Lilly Update

Lilly came off of the ventilator on Sunday afternoon. She's been doing great and getting rid of tubes and wires everyday. She's off the morphine drip and just getting Tylenol for pain. She graduated to a regular bed since she no longer needs the heat lamps. She lost her blood oxygen monitor yesterday, but today's change was the most exciting. She's had several poopy diapers in the last couple of days and nothing was coming up out of her stomach tube anymore. So, they finally took the tube out of her mouth and cleared her to start eating.
They are going to start her with 5 ml (1 tsp) of Pedialyte every 3 hours. They said if she tolerates this they will start her on breast milk and gradually increase the amount over the next week. When she starts eating at least 2 ounces every 3 hours she'll be able to come home. This is the last big hurdle and we'll see how it goes. They say some babies take to it right away and others have difficulty tolerating the food, or figuring out how to swallow. We'll pray for a smooth transition and a quick removal of the last tube, her IV nutrition.