TGIF

Only 1 nose tube left! :)

It wasn't "Good Friday" yesterday, but for us & Ella it was a great one.  Our little lady just continues to surprise & amaze us with her fighting spirit.  We are excited to share all the latest news - which has been plentiful & encouraging the past 2 days - so here's what's been happening since our last blog:

1.  Ella has handled the feeding well.  So well, in fact, that as of this morning she has already moved from a continuous drip feed to bottle feeds every 3 hours (including nursing time with Mama twice a day).  Since the bottle takes less energy than breastfeeding, they are going to see how she handles this set up before transitioning toward more frequent breastfeeds.  Given how "enthusiastic" Ella gets when nursing (and who could blame her, since she's basically had an empty belly for 2 months), we suspect & hope she will progress to more nursing times very quickly.

2.  I spoke with the cardiologist about the latest Echo and basically its all great news.  Her ejection fraction was estimated at 70% (!!!).  Pretty much normal & acceptable.  What?!  Its just amazing...  There are a couple of lingering, minor concerns - mild thickening of both a left ventricle wall and the pulmonary artery, as well as some evidence of diastolic dysfunction (for all you medical people out there who actually understand).  But all-in-all, her heart has shown that it is "remodeling" itself & becoming functional & sustainable.  Even her heart size is essentially normal now, after being so grossly enlarged.

3.  Last night she weighed in at 6 lbs, 1 oz - breaking the 6 lb barrier!  Now, it might not be like Roger Bannister running the 1st sub 4-minute mile, but it is definitely cause for celebration!!

With all these exciting progressions we don't want to get ahead of ourselves, but we have a sense that perhaps we are glimpsing the beginning of the end of her healing process.  Its a scenario that once seemed impossible, but now appears that God foresaw, planned & is now pleased to bring to reality - to the amazement of us all.

Now we are just looking forward to the end of this hospital stay.  If she can prove the ability to handle normal, regular feedings & gains a little more weight, there's no reason she can't come home.  We will be able to continue to give her the medications she needs (which are quite a few) in the comforts of our own home.  Our dreams may not be that far off!  Stay tuned... We love you all!