8 Weeks Old

Happy Sunday everyone! I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I would do a quick update.

Sebastian will be 8 weeks old tomorrow and is doing amazing. He had his 2 month check up already and he is 9 lbs 2 oz!

Sydney got to go see the Beauty and the Beast musical today with Grandma and Grandpa. She wanted to wear a yellow dress like Belle. :)

She looks so grown up now.

Sebastian also got out of the house today. We took him to church for the first time. He made it thru without any crying!

He's still working on holding his head up. :)

All ready to head out the door!

And finally a picture with Gaga in it. We need to buy a tripod so we can take pictures all together!

Hope your weekend was magnificent.

3 weeks old already

Happy Wednesday everyone! Things are going well here and we are all getting adjusted quite well. The house is clean and everyone is dressed and looking cute. :) I'm even going to get out of the house and take Sydney to her Cubbies class at church tonight. Adam's been going to church without me since my bedrest started in November, so he will get to stay home with Sebastian tonight and I will get to go!

As you can see, Sydney finally got to hold Sebastian. She is still sick though, so hence the mask. :) We took her to the pediatrician last week because she's had a cough and cold for over a month that won't go away. They said she had a sinus infection and gave her Amoxicillin. She was on it for 7 of the 10 days prescribed when she broke out in a horrible rash all over her body.

Then this week, I took her back to the doctor to find out she was allergic to the Amoxicillin. Now she's on a new antibiotic and something else for the rash and itching.

She's starting to feel better finally so there will be lots more baby holding pics coming soon. :)

Sebastian also had his first Dr's visit. He is up to 5 lbs 14 oz now and doing great! We've managed to keep him from getting Sydney's cold so far. It is no easy feat though. She constantly wants to be by him.

He is 3 weeks old now and we finally cut off the hospital bracelet. (I have no idea why I felt the need to leave it on so long.)

He also had his first bath at home. He loves them. The baby baths don't work for me. I don't think they are warm enough or deep enough. Sydney always screamed and got cold right away so we went right to the big tub this time. (The cute little monogrammed washcloth was a gift from my sister-in-law.) Thanks MJ!

Everyone is clean and ready for bed!

This past weekend was my annual girls weekend to Door County. This was the 12th year in a row and the first time I would have missed it. Sebastian and I ending up driving up on Saturday to visit, but then it got slippery out so we ended up spending the night.

I'm looking forward to spring and being able to take Sebastian out. I'm ready to try this 2 child parenting out in public!

A baby Sprinkle

I was supposed to have a surprise baby sprinkle on 2/5 (the night that I ended up going to the hospital.) My friends ended up telling me about it since I missed it and we rescheduled for last Saturday night. The girls came up to the NICU to meet Sebastian and then we went to Olive Garden.

My friend Julie made this awesome cake, shaped like a onesie. :)

My mom made gift bags for everyone. Everything was turqouise and black - the colors of Sebastian's room.

Lots of great gifts from everyone!

I piled them all on the dining room table for a few days. Everything is put away now. :)

Thank you girls for a great night!

Guess who's home!?!

Yesterday morning (Tuesday) I received a call from Sebastian's Dr saying that he could come home! I was so excited and so surprised that it happened so quickly! He was just 2 weeks old on Monday and we thought he'd be in the NICU for a few weeks yet.

He started eating what he was suppose to over the weekend and also decided to pull his feeding tube out again. (This was the 5th time he did this.) His nurse called to tell me that he not only ripped it out this time, but he also ripped all the tape off. She wanted to warn me before I saw the big red mark on his face. Anyway, they kept the tube out this time and let him eat how much and how often he wanted to see how he would do. As of yesterday, he is up to 5 lbs 10 oz and 19 1/4 inches long. He grew 1 1/2 inches since birth and gained 2 ounces. They were happy enough with that progress to send him home.

My mom, Sydney, and I went to get him. My mom gave Sydney her own baby to take care of so she doesn't feel left out. Here she is opening her present.

Our first picture together at home! No tubes and no wires!

He's just a little curled up ball. He is so tiny. None of his clothes or hats fit, not even the newborn sizes.

Also, Sydney has a cold right now so we are keeping her away from Sebastian. His neonatologist told us that he only has 47% of the antibodies that a full term baby has so it's very important to keep him away from people for the first few months and until the flu and RSV season is over. They did stock us up with masks and gowns if we have to use them. So unfortunately, no stroller walks thru the mall or visitors over here for a while yet. We definitely don't want him getting sick and have to be readmitted.

My mom stayed for a while to get us settled in and then her and Sydney went to get manis and pedis. Here's what Sydney picked out.

Adam and I had a few hours alone with Sebastian when he got home from work.

Sad face :(

All ready for bed!

Daddy & Sebastian

So happy to be finally holding him in his room.

I can't believe how alert he is for his age. We talk to each other all the time. :) It's crazy to think that I have him here with me at home now, healthy and perfect, and he shouldn't even be born for another month yet.

Trying out my new sling with Sydney's doll. I didn't want to practice on Sebastian right away. I actually think her doll is bigger than he is.

Our first night went pretty well. Sebastian and I slept in the guest room and he only woke up once to eat. He is such a good baby and only cries when he is hungry or if I try to set him down. :) I'm really going to try to not hold him all day long like I did with Sydney. Maybe I'll start in a few days. I did attempt the crib several times yesterday too, but he didn't like it. I will keep trying that too though. We shall see how it goes!

My Little Miracle

I just got home from the hospital and have a few hours alone tonight. Sydney is at Disney on Ice with my mom, and Adam & my Dad went to a movie. I came home to try to get some rest and go to bed early. My life consists of pumping, sleeping, and being at the hospital, but as soon as I leave there, I want to go right back. I am madly in love with this baby. He is so unbelievably amazing and perfect. God blessed us with another baby who NEVER cries. He is a great sleeper already, too. He had his circumcision last night and he didn't even cry for that.

He is doing great. He finally gained weight and is above his birth weight. He is now 5 lbs 8.6 oz. He is now taking a bottle and eating about half of what the Dr's want him to. He is back on breast milk and is digesting it now. It has less calories than formula though, so they fortify it with other vitamins and minerals. As soon as he can finish all of his feedings for a full 24 hours, he can come home. Dr is guessing it will be about 2 weeks yet. I haven't had any luck with nursing yet. A lactation specialist is going to work with us tomorrow morning, so hopefully it will work.

Lots of pictures for you tonight. You can click on any picture to make it bigger if you want to take a closer look. :)

I can't wait to take some pictures without that feeding tube in.

He is now out of the incubator and in a regular crib!

Daddy and Sebastian. He is only awake when he's eating, but he already smiles and coos at us. So sweet!

Bath time!

Sydney's been a little left out lately due to all our time spent at the hospital without her. Although she's been greatly taken care of by Grandma, Adam and I wanted to take her on a date night. We asked where she wanted to go and she said Chucke Cheese of course, but just to play, not to eat. She wanted to eat at Olive Garden first. :) Here's a pic at the good ole' OG.

She also got to go to Disney on Ice tonight with Grandma. This is what she picked to wear. She already started arguing with me over picking out her own clothes. I thought it would be many years yet before this would happen!

Here's my prayer request for the night......We've met a lot of nice families in the NICU, but also some that my heart is breaking for. There are so many single, teen moms that have 1 and 2 lbs babies in there and aren't capable of taking care of themselves, let alone their babies. After listen to one young girl talk for about an hour, I asked the nurses what their policy is on sending babies home with these girls. She said it rarely happens where they don't send the babies home with the mothers. She said it is very hard to watch at times, but there is nothing they can do. I've left the NICU in tears many times for these innocent little babies who won't get a fair chance in life. Please pray for all these babies. I look at Sebastian in a room full of babies and think of how God chose him to have a loving family and 2 parents to take care of him. My heart breaks for some of the other ones.......