January 6th, 1:25 p.m.

We just returned from our morning visit with Lauren, and there is lots of good news to report. First, Kaia was able to change her diaper for the first time, which doesn't sound all that fun, but is to us because it means that her digestive track is "waking up," and represents another small step towards a normal life. Her diapers are about the half the size of your hand. The Docs also want to start increasing the frequency of her feedings because she has proven she can handle it. If all goes well they will also increase the volume of the feedings to 3cc's. (She currently gets all of her nutrition through her IV lines, so the feedings are more to stimulate her digestive track than actually provide nutrition to her. Eventually, the feedings will provide all of her nutritional needs, but that is still many weeks away.)

We also were excited to learn that her weight is also up to 894 grams, which is about 2 lbs - only 51 grams to go before she is back to her birth weight. In terms of her breathing, she only experienced two A/B episodes last night (where she stops breathing for more than 20 seconds), which gives her a total of 6 in the last 3 days - a massive improvement, and ahead of most preemies her age. She continues her caffeine drips (her "Starbucks lattes") to further stimulate her respiratory and circulatory systems.

Unfortunately, her heart condition (the "PDA") continues to cause us some concern. The cardiologist will be doing an echo cardiogram tomorrow to determine if the medication is working to close the valve. If it hasn't shown signs of improvement, we may try another round, or consider a surgical option. However, she is doing so well that we don't want to go the surgical route unless it is absolutely necessary. There is a chance that the PDA will close and resolve itself in time. Her blood gases were low, so she they turned up her oxygen and pressure.

On the horizon is the IVH ultrasound (IVH = Intraventricular Hemorrhage), which essentially is a test to check for bleeding in the brain. It is fairly common for preemies to have some bleeding, but not a lot, as that is a sign of significant brain damage. She doesn't have any of the symptoms that would be associated with a high grade hemorrhage (level 3 or level 4), so we remain hopeful that the scan goes well. I am sure that will be a tough and anxiety filled day.

We can't thank everyone enough for the emails and for the encouraging comments left on the blog. We read them every night, and they always leave us with a comforting sense of hope. Connor is doing great - a little confused by all of this, but for the most part he is enjoying being completely spoiled by both sets of his grandparents.

Keep the faith,

Grant