Last night after Ella’s bath, I couldn’t help myself anymore. I asked Kelly to hold Ella, I grabbed the scissors and started cutting. I was a bit shy since I’m not known to be a hair fashionista. But if nothing else, the mullet is gone from the back of her head! Maybe I need to take this up and get more practice. It’s just hard because I can’t take her anywhere in public to get her hair cut and I can’t seem to find any stylists to come to the house. So for now, the princess gets Mom haircuts!

She was up about 8 times last night. There were 4 other times that her pulse oximeter just started alarming. I guess that is one benefit of having a NICU baby – the beeping alarm doesn’t even phase her! Of course, I wake up and listen to see if the alarm persists or if it is a fluke. At least I was able to doze off into little naps in-between her wake-up calls. It makes me feel better the next day and doesn’t require as much napping.

Another one of the teeth on the top row came in. So now we have 2 on the top and 2 on the bottom. Pretty soon, that smile is going to get very toothy!

Josh decided to take matters into his own hands this morning. He paged Dr. Abman, the pulmonologist. Although we have an appointment next Tuesday, he wanted to ask him about Captopril and what his thoughts are on discontinuing it. After some discussion, Dr. Abman agreed that the main reason we gave her the Captopril was to help the diuretic be more effective. Since we have been able to increase her fluids and she doesn’t seem to be having an issue, he is open to the idea. He asked how much Captopril she is currently taking. We let him know that she is getting 7.5ml, three times per day. Then, it was like the angels started singing. He said to go ahead and give her 1 dose of Captopril each day until our appointment on Tuesday and see how she does with the change. If all goes well, he will go ahead and discontinue it. Yippee!!! Aside from the impact it may have on Ella’s sleep (which is huge), any discussion of getting her off more medications is great.

So pray that she will do well with the lack of Captopril over the next several days. And of course, I would love to see the sleep improve!

Trust the Lord

Until I learned to trust the Lord,
I never learned to pray;
And never learned to fully trust,
Til sorrow came my way.

Until I felt my weakness,
His strength I never knew,
Nor dreamed, til I was stricken,
that He could see me through.

He who drinks deepest sorrow
Drinks deepest too of grace,
God sends the storm so He, himself,
Can be our resting place.

His heart, who seeks our deepest good,
Knows well when things annoy;
We would not yearn for Heaven
If earth held only joy!

-Anonymous