Weekend Fun!

Sweet pea has had an adventure this weekend.  I forgot the cord to my camera so I'll have to add pictures later.

Ashton got to attempt eating from a bottle for the first time yesterday!  Preemies do not have the muscle tone established yet to successfully suck 100% of the time.  Also, the suck/swallow/breath pattern doesn't come easy for them.  Knowing this, doctors introduce the bottle very slowly to preemies.  Ashton gets 30 minutes to try to feed from the bottle--once during each shift--for a total of twice a day.  There are many things that will cause the nurses to stop her attempt--too many episodes where she forgets to breath; she is asleep and not interested at all; or she is breathing too fast--just to name a few. After 30 minutes Ashton is using more energy trying to eat than she is gaining from the nutritional value of the milk, so she gets the rest delivered to her through her NG tube.

Ashton is currently eating 36ml every three hours.  Yesterday (4/14) on her first attempt she ate 2ml and on her second attempt she ate 9ml.  Today (4/15) she ate 15ml on her first attempt and 32ml on her second attempt.  That means that she only had 4ml left in her bottle during her last attempt.  I know this doesn't sound like a big deal -- Ashton ate from a bottle -- but remember folks, she is only 33 weeks, 6 days gestation as of today.  She should still be hanging out inside mommy for another 6 weeks!

Brady came over Saturday (4/14) from my mom and dad's and got to see Ashton again.  After we visited Ashton, Brady and I went on a date.  I let him pick the restaurant, so we ate at the Waffle House!  He LOVED it and I'm so very happy that we don't have them in Midland. (At least, I don't think we have a Waffle House.) After we finished our gourmet meal, we went back to Uncle Robert's and watched "We Bought a Zoo."  The movie was very cute and Brady was very snugly.  My parents, Brady, and Uncle Robert picked me up from the hospital and we went to lunch together at Jus' Mac -- a restaurant that serves various different styles of macaroni and cheese.  Now Ashton and I are just hanging out listening to all the buzzing and beeping of the monitors in her pod. 

Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow. James 1:17