Indiana baby born weighing less than 2 pounds has big impact

PORTAGE, Ind. (AP) - Gabriella Poradzisz likely isn't sure what all the fuss is about.

At 7 months old, the daughter of Crystal and Bryan Poradzisz, sleeps, eats and plays like any other infant.

She doesn't know yet how special she is.

Gabriella was born July 10, weighing in at 1 pound 11 ounces and barely the length of a 12-inch ruler.

Both she and her mother were within hours of death before Crystal Poradzisz delivered her in an emergency cesarean section.

Everything had been fine with the pregnancy, Crystal Poradzisz said recently. The day before Gabriella entered the world, Crystal Poradzisz sensed something wasn't right. Gabriella wasn't moving around like normal.

Crystal Poradzisz said she listened to her body and went to the doctor. Her blood pressure was high. She learned her kidneys and liver were shutting down. She was suffering from severe pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome -- which is an acronym for hemolysis, liver enzymes and low platelet count.

"We were six hours from death," Crystal Poradzisz told The Times (http://bit.ly/1BMVgTA ).

The next few hours and days, Crystal Poradzisz said, were a blur.

The Portage couple didn't even tell family members about Gabriella's birth at first, simply because they weren't sure about her health. It was a few days later, at Crystal Poradzisz's baby shower, that they made the announcement Gabriella had been born.

As with many premature babies, it was touch and go. Gabriella was kept on an oscillator, which kept her gently jiggling. She received shots and surfactant therapy to help her immature lungs develop.

Because she was born so early, she was dependent on oxygen and had to be taught the suck reflex full-term infants are born with.

"She had to learn how to suck, swallow and breathe. Something that's learned in utero at 34 weeks," Crystal Poradzisz said.

She received three blood transfusions and a platelet transfusion.

Gabriella spent 82 days in the neonatal intensive care unit at Porter Regional Hospital.

Crystal Poradzisz has chronicled much of Gabriella's young life in daily Facebook posts. Each post starts with the phase "Day xxx of my amazing life" and tells readers about the ups and downs -- from Gabriella's viewpoint -- of being a preemie. She's gathered more than 2,000 friends and followers.

Posting on Facebook, Crystal Poradzisz said, started as a way to share updates with friends and family. Then Gabriella's story started to spread.

Soon, she said, Gabriella was getting messages and prayers from people as far away as Germany, Italy and Japan.

"We were so overwhelmed in a positive way, we thought the best way to keep people up was on Facebook. They it took on a life of its own," Crystal Poradzisz said.

"She was getting a lot of love and support and prayers from people," said Crystal Poradzisz, adding support buoyed their spirits. "But we also found she was bring a lot of love and hope to a lot of people."

"We're not afraid to hide the fact we have a special needs kind of baby. We wanted to reach out to other parents and say it's OK," said Bryan Poradzisz, an officer with an Illinois police department.

The couple said it has been a two-way street, giving and getting support, when hearing from or talking to other parents with premature children.

Gabriella and her family were also recently named the ambassador family for March of Dimes campaigns in both Porter and LaPorte counties. As ambassadors, said Crystal Poradzisz, Gabriella's story will be told to help raise money for the organization that works toward improving the lives of babies before and after they are born, including a Prematurity Research Initiative.

There are more than 450,000 premature babies born each year in the U.S., Crystal Poradzisz said, crediting the group for their involvement in many items she believes helped Gabriella.

March of Dimes funded the research that developed surfactant therapy to help the development of premature lungs, Crystal Poradzisz said. They were also instrumental in bringing a neonatal intensive care unit to Porter Regional Hospital.

The family will participate in Walks for Babies on April 26 in LaPorte and April 27 in Valparaiso to help raise funds for the group.

As for Gabriella, Crystal Poradzisz said, she will continue to grow and thrive.

"We're hoping by the age of 2 she will grow out of the chronic premature lung disease. Usually by the age of 2 preemies catch up developmentally," she said.

"She may always be tiny, but there's nothing wrong with being tiny," she said.

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Information from: The Times, http://www.thetimesonline.com