Yes, Ella had her first playdate tonight…and guess who? Par came to visit Ella. He came into town for a check-up with Dr. Kays and decided to stop by for a visit.

It was really nice to see Liz, Rusty and Par. We all became so close in the NICU; it had felt like an eternity since we had seen them. That is one benefit to staying in Gainesville during this season: we get to meet and visit with some other CDH families that come to town to see Dr. Kays.

Another thing that was so nice – – Liz brought a supply of breast milk for us. When we talked about it the other day, I explained to her that Ella could not be fed on breast milk exclusively right now simply because of the fluid issues/concerns, however we would like to start training with oral feeds. It would be great if I could use breast milk for the training. So when Liz came from Birmingham today, she brought some of her supply with her (more than I was expecting).

We had another visitor this afternoon. Nurse Janet came by and visited with Ella for about 1.5 hours. This freed up my time to go get the mail and go to the grocery store. It was so nice to get outside and have a little bit of fresh air.

Speaking of fresh air, Ella had a stable day on her slow feeding regimen. We’re so thankful that feeding slow is working. We did have one issue with her last feed tonight at 9pm. She started fussing a lot and Josh said that it seemed like there was pressure in her belly. We stopped the feeds early and vented her tummy. By that time, she was so upset that all the food was pushed up into they syringe. Finally over time, she relaxed and it all went back in.

Our first follow-up appointment is with Dr. Kays tomorrow. We will be reviewing our feeding challenges as well as our concerns with her g-tube.

Please continue to pray for Ella and her strength. Also, please pray for wisdom and guidance for Dr. Kays so we can figure out these last couple of mysteries related to our baby girl.

Psalm 105:4
Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.