The game plan

Today we had a family meeting with our primary doctor. She's a smart woman who's very familiar with Belle's medical history. We like the way she thinks, and we love her approach. 

She calls Belle a 'delicate flower', because she understands just how sensitive she is.

This doctor will oversee Arabella's care going forward, so we'll finally have a united voice to represent us. One voice to provide direction and focus. One voice to help us get Arabella home.

One voice to rule them all 😉

This means a lot to a mom and dad who have seen roughly 20+ doctors over the last 4-5 months. In the NICU, doctors are in constant rotation. 

It was obvious that we need more consistency, and we were the perfect candidates for a primary neonatologist. Belle has a lot going on, and this should help get everything sorted. 

Simply put, we need a strategy. We need a solid game plan.

In the short term, we're going to focus our attention on Arabella's breathing, and eliminate some of the drugs she's taking. We counted 14 different meds and supplements that Belle's currently on (often taking them 2x or 3x per day). 

Everything adds up, and every drug seems to affect her. So if Arabella doesn't absolutely need it, we don't want it. 

This doctor has our back. 

In the long term, lots of things can still happen. This NICU journey is far from over, but we'll see what happens with Arabella's breathing before we get too ahead of ourselves. 

An Occupational Therapist came by to see Arabella today, but Belle didn't want to acknowledge her. We think she was pretending to sleep, because she kept her head upright the entire time without much help. She simply refused to open her eyes.

Arabella is almost 2 months old (corrected age), so it's important that we continue to give her more time out of her crib.

Everyone is absolutely taken by her. 

Just a big yawn. 

Another great day with this amazing little girl. I'm so thankful for her health. Even though this journey is long and tiring, she's making progress and that's the bottom line. 

As they always say here, you need to take it one day at a time. Step by step (oooh baby) 😉