Praise God – – Ella’s fever is gone. We certainly don’t want any curve balls before extubation.
 
On that note, Ella’s blood gas at 7:30am was excellent, blood gas, ph=7.46, cO2=42, pO2=107.
 
When we walked in last night, her room looked a bit different. They switched Ella to a crib. We were pleasantly surprised! And apparently, Ella loves it. They placed a mobile right above her head and every time she is awake, she loves to watch all the animals move around. I can imagine that it is more exciting to look at than the heater in the top of her other bed.
 
Then, nurse Kathleen had to take her out of the crib to weigh her, so she asked if we wanted to hold her….uhh, YEAH! That did not take too much thought. I was able to get some great pictures of Ella in Daddy’s arms.
 
Ella lost weight and is down to 7 lbs, 9 ounces. This is actually a good sign right now, since Ella has had such a problem with fluid retention. We think that Ella is slowly moving toward her “real” weight.
 
Grandma West arrived yesterday afternoon and had her first opportunity to see Ella in person. She loved her time.
 
Today is another HUGE milestone for Ella and we’re really excited for her. The extubation is supposed to happen sometime after 3pm EST today, so we will definitely be doing more than one post today!
 
We know extubation may not work the first time for Ella, but we are so hopeful that it might and that she can be ET tube free. It has been so tough to watch her gag the past few days.
 
Thanks to everyone who continues to lift Ella up for her daily needs. Please pray throughout today that Ella’s extubation will go successfully and that she can breathe on her own.
 
Psalm 9:10
 
10 Those who know your name will trust in you,
for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.
 
UPDATE (6:45pm EST): Dr. Kays just walked in and talked to us. He was still dressed in his business suit and tie. He had a meeting out of town earlier today and just returned. He was expecting to be back around 2:30pm, but his meeting ran late.
 
Since it is so late and there are less staff here at night, he wants to wait to extubate till tomorrow morning at 9am. We were a bit bummed, but know that God has perfect timing.
 
Please continue to pray that Ella will remain stable throughout the night and that she will do well with extubation tomorrow morning.