Her tube is tied

Today was a big day for Clara! In a seemingly miraculous turn of events, the doctors removed Clara's feeding tube. Clara will be closely monitored to make sure she tolerates feeding naturally or from a bottle, but if she can eat on her own without dropping her heart rate and oxygen, and still manage to gain weight, her stay in the NICU could be nearing completion. Immediately after typing that sentence a knot formed in our stomachs. Those are some big "ifs" and Clara will have to prove she is truly strong enough to come home. We don't want to get too excited, but it is hard not to at least be encouraged by her recent progress.

We think it's great that the nurses love to dress up Clara.

Clara took some other big steps (not literally) today as well. The doctors stopped Clara's regular breathing treatments and changed her schedule from every 4-6 hours to "as needed." If Clara is wheezing or showing problems with her oxygen she could go back to routine treatments, but we hope that won't be necessary. This is big news because we really don't want to have to administer pulmonary steroids every 4-6 hours when she is home.

Clara also quit receiving caffeine today. Caffeine is commonly given to extremely premature babies to reduce their risk of developmental disabilities and help with apnea. Knowing what Chris is like without coffee in the morning, we are thrilled Clara will complete her caffeine withdrawal in the hospital. Plus we won't have to worry about how much Red Bull to mix in her bottles.

These are all big changes, so we expect there to be some ups and downs. However, this news validates our belief that Clara looks like she feels better. It is also nice to know the doctors feel comfortable enough with Clara's condition to ask her to do more on her own. We pray she adapts easily to life without breathing assistance, feeding tubes, and caffeine and continues growing so she can join all of us at home.

While we certainly don't want to rush Clara home before she is ready, it will be nice to have both kids under the same roof. Nursing two kids in two different locations is not a routine to which we want to grow accustomed. Morgan had to work late tonight and as soon as he got home, Chris handed off Wilson so she could go nurse Clara. On her way out the door, Chris said "I feel like a cow on wheels." The bright side is once they're both home, Chris will be able to feel like cow without wheels.