Weekend Abby Update

Written Saturday night:

We got up this morning thinking it would be another good day with Abby. Boy were we wrong. We immediately noticed that Abby’s soft spot was a bit more full than normal. In fact, we noticed this the night before, but the doctor said it was still soft and felt fine. Kelly knew something was up though. Abby was lethargic and she had been pretty fussy the past couple of days, which are all signs that pressure is building up in her head. So we got the neurosurgeon that was on call this weekend to come down to have a look. At this point, Abby’s soft spot was even more full than the morning and after the doc tried unsuccessfully to pull fluid from the shunt by poking a needle in it and pulling back on a syringe, she determined that it was indeed clogged and needed to be changed. And just like that, Abby was headed down to the O.R. for brain surgery number 3. Nurses were running around, getting the mobile isolette ready to take Abby down in, preparing the paper work, making phone calls, and in about an hour, we were off to the O.R. Kelly and I couldn’t believe it. Our Abby was going into surgery…again. And that meant the breathing tube went back down her throat. We were scared for this because the last time Abby had a shunt put in, she took forever to come off the ventilator after the surgery. How long would it take this time? How would Abby recover? We’d just have to wait and see. After an hour or so, the neurosurgeon came out to greet us in the waiting room. The surgery went well and sure enough, Abby’s shunt got clogged, which is pretty common in the shunt world. The good news was that Abby was already off the ventilator and breathing on her own by the time we went in to see her after the surgery.

We got her back to the NICU and she was already doing better. With the pressure off her head, she wasn’t as fussy and she even started back on her full feeds at 9PM. We just called (12AM) and she is doing well. She’s comfortable and sleeping.

We’re hoping Abby has a better Sunday and gets back up on her bottle feeding. She’s our little fighter, our little Million Dollar Baby. Her strength and resilience is unbelievable.

As for me and Kelly, it was another emotional day. The roller coaster ride continues. I will say though, Abby has her sisters and her Father in Heaven in her corner. It’s not every day that a last minute surgery can happen as fast as it did today and on a weekend no less. A lot of people had to be in the right place at the right time to get Abby the attention she needed. Our thanks to all of those involved today and of course to our Heavenly Father.

Keep the prayers up that Abby continues to have a speedy recovery from the surgery, for her eyes, and for her ability to eat from the bottle.

And finally, SHE’S 4 LBS 8 OZ’S!!!!! Nothing can stop our Abby!
Enjoy the pics