4-plus months...

Ella News Flash:

eye exam - good

nose blockage - bad

hearing test - good

feedings - full bottles!

diaper rash - baaaad.

biliruben down - good, and eliminate another med.

breathing - good, removed all test leads except for one.

"H" word - great!



Monday's Eye Exam showed that Ella's eyes are making some progress. She still has ROP but it has improved into Zone 3 (perhpiral vision) of her eye....closer to full maturity.

She passed her hearing test in both ears - she did not pass her initial test last week in the right ear.


Little Ella has started taking full bottles occasionally. She still gets tired out, especially at night and needs the balance of the bottle pumped into her stomach. Unfortunately we cannot let her eat only what she wants because calories and growth are critical for her development at this point. So, she still has a feeding tube and an O2 sat monitor which can be removed once she is doing full feeds consistently on her own.


She has been diagnosed with choanal atresia on the right side of her nose, which is a permanent obstruction of the nasal passageway. Turns out she's been breathing with only one nasal opening since birth. She will eventually require surgery to repair this, but since she is doing okay with just the one side and breathing through her mouth, the docs will wait until she is much much bigger to do this - probably until she is 2-yrs old.

Mom and Dad want to finally bring little Ella HOME, and looks like we will get that chance... perhaps this weekend? Even though she is not taking full feeds, we will be getting some training on how to insert the feeding tube down her nose, operate the pump, give her meds, and CPR just in case. Scary stuff, but parenting aint always easy.

Ella is now weighing in at 5lbs 3oz!



Next update - HOME report.