Thursday, March 19, 2009

Another Day

We got another positive report from the doctor today. Elise is handling her continuous feedings well and was up to 4 cc per hour (which again is fed continuously so that's the amount she gets over the course of an hour) when we were there this afternoon. Eventually the goal will be to get her to feedings every three hours (and to fully milk without the extra IV items); however, that will be a long time coming.

As I mentioned in my update to last night's late night post, her weight gain last night was most likely due to her needing to have a bowel movement. We'll see tonight how much she weighs, which should give us a better idea. I'm feeling much better about the whole thing today though so thanks for your prayers...they've definitely helped!

At his request, Kit's been in charge of diaper changes lately so that he can get the hang of it. Today when he opened her diaper, she was in the middle of pooping. We waited a minute, and then it looked like she was done. So he folded the dirty diaper down so that he could wipe her without getting the clean diaper beneath the dirty one dirty. Ellie chose that time to have the squirts and got the dirty diaper even dirtier. She seemed to be about done by the time Kit finished and got the clean diaper on. She sure did give dad a run for his money though.

Good news! The nurse today said that Elise is strong enough for two holdings per day. So I got to hold her this afternoon and will kangaroo tonight. Yippee! We forgot the camera yesterday but here are some photos from today.


Cuddling.


This picture's a bit blurry, but it's the best one we got of her with her little eyes open. She was looking around a lot both last night and this afternoon when we were visiting with her.


Our little Ellie burrito. Her poor little eyes are quite swollen.


Here's the card she made us yesterday.


Isn't she precious? They took this photo at 4am that day.


Sorry this is a little blurry...it's a picture of the picture they took at the NICU. Isn't she too cute with her bright eyes and little tongue playing with her feeding tube?


Apparently she learned how to use her tongue from her dog.


Last night Coco came up on the bed with me and promptly laid down on my foot.

4 comments:

K said...

Such a sweet blog! I'm glad you get to hold her twice a day; as I'm typing you're probably holding her now. The joy you feel being near her is so evident and beautiful to see Emily. Can you imagine God being that thrilled with you? I imagine loving Ellie gives you a glimpse of what that love is like.

Becca Sue Congdon said...

Yay!

What an exciting day. :) I love the picture of her with her eyes open at 4am. She's a night owl! lol.

She's beautiful, Emily! You're doing great and we love you guys!

Amanda said...

Way to go Dad for being up to the diaper duty challenge. I think my daughter's NICU diaper record was 5 diapers in one poopy change for the nurse. Even now at 18 months old, she prefers a "fresh canvas". I've lost track of the number of times I will change a wet diaper and then less than 20 minutes later she'll dirty it up with poop. Costco. Once you finally get out of Newborn diapers (and try and save one of each size, especially the little Preemie ones-you'll never believe a year from now she was ever that small-trust me!) Costco has the cheapest prices on diapers.

Love the Ellie Burrito and the huge smile on proud mommy's face.

Beth Herring said...

I am praying for this sweet little one. She is just adorable and I am glad that her weight is back on the upscale!

Just keep your eyes on Jesus. He holds you in His hands.

Beth