First Bath at Home

big yawn

Ella Comes Home

Ella was able to come home at sixteen days old on March 10th.  It was a long two weeks trying to juggle time at the hospital and with the girls at home. We are so grateful to have such good family to help us. Both sets of grandparents saved our lives.  Thank you so much for your prayers!

As hard as it was for us to have Ella in the hospital we were fortunate that the majority of her time their was just learning to eat and gaining weight. We met some parents whose babies had been there for months and will continue to be. Their sweet babies are critical and everyday is a fight for their lives. We have been so blessed. My heart hurts for them and I was so amazed by their strength.

Four Pounds Seven Ounces of Pure Sweetness

Ella at nine days 

I think this picture gives an idea of just how little she is

Fun in the Snow

 Much needed fun in the snow together. 

Off the Lights

One step closer. Now, grow Baby grow.

Ella 02/25 evening update

We just got back up to our room from the NICU.  It is all good news tonight.  I fed Ella a bottle (we have to feed her while she is on the lights, no holding) and she sucked it all right down and kept it down.  She has been eating well enough they haven't had to give her a feeding tube.  I also got to change her first poopy diaper.  This is huge.  The only way to eliminate the bilirubin is through stool so we told her to get pooping.   Her weight is up a little to 4 pounds 8 ounces (it was 4 pounds 6 ounces in the middle of the night last night). And her bilirubin is slowly going down.  I couldn't ask for better progress!  

Baby Ella: Day 1 and 2

February 24th from 8 a.m. on:

Our schedule: I go down to the  NICU every three hours. They have us take her temperature and change her diaper and then I try to nurse.  This generally takes an hour and goes by sooo fast.  I am then supposed to come back up to the room and pump.  This takes about 30 minutes and then if I am lucky there is about an hour and a half to try to sleep. This time usually consists of me just falling asleep and then a nurse comes in to check vitals etc.  At this point I have honestly not slept more than 2 consecutive hours since Sunday night.  All day Friday adrenaline carried me through but I was a zombie by Saturday morning. I have never felt so tired or lonely as I made the walk to the NICU over and over Saturday night. 

At 24 hours old (8/25 at 2 am):
-Ella's weight was at 4 pounds 6 ounces.
-Her blood sugar was stable and no longer a concern. This was the primary concern in initial NICU assessment.
-Ella had nursed for about 3 minutes during one feeding despite attempts every three hours.  Not unexpected.  She had eaten a bottle in the NICU soon after birth. All other nutrition has been from IV.
-Ella is in isolation due to unidentified infection.  This means all hospital empoyees going in have to scrub in, wear masks and gowns.  Even to drop something off. Any equipment going in and out has to be completely sanitized. Visitors have to scrub in and if they have had any illness, wear a mask.  It is somewhat unnerving to have your baby treated like a biohazard.
-Due to high bilirubin she is under the lights with a little mask to protect her eyes.



February 25th 4 a.m.--
Ella's nurse for the night was in with her other baby when I got there so I got be alone with her for a bit, changed her and took her temp.  And then I had a little talk with Ella about what we need her to do to come home.  And that little lady listened, she nursed for about five minutes.  I was so excited  and so was her nurse.

8 a.m.--
Wop, wop.  Our morning report was not great.  Despite the lights, Ella's bilirubin levels continued to rise (13.9 should be around 3 or 4). She cannot be off the lights, even for nursing. So we don't get to hold her anymore.  JD did feed her a bottle and she did alright.  They will continue the formula with a bottle if she will drink it, otherwise they will use a feeding tube.