Feelin' Stronger Every Day

Sorry there hasn't been an update in a while.
Thursday we went down to Goldsboro to pick up a freezer.  I cannot even begin to thank her for the freezer!  It has been a huge help.  I am pumping and freezing the milk, so we needed the extra storage space.
Thursday afternoon, I was met at the house by the nurse from the health department.  She just dropped by to schedule a time to do the intake paperwork for Lennon.  She also said that she wants to see if Lennon is eligible for Medicaid.  I assured her that unfortunately we are not eligible, but she still wants to fill out the paperwork.  Worst they can say is no, right?  We are set to meet Tuesday at 9:30AM.  Hopefully it won't take too long, but I know intakes can be a bear!
Things have been pretty status quo for Lennon...  steadily increasing her caloric intake and weight.  Lennon is officially up to 3lbs 11 oz and taking 34 mls every 3 hours.  She has not been having any desats, so she is completely off of her oxygen for good as far as anyone can tell and she is off of the caffein.  Her lungs are great!!
Lennon had her eye exam yesterday.  Doctor dilated her little eyes and the nurse said she was not happy about it!  Lennon passed with flying colors and the doctor said her eyes are right on schedule.   That was a relief to me.  I have worked with a couple of kids in the past that had eye damage due to the amount of oxygen needed at birth.  I had talked to the nurses a lot about it and they said that Lennon should be fine, but until the eye doctor confirmed it, I could not shake the worry.
We met with the doctor yesterday.  We loved him!  He kept talking about how great Lennon was doing and was the first to mention going home.  He explained that the desats we were seeing were not true desats to him.  They were not requiring any intervention and they were too quick.  She would drop to 70% then jump right back up to 88%.  He said that would not happen with a true apnea episode.  Also, her heart rate was not dropping and her respiratory rate was maintaining.  So in other words, Lennon is breathing well on her own :-)  He even said he will probably stop monitoring that one soon since it wasn't telling them anything new.
The doctor told us that Lennon is still in the isolette for now so that she can gain a bit more weight.  He does not want her to waste calories trying to keep herself warm.  However, the nurse mentioned that they have the temp down as far as possible and Lennon was keeping herself warm very well.  Lennon's temp was 99 today, which is the upper limit for what they would want her to be at in the isolette.  So we should be moving to an open crib soon!
With moving to an open crib, we may regress a little in the way of eating her bottles.  We won't know until the move, but sometimes babies sleep through feedings more when they are moved.  The doctor also wants Collin and I to practice bottle feeding a bit more.  He thinks that Lennon will be fine with feedings, but bottle feeding a preemie is very different from a full term baby.  Plus, I am not very experienced in bottle feeding in general.  When Lennon comes home, she will only be breast feeding maybe 2x/day.  She will need bottles so that we can continue adding calories and protein to the milk too.  (Have I mentioned lately how much I hate the pump?!)
So, all things considered, the doctor would not lock in a date.  He said it wasn't fair to commit one of his colleagues to a date since he was not in the special care nursery next week.  However, Collin and I both got the impression that he wanted to send her home next week.  He said he has sent babies home smaller than Lennon, but has never had a baby return.
I am hopeful for Lennon to come home late next week :-)  I am trying not to get my hopes up, but it's really hard not to!