Updates

Kit was in class today for his MBA program so he arranged to have some gals from church come over to be with me for the day. It was nice to see some friends I haven't seen in a while. Thanks, ladies!

Last night I was able to do kangaroo care for the first time. It was an amazing experience. As a reminder, kangaroo care is where they place the baby in only a diaper on your bare chest. Here's a good article (click here) from March of Dimes on the subject. Kit took pictures, which I will post later. Her respiratory rate went way down while I was holding her, and she kept her oxygen levels at room air. I ended up falling asleep right along with her and treasured every moment. When they took her off, she cried immediately and my heart ached.

Last night the nurse mentioned that she does have the heart murmur so I asked the doctor about it today. The condition is called Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA). He confirmed what we had been told before she developed it, which is that they will monitor her closely for symptoms that it is bothering her. If she does become symptomatic or if the ductus doesn't close on it's own in a "few" weeks, they will give her the medication that helps close it. If that doesn't work, she would need to have surgery to close it. Please pray that (a) she won't become symptomatic of a problem and (b) her ductus will close on its own.

When I went to visit her this afternoon, I noticed she didn't have the tape around her nose that she normally has to help keep the CPAP oxygen from escaping out of her nostrils. That's because they were having a hard time keeping the tubes her nose last night due to the stretching of her nostrils. Apparently it's common for the nostrils of babies who have been on CPAP to stretch out. When this happens, they put in bigger tubes. So today Ellie had her new bigger tubes. She'll need tape again soon, but her adorable (albeit stretched) nose was there for the viewing today. And for anyone who is concerned, her nostrils will go back to normal after they remove the CPAP.

Well, it's time to get ready for our evening visit. But before I go, we do have one more prayer request. As I believe I've mentioned on the blog, we are trying to sell our house. This morning we had our first showing (praise the Lord!), and while we could have millions of showings before ever having an offer, it was encouraging to us both to finally have at least one couple (or individual) come see the house. Please pray that our house will sell in the Lord's timing and that He'll grant us understanding as we trust and wait upon Him.