Ella Update of Sunday at 10:00 p.m......

Well we have some good news, our little Ella has gone from "critical" to "guarded". You can only imagine how wonderful this was to hear, Joe and Andrea are SOOOO beside themselves. We have had such a blessed weekend and what a better way for Andrea to end her mothers day than with such great news. She will remain in NICU for at least another few weeks but we will know a better ball park towards the end of this week. Andrea and Joe are staying in a hotel across from the hospital and are taking a shuttle a few times a day. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not call their cell phones unless they ask you to as that is the hospitals direct line to them. We went and saw Ella this morning and again tonight and she is just beautiful. She looks so peaceful in her sleep. It was so neat for Andrea to touch her and she responds to her mommie touch. In fact as we would kiss her on our way out tonight her heart rate would drop to a GREAT rate, what a good feeling. So here is today's progress. She will be having a CT of her brain and an x-ray of her chest done tomorrow. We get the results from her spinal tap tomorrow letting us know the progress of getting rid of the disease allowing them to start weaning her off of her antibiotics. If her bowels sound better she will start to take Andrea's milk in the next 24-48 hours. She has not had a seizer in over 50 hours, PRAISE GOD !!! All of her vital signs are doing well. She has had both arm splints removed and no IV's in either arm now. She has had her blood pressure meds, seizure meds and antibiotics all reduced over the weekend. She is urinating like a champ but they still need her to have more wet diapers. She has gained some weight from the water retention and is now beginning to lose it. Her swelling is minimal and her skin color is pale but pink. She has had her second blood and platelets tranfusion done today successfully, and by tomorrow her color should be better. Her vital cord in her umbilical veins should be removed on Thursday or Friday allowing Joe and Andrea to have more contact with her. It will probably still be some time before we know if there is any permanent damage. Please continue praying for Ella, Joe, Andrea, and the doctors. She is not out of the woods yet, but is on her way. I will post more pictures tomorrow after I download them. Much love and thanks for all of your support- Sara