We started giving Abby Gayle pedialyte yesterday in very small amounts. She seems to be doing very well with it! She certainly likes it! I guess it beats a pacifier!
She is doing very well! Every day we just pray we are getting closer and closer to bringing her home. most of the time, things are uneventful, and we are good with uneventful!

Today Abby Gayle is to start taking in Pedialyte to see how she tolerates it. It will be the first time for her to take anything by mouth. We are excited to see how she does, but not trying to get too excited. It will be a process of taking it and possibly not tolerating it. At least we're taking Baby steps towards getting that tummy working!

How Great is Our God!

Sitting at her bedside today, a song came on her CD player - How Great Is Our God. Tears came to my eyes as I looked at her while that song was playing. How true is that! HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD!!! She is evidence of that!

Abby Gayle - October 26, 2009

They say that no news is good news! Well, that's how we feel here with Abby Gayle! No new news to report! She is doing wonderful & getting stronger every day! Today she was taken off of her antibiotics, so no more of those! That's a great thing! She has been moved to a different part of the NICU where more stable babies are. I guess that means she doesn't require as much of their attention as she used to! Except when she gets fussy, and that's not very often. However, we do think she has her days & nights mixed up! That might be our fault because we come in and rock her during the day. At night, she seems to be more fussy. I would fuss too if I was hungry and no one fed me! :0) Soon, very soon, she'll be able to start feeding. We are just waiting for her little stomach to start doing it's thing.
As you see in one of the pictures, she is now in a crib! She has more room to move around & is a lot more comfortable!

One Week Old!

Today, a week ago, Abby Gayle made her grand appearance into our world! What a wonderful day that was! and what a week it has been!
Abby Gayle is doing wonderful and progressing just as she should. Her incision looks great & she has a belly button! Her night last night was "uneventful" and that is what we like to hear.
Tony & I spent the evening holding and rocking her. She was loving it! She was wide awake in my arms, but as soon as she got in her daddy's arms, she fell asleep. He has that way with his babies!
We continue to ask for your prayers! Here are our specific prayers:
- that she will continue to be free from infection
- that her stomach will start to work as they should
- that when she starts to eat, she will tolerate it well without any set back
- that Tony & I will continue to be healthy so we will be able to be with her every day, several times a day

We trust that God has his HUGE hand on her & is taking care of every detail of her body! We thank you for your prayers!

Video taken of Abby Gayle when she was wide-eyed! She had a very busy day today!

Holding & Rocking Abby Gayle!

Thursday, day after surgery...

Abby Gayle's surgery went great yesterday, 10/21/09, and has been on the mend. The nurse said that she is right on track with where she should be in her recovery. She was on the ventilator at my visit this morning (as the picture shows). However, during Tony's lunchtime visit, they were taking her off of it and allowing her to breathe on her own. YEAH!!! One less tube! Now, maybe soon, we can hold and rock her! (If you were wondering, the yellow thing on her ear is an earmuff!)

Now we wait for the stomach & intestines to do their thing! She will not be able to feed until her stomach kicks in. She will have a tube down her mouth that drains the stomach & intestines. As the color of the drainage turns from green to clear, we will know that she is progressing. Once her bowel sounds start, they can start giving her formula. This process can take 10 days or 3 weeks! We will just let her little body take its time & cheer her on each step of the way! She is a trooper & a little fighter! We are just praying God's hand on her and everything will happen in His time!

Thank you for your prayers & support! We have felt every singe bit of it! Please continue to pray for her strength & that she is not attacked by any infection or anything that affects this recovery process. God has been so good to us through this whole process & we trust his continued guidance!

Love to you all!

Surgery 10/21/09

Abby Gayle will be going back to surgery today to close up her abdomen. It is scheduled for 11:00 AM.
Tony and I spent some time with her last night & the nurse, Caroline, who has been taking care of her the past few nights, asked us if we wanted to hold her. I was amazed that I could, and of course said "yes"! So, both Tony & I got to hold Abby Gayle for the first time & rock her. She loved it & it wasn't long before she was asleep in our arms! Praise God for that opportunity!
She will be back on the ventilator after surgery for her breathing and pain control. Hopefully, it will only be for a short time and we'll be on the road towards recovery! More pictures to come soon!

Off the ventilator

On Monday, 10/19/09, they weaned Abby Gayle from the ventilator and took the breathing tube out. she still has the OGT that drains fluid from her stomach and intestines. She will have that tube for several weeks. Today she is wide awake & moving her arms around with lots of strength! She is a strong willed child already and wants to get out of that bed! we do too so we can hold her! Soon, very soon!
On Wednesday morning, she will have another surgery to close the hole that the intestines came out of. Once she recovers from that surgery and is comfortable from the pain & discomfort, they will once again wean her from the ventilator & take the breathing tube out. It will be at that time that we can hold her. We are praying that it will be this weekend!
She will not be able to eat until her stomach begins to show that it is working. Once we can tell that, she will start feeding by bottle!

New Pictures - 10/18/09

Sweet sleeping girl!

Abby Gayle - October 17, 2009

Abby Gayle was born on Saturday, October 17, 2009 at 12:43 PM. She is 16.9 inches and 4.4 lbs.

She is 5 weeks premature but was strong & already head strong at birth! She had an Apgar score of 9 at 5 minutes after birth. She was immediately taken to the NICU because of the condition called gastroschesis (where the intestines have developed on the outside of her abdomen).

She was taken to surgery that evening to insert as much of the intestines back into the abdomen as possible. What was not placed back in the abdomen was put into a "silo" to allow gravity to pull the rest of it into the abdomen. Once it has all gone back in, the surgeon will close up the abdomen and create a belly button for her.

She is on the ventilator and will remain on it until she goes back to surgery. It is our hopes that will occur on Tuesday, October 20th. At this time, she is strong and holding her own! We are just praying God's hand on her to keep her strong and overcome this challenge that has faced her little body!