Hello to everyone. Sorry it's been a while since a new post-it's been a crazy couple of days. I know a lot of you have heard bits and pieces of whats been going on and want to know the whole story, so here it is...So when it was discovered that Abby had a UTI last week, they did a routine ultrasound to make sure her kidneys were functioning correctly. On the ultrasound, the Dr's discovered something, they weren't sure what it was, but they knew something was there that shouldn't be. First they said it could be a cyst or her intestines could have doubled, but whatever it was wasn't causing Abby any problems. So Chester County sent the image to CHOP (children's hospital) for a second opinion. Because Abby's so small it was hard to see what the ultrasound was showing. So on Thursday, CHOP decided Abby needed to be transfered there for further testing that Chester County wasn't capable of. So on Thursday around dinner time, a transport team came to get Abby and strapped her in to her mobile issolete and took off for her ride to the big city.

We followed her down to CHOP and have spent the last 5 days pretty much living there, impatiently awaiting answers. On Friday, they did another ultrasound, followed by an MRI. Besides all this testing, Abby has been doing really well. She's still eating and sleeping and doing everything she should. Whatever the problem is doesn't seem to being affecting her. The nurse also told us that about a half hour before it's feeding time, Abby wakes up and gets a little cranky. The nurse told us then when preemies go home, they have a hard time eating because they have to learn to be hungry. In the hospital they get fed every three hours-right now with a feeding tube-and they don't really experience hunger. But Abby knows when it's time to eat and wakes herself up, so that's definitely a good thing--just like mommy and daddy, she's a good eater! Anyway, Saturday we finally got the results from her testing back. Abby has a growth on her liver. The growth is benign. Jess looked it up and it's basically an overgrowth of the organ containing tissue and cells. They did further blood tests on Sunday and Monday confirming it is benign; it can however turn malignant in the future, but Abby will be monitored closely.

On Saturday, the surgical team looked at Abby and her MRI and decided to just monitor her for now. The growth is large and it's possible it will get bigger so it will need to be removed. As of right now, it's not causing her any problems, and the surgery would be fairly complicated, so that's why they want to wait and just monitor her progress. So over the next six weeks, they will be checking to make sure her liver is functioning properly, and by measuring her belly that the growth isn't getting bigger. On Monday, Abby got transferred back to Chester County for the duration of her stay in the hospital. We are happy to have her back at Chester County-CHOP was a little overwhelming.
So basically, over the next six weeks, Abby will continue to grow and eat and do everything she is supposed to do. The Dr's at Chester County will be monitoring her and conferencing with CHOP. In six weeks she'll likely be sent home, then she'll come to CHOP for an appointment with the surgeon and liver specialist and they'll decide what to do next. They may say that the growth needs to come out now, and they might say it can wait another six weeks. So we just have to wait and see. After the surgery she'll be back in the NICU at CHOP while she is recovering.
Needless to say it's been pretty crazy for us the past couple of days. Thank you to everyone for their support and for offering us a place to stay, we really appreciate it!