Ellie is back to her birth weight!

Praise Jesus...Ellie is back to her birth weight. Last night she weighed in at 2 lbs. 8 oz. Wahoo! She didn't tolerate her 5 pm feeding (that Ben was keeping you in suspense before about), but the Drs. actually still gave her the next full dose - 4 mL of Mommy's milk. They said they were giving her a second chance, which I'm so glad they did. At 11 p.m.'s feeding, they checked her residual and there was only 1 mL of "stuff" (mucus, undigested milk, and digestive enzymes) which is SO good! That means our little Ellie worked extra hard to digest last time's feeding and this times! We were so shocked, we really thought she might not tolerate this dose too. Her bilirubin level is back up to 7.6 (before they said she might get the jaundice light again at around 8), but Ellen (NP) wasn't too concerned. Apparently one week is a milestone, so since she's done well thus far, there's no need to put her back on the light. We also got to give Ellie her first sponge bath. She didn't like it very much, she cried! (which is not very loud) This afternoon/evening she didn't have that many brady episodes, so we were excited about that. She's still on the high flow Oxygen (2 liters) and so it seems to be helping her remember to breathe. OH...and we got to hold her again. I did the kangaroo hold (skin to skin) and Daddy's just more comfortable with the conventional hold (bundled up). We've met more people in the NICU, so that has been really good. Now we know Ellie's neighbor! Please pray for Mommy as her pain medicine prescription has come to an end. Now I'm really starting to feel sore, so please pray for healing and again - that I would take more naps and get more rest!