November 28

These pictures aren't necessarily in any order, but this first one is of the winter wonderland outside the hospital window. I'm guessing we've gotten about a foot of snow in the past week, along with sub-zero temperatures, making for a lot of snow that's not going anywhere. It is pretty on the trees, but I really do not like it on the hilly roads around the hospital!

These next pictures are mostly for my Mom, she's wanting to know what the Ronald McDonald House is like. I came here on Thanksgiving Day, leaving John and the boys at home with no Thanksgiving dinner (it was the day the roads were the best, plus the day we got a room at the RMH). They've been having fun playing in the snow, watching movies, and taking it easy on their four day weekend. The real world starts back up tomorrow..... 

I got a turkey dinner here, made by some nice volunteers. There are at least 3 hospitals served by this Ronald McDonald House and there is always a waiting list. This is the eating area, just lots of tables. The counter and fridge at the end are community property, for leftovers from dinners volunteers make, or snacks/food that have been donated.

Each family has a locked cupboard to put their non-perishable food in.

These are the kitchens - there are 4 kitchen areas, each with a fridge, stove, microwave, dishwasher, sink, and dishes. Several families share each area, each cleaning up after themselves. Each family also takes turns going over the whole dining area to make sure it's clean. I  got that chance my first day here!

This is for the engineering types, especially one electronically-minded eight year old :). I use this key thing to get in the front door and into my room, the little light turns green when I wave the "key" in front of it and it unlocks the door. My room is like a hotel room, with two beds, a dresser, desk, chair, bathroom, and closet.

And here's Ellie. Notice anything? No more nasal cannula! She got off it yesterday! So only a feeding tube (plus leads to monitor her), it's now in her nose. She's had a big week - she got off the cannula, reached 4 pounds, moved to a new bed, moved to a new unit (this is a step-down unit, for "feeder-growers"), and started trying a bottle! She hit 34 weeks this week, which is a milestone week for development. And, personally, I think she's almost got chubby cheeks (compare this picture to the last picture in this post)! I think all babies should be born at 4 pounds, they are just the right size - starting to get chubby, yet still so small and cute. She is over 16" long, and her arms, which used to be the same size around as my index finger, are now about twice that size.

She's really starting to fill out, and look more newborn-ish. And, she fits into preemie clothes!

This is her new bed. It still warms her, but when you open it up it opens the whole side so it can cool the baby off faster, thus it's used for babies who can maintain their temperature a little. At first when they even opened the side little holes of her isolette it would cool her down. One nurse called this kind of bed a "bread box" because of the way it opens. Ellie is in there, under those blankets.

This was from a week ago, but I think it's cute since she's awake. I think she's changed a lot in the past week.