Eleanor: May 3, 2011

No more feeding tube! Robert and I arrived a little bit late to the nicu Monday afternoon and much to our surprise, Eleanor was (being held in a sitting position in her incubator) being fed by one of the nurses with a Bottle!!! We were so happy! She told us that the whole nicu was waiting for us, but that she decided to just go ahead with the feeding. The doctor determined that she is now ready to eat by bottle and by breast feeding. This is a gigantic step in her progression!! She is doing great with the bottle and is doing pretty well breast feeding too. A few of the other nurses came by to congratulate her on her success. She is currently 3 lbs and 1 oz.

One of the doctors told me that because Eleanor does not have a respiratory problem and her only issue now is her size, she thinks that I should stay past the end of visiting hours to kangaroo and feed her. Holding Eleanor longer will be beneficial for her. I am not sure if the other doctors will agree, but at least I know that I can stay longer on the days that that particular doctor is in the nicu. Today, I stayed one hour past visiting hours.

Eleanor also had her first of a series of eye exams late this evening. They are looking for a condition common in preemies in which the ventricles in the eyeball grow too fast and irregularly. This can cause retinal detachment that leads to blindness. The doctor told us that this is caused by a disease and is usually found in preemies who are sick and on oxygen for a very long time. We are not concerned about the condition of her eyes, but we will feel better after having the ophthalmologist's report. Eleanor's next exam will be for her hearing. We know that her eyes and ears are working now because every time we take a picture her eyes are bothered by the light and when a nurse slams a cabinet door she jumps at the sound.

Also, her Step One screening came back negative for all fifty disorders!