Nora's morning

I arrived at Nora's room this morning and she was getting poked. Normally they squeeze a little drop of blood out of her foot to do tests on. Today, they needed blood from a vein to run tests on. The nurse tried 2x's to pull the blood from veins in her head. She was really brave and didn't seem to feel it even though it did not look comfortable at all. Finally, the sharpshooter nurse had to be called and she was able to pull some blood from her arm.

Good news! Dr Rimke said that her Billyrubin levels are low enough to come out from under the phototherepy light! We switched it off and swaddled her up and she fell fast asleep.

We still have not met with the neurosurgeon. Dr Rimke says the Neurosurgeon has taken a look at the ultrasound from Day 1, has made a note in her file that they will follow up to monitor the progress of her Ventriculomegaly (enlarged ventricle). It is hard to be patient. I realize that the enlarged ventricle is not an emergency at this point, but it is still my nature to try to create order and plans around the unknown. I need to just be patient and happy that for now, there are no plans to make.

I have had a chance to observe some of the other babies in the NICU. Nora is really lucky to be doing so well. Many of these babies are going to have serious medical problems for the rest of their lives. Also, I thinks some of them may not ever leave the NICU. Very very sad. There are volunteers that play the guitar and sing soft songs at the sides of the cribs of the most critical babies. It is hard to hear them singing without crying. Very sweet. We are so lucky that Nora is doing so well in the NICU.