Elsie got moved from Room 2 to Room 7 on Tuesday morning. The NICU had a sudden influx of babies; I heard there were 4 new babies in one hour, so they had to shift everyone else around to make room for all the new kids. Room 7 is basically the same as Room 3, which is where she was before her eye surgery. Rooms 3-8 are all pretty much the same, and I think the ratio is 3 babies for each nurse. Then today, we found that she had been moved again to Room 8, which is actually a lot more quiet than Room 7, and Elsie has the only bed that is next to the window, lucky girl.
The Occupational Therapists have been working with Elsie in order to prepare her for feeding by mouth. The swallow study has been scheduled for Monday morning. Elsie has been sucking on her pacifier a lot more than she ever has before, which is good. Sucking and breathing at the same time is sometimes a tricky concept for preemies to learn how to do, so don't get me wrong when I say I'm excited that my baby sucks-- ha ha, get it? I'm soo funny. Anyway, they syringed small amounts of milk into her mouth while she was sucking on the pacifier and she seemed to enjoy that, so that is a positive sign.
Elsie is still on a high-flow nasal cannula, and is still on 1.5 liters per minute. She's having a little bit of a hard time weaning off this setting down to 1 liter per minute, so if anyone is still praying for Elsie, this is something specific that she needs help with.
Elsie had her weekly eye exam on Wednesday, and it appears that she has healed well from the laser surgery and does not have any progression of the ROP at this time. They'll continue to monitor her for several more weeks to make sure that it doesn't come back.
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| This cute lil outfit has a little bunny tail on the bum-- so cute!! |
Oh, I almost forgot. A few of you have wondered about Elsie's length, so I asked, and she is currently about 17.5 inches long. She is 6 pounds now, and would have been 38 weeks gestation tomorrow (Apr 19). Have a happy day, everybody :)
We will keep up the prayers for Elsie to learn to swallow or that her vocal cord may healed and that she will be able to be weaned off the nasal cannula. She is making such great progress. She's a cutie, just like her big sister Evjia.
ReplyDeleteLove that little superhero! Prayers will continue.
ReplyDeleteMovin' on up! <3
ReplyDeleteShe gets cuter by the day! I will pray extra hard for her to wean off the oxygen. And that her swallow test will go well. Love you all!
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean "If anyone is still praying for Elsie"? There are still dozens, if not hundreds, still praying for that little sweetpea! And WE will continue always!
ReplyDeleteSilly women, of course people are still praying for ALL of you. I have found no news is generally good news. We love you all and will continue to pray.
ReplyDeleteMy kids are still praying nightly...silly Billy :) Common Elsie! KEEP SUCKING! ;)
ReplyDeleteMy kids are still praying nightly...silly Billy :) Common Elsie! KEEP SUCKING! ;)
ReplyDeleteWow, our babies have excellent fashion since. They have all the same pj's. And of course we are all still praying for Elsie!
ReplyDelete