MorrowLove: Elora Moves to Infant Care Center!

Today was a special day - Elora graduated out of the NICU! She moved down the hall to the Infant Care Center (ICC). The ICC is where she will eventually be discharged from. We were disappointed that we didn't get a room in there with a window, but that is ok. The rooms are huge! And they have floor lamps (which helps make it a lot more cozy!) and we have our own attached bathroom. Although we were happy about this progress, we were sad to leave the NICU. I know that sounds crazy - but you have to understand, it is where we have lived life for 10 weeks now. We have come to know the nurses well (especially her four primary nurses who have been with her from the day she was born) and become comfortable with the rhythm of the NICU. There is a high level of trust that was formed there. However, we know we will become comfortable with the ICC as well and build relationships and trust with the nurses there.

In other news...Elora has started bottle feeding! She is taking about 20% of her feedings by bottle. It's adorable to watch her - she seems to love this new experience. However, sometimes our little girl gets too tuckered out to eat by bottle, which is just fine. The doctors don't want her spending energy and calories on bottle feeding if she is not up to it. Save those calories for growing! Next is learning how to breastfeed, which will be a new challenge in itself (it usually is longer for preemies to learn). Although she is fed both by bottle and by tube, she will eventually need to eat only by bottle and/or breastfeeding in order to go home.

BREATHING UPDATE: Elora is doing well with learning to breath on her own. She is still on some assistance, but she is slowly being weaned off her support. She is on a machine that has 4 settings (4 being the highest amount of support) and she is currently at a 1.5 setting and doing great!

EYE UPDATE: Elora had another eye exam today with the retinal specialist. Overall things haven't changed much since last week. She is still being monitored for the ROP disease that she has in both eyes (mild case). They are watching to see if it self-corrects or if she will need laser surgery. Please continue to pray for healing in this area!

HEAD UPDATE: Elora had a head ultrasound late last week. The doctor said "we continue to see improvements"! We are praising God for this continued healing and progress. They will check her brain again in a few weeks, but there are no major concerns in this area.

WEIGHT UPDATE: Today she weighed in at 4 pounds, 9 ounces!!

You may have heard that my (Sarah) paternal grandma, Geny, passed away last weekend. We are sad that she was not able to meet Elora. However, she did see lots of pictures and video of her before she died. We will miss her greatly- but we know that she is with the Lord in her new, pain-free body :)