She's getting so big!

Breasfeeding: We are doing better! She latches on every time and sucks the right way every time! Our only problem with that is she isn't a very strong sucker. Now that she's understands the process, it's just going to be a matter of getting better at it. She's still really little (hmph.. so they say) and it's going to take a little bit more time for her to get stronger. I'm still pumping about 6-8 times a day (who am I kidding.. it's more like 5) but I get from 26-30 ounces a day. Right now she's eating just under 12 ounces every 24 hours so I'm WAY ahead of schedule.

Weight gain: She's still small for her age but she's gaining weight according to the "growth curve chart" so we're happy. I think she's in the 3rd percentile for height and weight! :) She's real small. Her head on the other hand is huge.. not sure on the percentile but.. it's huge. Officially, tonight, she weighed 2130 grams which is 4 pounds 11 ounces!! In 4 days, she has gained about 7 ounces! We almost have a 5 pound baby!!

Eyes: We are waiting to be checked in 3-6 days. The doctor is really pleased that she still hasn't needed surgery! We're not out of the woods yet and we are 99.9% sure she will have the surgery but everyday she can hold off is another chance for her to get bigger which will help her recovery from surgery. It's a constant roller coaster trying to keep up on when the doctor says he will come and when he actually comes so I try not to think about it.

Oxygen levels: She is still requiring between 21 and 30% oxygen, depending on the time of day and what is being done to her. If we are breastfeeding, she goes up to about 30% just because of the whole suck, swallow, and breath challenge and if she's sleeping comfortably, she's close to 21%. The doctors won't let her come home on oxygen if she is still in the danger zones for ROP and possibly requiring surgery. They say that having a high oxygen saturation in your blood can increase the risk of ROP (which we already have but it can also make it worse, faster). So, the battle we fight now is: 1) we have eye surgery soon, she loses her peripheral vision (and becomes a bad driver ), we come home on oxygen and a heart monitor, and we probably come home sooner or 2) She takes her sweet 'ol time working miracles on her eyes and fixing the ROP so no surgery is required, she still needs oxygen, but we have to wait... lots of waiting... and we come home later, still on a heart monitor but maybe no cannula.

That's pretty much my summation of reasoning how soon it will take us to come home. I hope it wasn't too confusing. I'm thinking she won't be home by her due date. Maybe by Mother's Day or Clint's birthday (May 9th) though. Wouldn't that be great??

These are some pics we took tonight of her. She LOVES LOVES being upright on your shoulder. Clint started doing that with her the other night and she just calms right down. Seriously.. we have the cutest little girl! I can't get over it..