?

Lay off the afternoon lagers, chief!"

Day at the Park

Today it was about 60 degrees so we went to Duke Island Park. This technically wasn't Abbie's first time to this park, but it was the first time she has seen it outside of Mommy's tummy. Abbie didn't seem too impressed and fell asleep about a 1/8th of a mile in. However, I can attest that Mommy was MUCH happier on this Duke Island walk than she was during our mid/late October walks.

Million Dollar Smile

All smiles before bedtime...

First Bath

Tonight before bed Abbie took her first bath, albeit a sponge bath. She didn't really like it all too much. Mommy thinks it helps her relax, but Daddy isn't so sure, Maybe Abbie takes after Aunt Bid. She never liked to shower either back in the day... guess that's how she got that great "second" nickname.

Daddy's Belated Birthday

Today we came home from the hospital and celebrated Daddy's birthday with the whole family. Even though it was 8 days late (and Abbie slept through most of the "celebration") he wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Hello Abigail Claire!

11/6/09 5:39 PM

"Ah-say-bay" becomes

ABIGAIL CLAIRE!!!!

9 lbs. 0 oz. 21 in long

The Big Day - Version 3.0

The more updates I write... the closer the baby is. I'm sensing a pattern here.

Colleen was checked by the doctor at 1pm. She's made excellent progress and was dilated 4 (maybe 5) centimeters. The doctor also broke her water at that time and everything looks perfect. Colleen is in no pain and is now resting up for the big finale. The doctor is coming back at around 3:30/4:00 to reevaluate the progress. but she's expecting about 1 cm per hour from here on out. That means we should hit the full 10cm around 6:00/7:00pm... then we start pushing. And then the androgynous baby formerly known as "ACB", "Ah-say-bay", and "Terry"... will officially become either Andrew or Abigail!

I'll call with an update after the next doctor checkup. At that point, we can discuss when it makes sense to pack up the coolers for tonight's happy hour in the hospital. Somebody please bring a cold lager for the daddy....

The Big Day - Part Duex

Update two is not much of an update.... but in an effort to keep a dialogue going (and to keep me busy)...

Our new nurse started around 7:30 and seems real sharp. Ironically, turns out she's a Roxbury resident because her kids had Kevin for high school math. She's very diligent and is paying a lot more attention to the monitors that Colleen is hooked up to than the first two nurses. Ironically their names were Liz and Alison (this morning I was hoping for the trifecta and get a Meghan... but "Shirley" has been excellent so far).

The mild pain med that Colleen got at 7 has worn off -- and that's a good thing. While it minimized the pain and allowed her to sleep a little, it also made her feel a little nauseous. 100% positive that she'll never take those meds again... it will only be the epidural from here on out... Contractions are starting to become more consistent but the nurse said they need to come slightly closer together. I think they're like 4 min now. We should be seeing a doctor around noon after she gets out of a C-section. Then she'll recheck dilation and see where to progress from there.

The Big Day - Part I

Besides both of us getting virtually no sleep, last night was uneventful. We've both been up for good since around 5am. Around that time, Colleen started to have contractions of varying strength and frequency. This is a good sign... but we still have a long way to go (at last check, she's only dilated <1cm). The contractions were painful at times so she got some very mild pain meds around 7 and was able to catch up on some sleep.

The pitocin was also just started and the nurse told me that it usually takes about an hour to go 1cm. It could be faster or slower... but generally first time moms are on the slow side. That means we could be looking at 10hrs or more from now. She has not been able to eat anything since yesterday at 5pm besides fluids and ice chips and that is going to continue while she is on the pitocin.

All things considered... she is handling everything very well and you'd all be proud of her.