Bella Is On The Move

Lori came home for a few days this week. This is the first time that she has slept in her own bed since April 1st and it has been really nice having her here. John came up Thursday night but could only stay one night because of the RMH policies. Of course there was much to do, I just wish it could have been at a little slower pace.
Little Bella continues to grow and show signs of strong development. She is up to 3 pounds 14 ounces. She has officially been moved up to level 2 AND into an open crib!
Level 2 is the last level before coming home!!! Most babies are off of oxygen before going into stage 2. Bella, however, was moved with her oxygen or “nasal cannula”. Remember, they started lowering her oxygen levels while we were there last Friday, but she didn’t do as well as we had hoped, so her oxygen had to be increased again. This has gone back and forth all week, but Friday we learned that she was doing so well that they were able to take her completely OFF OXYGEN!!!!! Although this is normal for preemies, we are so hopeful that she will continue to breathe normally and without oxygen assistance. They plan to start her on the bottle one day this coming week and if she continues to do well with her oxygen and does well with her feeding….....The BIG NEWS is that, she will then be able to come home!!! So the end of her stay at the Sacred Heart NICU could be only a few weeks away!!!
This GREAT NEWS came just hours after Lori’s first baby shower. Lori was already busy trying to get everything from the shower sorted, organized and put away! This news really did put us into overdrive! Thanks to all of our many special friends and family who came to the shower and made today so special. We are blessed.