Happy Birthday Girls!!!!

April 29th, 2006 was the happiest day of our lives. 3 beautiful girls blessed us with their sweet spirits and we were finally a family after 4 years of roller coaster infertility treatments. We all know the tale from there. Kelly and I will NEVER forget our sweet Madelyne Rose and Emma Jayne and we look forward to the day we get to see them and raise them. As Kelly mentioned a while back, we have a unique situation in that we get to play mommy and daddy again in Heaven and that is exciting! Happy birthday girls. We miss you every day and we love you very much.
There is one thing I have to admit. During the midst of all that heartache last year, I had NO idea that we would be so happy 12 months later. Abby is everything to us. EVERYTHING. The sun rises and sets with that girl as far we're concerned and her fighting spirit is something I often comment on because it never ceases to amaze me. I am forever thankful that she is still with us. She is our "Little Miss Magic," our "Nugget", our "Burnin' Hunk o Love," our "Abby Girl" just to name a few. And based on her new found attitude that's coming to light, I think "Stinker" and "Wild One" will be names for the future. She's got some energy to say the least!
As far as the celebration of today went, we didn't do much. We are planning an actual party for her for this coming weekend so today we just kept it low key. Abby was in a great mood though, almost as if she knew. I have some pics below to prove it. But before I get to that, I have some updates.
Abby is finally over the vomiting thing and she is eating a lot better these days. She's feeling a bit heavier too. I thought it was just me, but Kelly said she noticed it too. I'm thinking she's pushing 15 lbs right now but we'll have to wait and see. I forget which appointment she gets weighed at, but I'm sure we can toss her on a scale some time this week. And ever since her surgery, there have been some definite improvements with her left arm. She engages it a lot more and is constantly bringing it in front of her to assist with whatever toy she has in her right hand. It's not perfect by any means and she still has trouble actually opening her hand and using her fingers to grab the toy, but the desire is there. And with Abby, desire is all we need! She began to make some new noises today as well. She was all about the "aaaahhhhhh" kind of sound but we were hoping she'd use her lips to make the "B" sound. And she did it a few times yesterday! We heard a lot of "bbbaaaahhhh" kind of sounds. She also has a new giggle which of course is adorable.
On to momma and Eddie. Unfortunately, momma is on bed rest now. Well, semi bed rest for the moment. Her doc wants her off her feet as much as possible She is already having contractions but as long as we can keep them to less than two an hour or so, we should be alright. Kelly is doing everything she can to make sure this happens. So am I actually. And so is Kelly's mom, Kelly's grandma, and pretty much everyone else. All the love and support is very much appreciated. So how far a long is she and how much longer does she need to go? It's breaks down like this:
Kelly is at 26 weeks right now. The first hurdle is 28 weeks so Eddie needs AT LEAST another 2 weeks. Again, that's just the first hurdle but it's not really where we want to be. Obviously the statics of having a healthy baby increase each week, and the stats get really promising around 32 to 34 weeks. 28 weeks is just the time frame when you'd say, "okay, there's an okay chance here." But what we want is, "okay we have a great chance here." And again, that's not for another 6 to 8 weeks from where we are now. We can do it though! Keep those prayers coming!

And finally, here are some GREAT 1st Birthday shots!!!!

We LOVE YOU ABBY!!!!!

A Slow Recovery

Hello From Abby Town,

So where did I leave off? Oh yeah, I promised pics and didn't post them. This is quite the norm for me isn't it? Well, at least you know who you're dealing with here. Just know that I have the best of intentions. Honest! But I get home and I have priorities. I have Abby first and when she gets to bed I have a ton of things to catch up on. For example, I have to be sure to stay up on American Idol. I'm a HUGE Senjaya fan and I was super bummed he got voted off. I think he's just great. I hope he comes out with an album soon. I will be the first in line to buy it. I'm growing my hair out so I can put it in that pony tail mohawk thing he did.

Anyway, enough banter. Down to the goods. Abby has actually been having a rough time. She was vomiting after almost every feed these past few days. This caused major concern because vomiting and irritability are two of the major signs the shunt isn't working. The relief was that she wasn't too irritable. In fact, for the most part, after she threw up, she was all smiles again. We also noticed that when we fed her with the pump at night, we did so very slowly and she was able to tolerate it. Today we decided to scale back on the amount of food we've been giving her and took it slow and steady. And it worked! Hallelujah. She can't afford to be throwing up so often. Abby is under 13 lbs again and we really need her to start gaining weight.
Abby was extremely fussy and high maintenance today and insisted on being held the ENTIRE day. I have no idea what we're going to do when Eddie is here and she's like that. It will be interesting for sure. I can see all the smiles on all the faces of those with 2 or more kids. I can actually hear you all say, "you have NO idea..." Yep. Got it. But toss in the whole G Tube feeding thing too. See, after we feed Abby, we can't just let her roll around on the floor with her toys. We've tried that. She puts pressure on her G Tube which for one thing, makes it red and sore and secondly, it upsets her stomach and guess what happens? That's right. El Vomito everywhere. No to mention all the therapy appointments Abby has to go to during the week. So... we REALLY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT WE'RE IN FOR. Oh well. That's part of the adventure I suppose!

Enough rambling...

On to the show:

Here is Abby and Mommy at 5:45 AM. Mommy asked for a pink smock but to no avail.



Abby was out for a while after surgery.



Here we are after the surgery. Abby is still very groggy. The mask is giving her oxygen.



And here it is. Thank goodness her hair will cover these eventually. But for now... what ARE we going to do with this hairdo?



Mommy took matters into her own hands and gave Abby a hair cut.



Here is the finished product. Much better!



Abby and mommy taking a nap.

Abby is home!

After I sent my last blog, Abby continued to feel crummy. But after she got some pain medication she was able to sleep a bit. Her doctor came in and adjusted her shunt as well which helped. Without getting into it too much, let me just say that the shunt wasn't draining the fluid out of her head fast enough because the setting was set too low. If the fluid can't escape Abby's brain, it will get backed up and put pressure on her head which can also cause nausea and vomiting. So by changing the setting on the shunt, the fluid was able to drain out quicker.
Later on, Abby was still fussy but she was tolerating her feeding better so her doctor said she could come home. Thank Goodness too because momma was tired. She had been up all night after waking up at 4:30AM from a night of horrible sleep and had been taking care of Abby every single minute. Now that we're home, Abby is still quite a handful and very uncomfortable but she is slowly getting better.

I have some pics of this whole thing and I'll post them tomorrow.

Thanks everybody for your kind words, thoughts and prayers.

Love,

The Abby Management Group

Prayers Please!

I just spoke with Kelly and Abby isn't doing very well. She is very nauseated and keeps throwing up. As we all know, throwing up puts pressure on the brain which is why she screams so much after she throws up. Plus it's bad to put pressure on the stitches in her head. She is getting some morphine right now so she can sleep a little bit but coming home today is not looking good. It's horrible to see her in so much pain.

Pray for momma as well. She needs Abby to get well so we can go home and she can rest a bit. The last thing we need is another NICU stay with Eddie. (that's our boy's name by the way, after his Great Grandfather)

Remember though, this is Abby we're talking about here. She will pull through. That's what she does. But she needs some help. So get to it team!

Thanks,

Ryan

It's been a long day

After my last post, Abby started throwing up. We're told this is a common reaction to the anesthesia. After it wears off they may get nauseated and feel sick. Abby was no exception. All three times we gave her milk through the G Tube she threw it up. Ironically though, she didn't throw up until 2 or 3 hours after we fed her. Tonight we just gave her some pedialite (sp?) water which isn't as thick as the formula. Other than that, she is doing alright. Abby doesn't want to be sick and that much is clear. She was trying to play and smile in the middle of her fits from the pain she was in. She'd laugh, then cry, then giggle again and grab my hand, and then cry again. She is very confused with everything and I just want to get her home to a comfortable environemnt. If all goes well, that will be tomorrow.I came home and Kelly stayed at the hospital in one of those super comfy fold out chair beds. She's pretty excited about it. (yeah right!) be!

Sleep tight. Or good morning is probably more appropriate since I doubt too many of you will be checking this site much after 11:30PM which is the time now.

Our love goes out to each of you.

all is well here at the hospital

Iam at the hospital now and our Abby is in recovery with momma. (Gotta love the blackberry) The surgery went well. The doc poked a hole in the cyst and drained out the fluid.we are told that she will be able to go home tomorrow. There is a nice big cut on her head and its shaved again. Good thing she's cute with no hair!
I will post some pics soon. Thanks for your prayers. They are working for sure.

A Big Week Ahead

Hey Gang,

It's going to be another one of "those" weeks. The anticipation of Tuesday is killing us. We know it's routine and Abby has had these before and blah blah blah. We have the utmost faith in her doctor and have come to know, respect and love him during this journey, but the anxiety still lingers overhead like a thick fog.
Here's how it will all go down. Mommy and daddy need to have Abby at CHOC in Orange at 5:30AM. That right there is reason enough to cry. Once Abby is sleeping from her anesthesia medication, she will get another MRI to confirm that the cyst or puddle of fluid in her brain has in fact been steadily increasing in size. If by some miracle it's not increasing, this would mean that the fluid is somehow escaping this little area and we wouldn't have to go through with the surgery. As you all say your prayers for our Little Miss Magic, you might as well toss in a request for this miracle as well. Assuming the cyst is in fact increasing, Abby's doctor explained that he would basically go into that cyst and create a hole to allow it to drain down out. By the way, if we didn't do anything about the cyst, it would just grow bigger and bigger and put pressure on Abby's brain, which in turn would cause serious brain damage.
Abby will have to stay at least one night in the PICU. We've been there before and it's no picnic. Lot's of memories as you can imagine. The nurses and doctors however are absolutely amazing and have a way to make it better. Plus Abby has made a friend or two from her stay at the NICU so she will likely get some visitors. Abby is and always will be our fighter. All we have to do is click on the early months of this blog site to be reminded of Abby's strength and fierce will to survive. She can handle this. That little girl is 10 times stronger than I could ever hope to be. She is her daddy's hero.

On a lighter note, we had a great week last week. Abby got to play with her cousins each day which was fantastic. We also took her out for her first pool experience! She liked being out and about but wasn't too into the water. I think she was just tired because she loves water. We'll try again soon.

The pics are of mommy and Abby hanging out pool side and then from today after church.

Please pray that the surgery goes well and that Abby's recovery is quick and she'll be able to come home on Wednesday. We love you all very much. There are only so many ways to say that with getting all "hallmark" sounding and overloaded with cheesiness. But it's true. We love knowing you all log on. We STILL love hearing about those we don't even know who check in on Abby. It warms my heart. And at times like this, it does more than I can express.

The Gaya Family

Happy Easter Everybody!

Well,

We had a great Easter Sunday and we hope you all did too. Abby was able to go to church for the first time today and it was a blast. I was especially grateful to have my little family there with me for the first time. Abby got to meet her cousins for the first time this weekend too. My sister Jocelyn and her husband Tyler and their two boys, Tristan and Caden are on spring break down our way from Nor Cal. The boys were very excited to meet her and it was fun to watch them with her.

Abby is doing great. I forgot to mention last time that this past Monday, momma took Abby to the mall for the first time and she loved it! She had so much fun just looking around and taking in all the action. And speaking of taking in all the action, she's up right now and giggling and playing as I type this and it's 9:15PM. She went to bed at around 8PM and she usually sleeps through the night. I guess she wasn't done with her Easter Sunday yet. As far as her health and everything goes, she is doing well. She is still at 13 lbs though and not even back to where she was before she got sick which is a bummer. We really need her to gain weight faster so she can get that G tube out of her. Other than that she is doing fine. Still going to therapy 3 times a week and still making slow and steady progress on all fronts...which are her eating therapy, her physical therapy and her occupational therapy.

Abby has another brain surgery a week from this Tuesday so please keep her in your prayers.

Momma is doing well with her pregnancy. This Friday begins week 24! Wow! She said she is feeling very "pregnant" these days.

And now, as promised, here are a ton of pics!

Abby and her friend Everly on a day trip to Everly's house in San Diego!




Abby's first experience with wet grass on her bare feet... She wasn't a fan



The Family on Easter Morning...Abby's first Easter Basket



She had more fun playing with the paper than anything else





Abby with her new hat on that she got from the Easter Bunny



Abby, Mommy and Daddy After Church

A Stroll down Memory Lane

Hello everyone,

Abby is still doing great. She has come such a long way and Kelly and I are so proud and so amazed by her little spirit. And since I don't have any recent photo's at the moment, let's take a quick stroll down memory lane really quick.

Here she is, a mere 2 lbs or so. Note the bump on her head. That is the reservoir that was put in which is where the neurosurgeons would stick a needle to pull out the accumulating fluid. They did this until she was big enough to have the shunt put in.




For a while at the beginning Abby had her own room. This allowed daddy to stretch out a bit and catch a nap!



Already sticking out her tongue...I love it.



Here she is in her NICU crib.



AND HERE SHE IS NOW!!! OH MY GOODNESS....!!!!




Have a great Easter Weekend everyone! I'm sure we'll have some FANTASTIC Easter pics of our little angel..

We love you all. And again, thanks to those who take the time to write and say some kind words.

Momma and Daddy got sick!

Happy Monday Abby Fans,

We got a little sick this weekend and I didn't get a chance to update the blog. The short update is that Abby is doing great. She's not sick anymore herself and is still as cute as ever. I'll post some pics tonight!

Take care,

Ryan