first of many

So yesterday I had to run in my OBGYN's office to pick something up. As I sit in the waiting room it happens. The first conversation about my daughter that I really didn't like. Of course in retrospect my replies to these question would have been different, but it is a learning curve.
random lady: how old is your baby?
-3 months
Is she little?
-Yes
How much does she weigh?
-6 1/2 pounds
Was she early?
-yes
How much did she weigh when she was born?
-1.11
Does she have to wear that all the time? (refering to o2)
-yes
What is her racial background?
-she is 1/2 puerto rican and 1/2 black
.......(long pause)
Your Puerto Rican?
-No, I'm black.

Finally pictures!

3 Months old

Today my munchkin is 3 months old. Today is also her due date making her zero as well. At 3 months (zero) Ella can pick up her head and turn it from side to side when on her belly. She also holds her own head most of the time. She is eating 2 ounces every 3 hours. She loves bath time. She has started really looking and focusing on objects. Her eyes were officially cleared last Thursday and she does not have ROP (retinopathy of prematurity) and will not develop it at this point. Her next eye exam will be when her adjusted age is 6 months (Feb). She has yet to pass a hearing test and has an appointment for a different kind of test in September. It is obvious that she can hear, it is believed that she has fluid in her middle ears causing her to fail the exam. We'll have to see what the next test says, but she may just need tubes. She is a generally happy and good baby. She is also starting to be able to suck on the binkie without just shooting across the room. She is wearing some newborn clothes and still some preemie. We are using newborn diapers, but as soon as what we have is gone we are switching to size 1. Right now I only like Huggies little snugglers because they have elastic on the back and sides (and we need it!).

Pictures, just because I think she's cute!

Jumping the growth curve

Ella went to the doctor today. She has had some type of enterovirus since Friday so they wanted to check her weight. Over 6 pounds! She is offically not following the growth curve she should. She is gaining much faster! Neeedless to say, they are unconcerned about her pooping and think it will resolve on its own. She does have a really sore butt though!

Tummy time

Sophie wanted to play too.  She loves her baby!

Overdue update from an exhausted Mom

Ella is doing great. She was discharged yesterday on oxygen. She also had her first appointment with her pediatrician. She weighs 5 pounds 8 ounces and is 16 inches long. On the growth charts for extremely premature infants (weighing less than 1 kilo at birth) she is 50% for her head circumference, 10% for weight and 2% for height. She will obviously never be very big and her height will likely never catch up. She is physically advanced for her adjusted age. She can turn her head from side to side and usually holds it up herself. She sleeps all day and stays awake all night. We'll be working on that! She is a happy sweet baby but she is convinced that she must be held. She also LOVES the baby swing. We may be investing in a second one for the bedroom. It is really hard having her on a monitor and oxygen because you can't just run and get things from another room. She is stuck. We are planning on leaving the oxygen on her for a couple of weeks and then we will re-evaluate. On a completely separate note I got a really yucky cold yesterday, feel kind of gross and hope I don't share it with little miss!

Home today?

It looks like they may send little sweet pea home today. I am thrilled. Sitting in her hospital closet sized room all day every day along with the other events has affected my mental health. There is still a semi-long list of concerns that I need to address with her pediatrician. At this point we cross our fingers for her long term prognosis. This may be an isolated event and she may never have another problem. I feel like that is unlikely and that we will have further hospitalizations. I guess only time will tell.

When did this happen?

When we left Florida I wass the proud owner of a 4 pound 11 ounce teeny cutie. She then lost (or stayed the same) after we came home. They had stopped feeding her for awhile after her hospital admit. I told my Mom that she has had a growth spurt. She clearly looks bigger to me and is now filling out many of her preemie clothes and even starting to wear some newborns. So tonight I finally asked how much she weighed....5 pounds 7 ounces!!! When in the heck did this happen?

New pictures not much news

still don't know much. She had a seizure yesterday. I am really frustrated that they want to watch for another one. Other than that things are going okay.

She's doing okay

I know several people are checking in on this blog to see how little miss is, and for anyone who isn't aware she did stop breathing at home so I took her to the hospital where she again stopped breathing so they life flighted her to Primary Childrens Hospital where she did well, and then had a full code blue so here we sit.
She has been tested for around 3,324,23532 different things and she has nothing. This is likely strictly an altitude problem (she is from Florida).
So the plan is:
She will stay in the NICU and be treated for 1 week with antibiotics (as a precaution).
She will also stay at least 7 days past any cardiac or respiratory episode that requires the medical team to intervene. So if she has any others the date for discharge will keep moving.
Then I will take her home on oxygen and get a better monitoring system.
It's a good thing that she is cute or I would return her for a different model!