One Day at a Time

After bidding farewell to Josh's parents this morning, we headed to the hospital to see Phoenix.
When we showed up, she was awake and alert .... and her eyes were wide open! Up to this point, she mostly just cracked her eyes open slowly and for short periods of time, as if it took enormous effort. But today, she looked right at us for a prolonged period of time. It took everything I had not to snot all over her box while I held her gaze for a little while. It was so good for both Josh and I to get to interact with her like that ... it makes her feel more like a little person, a little soul.
Here are some pics, first with her daddy's hand and then with mine:

And here are some earlier pictures that I just hadn't put on the computer yet. She is up to 3 lbs and has grown a quarter inch ... can you see the difference?

Not too much to report today:
- They are increasing her breastmilk by 1 cc every six hours (ever other feeding). Girlfriend is eating so well!
- She pooped all by herself today -- up to this point, she has been getting glycerin suppositories. I am shamelessly proud of my baby for being able to go #2!
- Not much change with her lungs or heart, though they are slowly dialing back her ventilator. Small steps in the right direction!

We didn't stay for too long because, after a significant bout of hiccups, she looked pretty worn out. But she is having a good day!
Pray for continued progress!