We apologize for not updating again but has been a crazy day. I left around 2:30Pm today to go to a wedding for friends of our Curt and Michelle...Congrats again guys! It was a beautiful wedding and Gracie was the flower girl...we will have pictures of her up on the blog tomorrow. Micah stayed here with the little one and family and friends that were here to visit.
Our Roller Coaster continues as Gabi required more fluid today to help maintain her heart rate and blood pressure. If you've been following a long you know that isn't good as that is what makes her puffier. With that being said the odds of her being able to have her chest closed on Monday probably isn't real good.
I am the worst with asking questions that the Dr's can't answer. I keep forgetting that she is in the PICU and everything is one day at a time if not one hour at a time. Everything could change over night and tomorrow and she could be more than ready for the procedure Monday. It could all very easily go the other direction as well and that is why we continue to need your prayers. We know the world is still going on outside of this hospital and there are many more people just as much in need of prayers as we are, which makes us so appreciative when everyone does make the time to pray for our family!
Micah and I are sorry that we will not be in church to worship with the rest of our congregation but we will make our way to the chapel tomorrow and will be thinking of all of you who are praying for us! Gabi continues to amaze all of us and Micah and I could not be more proud as parents to know that we have brought such an amazing little girl into this world that is so determined and such a fighter at such an early age. We have said it before but that little girls is going to change the world!
We love you all
Jason, Micah, Gracie, and Gabi
(Big sissy is back with us to help take care of pink and squishy!)
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Oh the Roller Coaster!
Closing Day
Just a quick one...we just heard this morning that they are planning on closing her chest on Monday morning....Big Day! Please be with us then as we will need all of your prayers! We'll continue to let you know details as we get them.
26 States and 3 Foreign Countries that are with us so far....Let us know if you're in a state or Country not listed!
Idaho
Montana
California
Florida
Hawaii
Georgia
Ohio
Michigan
Tennessee
Mississippi
Alabama
Kentucky
Utah
Louisiana
Nevada
Kansas
Missouri
Oklahoma
Texas
Nebraska
Iowa
Minnesota
Indiana
North Carolina
Washington
Arizona
South Korea
Canada
Guam
Friday, June 29, 2007
We didn't forget ya!
We apologize for taking so long to add an update to the blog! The positive side to that means that we haven't had anything really change to update! Gabi is doing so good...she actually had 45cc's of urine during the 12hr day shift which is incredible. She has less and less fluid coming out of her chest which means there is less fluid inside her. She is a little puffy still from all of the fluids from the first day that they had to bombard her with but since she is urinating more that is supposed to get rid of the fluid that is absorbed in her tissues. Heart rate and blood pressure are still holding strong and she has opened her eyes twice for me and mommy which really really made our day!
With all of this good news the wife and I would like to do something fun. We have so many people that are following along with us through this journey we would like to know more about you. Several of you are out of state so if you are following along with us if you could add a comment and put what state you are from we will see how many different states or countries are praying for and thinking of our little girl...once we have that we will report back on the blog a running total of how many different states we have!
PERSONAL NOTES...
- Nate and Amy - thank you so much for commenting but we need your contact info as we don't know how to contact you and see how Kaden is doing?
- Tatum, Eric and Donovan - Thank you so much for sending the angel of courage. It was perfect as Micah collects them. I don't have your number or contact info to call or send a thank you. If you could leave that for us we would greatly appreciate it.
- Members of the Centropolis Christian Church - We are so proud and touched that so many members came together for our little girl. It shows us why we drive over 30 minutes every sunday to worship with all of you. Thank you so much for passing our story on to your friends and family so we receive as many prayers as possible.
- Loving Friends - For all of you who know us or don't know us and have found it in your hearts to pray for us and our baby...thank you! Your love and support still helps to get us through the day. Many of you check this blog on a regular basis...my wife and I check the comments just as often to see who is watching and thinking of us! We get so excited every time we have a new comment of encouragement for our family!
- Parents and Family - You guys have been so amazing by standing by our side every day. Whether you are spending your entire day beside us or working as hard as you can to get to us as quick as you can! Your moral, emotional, financial, spiritual, physical, and food support has been more appreciated than you'll ever know.
- Jim and Vicki - To have you here every day with us is truly an amazing feeling. Even the Chaplain here at the hospital has commented on how amazing and impressed they were with the support that our pastor has provided. They have never seen a pastor offer so much support or be so dedicated to a family of their congregation!
- Aaron and Amber - You guys have helped us so much with one of largest responsibilities we have outside or our children which would be our puppies...thank you so much for allowing us not to have to stress about that and know that they are in good hands.
Ok...so now I'm starting to ramble I'm sure I left someone out and if so I apologize and will go with one last global thank you...we love and appreciate all of you! Until tomorrow morning...Good NIGHT!
Love
Jason, Micah, and Gabi (pink and squishy)
Mommy's Thoughts...
We have been debating for a while if we should or should not put pictures on here of Gabi all hooked up to her machines. But then this morning when we went to visit Nurse Debbie had put piggies in her hair. Well I could not resist I decided to show her off. She is still cute as ever and still being as spoiled as ever! So under the pre-op piggies you will find the new pics.
She has pee peed 22 cc's in 5 hours, that my friends is FANTASTIC! She has been responding well to the decrease in her blood pressure meds. So we are slowly getting to a "safer" place. It is a bit of relief, but I must admit I am still not emotionally stable. And of course I won't be until we are at home and even then I will continue to worry, but it will be comforting to be at home.
I know yesterday many of you saw an entry that Jason wrote "Do as Your Mother Says". Well I wanted to add a few of my thoughts, because it has really made me wonder how could anyone ever wish harm upon an innoscent child? She was sent to us as a gift from God and I would do absolutely anything to protect my angel. She is full of smiles, so much personality, and she has touched so many lives. In fact we found out today that someone has added her to a prayer list in South Korea...we have gone global! Anyways, the is only some much I can say in response to the hate message, but if anyone has ever had an issue with Jason or myself that is exactly what it is, an issue with us. How anyone could sleep at night knowing they said mean things about an innoscent child's health it is absolutely absurd. People change, we grow up and become adults and hopefully are more mature. I know that both of us are completely different people than we used to be, but that is for the better. And even in the last 5 months we have changed so so much. Our perspective on life has changed. We live one day at a time, we do not take life or people for that matter for granted. Gabi has touched our lives in a way that we never knew was possible and we will forever be thankful to her for that.
With that all being said THANK YOU everyone out there who continues to pray for our angel. We know she is being protected and God and many many angels are with her at this time of need. We always here the power of prayer is an amazing thing, but I never knew how powerful until now!
The Sun is Shining
Micah and I had a long talk last night about the interpretation of the word good. To some people when you say how are you doing and the immediate response is "Good thanks for asking" For us when people say how is Gabi doing and we say good what we mean is "She's not on life support or dialysis and she is taking baby steps towards being stable"
As you are going through something like this it is amazing at how excited you can get over what may be considered small things. I know Gabi is teaching us and I hope she is teaching the rest of the world that each day is precious. I've been through my own ordeals and and learned a whole new respect for life. This takes it to an entirely different level when it is your child. Every morning I come in to see Gabi and when she hears my voice and squeezes my hand it is like God has reached down and touched me himself!
Ok...Ok...Ok...I'll give the update now! haha
Blood Pressure - Still standing strong they have reduced her blood pressure medicene a little bit and she has been able to still maintain. They are not going to reduce it any more because they are going to start working towards closing her chest. It won't be over the weekend but the goal is early next week.
Heart Rate - Still a little high but not terrible. She had a spike in heart rate last night so they had to give her Digi which is the medicene she has been on all her life and it worked to bring the heart rate back down.
Fever - Gone
Urine - She is producing more urine and dumping more fluids out of her chest and electrolytes are good so the odds of Dialysis are not even in the picture today. She only produced 7cc's during the day and 25cc's through the night! Wooohoooo WE HAVE PEE!
They are going to play with some different medications and rates over the weekend to remove more fluid to reach our goal of closing her chest next week!
So let's gear our prayers towards the next baby step of her responding well to the new medications to be able to close her chest next week and get started again from that point!
Thank You all and please continue to stick with us...Gabi needs all of you!
Love
Jason, Micah, and Gabi
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Reality Check
Gabi is definitely doing better and we thank all of you for the prayers to get her on the right path. Unfortunately we had a bit of a reality check. They added a new medicine to Gabi's long laundry list of drugs and it altered the flow of one other drug and her blood pressure dropped immediately to 48! Michelle the nurse increased the flow of the drug and her blood pressure slowly came back up.
It was just a wake up call on exactly how reliant she is on the drugs. The positive side is that her body is responding to the medication without additional help from machines.
So I guess in short is we may need your prayers for quite a while. She is going to be in the PICU for quite some time and even once they close her chest back up they are pretty much going to start back from scratch because they don't know how she will react once there is pressure again against the heart and lungs.
As I always say we are far from out of the woods but Gabi is chipping away at the forrest one swing at a time! Having all of you with us on this journey is definitely helping and we hope you stick with us through to the end!
Love,
Jason, Micah, and Gabi
Do what your mother says!
Everyone I'm sure remembers when you were a young child learning the ways of the world and respect and courtesy being one of them your mother used to always tell you "If you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything"
You wouldn't think in a situation like this where you have an amazing little girl fighting for her life that this is a subject that would come up. Unfortunately some idiot has found the need to be disrespectful, hateful, mean, and very cowardly as they decided to leave a very negative comment towards our family and did not even have the guts to sign their name to the comment. We feel extremely sorry for this indivdual as I'm sure all of you who are praying for us will as well.
We all know that the love for our family and Gabi is so strong that we know ignorance has no power to penetrate our family. I am only writing this entry to ask you to say a quick prayer for the person or people that would have so much hate in their hearts that they would feel the need to wish harm on our angel and as their comment mentioned the equilibrium in the universe. I fear if this is true what will happen to them for wishing harm on our gift from god!
If you are one of those people with the hate in your heart I am begging you with all my heart to please please keep your negative comments to yourself. My family has enough to worry about without having to hear ill wishes on our angel!
Thank You!
No News is Good News...
Basically I have nothing to report...YIPEE!!!
Here are the stats at this point...
Blood Pressure still staying strong in the high 60's low 70's
Heart Rate is still up a little but because of some of the meds she is on that is very common, so not concerned there.
She is in a Sinus Rhythm which means her heart is conducting the way it should be!!!
Fever is 99.6 which is not a concern. Anything over 101.5 then we worry.
She was given meds to make her urinate and that didn't work, but it could have been absorbed in her tummy so we are not concerned. They are going to try an IV form instead and this has a greater chance of doing what we need, I will keep you posted!
Thanks again for the continual thoughts and prayers. I know that is why we are having the results we are. God is on our side and he will protect! All I want is to hold my angel, but right now I will take what I am getting... no more setbacks!
GOD IS HER STRENGTH!
Prayer Works
The prayers are working keep up the good work...Gabi is doing so much better this morning. Here is a run down of where she is at...
Heart Rate - 170 (A little high but better high then low)
Blood Pressure - 73 (This is awesome and she has been maintaing it)
Fever - 99.5 - A little above normal but not even considered a fever any more
Urine - A little low but her electrolytes are good so the odds of Dialysis is minimal
Gabi is still on a lot of support and heavily medicated but all of this news tells us that she is starting to respond better to the medication which is awesome. This is such a relief to us to hear this morning, both of us had a very difficult time sleeping last night with the concern of our baby having to go on Dialysis this morning. So knowing that the odds of that happening now are minimal I'm ready to dance the jig! haha
I'm tellin ya you threaten this kid with anything and she listens. Threatened the NG tube and she started eating again, threatend suppository and she began making doody, threatened life support she started responding to medication, threatened dialysis and she begins to produce urine and have good levels of electrolytes...hahaha....She probably just knows mom and dad wouldn't be able to handle it!
We want to thank everyone that is keeping up on this blog and praying for us and leaving the comments. Every time we read a comment, get an email, phone call, or update from someone else it brings a tear to our eyes because of all the love and support Us and Gabi are recieving. I will continue to keep this updated on a regular basis as I feel all of you are going through this right along with us and want to make sure no one is left in the dark.
So lets all take a deep breathe...say Thenk You Jesus for helping to take care of Gabi and getting her to this point. Jesus we need you to continue to watch over her and get her out of the woods and on her road to recovery! AMEN!
Love,
Jason, Micah, and Gabi (Our Angel)
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Deep Thoughts by Mommy Acker...
(You like that title don't you Ginger...hahaha!)
Well here we at the end of night #2 and still not the results we want, but they are not bad either. So I guess we are definitely more satisfied than yesterday. Gabi is fighting hard and we are praying even harder. She has had some secretions out of her mouth and nose. The mouth is contributed from the breathing tube down her throat. As for her nose, now there is concern she may have a respiratory infection. That is not what we want to hear, but atleast if that is it they can finally pen point the problem and tackle it with some more meds. Then she could finally break her fever...poor baby is still running a fever around 101.5. Her blood pressure is steady at a place that we are less concerned, but her heart rate is still to high. So we are kind of hoping to hear she has a respiratory infection so then the meds can take care of her infection, knock out the fever, and her heart rate will go down, while still maintaining her blood pressure. WOW!!!
As we sit in our little 10x10 room we are anxiously waiting for morning without a call through the night. Tonight we had our own prayer vigil at the hospital chapel. It was so peaceful. Jason, myself, Uncle Freddie, Aunt GiGi, MiMi, and Papi all said a silent prayer, then we talked a bit. It was a very emotional conversation as if we have had any other type of conversations lately...but it was nice to be in a "safe place".
MeMa and Papa went to the church prayer vigil and said it was wonderful. 27 members showed up and showed their support for Gabi and our family. Mema said it was a tear jerker. A special thank to all who attended, you have no idea how deeply touched we are. Our angel is getting prayers from all across the nation. Word travels fast when a little one is in need. She is such an amazing little girl. She has so many people who love her so much.
Today has been hard for us, we are still not in a place where we are comfortable with what is going on. We had good and still some bad come out of today. She moved around and she is recognizing when family is talking to her. But we still have concern for her kidneys, blood pressure, and her heart rate. We are keeping our heads up and with Gods grace he will bring our baby to good health. Do not let my baby suffer, take care of her Lord. Lay your hands upon her and heal her. She needs you know more than ever.
We thought yesterday we were bringing her in to be fixed. She was fixed, but the fix brought on new problems that we did not anticipate. All I keep seeing over and over in my head is me passing her off to the nurses and they carry her down the OR hall. She had her eyes wide open looking all around smiling and thinking...mom where are they taking me? Sometimes I wish I'd of never let her go...God please let me put my baby in my arm see that pretty girl smile!
Quick Run Down!
I apologize for some of the lengthy updates on what has been going on. Here is the Cliff Notes version of what is going on!
Her blood pressure is staying up which is good but her heart rate is going up right along with it which is not good. She still has a fever and they are giving her tylenol and anibiotics to fight off a possible infection. We won't know that for sure for another day or so. If she doesn't start producing more urine she will have to go onto dialysis tomorrow morning. She has produced some here of late so if she keeps it up they may be able to avoid that. We're still up and down but continuing the fight.
Micah and I are just a little knumb with all that is hitting at once. Sometimes it doesn't feel like it is real but as we all know it is very real. We are going to get through this and as long as Gabi keeps fighting we're going to keep fighting right along with her.
Thank you again for all your thoughts and prayers.
Tick...Tock...Tick...Tock...Tick...Tock
URGENT UPDATE - We just received an update that now Gabi's Kidneys are not functioning properly and after a major surgery the Kidneys are the first thing to have issues. Her body is releasing to much acid into her blood. They are going to monitor this and if she does not begin urinating then there is now a possiblity she could be put on dialysis. Dialysis will filter the blood to remove the toxins which will hopefully help her Kidneys to begin working again! Hey good news though her heart rate has been increased consistently so there is a silver lining. Now if we can just get something fixed without something else going wrong we would be set!
We want to thank each and everyone one of you for keeping up with this blog and praying for the healthy recovery of our little angel. The reason I have titled this one tick...tock is the simple fact that we are in a waiting game at this point.
Right now Gabi is receiving a blood transfusion which is helping to increase her blood pressure so that is a great thing. The only questions is will she be able to maintain it once the transfusion is over. The Doctor said that Gabi is trying to fix things herself since her blood pressure is so low her heart is beating faster to try and compensate for such low pressure. Which is good that her body is trying to correct it but it is doing it backwards! Her heart rate needs to slow down and build up more pressure to increase her blood pressure.
She is still on several medications, her fever is coming down a little so hopefully the antibiotics are helping with that as well. The doctor said that she will be in this up and down cycle of fluids and medications for the next 24hrs. They are hoping to start taking her off of some of her medications tomorrow and allow her body to take care of itself more and more. Her oxygen levels are very good so her lungs are working perfect. We just need that little heart of hers to start building up some pressure.
Stay with us and we will continue to let you know if there are any changes. Micah and I are so lucky to have so many of you going through this sit and wait game with us as our baby continues to fight. I don't know how we will ever be able to thank all of you for being with us and praying for our angel.
My Sweet Angel
FYI :
There will be a special prayer service for Gabi tonight at 8:00 pm at Centropolis Christian Church. That is the church we attend. We feel so blessed that we have such a supportive and loving church family service. We will make plans to go to the hospital sanctuary at the time of the special service. We will be with you in prayer. Thank you! We love you!!!
10:45 am-
Well Daddy and I finally got some much needed rest last night. Around 10:30 pm we left her room took showers and Jason added his last entry for the evening. Then around 11:30 pm we visited Gabi a bit longer, said sweet dreams and we went to bed. We got about 7 hours of sleep. We had a phone next to our bed in case of an emergency, but she did great through the night. Around 7:30 this morning Jason came and saw baby girl while I cleaned up. He called as soon as he got in Gabi's room. She had responded to his voice. She squeezed his hand opened her eyes a tiny bit and was moving her body. So I finished in a flash and came right away to hold hands with my angel. This morning the doctors decided to cut back on the sedation meds and increase her fluid intake to a steady pace instead a big shots once in a while. So she is responsive and we couldn't be more excited. Although her blood pressure is still low, she is doing better.
As for Daddy and I well we are definitely in a better state of mind than we were yesterday. God is giving us a little bit more reassurance that baby girl will come out of this just fine. We have said so many prayers that I think God is tired of us asking so instead of telling us to wait a bit longer he just may be ready to give us what we want, more importantly what we need. I know that is a bit selfish, but I want nothing more than to hold my baby!
So we just got word that she has been running a fever. Which in some cases is very typical, but with all the other concerns right now the doctors are taking extra precautions to make sure it is not due to an infection. She had blood drawn to send off and be tested for infection. They have given her some added antibiotics to help if there is an infection. So again we would appreciate you all to continue to pray for Gabi's recovery. Poor baby is going through so much. God is her strength and we put our faith in him to heal her.
Thanks and we will continue to update as the day progresses!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Daddy's Love
This has by far been the most emotional day of our lives. As a father you natural role is to be the protector, the one who can defeat any monster or boogy man. The one that no matter how scared your child may be can make them feel safe. You are the one that when your wife needs a rock to hold her up you are always there. Most men will gladly accept this role with honor and as every man knows that has taken on this role there are times when things become so heavy that you the rock...can crack.
I could not hold up any more today and I cracked. I feel so helpless to see my littlest angel fight for her life and there is nothing I can do to help make it better. All I can do is talk to her, hold her hand, and kiss her head. I'm struggling to be strong for Micah as I myself am having a hard time not thinking about the what if's with my baby. At first I felt like I had failed in my role to protect, support, and take the pain away for my girls. As I grow as a father though I am realizing that I have to let myself feel the emotions as well otherwise I will truly fail my family. I love everyone in my family so much but as a father and a man you will never experience pain and emotion like seeing one of your own lying in a bed and not knowing the outcome.
We have put our faith in God, Friends, Family, the Doctors, and of course Gabi. We have come to terms that all we can do is pray for our angel, lean on our friends and family, rely on what the docotrs do and tell us, and trust that Gabi has so much fight in her that she will pull through no matter how hard things get.
Again, thank you so much for your prayers and well wishes as they help us get through the day to know that so many people are praying for her and us in our time of need. We feel truly blessed and love knowing we have such strong support behind us. No matter the outcome we know that we will always have a foundation under us that no matter whether we both crack we will always have people to hold us up and put us back together!
Thank You!
The Roller Coaster
Well it is hard to say what is going to happen now. Gabi came out of her second surgery which dramatically helped her situation. She sits in her PICU room right now with an open chest. They relieved the pressure and not to re-create the same circumstance they have left her chest open to relieve pressure. The medication has been helping her a lot but she continues to go up and down and the doctors have told us that this evening will be a roller coaster of results. They have informed us that that putting her on life support to help her relax is not the optimal situation but it is a possibility to help her pull out of this. Little Gabi is a fighter for sure, she is far from out of the woods and your prayers are helping her to continue fighting so please keep them coming...we want to take our baby home! I will try and update again but we really want to thank all of our family for coming back to the hospital to visit us along with Jim Cain and his family, the support has definitely help us cope through a time that no parent ever wants to have to be in...Watching their little girl fight for their life!
PLEASE PLEASE PRAY HARD!!!!!
Gabi is not doing well. She has taken a turn for the worst from her surgery. She is having difficulty with her heart pumping. They have taken her back to surgery to open her chest to relieve pressure. If that doesn't work they will put her on a machine to pump her heart and lungs for her. They will keep her on there for a few days and if that doesn't work then our options will be very limited.
You have all been amazing and we need you more than ever right now as this angel has come to us and changed all our lives. It is too early for her to leave us!
Please Please Pray Hard for Gabi's little heart to start pumping correctly on its own!
A Heart Complete
Well today is the big day. We were at Children's Mercy all day yesterday for pre-op. She had an EKG, an Echo, blood work, weighed and measured twice, and then poked again! The great news from yesterday is the fact that she hit her 11lb mark that they wanted her at before surgery! Little Gabi was a little trooper and slept all evening and night. Mommy was pretty impressive she held her composure all day.
8:00 AM -
We left Mimi's and Papi's house at 5:30AM to head to the hospital. We got here to find Micah's Dad and Brother waiting to see us. Mimi and Papi weren't far behind before we took Gabi back. When she first went back they checked vitals and asked a bunch of routine questions. One of the doctors came in then we took her out to give final kisses before going back to the OR. That was tough but we said a little prayer and smiled at her sweet little face. And now the waiting begins....
We will continue to post as we get updates....Thanks to all for the many prayers!
8:30 AM -
Kasey our Nurse Parctitioner came down and gave us our first update on how the little one is doing. Gabi is taking to the anesthesia very well and they inserted her IVs into her neck, groin, and two into her feet for her to receive her mediciene and blood...Stay tuned!
9:30 AM -
Kasey just gave us another update that she is doing well. They have made the incision and she is currently on the machines for her heart and lungs while the surgeon is operating. He will continue to operate on her heart for about another hour or hour and a half. Once they are done they will do another Ecco to make sure the blood is flowing properly.
10:50 AM -
Kasey just informed us that the repair on Gabi's heart is done. They are getting ready to take her off of the heart and lung machines for her to be able to do it on her own. They will be using a machine through her esophogus to directly monitor the flow of the blood through her heart. They will be draining the surgical fluid and blood now. They will be cleaning her up and closing the incision in the next hour to hour and a half...We are almost out of the woods...please continue to pray. We know that all your prayers are helping her get through the surgical part so smoothly at this point.
12:05 PM -
They finished the testing of Gabi's heart after the repair and there is only a little bit of backflow of blood through the left ventricle. She said this is very common right after surgery and may be something that fixes itself by the time she leaves. She said at this point it wasn't even bad enough to where they would perscribe mediciene to regulate. They will obviously monitor her after such a major surgery and continue to always keep an eye on that ventrical. She had a little bit of bleeding but less than they expected, so she still has the drainage tubes under her ribs. They will be moving her to the PICU in the next 10 to 15 minutes and we should finally be able to see our beautiful angel in about an hour to hour and half in the PICU. She won't be awake but mommy and I are so excited just to be able to see and touch our baby girl after such a long morning. They said she did incredible on her own once they took her off of the lung and heart machines too. We've all said it all along but didn't realize how much of a true fighter that little girl was up until today. She still has a fight in front of her but we believe the hardest fight in this chapter of her life is over! Continue to pray for a quick recovery so we can get our baby home in the next 5 to 10 days where she belongs!
1:30 PM -
Wooohooo! We finally got to see Gabi after surgery. They say she is doing well, they have to continue to give her medication to get her body back to the chemical balance it was before surgery. She has a tube in her nose to her stomach to remove any fluid. She has a breathing tube in her mouth, she is not breathing on her own at this point, they don't want her body to work that hard. They want her to rest and let her body start to repair itself with the help of the mediciene. She has two tubes coming out of her chest to drain the excess blood and surgical fluid. She also has 4 orange wires coming form her chest as she has a temporary pacemaker in case something happens and they need to use it. She has an IV in her neck and her groin to administer mediciene. She also has a tube in her bladder to make sure and drain any excess that she is not able to do on her own. I know that is probably more graphical than most of you wanted but it just goes to show how tough of a little girl she is. Mema and Papa Acker are here a long with Mimi and Papi Crawford...Papi Nastasio stayed for as long as he could along with Uncle Michael. We appreciate all the prayers and well wishes...again...she is not completely out of the woods so please don't stop saying prayers for little Gabi's fast recovery. Micah and I will probably stay the night in the hospital so we can make sure that we are here when she wakes up in the morning. They will keep her asleep and on the breathing machine all night to make sure she gets her rest. We can't wait to see our baby's eyes and make sure she knows we are here with her.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
OH MY GOODNESS, OH MY GOODNESS!!!
Gabi did it finally...she rolled over for the very first time today! Best part, I caught it on the camcorder. So if no one believes me I can hit the play button. She has been so close for so long, but just couldn't figure out what to do with those silly arms...until today! If I can figure out how to attach a video clip, I will, but we'll see. She is such a little over achiever... we are so proud of her! We were both screaming with excitement!!!
First Downs for Down Syndrome
First Downs for Downs Syndrome is sponsoring a golf tournament on July 16th in the Kansas City area (see info. below) and we would really like to sponsor a hole in Gabi's name as well as donate as much as possible but we need your help.
Anything you could afford would be greatly appreciated and you can make the check out to "First Downs for Downs Syndrome." and mail them to our address.
Jay and Micah Acker
2742 Stratton Drive
Eudora, KS 66025
We apologize for the late notice but we just got the final notice, but to be able to sponsor a hole we would need your donations by the 29th of June.
We know we all have things going on in our lives and if you can't donate...your prayers for her surgery on the 26th will be enough. If you have the ability to donate that would also mean a lot to us and our family.
5th Annual FIRST DOWNS Golf Classic
Benefiting First Downs for Down Syndrome
Honorary Chairman
Kansas City Chiefs Center, Casey Wiegmann
Monday, July 16, 2007
Hillcrest Country Club
8200 Hillcrest Road, Kansas City MO 64138
Phone: (816) 523-2082
Format
4-Man Shot Gun Scramble
$250 per player
$1,200 Corporate Team
Scheduled Activities
11:00am: Registration, Lunch, Mulligan Sales
12:00noon: Shot Gun Start, Hole Contests, Team Photos,
& “Fun” Holes
5:00-6:30pm: Dinner, Awards Ceremony, Silent Auction
Contact Information
First Downs for Down Syndrome
Amy Stoll
10000 W. 75th Street, Suite 220
Shawnee Mission, KS 66204
(913) 722-2499
stoll@fdfds.org
www.fdfds.org
6 days and counting...
Gabi loves chocolate syrup and whipped cream!
Always ready to pose with sissy!
Father's Day was great! The girls made Daddy a handprint picture frame, it's really cute! We were busy traveling all over seeing all the grand daddies!
Monday, June 4, 2007
Aaaahhhh SUMMER...
Mommy and Sissy!
Well we think Gabi is starting to get teeth. She has been awfully fussy and for no reason. She still continues to have a ton of conversations with herself and is now conversating a bit with us. She loves Mommy, Daddy, and Sissy and anytime one of us is in the room and she hears us talking she looks all around to find us. She is holding her head a lot better too, not completely there, but super close.
Jason has taken up a new hobby. For any of you who know him you will be surprised. He is now fishing! He is having a bit of beginners luck his brother would say! Hey whatever it is I am glad he has found something that he can do with or without someone! It gives a guy good thinking time! Oh and the busy well things are starting to get busy. We are really anxious for this month! 
JUNE 7, 2006
