3 POUNDS TODAY

We made it back over the 3 lb mark today! She gained 50 grams and is up to 3 lbs 1 ounce! Yay! I remember when 3 lbs was such a huge deal for us with Justin but it took him a lot longer to get there. Her feedings are going perfectly. They are still increasing 1 ml every two feedings and as of this morning we were up to 7 mls. By tonight, we will be up to 9 mls! The doctor said in the next couple days we will start fortifying the milk as well, just for a little calorie boost. I forgot to mention yesterday that she was back on phototherapy for two days because her bilirubin levels were a little high. She should be done with that after today. Our final piece of BIG news today is that Ava is graduating to the Special Care Nursery tomorrow already!!! The NICU is jam-packed with a ton of sick and little babies and since Ava is doing so well, she is moving on up to the next level. I have mixed emotions about the move. Ultimately, I am thrilled because it means she is healthy and moving quickly to come home! But, we just LOVE the docs and nurses in the NICU so it will be hard to leave. Not to mention, we have our own room in the NICU. We will go to a 4 baby room in Special Care. That is what we were used to with Justin so it won't be so bad. The nice thing about Special Care is that the same doctors round there as the NICU. We won't have the two docs we know best, Dr. Hustead and Dr. Hoekstra, but the same group. They are all great. Lots of good news today!!!

We are heading down to visit this evening. Something that we haven't done with Ava yet is Kangaroo Care. This is when you hold the baby skin-to-skin. Studies have proven how good this is for babies...and moms and dads too! We "kangarooed" a lot with Justin and will enjoy it tonight with Ava! Pictures to come later.