The last three days have been what college and software development have trained me for: Little sleep, working late, and screaming babies. Alexa and I have been having good success feeding Eiley during the day. Her feeding from the bottle had been steadily improving but mostly during the day. We decided that we’d just have to feed her at night as well if we want to hit our goal. The nursing staff here is excellent. They are absolutely the best. But with only two nurses regularly tending to 8 babies who all eat roughly within the same hour, giving Eiley the whole 30 minutes to work on her bottle isn’t really a possibility.

We formulated a plan, booked a hotel room, and bought a case of Red Bull. Eiley eats at two, five, eight, and eleven in the morning and the evening. On the first night Alexa and I tried to alternate shifts, squeezing in two or so hours of sleep between the feedings. This increased our feedings to 68% from the bottle with the goal being 80% to have the feeding tube removed.

The following two nights we tried doing back to back shifts. I took the two and five block while Alexa took the eight and eleven. Those two nights brought small progress up to 70% then 71%. We had great help during this time and I have to share! Grandma Tara came yesterday and fed Eiley at 5 PM so that Alexa and I could get a little more sleep. Then Grandma Amy came this morning and learned to feed at eight then took over at eleven. Eiley ate very well from both of her grandmas. We also had one of our favorite nurses again, Alexis, who has been our champion with the doctors.

Alexis suggested that Eiley isn’t exactly on the feeding schedule and that she often wakes up hungry too early or falls asleep after a few minutes of eating. She thought that it would probably be good to try on-demand feeding for Eiley rather than the evenly distributed plan we’ve been following. Maybe she’d eat better if we fed her when she seemed hungry?

This morning it all came together in a way we could have never imagined. Mom and I had just finished the morning feeding when the doctors made their rounds. This is when we learned that Eiley is eating 71% from the bottle. Then we received a great surprise.

“We want to try Eiley on an on-demand feeding schedule and we’d like Alexa to try breastfeeding her.”

Mom and I looked at each other with our eyes so big they were nearly falling out of our heads.

“Also, if you’re comfortable we can remove the feeding tube today and see how she does.”

I think one of my eyes did fall out of my head. I quickly popped it back in. Yes yes yes! This is what we’ve been hoping, praying, and longing for.

Then Alexa shared the cherry-on-top to our good news sundae. The Ronald McDonald house associated with the hospital had an opening and we were the ones to receive the room. We are welcome to stay there for as long as our baby is admitted. Alexa and I are now free to focus on one thing, feeding Eiley. No more worring about accommodations, or getting to the hospital on time to feed her. The Ronald McDonald house is as close as you can get to the hospital without being in the waiting room.

We are so thankful for this morning of progress and promise! Alexa has been glowing and is having some much needed cuddles with Eiley as I type this. We are so thankful for the Lord’s perfect timing and for this new dose of optimism. Please continue to pray for Eiley’s appetite and now her time getting familiar with mom. She needs to keep gaining weight on this new feeding effort or she’ll have to go back to having a feeding tube for a while. But I can’t help but feel that she’ll be heading home soon instead.

💛💙