Home!

The sleep study went well. It looks like she’s outgrown the obstructive apnea, but that’s made way for some weird periodic breathing. Typical in newborns, periodic breathing is where you take a breath, pause, then take several quick breaths. Sometimes Ellie’s oxygen levels drop, other times it doesn’t. After a long chat with one of her doctors, we decided that it’s best to keep her off bipap for the time being, and slowly try to wean ourselves off electronic monitoring, in favour of relearning to watch her physical cues. We still have nursing hours, so we’re going to take it slowly. We will have weekly sleep studies at home, until our next respiratory  clinic visit in a month’s time.

 

Baby girl is home <3 She was so happy to be with us, that she showed off all evening long! She ate her dinner all by herself (beef stroganoff on egg noodles, with cherry tomatoes, raw spinach and goat cheese feta), slurping up the noodles like nobody’s business. Seriously, I should have filmed her and sent the video to the OT that told us she would never develop a suck! After dinner, I had work to do, so DH cleaned the kitchen while Ellie hung out on a blanket. I had NO idea that he didn’t know Ellie could sit up on her own. He was blown away by her speed at rolling over, and getting into the four point position, and was so excited to see her progress over the last week. It made me giggle to hear him exclaim “Whaaaaat?!?!”, and to see that Ellie had, quick as can be, gotten herself to sitting, and was scooting under the table in a race for the dropped noodles. Ah, she’s so funny. Everything is fun, everything is a game! She really does wonders for brightening my day. DH spent probably half an hour putting her back on her belly, to watch in awe as she sat herself back up.

 

We had a nurse come last night, at the same time as always, so we didn’t have to worry about taking Ellie off monitors. I heard them ring off a few times overnight, but it wasn’t anything too serious.

 

This morning, DH got up with Ellie to relieve the nurse, as I got ready for work. When I came downstairs, she was so excited to see me, that she almost scooted off the couch, trying to get to me! She gave me the best little hug. I can’t even tell you how amazing it is to have her be affectionate and loving. It’s the most incredible, heart warming feeling.

 

Neither of the kids were particularly impressed with my leaving for the day. Ellie waved bye-bye to DH and Jakob, before I gave her back to DH. She cried when I left, poor nugget!

 

I’m going away for the night, with one of my best girlfriends. I am so looking forward to a night off, to relax and unwind. J