Thursday, May 21, 2009

Gavone!


For the non-Italians reading this, a brief definition of "Gavone".

Italian word meaning someone who

1) Eats too much and is a pig

2) Or takes more than he can eat

i.e. Frankie is such a gavone, look how many canolis he took.

There is no better word to describe Andrea right now. Her weight is up to 1910 grams (4 pounds, 3.4 ounces) and she's devouring her 32 ml of milk. She is doing so well with the bottles that one doctor last night ordered all feeding to be bottles. The doctors today backed off that, not wanting to stress Andrea out too much just yet. Tomorrow is her last day of antibiotics, so by Saturday, she'll be all bottles.

With the help of the lactation consultant, Andrea and I tried nursing today. Since there is no way to tell how much milk she gets from nursing, we decided that we'd also offer her the regular bottle of 32 ml of milk. Andrea managed to nurse for 10 minutes, then scarfed down the entire bottle on top of that! She likes her food! We're going to try again tomorrow, and see how she does.

Andrea's oxygen is still at 2 liters, but it is no longer what they call high flow. Now it's just standard oxygen, running between 25 and 28%. Her blood gases were good - now they'll check them again tonight and make sure all is still well.

FYI - I'll be turning 40 on Sunday. Ken (the most awesome husband in the world) is taking me away for a few days to celebrate, and recharge. Mom and Dad are going to visit Andrea, and I'll check in by phone. I will post tomorrow (Friday) and am planning to bring my computer as well. However, if I have no Internet access, I may not be able to post Saturday and Sunday. Just keep praying, and don't worry if there are no new posts. If I miss the weekend, I'll be back on Monday.

"A difficult time can be more readily endured if we retain the conviction that our existence holds a purpose - a cause to pursue, a person to love, a goal to achieve."

John Maxwel

4 comments:

  1. A Very Happy Birthday to you for Sunday - you deserve a well earned break - (hope you have a wonderful weekend). I cannot imagine the stress you must be going through, juggling between part of the family being at home and part of it in hospital. Just maintaining any type of normality must be horrendously draining.

    Beautiful Andrea the Second will be fine being attended to by the more than capable hands of Beautiful Andrea the First.

    We are so glad to read about Andrea's progress and feel very humbled and privileged that you share the news (good and not so good) with us all, and pray for her continuing healthy growth.

    When I was a small child, often poorly and not eating well, my Gran (a canny Scotswoman with a bit of a Yorkshire twang) used to encourage me to eat saying, "Strength goes in at t'mouth"...

    Maybe there's more to that than I realised...

    God Bless you all, susan_angela

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  2. Hello to the mother of my favorite lil gavone..

    I was hoping to grab you before you left.. they're moving lil miss andrea at 7pm tonite again. I was hoping you'd get this message to Ken before he comes in and panics. When you walk in, dont turn, go straight to back, Noah's old corner (window again!)
    Have fun this weekend, and happy b'day
    Kerri

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  3. Kerri - You are AWESOME! Thaks for the heads up. I'm thrilled we rate a window, but I'll miss Angelina and her Mom. Mom was a good person to talk to, and like me, seemed to be perpetually upbeat!

    SO glad you're on this weekend. It'll make it easier for me to be away, knowing you've "got her back".

    See you next week.

    Tori

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  4. Dear susan_angela,

    I find your posts to be so uplifting and inspiring. I got teary as I read about your Grandmother. I think there's a lot of truth in those old beliefs. I haven't replied to your comments before, but we were deeply moved by the poem you posted quite early on. Thank you for support from afar!

    Tori

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