Upon my visit at the sound of my voice, she opened her eyes and managed a slight smile out of the corner of her mouth.

Nurse Rosemary (one of two primary-and favorite nurses) said that she now seems to love being pampered - loves her bath time and having lotion rubbed on her. (Teresa's daily thing to do upon visiting) Rosemary also said that she (baby) doesn't seem to want to have her oxygen tubes messed with-she likes them in a certain position.

Baby had a good day today and will be completely off the paralytical meds by tomorrow and possible moving (arm/legs) more. Thanks for your prayers, this is a critical and important week. They are going to be trying to feed some liquid/breastmilk through the stomach/ intestines later on this week if all goes according to plan.

Gabriella's swelling seems to be going down and her vital signs have been good & stable. the nurse said that she had some slight bronchial spasms today-similar to an asthma attack.

Josh and Teresa made their decision concerning Gabriella's care should another episode occur. due to baby's internal condition, they have opted NOT to authorize chest compressions as a life saving option. If necessary, the doctors will clear the airway, bag, and administer all life saving medicines, including the adrenalin to jumpstart the heart. no invasive procedures will be done due to her present condition.

We are praying/believing that none of these options will be necessary. So basically, it is a revised DNR (do not resuscitate) order. This order can be removed/revised at any time. It is hard to talk of this kind of thing, but due to her condition and the "uniqueness" of Gabriella, (she is the only one with her defects in the world) the doctors strongly advised having something in place for her. Thankyou for loving her so much I know that this is what gives her the strength to keep fighting.

Gabriella opened her eyes just a peak, for Teresa and I this morning. Her swelling seems to be going down. They gave her another antibiotic due to an unknown (of origin) fever of 100 degrees over the weekend. all testing has come back negative. She is due to start coming off of the paralyic medication maybe tomorrow.

With Great Uncle Greg

Greg is here to visit with Gabriella (and us) this weekend. He says that she is a sweetheart! Her head is still swollen, her antibiotics are complete and Monday marks a critical week (life/death) as they begin to take her off the paralying meds and she begins to do some moving.

There are positive/negative things that comes with this. The negative-bronchial spasms and another "episode" and the positive-she will see her mommy/daddy/grandma/sister again and her auntie Mel for the first time.

An interesting thing happen while Greg was visiting her-Gabriella held on to his hand! Previously her grip was only our finger inside her's-yesterday, Greg came out after his visit and said "she has a strong grip"...I was puzzled as she didn't have a "grip" the past two weeks. When I visited next, I took her hand as I always do and when I tried to release it at the end of my visit, she was gripping tightly! she was telling us "I'm here".

I praise God for this wonderful little girl with such will to live and such a beautiful spirit. I know that she is truly our "unique" (as the doctors call her) and miracle baby girl.

Today marks Gabriella's 3rd month with our family. As Uncle Bob has stated, she is a warrior. She has the desire to live, we hope and pray that her little body with endure.

See pic from yesterday-her face is a little less swollen today. The surgeon had told us to expect to see her really sick for 2-3 weeks, but we were not prepared for what we have had to see our beautiful little Gabriella go through. And this the first of possibly 12 surgeries. Of course, no one is sure now if surgeries are the answer. Gabriella is the one who would have to try to endure each one-it is heartbreaking.

If you notice the green frog in the pic-Froggie, as we call him has been with Gabriella ever since Auntie Mel, Uncle Shane and Cousin Maura sent him to Gabriella. She loves him and has smiled at him many times.

Our interpreter/Chaplain told us the other day that FROG in the Christian realm is an acronim that stands for Fully Relying on God, and as you see, this is just what Gabriella is doing. Thank you to the Juedes for sending this little Angel Frog to be by Gabriella's side. We have determined that He will stay with her always. Love to all.

hello everyone. thanks so much for your continued prayers. Received more info on the "code episode" yesterday morning with Gabriella.

Her airway had blockage and when trying to clear the airway, air was released out of her traeche causing a drop in her SATS to a critical number. the nurse called a code, however, no heart compressions were done, and Gabriella was stabilized quickly.

She had a stable, peaceful night and is resting with pain meds. She face is very swollen, but this is due to the surgery post op and the meds she is taking to keep her still/non-moving in order to allow her stitches/wound to heal.

we are all taking turns staying with Teresa at the hospital-we want Gabriella to know that we love her and are there for her. Today was a overall good day with a couple instances of SAT drops due to airway leakage-not to a critical level-thank God.

I am told she really needs a different diameter Traeche, however, she is too critical to make a Traeche change at this time, so all they can do is monitor closely the Traeche airway leakage and keep it to a minimum. Her blood pressure, blood gases and other testing are all good.

Baby is still stable w/some of the swelling gone down. ultrasound of intestines today was favorable. she opened her eyes very briefly once last night and had two bowel movements, which is favorable for surgery patients.
thankyou for the continued prayers.

Tired daddy

I spent today at the hospital and Gabriella will be sedated for at least a week, so that she has no movement as she has an open wound and several stitches. they just don't want her moving for now at this critical time. she had a echo for her heart today and all was well. they added another medication to help her with her urinating today.

Gabriella had to have emergency surgery yesterday, the surgeons determining that she had an obstructed or kinked intestine thus causing the swelling in her giant omphalecele (sp?) which was a life threatening issue. she went into surgery for prepping at 4p and the first of several surgeries was completed around 9p last night. she did well in the surgery and is in stable, but critical condition with the days to come very critical as well due to the actual open wound and how this will affect her frail, tiny body. she is a fighter though, so we are hopeful, full of faith in God to give her the added strength she needs to stay here on this earth and be a part of our family.

The surgeons repaired the instestine, constructed a diaphram, put a mesh around the stomach to keep it in place, moved her liver in place (out of the right lung area) and moved her heart inside the rib cage. (it was outside the rib cage-the first these surgeons had ever seen-so I was told). so indeed, Gabriella is a very unique, special little girl. the intestines are suspended in a gauze wrapping for now until more surgery can be done-giving her time to recuperate from this trauma to her little body. keep her in your prayers as always.

Please keep Gabriella in your prayers especially today. She has developed an infection and the doctors have not located the source of the infection after many tests. She has been running a low grade fever off & on ever since she received her first series of immunizations a couple of weeks ago. the doctor says it may be fluid on her spine and are still doing testing at this time.

She is a fighter and we are trusting God to pull her through. her new bed on the transitional floor is awaiting her, so we are hopeful this will clear up with the antibiotics that she was put on today.

My visit with Gabriella today was wonderful with lots of smiles! She is off the "sleepy" meds and more alert and down to 18 on her oxygen rate. She is moving to the transitional floor this week after she has adjusted to a new breathing machine that they use on that floor.

Also, she has started physical and speech therapy. The transitional floor has more experience with traech babies, so all should be well. Continue to remember her in your prayers as always. We are looking forward to the day when she can come home-even if it is with a Home Health nurse.