Translate This Page To: Spanish German French Italian Portuguese Norwegian Brought to you From FreeTranslation.com Give a gift in honor of this child. Olivia Catherine UPDATE: 3-1-04 It has been a very sad week for our family. After removing her subgaleal shunt, it had been determined that Olivia was suffering from bacterial meningitis. Olivia was never the same after that. After sitting down with the neurologist, she told us that Olivia had 0 percent of having any kind of life. Joe and I had to make the heart breaking decision, that somethings were not meant to be and that we needed to send Olivia home to be with God. Olivia to the bitter end remained strong and the spunky little peanut I have loved since I dreamt of her as a child myself. I spoke to Olivia everyday to reassure her that heaven is where she needed to be. So, on Sunday morning Feb. 29, while I cry holding my dying baby, Olivia socked me in my mouth with a full fist (sort of her way of telling me to be quiet) and gently lay her head on my chest, her hand on my heart and went to be with God. I am sorry to share the sad news, but thank God for the short time, that we have had with Olivia and look forward to meeting her again in heaven. UPDATE: 2-20-04 Olivia has continued to do well eating, sleeping and gaining weight. She certainly is becomming quite the fat baby (a whopping 3.10 lbs). Yesterday and today, have been a return to reality. At about 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Olivia began to get sick. I was proud of her because I thought it was typical baby stuff. By 4:00 p.m., she was not improving. The doctors began to draw all kinds of blood and perform all kinds of test, because they feared her shunt was infected. I went to see her, and she was not the little girl I was used to seeing. She was lethargic and bloated. She just lay there limpless, but opening her eyes every once in a while. I feared for the worse. Her breathing started to become shallow, so by midnight she was back on the ventilator. On my way to work this morning, my cell phone rings and it was my husband telling me that she was going to have to have the shunt removed. Needless to say, being with Olivia is always more important than work, so I rushed to the hospital. She had the shunt removed around 1:00 this afternoon. She is still on the ventilator, receiving antibiotics and pain killers to help her along. I am trying to keep my faith in God and believing in miracles, but this has been a really bad day for us. UPDATE: 2-5-04 Olivia continues to do well. Olivia now weighs 3.2 lbs. and is receiving her various therapies to help with her anticipated impairments (whatever they will be). Her assessments are coming back good and as her doctor states "we need to put some meat and potatoes on her." I hate reading her medical records and results, because when I look at her, I see exactly what God intended, a beautiful child (disabled or not). I am constantly in awe of the wonderful gifts that God bestows upon us. My family and I continue to pray for her and all of the children in the world who are sick or have special needs. I try to keep up my hopes by remembering, miracles happen everyday - - so I hope the prayers we send to God will be heard and answered. Again I want to thank everybody who has emailed me with their prayers and encouragement. It means so much to my family and I. UPDATE: 1-29-04 Olivia did very well in surgery. She lost a drop of blood and is recovering nicely. It amazes me how one unexpected event brings you closer to God. I always ask God for a sign when there is good news (so far he has sent me a nun and a priest). Yesterday as I sat with my head between my hands and prayed for Olivia, I again asked for a sign she would be okay, and in the elevator was a lady from the hospital's Chaplaincy. Absolutely Amazing. God is wonderful! When he gave us Olivia he truly gave us a miracle. Her courage is amazing and the way she faces obstacles astounds our family. Best of all, this little girl has taught me more in her 53 days in life, than I could learn in a lifetime! She has taught me patience, empathy, understanding, accepting and most of all she has taught me there is a God, Miracles Do Happen and Never Ever Give Up Hope! UPDATE: 1-26-04 Olivia is going to need surgery on Wednesday to drain the fluid off of her brain. They are going to place a temporary shunt to help her, since she has not been able to help herself. While the doctor told me the surgery is not complicated, we still worry about her day and night. She fortunately is growing like a champ and still able to breathe without any assistance. Just wanted to make sure that we would ask for a few extra prayers, to help her along. Thanks. Kris ADDED: 1-20-04 Olivia was born premature at 25 weeks. She is 9 weeks old and has been a strong fighter. Unfortunately, she has been diagnosed with a hemmorhage on the right side of her brain with some significant damage. As her mother, I ask that you pray that her brain damage only causes her minor problems. I also ask that you pray for all the children of this world, hungry, sick, cold, whatever reason and to pray for their parents and in several cases, the doctors and nurses who serve as God's instruments to care for the many sick children. We just the request that despite the severity of her ailment, that God shows mercy on her and allows the ailment not to be as bad as it could be.