day three update

so annabel is still in the special care unit... :( but she is taking baby steps to get outta there and back to us on the "normal" wing of the postpartum unit. wednesday night she got rid of all the crud in her system that was messing up her breathing and o2 saturation levels. that was a major accomplishment. the nurses said that its a good thing when a baby does that on her own. the only thing now keeping her from moving down the hall is the fact that she is not yet eating (enough) on her own and so has to remain on an IV and a feeding tube (in her nose - yuck). we're now coming down to attempt to feed her every 3 hours on the dot. the first 15 minutes cheryl nurses her and then we try 15 minutes with a bottle. she is slowly getting used to us sticking stuff in her mouth and telling her to eat so we're hopeful she will give in soon and act like a hungry, hungry hippo. the last two feedings she's finished her bottle. yay annabel!

its tough thinking about her having to stay in the hospital any longer than necessary just because she won't eat. we know its because she had such a traumatic time in the beginning and its not because she has some long-term problem, but its still tough. however, as the nurse told me when i sleepily stumbled out of the room with cheryl at 3:00 in the morning to go feed annabel, "this too shall pass".

more photos are online (click here or the picture below). she is such a cutie!