December 5

John and the boys survived their first week of work and school with me gone. They were more prepared this time for me leaving, which I think helped. Ian is actually enjoying the after school program, and Caleb and Levi like their "school." I think they're having a good time with their dad. He took them to see Santa yesterday. They saw Santa ride in on his horse, and got to sit on the horse (Ian and Levi did), then went to another location and got to talk to Santa. They've played in the snow, and watched movies. I think they're getting along pretty well!

Today Ellie is 4 lb 14 oz! She's really getting big! She has gained half a pound just this week.

I just thought this was cute, she had her first bath this week and her hair was all fuzzy and clean.

Her arm was as big as my finger when she was born, it's at least twice that big now.

Ellie moved into an open crib this week! That means she's holding her own temperature now. She is working on eating, last Monday the nurse let her try her whole bottle (she was only supposed to try 1/4 of it), which she ate, and that convinced the doctor that she should be able to try her bottles if she was ready for them. By the end of the week she was trying all 8 times, not finishing all, but at least trying. Then she got her two month immunizations, which did not make her very happy, but then today again she ate well. So now that she's breathing well, and holding her temperature, she just needs to eat all her bottles for long enough that they are convinced she can do it and she'll be able to come home!

And just for fun, some winter pictures....not sure if you can tell how steep this road is or not (the bottom of the hill is down under that highway overpass), but when it's snowy and icy it's not really a hill I'd want to be on! Thankfully now the main roads are nice and dry around here, much better than the slippery slush of the beginning of the week.

This is quite the icicle!

Talk about being snowed in.......

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.

November 21 Update

It's been a fun week, my sister flew in from a long ways away to stay a few days with us. My boys absolutely loved her, Ian even showed her around his whole classroom at school - he hasn't even done that for John or I :). And, she got to meet Ellie, since the airport is in the city Ellie is in. She got some good pictures of Ellie while the sun was coming in the window and she was out of her bed, here's one that shows her hair really well! It's quite red, just like we like it around here!

She doesn't like to be disturbed sometimes.

She was wide awake for a little while.

Ellie is doing well. She's going to be 7 weeks old tomorrow (and 34 weeks gestation), and she is at 3 lb 12 oz! She has gained a full 2 pounds from her lowest weight. She is still being fed milk through a feeding tube (that's what is in her mouth, it goes directly into her stomach) and within the next week or two they'll let her start trying to take a bottle. Yesterday the doctor took her off the CPAP and she's on the high-flow nasal cannula full time. Last weekend it didn't work to take her off CPAP so she got put back on, we'll see if it works this time. Then if she does okay, the next step is to slowly lower her flow on that to see if she can come off altogether. She'll probably soon be able to be out of an isolette and into an open crib, as she's getting big enough and old enough to maintain her own body temperature better. Those are the things she has to do to be able to come home - breathe, eat, and stay warm. Sounds easy! I sure hope it's easy for her :). She's doing just what she should for her gestation right now, the doctor is pleased with her progress and we can't be happier ourselves. She'll be home before we know it. My sister organized and put away all her clothes so I hope we're ready when the time comes!

Comparisons

You aren't supposed to compare your children, but while sitting holding a sleeping baby, or driving to and from the hospital, I have lots of time to think and not that much to think about, so I've been thinking of all the similarities and differences in each baby experience we've had. For some reason, this seems like a Wave-like post......and while not necessarily interesting to anyone but me, it's my blog so I can write what I want :).

Ellie's most obvious difference is that she's the only girl. 

Ellie is the only one to be born in the hospital and state she was born in, the others were all born in the same hospital, which also happens to be the hospital I was born in. 

All the boys were born on either the 25th (E) or the 26th (I, C, & L) of a month, and all four were born on a Wednesday. Ellie was born on the 4th, which was a Monday.

Ian was the only one not born 6/7 of the way through a week of his gestation - he was born at 41 weeks, 0 days, the others were 29 6/7, 27 6/7, and 26 6/7. Also noted, he is the only one who was born at full term.

Ian is the only one who was able to be held right after birth (although he then had to wait almost another 2 weeks before being held again).

Eli was the only one to have two problems, both his heart and being premature, the others have each had only one of those problems.

Ian was the only one to not spend time in the NICU (except for his first few hours), he was in a PICU and regular room during his hospitalization.

Levi and Caleb were the only ones to be hospitalized in the same state in which we lived. 

Ellie is the only one to not have been on a ventilator and to not (so far) need any blood transfusions.

Caleb and Levi are the only ones who had a roommate, and crib-mate while in the hospital.

And, lest I get in trouble for not update anything about Ellie, she is over 3 pounds! She got to three pounds this week, and today is 3 lb 3 oz, a pound over her birth weight (but she's gained a pound and 7 ounces since her lowest weight). The doctor is trying to get her off the CPAP, she's right now 6 hours on it, 6 hours on a high-flow nasal cannula and so far doing well with it (she's been 8 hours on CPAP and 4 hours on nasal cannula for 3 or more weeks already).

Update

There's really not that much to update, Ellie is doing well. When the doctor came back in with her chart today he told the nurse he ordered lab work to be done on Sunday (they do it every Sunday) and she said he was really thinking ahead, and he answered that he felt like he should write something since he hasn't written anything in her chart for 5 days. She's just sleeping and growing. She's gained over a pound (from her lowest weight), which is huge, considering she's still not yet 3 pounds! But she's getting close, she's 2 lb 14 oz today. And, of course, she's cuter every time I see her :). The nurses let me hold her for longer and longer, I held her for the whole time I was there today (a little over 2 hours). The discharge coordinator came in today to find out who her pediatrician will be when she's home, so I guess eventually she will come home (that's still weeks away, however)! And she has a place to sleep, now I just have to find out where to put all her clothes! I never used a bassinet before, since before I had a room for the baby/ies and the crib, but Ellie isn't going to have her own room just yet.....

The boys and I explored the hospital a little while John was holding Ellie Sunday. The NICU isn't in the Children's part of the hospital, it's in the Women's part, but this Ronald McDonald is over in the Children's part. Caleb and Levi, especially, were a little wary of him at first until I proved to them that he was not real.

The hollow tree tunnel. The walkways between the buildings are decorated, too, and have sound effects, but I didn't get a picture since I didn't think someone walking down it would appreciate me taking their picture!

This was taken last week - I'm not sure any of her limbs are actually in the clothes at this time, she looks like she's wearing a sack! She for sure had wiggled her hands out. She's still in an isolette, until I think she's about 4 pounds, so it can keep her warm. But they are putting clothes on her most of the time now.