I got a huge surprise yesterday when the nurse called to say they were moving Eleanor from the NICU to the Special Care Nursery. This is still a step above the regular nursery in terms of care, but it's for infants who are less sick. She's been having very few episodes of apnea and she's tolerating her feedings well. They are even going to take her off the oxygen for a trial period tonight.
She reached her lowest weight yet on Monday at 2lbs 13oz, but today she was up to 2lbs 13.8 oz. She should start putting on 1/2 to 1 oz per day. The nurses say she's on a "feed and grow" and the next big challenge should be getting her to nurse in about 2 weeks, or when she's at 33 weeks gestational age. They also warned that sometimes preemies "poop out" and if that happens and she starts having breathing issues, they'll move her back to the NICU. If she knows what's good for her she'll stay put. The SC is like a spa compared to all the noise and craziness in the NICU. She's so much calmer in SC.
So, looks like she'll be there at least another two weeks before we try to get her eating on her own, and then however long that takes. Knowing her, there will be a few more surprises in store. I just hope they continue to be good news.
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