Brigitta Kelly Hall was born on December 15, 2001.  She was born six weeks before her due date and weighed only four pounds and three ounces.  In spite of being so small and early, she was very healthy and had no complications.  We had moved to Ohio from Colorado only a week earlier and were not expecting her arrival quite yet.  Brigitta had very strong lungs and shrieked for two days until her Joan's milk came in.  The nurses in the Special Care Nursery at Akron City Hospital were not used to such a noisy child.  Once Brigitta could finally nurse she quieted down and became quite content.  We think that she was born hungry.   The nurses were amazed that Brigitta did not have the typical "preemie" look.  She was a beautiful, perfect baby - just in a tiny size.

Page Created

9-21-06

David & Joan

Hall Family Website hallbuzz.com

Brigitta Comes Home

   Brigitta came home on December 23rd after spending nine days in the Special Care Nursery.  The doctors and staff were delighted and impressed that she was doing so well and could meet her nutritional requirements through nursing without supplements.  Most six week preemies do not have the strength, endurance or ability to nurse a complete meal while they are still so new.  She weighed four pounds six ounces when we brought her home.  Almost all babies drop in weight after they are born and most full term babies usually regain their birth weight within two weeks.  Preemies typically take much longer so we consider ourselves fortunate that she did so well.  We were concerned that the doctors were rushing things a bit to let us take her home two days before Christmas.  After learning so much about prematurity with Annika, however, we really understand how healthy Brigitta was.

Although her baby sister would be significantly smaller at birth,

Brigitta was the smallest baby that we brought home.

Grandma Hall came to visit at the end of January, around Brigitta's due date.

   Svea was only two when we moved to Ohio and was just getting used to her new home and the idea of living with her parents and grandparents, Nana and Papa.  Nana and Papa took care of Svea while her mother and father were in the hospital with Brigitta.  When she learned that her new sibling was a girl she was delighted and was especially happy when her baby sister and parents finally came home.

Brigitta's First Few Months

Uncle Mark came to visit Brigitta when she was four months old; he taught her how to read.

Brigitta liked taking naps on people and loved baths with her sister.

Papa has had a very special touch with all three of his Hall granddaughters.

Brigitta was Baptized on June 16th 2002 in Our Lady of Victory Church by Father Hengle.

Baby Brigitta

Brigitta has stunning eyes; by six months they had lightened to a striking blue.

   Until she started walking, Brigitta had gastrointestinal distress and would spit up or throw up several times a day.  She also had a lot of pain in her tummy at times.  This pain almost always made it difficult for her to fall asleep unless something was pressing into her tummy.  Most often she would fall asleep folded over someone's arm or slumped over her bunny.

Brigitta has always loved the outdoors. 

Papa would often wrap her up in an old coat and take her out.

Brigitta is never without Bunny. 

Bunny was a gift from her Aunt Jeannie and is still her most prized possession.

   All of the pictures on this page were taken with our first digital camera.  In spite of the fact that our old HP was a two mega pixel, its 1600 by 1200 images do not appear truly sharp until they have been significantly reduced in size.  The old HP also took very stale flat images that lacked correct color. 

   Above left you can see an original image reduced in size from 1600 by 1200 pixels to 320 by 240 pixels. 

   Above right is a 320 by 320 full scale section cropped from the original image.  Note the awful graininess.

   Below left the image has more appropriate cropping and has been reduced in size for sharpness.

   Below right the image has been digitally sharpened, gamma corrected, contrast increased and lightened.  Modern digital cameras do all of this instantly as the picture is taken.

Brigitta at Age One