So much has happened in the past couple of weeks with Elliot.  It is safe to say that we have been VERY busy lately.  So much progression so quickly!  Some people say that their babies change every day, and I feel like in the NICU those changes are even more dramatic and noticeable!

Since our last update, Elliot has gotten to move TWICE!  Two new beds in two weeks.  A doctor in the NICU approached us towards the end of January and asked if we wouldn't mind Elliot taking part of a study about a particular type of incubator made by GE.  He said they were only asking parents of babies that were in a "stable" condition.  At the time, I considered that to be a pretty darn good sign!  So we of course obliged for the sake of science and technology research 😁 .  Really, we felt like this small favor was literally the LEAST we could do for these amazing doctors.  

They placed Elliot into a smaller, more simplistic incubator called the Panda (his other incubator that he had up until this point was called a Giraffe...you know how babies just love exotic and safari animals😆).  They are researching this Panda incubator to see if it would be a good fit to use in developing countries because they are smaller and more economical than the Giraffe style incubators that GE produces for most NICUs.  So it was kind of cool that we could participate in that.
Meanwhile, Elliot turned ONE MONTH OLD (or gestationally like negative two months lol).  He got a fun new sign birthday added to his bulletin board (We plan on saving all of the cute signs they make him).

Elliot wasn't in the new incubator for too long because he hit a major milestone: Elliot was 4lbs!!!  That meant he got to move from his incubator into a "big boy bed": an open air crib!🙌   This was a monumental milestone because I remember going into the NICU for the very first time and looking around at the other babies.  I was so sad that Elliot had to be in a closed, mechanical-looking isolette when other babies looked so much more free and peaceful in their cribs.  This also was something that I mentally associate with Elliot coming home sooner.  He looks so peaceful every day when we walk into his area and see him sleeping in his crib.  It's amazing what a difference that has made!

Grandpa also held Elliot for the first time too!  When Grandpa and Grandma were visiting Elliot without us, we received a text message photo with the caption "Notice anything different with Elliot?"...and amazingly I was able to see his chin for the very first time!!!  They had taken out his OG feeding tube and moved it to his nose (an NG feeding tube).  When he had the OG tube, it was bandaged to his chin so it wouldn't move around, so since they wheeled Elliot past me in after delivery, I had not seen his chin at all!  I sped to the hospital the next morning to spend the entire staring at his chin😆 

Elliot's oxygen needs have also been improving.  This is where we end up having some minor setbacks still, but overall things are slowly progressing.  He was able to go from his CPAP to a Vapotherm device.  The difference is that Vapotherm uses a simple nasal cannula with more precision flow which leads to a lower incidence of iatrogenic problems like skin breakdown  This also makes it easy for us to hold and handle Elliot.  He was able to have his oxygen levels lowered enough last week that we were able to try breastfeeding as well.  It unfortunately only lasted one day because his oxygen needs increased, but we are assured it will only be a matter of time before his oxygen requirements decrease and we will be able to try breastfeeding again.

I know I have said this before, but I have to reiterate how amazing things progress so quickly in the NICU.  One day Elliot's doctor was commenting on how he was "disappointed" by Elliot's oxygen needs that they would not be where he wanted them by a particular date.  Two days later, Elliot had surpassed the level where his doctor wanted him to be in the next week.  It has made us try to take news differently as it comes now.  Before, it was heartbreaking to hear anything other than an exemplary report from his doctors and nurses.  Now we know if they are monitoring something or if Elliot isn't on track with something, we need not worry right away.  He may only be a day or two away from surprising us and his doctors!  Small but mighty, indeed!🙌