Emily is up to 4 lbs. 8.9 oz. She's getting so big! She has started taking some feedings by bottle and has done really well with them. As of Tuesday she had taken two bottles and completed them both. When we tried the first time I was told not to expect much but she ate the whole thing! She really is an amazing little girl. The bottle feeding success is more progress towards coming home. She has to be able to take all 8 feedings by bottle before she can be discharged. By the end of the week she will probably be taking half of them so we're definitely getting there. Another condition she has to meet is that she has to be free of bradys for five days. So far she hasn't even gone a day. She typically has a couple per shift but they are still considered somewhat normal in babies who are only 34 weeks gestation. She does seem to be having fewer of them and she is really recovering on her own but her heartrate is still dipping pretty low sometimes. They have told us stories of babies who have gone 4 days without an alarm but have one of the 5th day and have to start the 5 day countdown all over again. I'm afraid it can be frustrating but I certainly don't want her coming home before she's ready and we don't have to worry about that for another couple weeks. It is just a waiting game ...

Her blood test results came back somewhat normal but the numbers are still trending down. The doc is concerned because her bone marrow still does not seem to be producing enough red blood cells to make up for what her body is breaking down. Preemies have a tendency to be anemic and that usually peaks around 4-6 weeks. Since Emily is only 4 weeks old now we will just "wait and see" what happens in another week. It is still very possible that her bone marrow will kick in and start producing more and she'll bring herself out of this anemia. They are puzzled why she started this around 2-3 weeks instead of 4 but it's not unheard of. It is possible that she will need another transfusion before they start doing further testing to determine a cause. The docs keep saying that "clinically" she's doing great, eating and growing and getting stronger, and she's alert and not lethargic so she seems to be feeling OK. So ... the news wasn't great ... but it wasn't bad either. More waiting.