Our cute baby

Happy girl in her crib.


Okay, it's been longer than a week. And I made Chad blog on Ellie's birthday, so I guess I'd better get on the ball and do better.

When we went to the cardiologist on the 7th, I forgot that Chad wasn't with us when I took Ellie up to visit in the NICU before her appointment. I walked up to the front desk with her in her carseat and told the clerk we were here to visit. He got on the unit speakers and said, "Attention Staff: Elizabeth Thompson is here to visit." All of a sudden, people came from everywhere. The neonatal nurse practitioners, some of the nurses that took care of Ellie (including Jocelyn), Maria our Social Worker, and Dr. Null who is the director of the NICU. Everyone was so excited to see her and amazed at how well she looked. "She's so pink!" "Look how big she is!" Glowing smiles and congratulations from everyone. Even Dr. Null, whom I have only met once, took my hand in his and with tears in his eyes told me how happy he was for us. It was wonderful!

Then Ellie and I went downstairs to check in and wait to meet Phyllis. It was her day off, but she wasn't going to miss seeing her girl! I invited her to come into the appointment with us, because she's practically an adopted aunt and she was very helpful with answering the doctor's questions. She brought Ellie a birthday present too which was very sweet. She's working with a very sick baby right now and said that she misses her girl and her smiles. We miss her too...but not enough to want to be back in the hospital.

Yesterday was Ellie's 4 month check up with the pediatrician. Dr. Coopersmith was very impressed with how well she was looking and growing so we don't have to go in for weekly weigh-ins anymore. Drumroll please........Ellie is now 11 lbs. 2 oz! She has gained 2 pounds since she's been home! She is 23 1/2 inches long and getting chubbier! And so cute! While we were waiting in the examination room, I put Ellie on her tummy and she pushed up on her arms for the first time! I got a couple of pictures, but not very good ones.

We have really struggled to get Ellie to eat. Chad was the one who could really get her going, but now just in the past 2 days working with her, she WANTS to eat. Hooray! Yesterday she only took 16 cc's total. Today she took 42 cc's!

I've started taking Ellie out in the stroller in the evenings for fresh air and exercise for me (believe me I need it!) I have a neat little bug net that fits over her seat so the mosquitoes and people can't get at her. The first night I took her out it was dusk and she was wide eyed with wonderment at this new experience. She loved it until the train went by. We were walking past the park just down from the tracks and the whistle went off and it scared her. Amazingly enough, when I told her it was okay and she saw that I was there, she stopped crying and was just fine. This little girl is going to take on the world with no problems.

Me and the bumble bee Auntie Phyllis gave me for my 4 month birthday.





Hi Aunt Marco!




Grandma Anne came to see me.


Ooh I am strong enough to push up on my arms!

I can sleep just like Marty McFly!

Happy Birthday

So, I suppose if you are four months old today, we should say happy birthday. Doesn't really make sense because birthdays are celebrated annually.. but oh well.

We had a pretty good day today. It started out bad, Ellie woke up at 5 AM dry heaving for about 10 minutes and couldn't settle down for quite a while.

We took Ellie to the cardiologist though and she got a clean bill of health.

She's 10 lbs, 10 oz and 23 1/2 inches long and is in the 5th percentile for her height and weight. Quite a change from Harrison who was in the 95th when he was born. But they are just glad that she's on the charts.

Dr. Cowley also took Ellie off her lasix medication. This means that she is not on any medications for her heart. Yeah!

We'll be going in for an ECG next month to see how her heart is doing and also to talk with GI Specialist Dr. Molly O' Gorman

Oh, BTW, for all those interested, Ellie's eyes are the deepest of blue. They are a very pretty color, I love to stare at them as she smiles at me.

The Week in Pictures

Ohh I love pink!





I've decided that I can only blog about once a week. So for those of you who check for new things daily, I apologize. I of course, shall blog tomorrow night because it is Ellie's birthday tomorrow.





Anyone notice something strange about this picture? Our Fourth of July was a trip to the hospital to get the NJ tube replaced again. Ellie sweat the tape off of her face that keeps the tube in place. She then got tangled in it and pulled out the tube. This is a very difficult thing to catch when it happens at 7:00 in the morning. But I got some great pictures of her tube free before we left!


Ellie's new cousin was born a week and a half ago. So Grandpa Don, Grandma Debbie, and Aunt Katie came up to the hospital to see her and then stopped to see Ellie. Katie was very excited to get to see Ellie for the first time!




My military brothers were in town last weekend for the 4th, so they came to visit and we got pics.

Hey look! Jake smiles!






I think Aunt 'Laira wants one!

Uncle Josh and Cousin Emma visiting


I think brothers are best of all.

Memoirs of a Zombie

This girl is a full time job by herself. I don't know how people with more kids than I have can do it. I feel like "Night of the Living Dead." It's just like when you bring a newborn home. No sleep, no brains, no ability to piece thoughts together let alone speak in coherent sentences. But hey, my Ellie is home and I get to hold her a lot!

Ellie is now 10 lbs 3 oz! She is very happy and has dimples in her elbows. She still throws up sometimes, but not as often, and usually not as violently. She is eating much better from a bottle, but it's going to be a long time before she can come off the feeding pump. She barely takes 30ish cc's three times a day. She needs to be taking around 100 cc's per feeding 8 times a day.

She adores her brothers and they love having her here.