23 weeks old

We thought we would treat you all to some very special pictures this week, since we missed last week's post. I worked almost all week, and Jason was too busy with Elise to get to the blog. In case you haven't noticed, Elise has nothing on her face in these pictures! This was Friday when she accidentally pulled out her NG tube. So we took everything off and snapped away at some photos. We also got 2 videos of her you can watch below. You can see that her cheeks are irritated from the tape, but it is a must for keeping everything where it is supposed to be. We did have to put the NG tube back which I discuss more about down below. Isn't she just a doll!

Always happy. Here we are at Dogtoberfest here in Springfield. We only spent about 30 minutes at the event, but we brought along the dogs. Elise LOVES this Bjorn carrier that Mara gave us. People weren't too sure what to say when they saw Elise. It was odd watching the stares as people tried to figure out what to say. Most of them ended up changing the focus onto Mable, who usually steals the show anyways. And yes, we put 60SPF sunscreen on Elise. So Elise has had a rough week last week. She has been vomiting quite a bit and we aren't sure why. We have narrowed it down to a few possibilities including either bad formula, Flolan, or a GI virus. And we think now that it isn't the Flolan. The vomiting is better this week though. Our other bigger problem is that she has completely stopped eating, and is getting everything through the NG now. Again we aren't sure why she has stopped, but we have been advised by her speech therapists to not even offer the bottle anymore because she gets SO upset. Other than those two things, she has been doing great. She becomes more aware of her surroundings everyday. She has found both her hands now, and thinks it is amazing that every time she looks down they are still there! I can't wait for her to find her feet. She will roll up onto both of her sides now, but hasn't figured how to completely roll over on her own. She is tolerating tummy time better now that she knows how to keep her head up. She has learned how to scream, and I mean SCREAM! Our deaf old lady greyhound can even hear her high pitched scream. There is a video of her below that sort of shows the scream. She is still on 0.5 liters of oxygen and all her meds. She has also just started Prevacid this week due to all the vomiting. We skipped increasing her Flolan last week due to the vomiting, but went ahead today and increased it as scheduled. We don't have any real adventures coming up this week, so next week's blog will probably be pretty boring, but we'll get some good pictures for you. Oh, the NICU at St. John's had there annual reunion for patients, and I went today but couldn't bring Elise. It was great seeing all you girls again. Thank you again for everything you guys did the night she was born and the 2 weeks we were back with you. You guys truly saved her life the night she was born. I can't wait until next year when we can bring her to the event. I will post a picture of her in the shirt you gave me next week. I wanted to wash it before she wears it. Also before I sign off, I wanted to remind everyone with the upcoming cold and flu season that if you want to come by to visit Elise please consider a few things first. Please don't come if ANYONE in your house is sick. Not just you. It is critical that we keep her healthy this winter. I hope you guys have a great week. We love you all. Kristin