32 weeks

Elyse is doing well today.  She had a good night without too many decels, and the x-rays show no changes, and no NEC so far (which is a very good thing).  The doctors say her bloodwork is reassuring but they are still being cautious.  She still isn't as active as usual, but her colour looks better and her abdominal bloating has decreased.  The plan is to keep her off feeds for a few more days and do an abdominal ultrasound to check the blood flow in her bowel and intestines.  She is not out of the woods just yet, but at least heading in the right direction.

I swear, if I don't have grey hairs yet I surely will by the end of all this!  At least my mom was kind enough to point out the wonderful array of hair colouring options available these days (thanks Mom).

Even without her milk feeds she was still up to 1027g today, a little over 2lbs 4oz.  Slow but steady!  And she is 32 weeks (adjusted age) today.  Going forward, she will actually have two different ages -- the adjusted or corrected age is how old she should be if she was born full-term, versus her actual or chronological age which is based on her actual birthdate.  For the first two years or so, her development will be measured against her adjusted age, which is approximately 10 weeks behind her actual age.

 

An interesting preemie tidbit -- if you notice the top of her ear slightly folded, that's because the ear cartilage doesn't actually harden until a few weeks before birth -- it's one of the last things to develop.  I thought that was pretty interesting (after I got over the fact that her ear was folded in half one day).