Long overdue updates!

While I have every intention to blog all the time, our days can sometimes seem to run together and I have forgotten. While we have almost been in the NICU for a month now, it seems like just yesterday we started this journey. The schedule here makes the days seem to fly by. By the time I'm done pumping it's time for her care, by the time her care is done it's time to try and breast feed, you get the idea.  Anyways, this isn't about me, this is about our girl. Here are the most recent updates on Eleanor.

• She currently weighs 4lbs 11oz as of last night. Hoping for more weight gain tonight! Because she is starting to breast feed, her weight could fluctuate up and down because when she is getting straight breast milk, she is not getting the fortification (extra calories) that they mix into the feeding tube milk.
• Breast feeding is going well. She's getting the idea of it, just still having a hard time remember to suck, swallow and breathe at the same time is tricky and takes a lot out of her. She will feed for about 10-15 minutes before she is back asleep. We weigh her before and after feeding so we can get an idea of how much she is getting from me. She is averaging 6-10 mls which is a great start! Our nurse told us with preemies a light bulb will eventually just go off and you will be amazed at what she can do!
• She is also learning how to take a bottle. One of her at-home plans for once she is at home with us is to continue to give her fortified milk. Obviously I don't have fortified milk in me, so she will have to be supplemented with that by bottle feeds. She had her first bottle feed last night at did REALLY well! She consumed about 18mls. WHOOP WHOOP. They will only be bottle feeding her when I am not here and she is giving "cues" that she is hungry. All of these are great steps to ween her off of her feeding tube.
• She is becoming so much more alert. She will go for minutes now just starting at us. Talk about heart melting.. She is just the best. 
• We are still on the nose cannula. We tried to drop her extra air flow yesterday, but it was just a little too much for her to handle with learning how to suck and swallow and breathe with eating. Slow and steady wins the race, right?!
• Our favorite times of the day with our girl are the snuggle sessions, bath nights, learning how to eat and her weigh ins every night. Basically, the whole day, who are we kidding.....
• Ben and I are starting to feel a lot more comfortable with taking over lots of her care. We are champs at temperature taking, diapers (She loves to surprise us with poop everywhere....), changing her pulse oxygen on her foot, swaddling, and changing her outfits with all the cords attached.
• Each day here is one day closer to bringing her home. Her doctors are pleased with the growth she is making
   
  
  
  
  
  

We might have a different "normal" than most, but it's our "normal" and I feel like we are adjusting the best we can. We have our nights of tears and meltdowns, we are exhausted traveling back at forth to the hospital but at the end of the day, we wouldn't do anything differently. Eleanor has been the best thing that has happened to us. We are so in love.

update on Miss Eleanor

A lot has happened in the past two days!

• Eleanor joined the 4lb club. In fact, she's now up to 4lbs 2.5oz. GROW GIRL
• We finally got to switch her feeding tube from her mouth to her nose. Now we get to practice lick and learn (which I'll have to say, I'm not a fan of this name) but what it is, is basically an introduction to breastfeeding. It will be easier for her now that the feeding tube is in her nose.
• She has been able to maintain her own body heat, so we said good bye to her space ship and hello to a little crib (or as we like to call it, her big girl bed)
• Her feedings have gone up and she seems to be tolerating them well.
• We are now able to hold her like a baby. No rocking yet, babies this age can't handle that stimulation. So we put our feet up and enjoy every single ounce of  snuggles we can get.
• We get to give her, her first swaddle bath tonight. Moving on up from sponge baths. I'll report later on how that goes!
• To say we love our nurses is an understatement. We have formed some really great relationships with a few of the nurses here who have chosen to be Eleanor's primary nurses (whenever they work, they have Eleanor) they get to know her like we know her and we feel so good knowing she is in good hands.
• Our private room has been amazing. It's quiet, private, comfortable and we can enjoy being in here as our little family of three. It might not be home (yet), but it feels like "home" right now

Keep those prayers coming for our girl. Like I said before, she feels it, we feel it and I know God has got his big hands around us. Signing off for now...

No more feeding tube in my mouth, it's now in my nose!

I now get to snuggle as much as I want with my mommy and daddy.

Now I'm in my big girl bed. Tiny little Eleanor in a big bed. We are so excited though! Grow baby grow!

Yesterday our sweet girl turned 2 weeks old!  We are obsessed with literally everything about her. We are beginning to learn her little personality and she's becoming more and more alert every day. We know she can only see shadows when she is looking our way, but let me tell y'all, those big eyes make us absolutely melt when they turn our way. She's the best thing we have ever done. We are so in love with you Eleanor. 

Let's talk about this screen for a minute

We stay glued to this screen. The nurses all say check your baby first when anything drops or seems not quite right, but Lordy, you hear a beep from this screen and it sends you in all sorts of different directions emotionally. The top green number is her heart rate, the white is her respiratory rate and the blue is her oxygen levels. We have been told to really only look at the green and the blue. The white can be all over the place pending on if they are moving around and what not. We like the blue number to stay in the 90s. High 90s is ideal, but as long as shes around there we are good. If it dips below, it will start beeping. This might mean Eleanor got super comfy or forgot to breathe (common in preemies), but when this happens and she can't recover on her own (go back up to the 90s), it's called a  de-sat or a "brady". We don't like Bradys. We know they are super common in the NICU, but they are also super stressful to us parents. 

This screen relays so much information to us about our baby girl and how she is doing, feeling, acting,  is she too hot? too cold?, etc. Technology sure has come a long way.

Once again, we are so thankful for the doctors and nurses that are constantly monitoring her stats as well as her helicopter parents who , like I said before, stay pretty glued to this screen :)