Overdue Update

I took a mini-break from blogging while Cody and Brady were here visiting Ashton.  I was busy soaking up every second we got to spend together as a family which didn't leave much time for blogging.  It did leave plenty of time for loving and laughing with my handsome men and beautiful girl.  (I will do a post about the adventures we had over Easter...hopefully tomorrow, but no promises.)

So, I posted the pictures below earlier to show you all a sneak peak of what Ashton has been doing.

She has been regulating her temperature well and actually was getting hot in her incubator so she graduated to her very own NICU crib.  They only come in blue so we had to make sure we had her pretty pink sheets.  The big green "hand" in the picture is a Zaky.  The Zaky is designed to imitate the look and feel of a parent's hand and forearm. It weighs approximately 1.2 pounds, but you can shift the filling to provide as much or as little weight.  Ashton LOVES this thing and seems to rest much better with it than she does without it.

Ashton had a follow-up Echocardiogram yesterday and we got the results today -- MILD decreased function and no mention of PDA.  This is very good news given that her first echocardiogram showed severe decreased function and the PDA has closed on its own without surgical intervention.  The cardiologists recommend keeping her on the one heart medication that helps keep her heart from going into the fast beating rythmn (SVT) until she is 6 months old and one more echocardiogram before she is discharged from the NICU and NOTHING ELSE.  This is a HUGE praise!

Ashton weighed into tonight at 3lbs, 15 ounces...4 ounces heavier than she was at birth.  She is currently being fed 34 ml (1.15 US fluid ounces) of fortified milk every three hours and is tolerating it like a champ.  Each feeding lasts an hour so she spends eight hours a day being fed!  Although she is still fed through her tube, she has started sucking on a pacifier while she is being fed.  Hopefully this will help her associate sucking with her tummy getting food.

She is still having the episodes where she forgets to breath, but she is learning to recover more on her own which is certainly a step in the right direction.  Ashton is becoming more alert and opening her eyes.  She also is getting to wear lots of cute clothes and hats!

  Tomorrow is her one month birthday, so make sure to check the blog for her one month picture!

Prayer requests continue to be that Ashton have less "episodes" of forgetting to breath, that she avoid infection of any sort, and that she continues to grow and thrive.  Also, please continue to lift up in prayer Thatcher Caleb and his parents, Eric and Whitney.   Thatcher is an amazing little boy who shows his will and determination daily.

Much love,
Brandi