Still holding strong.

Flara is continuing to do well. The doctor decided to try her again on 2 liters of oxygen on her nasal cannula because she had made it over 24 hours without a heart rate drop. Although we have seen her fail this multiple times within hours, she is still going strong nearly 12 hours into the flow decrease. She's also still without any heart rate drops. =)

Because Flara has been nursing so well, the doctor also wrote that she may try nursing one to two times daily. She didn't spit up after feeding her yesterday, so he has asked me not to pump just prior to feeding. The plan is to turn off her continuous feeds for one to two hours post-nursing, and see how she handles the milk in her tummy. I was able to try feeding her again today. She did very well, and didn't spit up after that feeding. Hooray! Tomorrow, our plan is to go visit during the morning so I can feed her, then go back at nighttime. Her nurse called me this afternoon to inform me that Flara woke up shortly after our leaving, and was wide awake chomping and smacking on her pacifier for a solid hour! I think we have finally unleashed the little monster! She was also awake and looking for mommy this afternoon. Poor little girl!

Flara has been hanging out in a fancy-pants bed called a 'giraffe' bed. These beds have built-in scales, and can do all sorts of amazing features. They're quite handy, especially with micro-preemies, like Flara! A big advantage of the in-bed scale is that it minimizes handling of the babies when they are so fragile. I was quite stunned this morning to walk in and see that she had graduated to a 'normal' isolette. Now, she'll have to come out and be weighed on a scale like a big girl! She hit 3 pounds, 11 ounces today, so she really is a big girl! (Or, so we think!)

Today, too, our little Flara is officially a 34-weeker. Although this is the earliest preemies can go home (if they meet a long list of criteria), our Flara still has a long journey before she's ready to leave the NICU. Daddy was holding out for an early departure early on, but I sadly informed him that I never see 26 weekers go home at 34 weeks. Usually, they're in for longer than their due date. Although we get (and currently are) super antsy about Flara being in the NICU, we are so thankful for all the progress she has made, and look forward to the progress yet to come.

I'm still worried about that yucky central line. I'll breath much easier when it comes out. It seems we might be 2-3 days out from turning off her IV fluids, so hopefully she'll lose it in 3-4 days. Today marks 2 weeks in, which is the same as when her last infection reared it's ugly head. She became pretty septic, and as I've said numerous times, took her a month to fully recover. I'm in constant prayer about it, and I urge you all to fervently pray against an infection as well!

Last, please pray for guidance and wisdom for Mike and me. We have a lot of big decisions to make regarding a multitude of subjects, and we are trying our best to figure out what we need to do. Also, I'm still struggling with the mishaps of my delivery, so please continue to pray for peace.