Another Option

God has proven once again how good He is. The neurosurgeon told Ella's neonatologist that Ella's need for a shunt was kind "iffy". Basically, she is riding the fence if she needs one. Her head size growth has considerably slowed down the past few days. Also, her soft spot remains soft which is a good sign that fluid isn't building up too rapidly. Her CT scan showed once again the increased fluid on the ventricles, but it is growing at an equal amount on both ventricles...another good thing. So, they opted for doing a lumbar puncture today. Ella got a little epidural to drain off the excess spinal fluid. Hopefully this will be a huge success, and then she won't have to get the shunt. Once again it will be a waiting game on the results. We'll have some more ultrasounds and lots of head measurements. The Dr. was able to take off about 7cc of cerebrospinal fluid. Her Dr. said to not be too overly confident about this procedure, but she wouldn't have done it had she not thought there was a chance that it would work. Look at everything else God have proven He can do, why not this? Ella ate fantastic today! The upped her feedings to 48cc, and she can be bottle fed 2 out of every 3 feedings. Her Dr. today was looking at her charts and was totally "wowed" with the things Ella is doing. It's nice getting a good report! Oh, she now weighs 5lb 10oz. I can't believe how much she has grown in the last week. Her cheeks are really starting to fill out. I love it!

On my way home tonight, I realized that Carson and Cooper have never stayed more than 2 nights away from me. My precious baby girl has stayed 27 days away. Maybe a 7 day cruise should be in the works for next summer for Jason and I :)