June 10th Update

update on Stevie Dee:
Today she weighs a whopping 4lbs 6.6oz (2002 grams).
On Monday she had her eye exam which is standard - her eyes are "normally immature" - she's is only 33 wks 5 days so of course her little eyeballs are immature. However they did tell me that the major blood vessels coming off her optic nerve are almost developed (which is exceptional for someone her age). She still only sees black and white - I didn't know that new babies don't see color for a while (this is why they tell you to put black & white objects in front of them - and they can only see about 12 inches in front of them).

She is still on oxygen and they are continuing to wean her down on the settings. She is on a lower flow of oxygen and she stays between 23% and 28% level - this isn't much. We all breathe 21% oxygen. She is still have desats and a few low heart rate spells, but the dr told me this is probably due to reflux, and he was happy with her progress to date. It still scares us because alarms sound, but we're learning more and more what is normal preemie behavior.

On Thursday or Friday we will begin training her on bottle feeding. Everyone has told me this is the most frustrating part, but I'm praying she'll pick it up quickly like the super preemie baby she is. This can take a few weeks I've been told.

We're hoping that we can bring Stevie home within 4 weeks. Criteria to bring her home is:
1) consistently gaining weight
2) maintaining her own body temperature
3) eating 8 feeds a day via bottle or breast feeds without having any bradycardia spells (drop in heart rate)
4) No apnea or bradycardia spells for 5 days - if we are getting ready to take her home and she has a heart rate drop they will keep her there for another 5 days.

Thank you for continuing to pray for us and Stevie. She is so much fun even though we haven't really gotten to be with her 24/7. That will be a great day for Steve and I.

Please continue to pray for Jace McDougal www.jacemcdougal.wordpress.com
He was born a day before Stevie and Christopher at 24 weeks. He and Stevie were neighbors in the NICU for 2 weeks. His parents are amazing. Jace is now at Medical City Dallas due to his heart problems. Praise God Jace seems to be stable right now. You can read his latest updates on the link above. He's a fighter.

Praying for complete healing for Stevie,
Erin & Steve