Abigail Cleone Welling

Happy 10th Birthday!

Usually it is hard to get good pictures of my kids blowingout their candles, but thanks to the trick candles that relight, we got lots this year!

I am sitting here on Christmas day writing and thinking how grateful we are to have Abigail in our family. When she was born, we had only been living in Arizona for 3 months and in our house for 2 months. Abby wasn't due until the end of January. She was born 5 weeks early and that was it's own scare. She so tiny and then she had a "respiratory incident" and was in NICU for several days. I remember looking at all those desparate parents and babies with serious problems and feeling guilty that I thought my life was hard. Kenneth and I "snuck out" of the hospital when she was 2 days old and tried to finish some of our Christmas shopping. It was good to take a break from the NICU for a couple of hours. She was released from the hospital on Christmas Day and was brought out to us in a little flannel stocking. Some of our new friends invited us to christmas dinner and the kids wrote to Santa asking if he would come a day late. We celebrated a day late. Abby had Jaundice and had to be in a suitcase of Bilirubin lights. It was hard to have a new baby and not beable to hold her all I wanted. Kenneth's family all came to visit and were disapointed to not get to hold her much either, I think they all had a good time anyway (I don't remember, I was a truly incompetent host). We did have a nurse who came everyday to check on her for a week or so. It was really nice to have a professional opinion without having to drag myself out to the doctors office.

Now looking back, I am most grateful for Abby's good health, doctors and nurses who took good care of us all, a patient and gentle husband who took good care of me and the other 3 kids, and the good friends that we have been so blessed to know.