100% Girl: Happy 8 Weeks, Millie!

Millie started off her 7th week looking like this:

(The stuff on her face is to protect her skin since the elephant trunk had the potential of hurting this sweet face! It's the same stuff they use on burn victims.)

and finished it looking like this!

Would you look at that. She is off the ventilator!



She is clearly a girl, right? With 3 pink blankets (all gifts from loved ones), a pink zacky (hand thing), and a pink bow.

This week we got this new blanket as a gift from a young man doing a scout project (for the whole NICU).

Do you think they thought she was a boy?

I love the blanket, and I love her name on it. I just have to wonder...


Millie was wondering too.

These days she loves her pacifier,

and she loves her guard dog, Rufus. They even wrestle sometimes...

and then Rufus watches her sleep.

Another one of her favorite things is sneezing. To see her in action visit our You Tube channel at:

http://www.youtube.com/user/nikibagwell

Be sure and hit "see all" to watch all 18 videos.

Health Updates:

1. Millie is holding strong at 3 pounds.
2. The eye doctor stopped by for a check up last night. He has decided to come by weekly to check the progress of her retinas forming. He warned us of a few potential problems, but no problems just yet. The good news is that she can definitely see us!
3. She is breathing on a high pressure nasal cannula at 3 liters of oxygen to date. She is slowly working her way do to just needing oxygen and no pressure. Her oxygen levels continue to stay in the great range of 21-25%.
4. Because of her already low levels of oxygen, it's very possible that we will not need to take her home on oxygen! We will be happy to see her whole face without any scary machines. Although a monitor would bring some comfort...
5. Millie is up to full feeds on my non-dairy milk. We are trying to slowly build up her tolerance to a fortifier so she can gain some more weight. I am also off the non-dairy diet for now, and we will try her on regular milk once we run out of non-dairy.
6. We are still looking at bringing her home around her due date, March 17th, or later. It all depends on how soon she can take her feedings by herself. There is no weight requirement for her.

Thank you so much for following Millie's story. We are constantly impressed by how concerned everyone is for her. We love you all!