Emilia is 19 weeks old actual and 5 weeks old corrected

Emilia is now 5 weeks, corrected age. And 19 weeks old in chronological age.

She now weighs 10.3 lbs (4675g). She is getting ready to come home. We are now waiting for the pulse oximeter to arrive. This machine takes about 3 weeks to arrive from the time we apply for it because I heard it is government funded (75%) and it is supposedly coming from the government. We applied for it last Wed, so hopefully they are processing it right now. We have decided she will be on home oxygen. That seems to be the only way to bring her home soon(er). As much as I hate the idea of home oxygen, I know it will also give me a peace of mind knowing that I will know that her oxygen saturation and heart rate are fine - it's a mixed blessing.

Other than the occasional choking and reflux issues, she is healthy and growing well. I need to put her on her tummy more often but it's not easy to find her in an "alert and calm" state. She is active and calm after feeding time but I don't want to put her on tummy immediately after feeding because it may aggravate her reflux problems.

She certainly is more interested in the surroundings and does not want to sleep all the time any more. She seems so interested in the people who pass by and stand around her bed space. She also looks at the ceiling lights and her oximeter monitor very intently - must be the brightness that fascinate her. She looks at them with such awe. I am afraid they are too bright for her eyes though.

She has one final ROP eye exam coming up. So far her ROP conditions have been improving and stable. The eye doctor said she would do the exam only upto 45 weeks gestation (5 weeks corrected) so I suppose next week is the final exam. I am so looking forward to the end of it because it hurts her a lot and she just hate the exam. Her eyes are forced open with a speculum and the doctor keeps shining bright lights in her eyes and pressing on her eye balls, so it is pretty upsetting to Emilia. She looks really sad after every eye exam. In fact every baby in the NICU hates it. You hear the babies cry from one bedspace to another as the eye doctor makes her round on the eye exam day.

We are counting our remaining days in the NICU. The nurses tell me babies thrive at home, even if they are on oxygen. I can't wait to bring her home.