Today is a special day because my Maw-Maw went to physical therapy with me. She heard that I was having a difficult time adjusting to the E-Stim (Electrical Stimulation) and decided to make my day all better.



Maw-Maw is counting down for me...only 2 more reps to go. I have to do 20 reps per leg of EACH exercise! And recently a few extra exercises have been added to my regimen.




Maw-Maw is singing a song to help me out and make me forget the struggle I am having working out all of these muscles.

Yeaaaa! Time for applause because I did all my reps!

This is the part I am still uncomfortable with and I still want to cry sometimes. Having electricity running through my legs is a very funny feeling.

Now for the hardest part. I have to walk without the top part of my braces and my little legs are so weak they bow out like a cowboy. It is scary, especially with my left leg being paralyzed and I only have feeling in my glut muscles.

Thank you, Maw-Maw, for making my day so happy....now it's time to go to Starbucks (Abby calls it "Bucks") and get my Cafe Mocha! But don't worry. My mommy always orders decaf:0)

The biggest accomplishment today???? I got through my entire therapy session with NO TEARS!! What a blessing to have a Maw-Maw who cares enough to take this special time with me! I love you, Maw-Maw!

MY CHRISTMAS ANGELS

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE FROM THE O'QUINS

Thanksgiving Day 2009

We have a great deal to be thankful for this year. Abby has come so far and has worked so hard to be able to walk. In fact, she will take off and leave us when we're not watching! Now we are beginning to see lots of changes in her, not only in her appearance (she is looking more and more like a little girl instead of our baby) but in her personality. For awhile we worried that she would never talk.....but she is definitely coming around with her language skills. For a long time she even quit saying "Mama" and "Daddy" but we feel it was because she had been through so much change in such a short time. At first she would only say one word but is starting to mimick us. Now we are hearing more and more phrases but no full sentences yet. She sings her version of the "Patty Cake" song and does all the motions on her own. She says the blessing over her food. You can almost see the wheels turning in that little mind as she takes in everything around her! She is finally beginning to adjust to a new physical therapy (we talked about E-Stim in an earlier post)and has stopped crying, which is a huge milestone. She is getting new braces soon that will challenge her hip and upper leg muscles and in the long run give her more independence with her walking. Of course that sounds great but we realize it entails a mountain of adjustment, hard work and tears on Abby's part,and sometimes on our own. Sometimes we have so many questions and wonder what the future will hold for our precious daughter. But one thing is for sure....Abby is our heart and she has a tenacious spirit and an excellent spirit. Whatever the future holds, she will go far and will probably surprise us all in the end. Happy Thanksgiving, Abby!



Enjoying the outdoors

Always smiling.....

Posing with my Mama

Paw-Paw is my favorite!

This is sooooo much fun!

Thank you, Uncle Bo & Aunt Stacy! (And Abby would say "Again-ah" which is her version of "again". She loves to add a syllable onto the end of a word.)

And here is my Studmuffin Uncle Jason:0)

This 4-wheeler ain't run in about 3 years....

....but we still love to ride it! Wheeeeeee!
(and just in case you're wondering, that WAS a joke)

Just hangin' out with my Maw-Maw Sonja. She goes to therapy with me sometimes and I don't cry when she's there to play with me.

Mushy!!!! But Abby loves to see everyone around her loving each other.

Our family Thanksgiving photo

Mmmmmm! What good sugar!

A perfect ending to a perfect day....content in my Daddy's arms

One Year and Abby is CLEAR! 11/16/09

Abby recently had her one-year checkup from the 3 major surgeries she had last year. As parents, we are so grateful that we have made it an entire year with no major mishaps. While Abby was in the hospital, we met another couple that had a little boy with a shunt. The mother told us that after 30 shunt replacements, she had just quit counting the surgeries. The first year after a shunt is placed is the most critical time and it is very easy for a shunt rejection to occur. If Abby had come down with something as simple as a common cold, even that is enough to cause her body to reject the shunt since it is a foreign object in her body. She has been covered in a lot of prayer and also received the best medical care we were able to procure for her. Between the two, we know how blessed we are that Abby has not had to be hospitalized at all. The CT Scan that was done on Abby's brain looked perfect and the shunt was still in place properly. Dr. Blount does not need to see Abby again for another year. WAAAA-HOOOO!!! God has been good to our family and we would like to give HIM all of the glory for the great things He has done in our lives. We are complete with our precious Abigail. She brings more joy to our lives than we had ever imagined possible.



Here we are waiting to see Dr. Blount. My Mama is smiling but inside she's really nervous about how I will react to seeing my doctor again.

It's always good to be in Daddy's arms. I feel safe here since I have the bestest Daddy in the whole wide world!

So far so good, Dr. Blount.....I haven't had a crying fit yet!

I think this man might be alright after all....maybe he'll let me play with his beard! (Just for the record, last time Abby practially ran Dr. Blount out of the room when he tried to examine her. Thankfully she was a little more cooperative this time! ha ha)

And here I am with Gigi, Dr. Blount's nurse. She also helped with my surgeries and gave my Daddy and Mama great advice on how to care for me after I went home.

I am all dressed up to go to church (except for my shoes). Red is one of my favorite colors.

Aren't I just the most photogenic? I'm smiling so pretty because Daddy is doing very silly things and I can't help but laugh at him.

Mommy thinks my lips are oh so kissable! We give each other lots of sugar every day.

Got to love those Chinese eyes...they especially sparkle when I smile!

E-Stim

We recently heard about a product for children with nerve damage from another mom of a spina-bifida baby. It's called E-Stim and works much like an EKG except the electrodes are hooked up to the legs instead of the chest. The E-Stim then sends electrical currents down the legs to stimulate damaged nerves which in turn stimulate muscles with poor tone. We can put our hands on Abby's legs and feel the muscles contracting. This week Abby was hooked up to E-Stim for the third time during her physical therapy and so far is making drastic improvements in her muscle tone as well as movement in her left leg. Abby has been walking using only the bottom part of her braces and walker and we are thrilled! But using this device can be quite tricky since the therapist has to determine the degree of current to use without causing too much discomfort. Abby does cry and fret most of her appointment and we're not sure if it's because she is in a little bit of pain or if she is just fussing about yet another new procedure. It's the most heart-wrenching part of being the parent and making the hard calls....do you let your child be uncomfortable for the present time so she has the best quality of life later, or do you give her the highest level of comfort and hope she isn't disappointed later that you didn't do more? Last week her appointment was so emotional that I felt drained for several days after it was over. Of course the instant her E-Stim was unhooked, she was all smiles like nothing had happened...the little stinker! She always manages to bounce back from whatever she faces with a smile, so we are very thankful to have a beautiful daughter with an excellent spirit. She makes it all worthwhile!



Abby was so happy her Daddy was able to come to her appointment yesterday

Here is a close-up of what her legs look like when hooked up to the E-Stim

And of course Mama was here to cheer Abby on too

Last week Abby visited her Paw-Paw and Maw-Maw and managed to wrangle a tractor ride out of her Paw-Paw. You should hear Abby's southern drawl when she says "Paw"...so cute!

Giving my "Paw" some much-deserved sugar for my tractor ride

Abby is eating up all this attention on her off day

Lookin' pretty for the camera

It's about time to go home for my nap, everybody!

New Baby Doll

Sierra, a little girl Abby met at horse therapy, was so sweet to bless her with a "special needs" Cabbage Patch Doll. She comes equipped with braces on both feet (just like Abby) and a set of walking canes. It won't be long until Abby will be using walking canes instead of a walker. Thank you, Sierra, for blessing Abby with a baby doll that she can relate to. We had never seen one quite like it before:0)



Our baby is growing up so fast. She is starting to look like a little girl.

...and she is so curious and loves to touch everything around her. She loves to stroke the baby doll's hair and take the bow out.

Celebrating One Year Together

This week we celebrated our 1st year with our precious daughter Abby. It has been an amazing adventure with every kind of emotion you can imagine. We have seen our God be faithful and sustain us through some difficult surgeries but through it all Abby has been a trooper. We were told that Abby would never walk, and by the Grace of God and a lot of hard work and determination on Abby's part she is now walking with the help of braces and a walker. Praise Jesus for all that He has done!
Abby has brought so much joy and laughter and sheer energy to our lives and we are forever grateful to have her as our daughter. Jawanna and I often wonder what we did before we got Abby... who knows, but we love our life and the family that God has blessed us with.

We will always remember September 1st 2008, the "Forever Day" we got Abby. We love you Abby and treasure you.

Daddy and Mama

I have prepared a video of our lives with Abby over the past year. I hope you enjoy.

Who Knew a Cast Could be a Fashion Statement?

Abby has done quite well since her surgery. In fact, she hasn't complained at all! But we had noticed several days ago that her toes looked just a tiny bit further back in the cast than they had right after surgery and thought it was due to the swelling going down. Then Wednesday night there was a noticable difference in placement of about 1/2 inch and we knew something was wrong. We called the surgery nurse and were told to bring Abby in Thursday morning to have her cast removed. Had we known just how serious this was, we would have insisted it be removed Wednesday night. We cringed when we saw how horrible her little heel looked and felt heartbroken that Abby must have been in pain for several days while this was happening. But what's done is done and we're praying for a speedy recovery so she can wear her new braces when they come in. She was supposed to have the cast on for 3 weeks and yesterday was only day 9 but the doctor opted to leave it off because of the pressure wound. We have already called the orthotist and had a special brace ordered that has a "bubble" where the heel area is located to protect it and will be picking it up today. The great thing is that since the cast was removed, Abby has been moving her foot and leg a lot more than normal! It's almost as if the surgery triggered something in her nerves and now she has more feeling than before. We can tickle her foot and she will kick her whole leg and prior to surgery she may not even realize we were touching her foot. It's really amazing and gives us hope that our many many prayers for Abby's full recovery are being heard by our Heavenly Father.






Ready for church and all dolled up in a pretty pink cast and a "China dress" that matches it perfectly! Yes, I can maintain my girly-girliness even in a cast, people!




The pressure wound looked better even a couple of hours after being out of the cast and free from the pressure. It was actually black when the cast first came off and scared us quite badly. We are thankful we caught it in time before any major damage was done. Abby's orthopedic surgeon said he had never seen this happen before, and he's been doing these surgeries for many years. You can see her surgery scar right above the pressure wound. It's less than an inch long but the surgery definitely has made a difference! Abby's foot is much straighter than before.





Yes, the medical team really writes "yes" on the limb receiving surgery! Abby already had the beginning stages of a pressure wound on the top of her foot too.

It's Over!

Today has been an eventful but great day. Abby got up this morning in a great mood, which made it even harder for us to drag her off for another surgery. But as always, she plowed right through a tough day and came out all smiles. She couldn't have anything to eat or drink after midnight last night, but did recognize StarBucks (her special treat when she works extra hard at physical therapy) when we passed by this morning and said, "Yummmmm....Yummmmmm." Talk about tearing your heart out! This child of ours definitely knows how to do it! But other than that she never even asked for food or drink, so we were thankful for that.

We had a 2 hour wait at the clinic before her surgery started at 9am and the medical team decided to put her to sleep before starting IV, etc. The heel cord surgery took only about 20 minutes but then she still had to be casted for new braces on both legs and then have her left leg casted for post-surgery reasons. Her cast ended up being only up to her knee, not all the way to her hip area like we thought. The whole procedure took about an hour. When we were called back into recovery, Abby was crying so pitifully and one of the nurses was in the holding area cradleing her like a little baby and loving on her. It took a little while for us to get her calmed down but soon she fell asleep and was fine.

Abby had no nausea or vomiting, a welcome change from her surgeries in Birmingham, and was discharged a little before 12 pm. Once home she was able to eat a little bit and went down for a good nap. She woke up acting like nothing had even happened to her today...all smiles and playing. She ate some watermelon and udon noodles for supper. We took her for about a 20 minute walk around the neighborhood and even sat in the floor and played with her for a long time. Michael blew some bubbles and she had a blast chasing them around. She even felt good enough to aggravate poor Smitty! ha ha

To all of you who invested time praying over this day and Abby's surgery, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We could feel the strength of your prayers and the evidence of God answering them is in the outcome. We've posted a few pics below to show just how great our Abby did.



Just getting home, all relaxed and showing off my new pink cast. Of course it had to be pink since I'm such a girly-girl!

After my nap Dady blew bubbles for me and I had so much fun chasing them.

Where did it go?!

Wow! They're everywhere!

Who knew a surgery day could be this much fun?

Let's do that some more, Daddy!

Is it gonna bite me?

Bursting a bubble that's sitting on the floor. See how long my hair is getting? My Mommy wishes she had my pretty eyelashes.