Our Steeler baby...

Lila went up to 10 mLs per feed today (1 feed every 3 hours) and did well with that volume - no throwing up, burped after each feed, and pooped again. Dr. Burns, our amazing surgeon, stopped by again today to check on Lila and continues to be very pleased with her progress. He agreed with the nurse that it would be okay to increase feeds faster than 5 mLs per day. Dr. Burns said that he would put the orders in for an increase to 15 mLs tomorrow, then, if she tolerates, bump up the volume to 30 mLs (1 ounce) the next day. He also said that if she tolerates the 30 mLs, I would be able to start breast-feeding. We are really crossing our fingers that her feeds can increase at this rate. Here are some pictures of Brody "feeding" his sister. I like Lila's expression in the first one - it's almost like she is saying, "Get him away from me." I think she is going to have to put up with a lot from him!

Lila's other big news is that she got Jerome Bettis' autograph on her Terrible Towel! The story goes that we found out about Lila's gastroschisis the morning after the Superbowl (that the Steelers won!) this year. The following weekend, Tom and I went out and got a Terrible Towel for the baby, planning to hang it from her isolette in the NICU. Well, as luck would have it, Jerome Bettis just happened to be speaking about an asthma camp he is sponsoring today at the hospital and we just happened to have Lila's Superbowl Terrible Towel in her room. I got lucky enough to catch Bettis as he was leaving and got his autograph on the towel and a picture of him signing it to prove it! I don't think we will be letting Lila take this towel to games - we plan on framing it for her.

It was a big day all around because Brody also met the Pirate Parrot and gave him several high-fives (didn't work up the nerve for a hug). He got a stuffed parrot and an autograph from a Pirate's pitcher (I can't remember who it was). Hopefully our good days continue and we get to bring Lila home soon!