7/5/2012 Update

(5 days old) Well after ten days, Thlay is back home. This feels bettersweet to all of us (except Cam, who is just glad to have his mama home). And most likely Gigi and Pops Potter, who have had Cam 24/7 for the past 10 days! Everyone has been a trooper. Life feels surreal. It seems kind of crazy to leave Ava at the hospital and at the same time a wonderful blessing to have world class care provided to her. It'll be a real juggle for Thlay and Jeff to find balance between a two and a half year old at home and a newborn who is a minumum of 45 minutes away. Ava is one fiesty girl! They took her off of C-PAP a couple of days ago. She hated that machine and actually managed to pull it off once. They're working on decreasing her 02 and increasing her feedings, all of which is going well. She's now on a little nasal cannula. She started out on 8 liters/min. and yesterday was down to 5. Today they'll see how she does on 3. We are constantly reminded that with premies Ava's age it is three steps forward and two steps back, but we are all grateful for the forward movement. She knows who Thlay is immediately and loves sleeping on her chest, with that sweet skin-to-slin contact. Ah... Mama. They say premies usually get to go home around their due date, plus or minus 2 weeks, so we're looking at somewhere around September 9th. The nurses are impressed by the headway she's making and they all agree that she already "Tells it like it is." She lets everyone know if she's hungry and is very vocal about diaper changes ar any other changes for that matter. This girl is a fighter and will hopefully contimue to hold a positive course ~ Weyshawn