20 days old

20 days old/days in the NICU

Weight: 3 lbs 1 oz (+2 ounces)

Lots of changes this afternoon at the NICU! Ella is now on a regular flow cannula and only on .5 Liter of pressure. She's also being moved to 10 ml every 2 hours for her feedings as opposed to continuous feedings of 6 ml an hour. They tried this yesterday and she still had a lot left in her belly so they went back to continuous feedings but the doctor wanted to try again today. I don't know how she's reacting to either of these things yet since the changes just went into affect but tonight I am staying at the NICU so I'll have the opportunity to see first hand how she's reacting! I will also do K-care tonight and hopefully we'll have a super awesome nurse like we did last night who will let me do it as long as I want! As you can see, Ella gained 2 ounces and that is NOT water retention!! We're at the point with weight gain where it's all GOOD weight gain! Hurray! If she is handling the every 2 hour feedings well, they will increase her feedings every several hours and by tomorrow she will be on full feedings (for her) of 14 ml every 2 hours. At that point, they will add in the human milk fortifier into her feedings. 

In ONE week, Olivia will be two years old!! I can't believe my beautiful little baby who weighed 4 lbs 9 ounces will actually be two years old! We're having a very small birthday party with her favorite friends at an indoor play area. We're hoping later to celebrate her birthday with family as well but for now, this is what Olivia would like the best. Hopefully we can have a dinner and small party later on with family so they can be part of the celebration. 

Once she is two, Olivia will be able to go in to officially meet Ella. She was able to see her after she was born for a very short period, but now she'll be able to see her in person. Our plan, assuming she stays HEALTHY between now and then, is that on Halloween, Olivia will meet Ella. We're going to have Ella dressed up in a pumpkin onsie and pumpkin hat for Halloween and Olivia is going to be in her costume, which is Little Red Riding Hood. In her basket, she's going to have some (hopefully) homebaked goodies for people at the NICU. :) Then we'll get pictures of the two girls together in their costumes. I can't WAIT!!!!!! <3