1 month old

Since the last update, Ella is making slow progress.

She is now up to 990 grams (~2lbs 30z).

Still on the ventillator, but with good low settings. She is tempermental with her breathing, and swings high/low on her blood oxygen levels - a source of anxiety for Mom, Dad, and her nurses.

Making progress on her belly - irrigations are helping to cleanse her out, and her stomach tube is getting clear liquid instead of green. Getting closer to feeding her.

We finally arranged a meeting on Tuesday with the Surgeon (Dr Lee) and one of the NICU doctors. We feel much better now that at least we have a plan, and that the doctors are in agreement.

So, the plan:

- Still some air bubbles in her intestine. Dr Lee will irrigate about every two days to clear the air bubbles and to help clear out any clogs in her intestine - this will help her to start passing material and let her start to feed. Maybe in about 2 weeks.

- Slowly reduce the respirator settings, hopefully removing her breathing tube within a few days. Monitor liver functions through blood tests - potential liver problems can be caused by long-term feeding through IV.

- Dr Lee would like to try to delay her re-connection surgery until she is up to about 4lbs - bigger babies are more developed and would tolerate the surgery better. At her rate of growth, this will probably be about a month from now.

Dr Lee has been irrigating the ostomy - he sticks a rubber tube in about 4" and injects a solution, sucks it out, injects, sucks out. We watched as the solution in the syringe got really black and also got some air bubbles. This is a good sign.

Also, material coming out of her stomach tube is now clear instead of green, which means that bile is starting to move through her intestine. Dr Lee says this is promising and we may be able to feed her soon, like within a few days.

This week, Mom and Dad drove home on Wednesday to mow the lawn and start some house cleaning. And Thursday night, Jeff D and Jill hosted us for a great grilling dinner.