Yes, today Ella is 12 weeks old! The last time they weighed her, she was 8 lbs, 2 ounces. She is still battling edema, so some of the weight could be from fluid retention. But she was born at 5 lbs, 6 ounces, so that is tremendous progress.

Speaking of gaining weight, we found out that Ella was removed from her IV food this past weekend (HAL & lipids) and is now relying on her feeding tube of Portagen for all her nutritional needs.

A side effect that they see in some babies is an elevated bilirubin count, as the body adjusts, causing jaundice. So, Ella is sporting a bit of a California tan the past couple of days. Maybe she is just missing Uncle Rick and Cousin Megan? In any case, they expect that this will go away by next weekend or they will investigate further.

Since Ella’s 2 chest tubes were removed yesterday morning, she is responding well clinically. They are holding off on a chest x-ray, unless they absolutely feel it is necessary. Instead, they are just using her saturations, blood gases and overall behavior as an indicator of how well she is doing.

Her saturations have been high throughout the night and day so far. The last blood gas at 8am was excellent, pH level=7.41, cO2 = 53, and pO2=95. So Dr. Kays went ahead and weened the vent a touch more, down to 24 breaths per minute.

They are still changing Ella’s position every 4-6 hours: belly, right side, left side, mid-line on her back. She seems to be tolerating all the positions fine, which is a HUGE indicator that she is feeling better and not struggling as much to breathe.

We are thankful for her recent progress. When looking at her, Josh and I still marvel about all that God has done and continues to do in our lives through our baby girl. It has been an honor and a privilege to see God’s hand working in the lives of so many.

Psalm 19:14
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.