Month: August 2004

13 August, Friday: This afternoon Lisa took Gabriella to her weigh-in and weekly check-up at TAMC (Tripler Army Medical Center). Once again Gabriella gained some weight – she is back up to her birth weight – 7 pounds 14 ounces.

However, the doctors are still concerned that she is not putting the weight on fast enough. If her numbers don’t improve over the next 10 days, they will likely admit her to the hospital for a few days to try a supplemental nasal feeding tube. Dr Mahnke (cardiologist) also noted an expected increase in Gabriella’s respiration and perspiration. Both symptoms indicate Gabriella’s heart is becoming less efficient due to the normal changes that take place in all newborn’s lungs during the first few months.

While these changes are a positive development, in that they decrease certain risk-factors associated with Gabriella’s surgery, they are still difficult for a parent to observe – as it is plain to see that Gabriella is working harder and harder each day to maintain her status quo. This is all part of the “two steps forward and one step back” type of progress the doctors warned us about at the outset of this journey. Lisa continues to work incredibly hard looking after each of the girls – thankfully her “Mother’s Helper” – Michelle – begins helping out this coming Monday.

Thank you for your prayers.

12 August, Thursday: Gabriella continues to have “up” and “down” days when it comes to eating. Today she ate a bit less than normal – nevertheless we are positive about her overall progress and looking forward to Friday’s weigh-in at Tripler.

Thank you for your prayers.

11 August, Wednesday: — Technology update — Frustrated that you can’t get the hang of “TEXT MESSAGING?”. Click on the following image to see an example of a text message sent by Lucy and Gabriella from their Hotmail account.

Sadly, Lisa received only one text message yesterday. Let’s try to do better today! ***Note: Honorable mention goes to Sylvia (Lisa’s Mum), who called Lisa to let her know that she was thinking about sending Lisa a text message.***

As you can probably guess by now, Gabriella is doing as well as can be exptected. She continues to meet her feeding goals and we are praying we will see a few more ounces on her when she weighs in this Friday. All for now.

Thank you for your prayers.

10 August, Tuesday: The last few days have been pretty hectic as we scrambled to do the last few things before Dad goes back to work. Please remember Lisa in your prayers as she will be flying solo until the 16th of August – when her “helper” Michelle starts work.

Gabriella received top marks today when they did an ultrasound examination of her hip joints…the doctors were concerned that her left hip might be displaced. On the eating/feeding front: Gabriella has both good and bad days. Monday she seemed a bit out of sorts and not overly interested in eating. Today, she was back on track and eating well. We will know more after her next weigh-in this coming Friday.

Please know how much we appreciate the prayers, and kind words and deeds we receive – YOU boost our morale when we are low and that means so very much to us. Please continue to tell Gabriella’s story to others and feel free to pass along the address to this web site – the more prayers the better.

Finally, if you would like to give Lisa a little boost during the day, try sending her a “text message,” it’s easy to do (exactly like an E-mail just a different address), and she’ll receive your words just moments after you send them. To send Lisa a text message just type the following address in the “TO: line of an E-mail: 8082232018@mobile.att.net Then add a few words in the subject line and your short message (MUST be less than 100 words). That’s it! Moments later, Lisa will receive your words on her cell phone. Give it a shot. All for now…time to sleep.

Thank you for your prayers.

05 August, Thursday: Yesterday’s tropical storm has passed, we survived the 24 hours of rain, and the sunny skies have returned to Kailua. Gabriella continues to eat well, so we feel positive about her weigh-in tomorrow. Rumor has it that Grandpa Yates (Lisa’s father) now has a high-speed internet connection… we are looking forward to our first Yahoo Messenger video conference with them in Halifax. All for now.

Thank you for your prayers.

03 August, Tuesday: (click on photos) Yesterday afternoon Gabriella weighed in at 7lbs 10oz, an increase of SIX ounces in 72 hours. Mom, Dad, and the doctors are all quite pleased with her weight gain. However, Dr. Mahnke (Gabriella’s Pediatric Cardiologist) informed us that Gabriella’s weight and her ability to gain will probably be an ongoing issue until she has recovered from her heart surgery. Still, it was wonderful to receive some good news. In an effort to increase the caloric punch, Dr. Mahnke prescribed another additive for Gabriella’s formula.

So our kitchen sort of resembles Starbucks when it comes time to mix up the formula. “Yes, I’d like a full-fat Mama’s Milk Grande latte with formula boost – extra sweet!” When we returned from the hospital we received a lovely present from our cousin Pamela – matching outfits for the girls. Lucy was very pleased with her “proper big-sister dress.” Thank you Pam. Today is another busy day so I will bring this to a close.

Thank you for your prayers.

Gabriella’s BEST Day of Eating

She ate 420ml (milliliters) over 24 hrs. To put that into perspective, the volume your typical wine bottle is 750ml. That may not sound like much but when you weigh less than 8 pounds, it is a lot.

On the advice of the Lactation consultant, we bumped up her feeding to every 3 hours (from every 4 hours). It usually takes her about 45 minutes to finish her meal of 60 ml (2.0 ounces). After a quick burp session it is back to sleep for about two hours and then the cycle begins again.

Gabriella’s weight remained the same, 7lbs, 4oz on Friday’s visit to TAMC. Although she is in no immediate danger, everyone is eager for her to put on some weight. As such, we are now boosting her caloric intake by adding a bit of formula to the Milk Mama pumps for her. Well that’s about all for now……………….I think somebody needs to eat 🙂

Thank you for your prayers.