Ella update

She did it! Ella hit 4lbs yesterday! She was moved into an open crib and it looks like we’re heading into the home stretch. Her doctor gave her some homework to do which includes:

maintain her temperature while in the open crib
take all of her feedings on her own
wake up on her own and show that she’s hungry
consistently gain weight
Have no apneas

Once she can do these things for several days in a row the doctors can start discussing her discharge with us. We know our little fighter will do well and we’re hoping there aren’t any setbacks at this point. We’re trying not to get too excited until we hear the doctors utter the word discharge, but we appreciate all the prayers for Ella as she’s got a lot of work to do.

You’ll notice in the pictures that Miss Ella no longer has the feeding tube in her nose. Apparently she didn’t think it was a very good look for her and she pulled it out on her own on Saturday. The nurses agreed not to put it back unless she needed it and so far she’s done well taking all of her feedings by bottle or breastfeeding. She’s proved that she’s quite the little piggy as she’s setting all sorts of records by sucking down her bottles in 5 minutes flat. She’s quite the lady too as she makes loud slurping sounds and grunts while eating. She must get that from the Sunderbruch side of the family J

Hopefully our next update will include some very exciting news!!!

Love, Jill, Ryan and Ella