First smiles? (We wish)

Here are a few pics from this week.  We are dying for Ella to smile at us, but I think we will have to wait a few more weeks.  Although she does show some half smiles in the pics...

(it's not all fun and games...)

Recent pics

(this is not a staged shot, I swear)

Grandma and Grandpa Garrison came to visit...

First snowstorm...at least she's got the cheeks to keep her warm.

Will try to post every Sunday if we can...

Happy New Year

Happy New Year - thought some of you (grandma's who keep bugging us to post things) might like the video of Ella playing on the mat. She is slowly becoming more alert (however no smiles yet, and still awake at all hours of the night...).

We had a great time seeing Uncle Tom and Aunt Kelly who came to meet Ella:

And because Tom says we are ignoring Desmond (not true) we will give him some time too...

Christmas Eve

Today, 12/24 was supposed to be Ella's "real" birthday...So on her bday she is weighing in at over 7lbs 2oz. Hard to believe she has been here over 2 months already, but we are happy she continues to do so well.

Here are some pics from her first Christmas. The Grandma's came down again and brought some presents. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everybody!

Somewhere in Michigan...

...Ella has a calf named after her:In honor of the calf Ella's mom bought her a new outfit.

Week 2 at home

Sorry for the delay - the little one has decided it is better to sleep during the day and be up at night. Not much new to add so here are a few new pics. Ella is outgrowing some of her preemie clothes already (but the newborn sizes are still a little too big).

First Week at Home

Ella had a busy week at home. She made it through 2 trips to the pediatrician (and a shot), meeting Desmond (the dog), swinging in her chair, and a ton of eating and sleeping. We wish were getting half the amount of sleep that she is, but it is so great to have her home!

Thanks

We didn't get much of a chance to thank the NICU nurses for all they did for Ella, and us.
We can't thank all of you in Pod D enough (especially her primary nurses Amy, Tracey, and Shannon, as well as Tara, Essie, Michelle, Jenna, Jen, Linda, Megan, Betsy, and many others...)

You all treated her as if she were your own and we sincerely appreciate it.

And of course Dr. Tara who started all of this on Oct. 18th and visited almost every day after.

Thanks for getting us ready to take Ella home:

Home

After 34 days in the NICU, we're happy to say that Ella is home!

Today we all watched the football game (what an awful season).

5 pounds and no tubes

It's been a busy few days - Ella weighed in at 5lbs, just under 1 oz. today.  She has really started waking up, and becoming more alert.  More importantly she has taken all of her meals by mouth, so today they removed her NG tube.

We were excited (and nervous?) to hear that if all goes well tonight she will be discharged tomorrow!  Just in time, because we had resorted to doing "senior picture poses" with her to pass the time in the NICU (which we felt guilty about, but were laughing really hard at the time). We are embarassing her already.

Big Girl Crib

This weekend Grandma Debbie and Uncle Trevor came to visit. It was good timing, because on Friday, Ella moved to a "big girl" crib so she is now regulating her own temperature. Both thought she looks much smaller in person than on the blog...

Current weight: 4 lbs, 11 oz; she is really putting on weight but at this point more interested in sleeping than eating every 3 hours.

P.S. Congrats to Danny and Kyle, sorry we couldn't be there today.

First bath

Tonight Tara, Ella's nurse, suffered through showing us how to give her a bath. Unfortunately for her, it took over an hour.
at one point Ella was white-knuckled, holding on for dear life... But it all ended well. Current weight: 2025 grams (4lbs, 6 oz); after the stress of this bath, she will probably not gain so much weight tomorrow...