NICU Day 78 ~ (February 23rd)

Well, flu season was officially declared this afternoon in the NICU which means no visitors except for parents until they declare flu season to be over.  We are just thankful that it has taken so long for cases to pop up around here.  It has been so incredibly warm that people have not been inside as much passing along their germs, and so the flu season around here this year should be much shorter than in the past.  This is the latest they can ever remember having shut everything down!!  Noelle had a great day though and just seems to be cruising along.  She is taking her bottles like a champ, and they condensed her feeds again today, so she is almost to the point of getting them just like a term baby (every 3 hours over approximately 30 minutes).  Then once she is taking all of those by bottle and not just by feeding tube, she will have completed one of the requirements for going home!!  It's amazing how far she has come in just the past two days!!  She is finally back to weighing 2 lbs. again.  She had dropped weight while she was gone, so it is good to see her getting back on track and starting to take off again with her weight.  She is starting to be awake for longer periods of time, and today we noticed that she can definitely see bold pictures in black and white.  Her nurse taped a picture with bold black lines to the top of her isolette, and she spent about 40 minutes on her back, completely content, just looking around and especially at that picture.  Most babies need tummy time....Noelle needs back time!!  I'm posting a couple of videos of her from today.  In one of them, you can hear her sweet little cry...I love it!!  Thank you for sharing in these fun moments we are now having with her and for continuing in prayer for our precious little girl.