Ava EATS!!

Just a quick update this morning. I called to check on Ava this morning and recieved some of the best news ever! Before I get to that, she also weighed in at 4lbs 3oz! Ok, onto the great news. They lowered her flow to 2 liters. The most important part of that is that she is now allowed to eat by mouth! She has been doing non-nutritive suckling at the breast for a few weeks now, but today they offered her her first bottle. Generally it takes preemies a while to figure out how to eat. Suck, swallow, breathe is harder than it sounds. And in the case of Travis, he NEVER ate well, and still does not. He came home with a feeding tube and had it for almost a year. After we pulled the tube, eating was a HUGE challenge. We would both end up in tears and I would have to essentially force feed him. It was horrible and awful beyond what I can describe in words. I have begged and pleaded with God to let Ava eat. And guess what? SHE TOOK THE WHOLE BOTTLE!!!! I cried. This is amazing. Incredible. Wonderful. An answer to many prayers. Feeding is something that keeps babies in the NICU, and it looks like that may not be a problem for Ava. I realize that this is just the first bottle. But the fact that she took the FIRST bottle, no problem, well that is HUGE. I am so proud of my sweet baby girl!