1-20-10

It is hard to believe Ella will be two weeks tomorrow. I wish I could say things were getting "normal" here at the house, but they really are not. We have all 3 been hit now with the flu/food poisoning thing. I AM SO BLESSED to have my mom here to help! She has been washing all our sheets and blankets today. She is such a help!!



Our neighbors and the HTS staff have been bringing in meals-which has been such a help, as well!! We really appreciate it! It is so nice not to have to think about cooking....such a blessing!!



Ella is doing well today. Her feedings are better, but she is still getting used to them.
She is also having a little trouble on the C Pap (breathing) and some slight modifications have been made, but nothing major. So today, we are praying for her nutrition and breathing concerns to improve, and thanksgiving for GOD's blessings....and that we all start feeling "normal" again soon.

Updates as of 01-19-10

Ella reminds us of how Carter looked when he was first born!

Our baby girl holding onto Daddy's pinkie! So sweet!! (This is her on C-Pap)

Ryan and I have BOTH been down since Sunday afternoon with what we think was food poisoning. We both had the same exact symptoms and it hit us at the same time. Not fun. We are both still very sluggish. We hope to feel well enough to go see Ella tomorrow.

Miss Ella continues to do well. She pulled out her breathing tube on Sunday night, so they put her on C-Pap. She did not do so well, so they put her breathing tube back in. Yesterday, she was doing well so she was purposely put on C-Pap and is doing well. ( As I understand it-the breathing tube breathes for her, and the C-Pap pushes air in, but she is doing the breathing). Her blood gases are a little lower since being put on C-Pap yesterday, but not enough to change her back to the breathing tube.

She is eating! They are only giving her a tiny bit to get her used to it--but she is eating and doing well. I know it will get some getting used to for her insides before they will increase the amount.

She is jaundice again, so she is back on the beach with the "glasses and heat lamp". The doctor seems to think once she gets eating, it will improve.

Her ultrasound of her head came back unchanged. So--it was not good/bad news. Nothing to worry about, yet. They will repeat it in about a month.

Update 1-16-10 after surgery

Ella continues to do well and is in stable condition. She is very sleepy and continues to receive pain medicine. She only wants to lay on her back and lets her nurses know that she does not want to be moved, especially to lay on her tummy. They hope to take out the breathing tube later tonight (Saturday, 1-16-10) if her 8pm lab work is good. She will be put back on the C Pap breathing . She continues to be on 21% oxygen. They have lowered the amount of pain medicine that she receives and will continue to lower it. Her 2pm labs today were good and when I called this evening, she continues to do well and was sleeping comfortably.

Someone asked me how exactly they did the surgery. They actually did the PDA surgery right in her NICU room and the PDA team, surgeon and his assistant, anesthesiologist, and others all came to her. They said that is a "blood-less" surgery. They made an incision on her left side up by her heart. They actual move two of her ribs up out of the way (her ribs are very flexible right now )and go in through that space to perform the surgery. The surgeons part took only about 10 minutes. There are NICU nurses on the PDA team that are trained just for this type of surgery. She has had one on one care since her surgery and her (Ella's) roommate will hopefully be moved back into her room tomorrow.

Thanks for your prayers. We can feel them!! We hope for more good posts in the days head...

Surgery went well and we are off to see her!!! They said all went well!!

Ella will have surgery tomorrow 1-15-10

Ella will have surgery at 8am tomorrow (Friday, 1-15-10). Her heart PDA did not close with the second round of medicine, and the surgery is needed. It should last about 30 minutes. I will post after I have word that everything went well.
Thanks for the prayers.

Ella updates as of 1-13-10

Look at how much Red-ish hair Miss Ella has! Her white eye mask is to protect her eyes from the light, as she is being treated for Jaundice.

Ella received a PIC line so that she does not have to be "stuck" so often. Her heart murmur did not close with the first round (3 treatments) of antibiotics. The second round was started Tuesday. If this round does not work, we may be looking at a surgery this Friday morning to correct it. We will keep you posted and thank you for your prayers!!!

Yesterday (Tuesday, 1-12-10) Ella was on her nasal cannula and she kept pulling it out quite often. She also had a few "B's" ( when she has to remind herself to breathe) that did require mild stimulation (a tap) to get her to breathe. Because of these two, so was placed on a Nasal C Pap at about 1am today, Wednesday. This is like a straw applying gentle pressure to help her breathe. Since inserting this. she has only had 1 "B". She will have a head ultrasound on Monday. This will be repeated at 1 month of age and before discharge. Please pray that everything comes out fine with her scan.

Dr. Anderson is her amazing NICU doctor and we really like him. He continues to say that all of this is typical for a 27 week old and that none of it surprises him. He is not worried, because they can treat/help fix all of her needs. This is reassuring for us.

I tried to get up yesterday morning, get cleaned up and head to the hospital. I got cleaned up, and then became exhausted and had to go back to bed. I was happy to see Ella in the evening with Ryan. I think I need to rest, knowing Ella is in good hands and God is watching over her.

Pictures of Ella Brooke

Carter got to see Ella for the first time. I love her little, hairy body. I got to hold her tonight before being discharged, as well. So special for Ryan and I.