Eleven Weeks

11 weeks. 77 days. 1854 hours. That's how long Emma has been in hospital.

Can you tell how eager we are to have her home with us??

As she is now 35 weeks gestational age, Emma has reached the minimum required age for discharge from the NICU/SCN. However, while she is gaining weight (up to 1490 g today - approx. 3 pounds, 4.5 ounces), she is still very small and in an incubator, is not yet off a feeding tube, and is having occasional spells (periods of apnea and/or bradycardia). Emma must be spell-free for 7 days before she can come home, so she will remain in hospital for at least a few more weeks.

Emma was more alert today (staying awake for a while after each feed, kicking and wriggling around her isolette) but is still sleeping more than usual. The team is hoping that once she receives her transfusion (we're still waiting for the blood to arrive) she'll perk up a bit. She was able to bottle part of one feed today and hasn't required any supplemental oxygen in 24 hours, so she is already showing signs of improvement.