Ella was fussy a lot of the day, but I think it was because she had trouble napping. For some reason, she couldn’t get comfy. Once she finally took one in the afternoon, she woke up very happy and ready to face the world. My favorite part was when Pumps decided to come and see what was causing all the noise!

We had the OT come visit us today and he recommended giving her the next stage of nipple for the Dr. Brown’s bottle (Stage Two). You could definitely see a difference. The flow was quicker because Ella was having to do more work to keep up with the flow. When she was sucking on the bottle, you could see her nostrils flare more frequently. Several times she had to stop simply to catch her breath. Remember that the coordination of sucking, swallowing and breathing is all new to her.

The great news is that she took 120ccs total via bottle today, with another session at 45ccs. Although it feels slow, I can easily look back and see how much progress she is making since we started this in mid-February.

A nice surprise tonight: a local friend came by to see us and brought a pizza and garlic rolls to share! Sara, the leasing agent from our prior apartment community, has been tracking Ella’s progress for months now and is in love! She wanted to come and visit her.

I was so thankful that Ella had that much-needed nap earlier. She was in a great mood for Sara. Since Ella has been having stranger anxiety, we wanted to take things slow. We know it will not be the last time that Sara visits, so hopefully Ella can get to know her better each time.

I’m so glad it is Friday. Although I do not have the stress of a work week anymore, it does mean that Dad might kick in to let me have some extra zzzzs. Plus, it is family time. All of us can hang out together during each day. Because of this, I love the weekends.

I hope that everyone out there has a great weekend too. Thanks for the support and for loving our baby girl.