Day 93

Another good day was had by our Fairy Princess. Zoe Hope enjoyed her bottle feed of breast milk this morning and a bath in a big tub. She was also able to have Kangaroo Care and enjoyed having her nails cut "Thank you nurse Rosemary". Zoe Hope has had the caffeine stopped (it was to help her remember to breath as she grew but as she is now corrected 37 weeks today she no longer requires this reminder). She has put on a good amount of weight in the past week. She now weighs 1998grams. This is an amazing growth from her birth weight of 550grams. Well done Zoe Hope! We have seen a lot of changes all positive in the past 7 days. Now it is all up to Zoe Hope to continue to improve. Her oxygen has also been slightly reduced again today and doctors and nurses alike are calling her a "little champion". Now Zoe has to wait until her eyes are checked again on Tuesday PM. Her other focuses will continue to be her saturation, suck feeds and extending time between feeds. All this means that both doctors and nurses are preparing Zoe Hope for the road home. From the beginning of Zoe's care neither doctors, nurses or ourselves have discussed the time frame of Zoe going home due to how sick little Zoe Hope was when she was born so early. It has only been since her coming off CPAP and moving to a proper feeding schedule that both doctors and nurses have really begun to prepare us for the journey towards bringing our little girl home. Although this may still be a while off we know that the staff at the NICU only have Zoe's best interests at heart and will make sure she is ready when she is ready. We have been so lucky that this journey which we are still on has allowed us to form very strong relations with the staff at the NICU as it has also become our second home. We admire all the staff we have dealt with thus far. We also thank the wonderful ladies who are and have been knitting and sewing for the NICU. Your voluntary donations of time and much needed bedding and clothing have been greatly appreciated by the nursing staff at the NICU. Thank you also to you from us as we get to see all your donations everyday and Zoe Hope is able to make good use of these items whilst there. Please thank God for all the miracles that surround us all and also for continuing on this very special journey with Zoe Hope.