Three Weeks Old...

...and Emma continues to do very well.

When I arrived for a visit this afternoon, though, I found her surrounded by a crowd of NICU staff. I immediately feared the worst, but luckily a friend was with me (thanks Lisa!) and I was able to remain fairly calm even though seeing the team feverishly working on Emma scared a decade off my life. Turns out Emma has finally grown enough (she now weighs in at almost 1000 grams!!) to "graduate" to a larger endotracheal tube and I had arrived just as they started the procedure to change the tube. According to her nurses, Emma tolerated everything well and by this evening it was clear that the change was a positive one... she is having far fewer tube leaks and the team was able to lower her oxygen and ventilation requirements.

The best news is that as she has now stablized, Emma will be returning to the General NICU as soon as a bed there becomes available (they're full right now, so we're just waiting for another baby to be discharged). That's a very good sign!