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.......

My Valentines

Happy Valentine's Day! Sydney woke up early this morning, excited to open her presents.

Then we headed to the hospital to give Sebastian his valentine's present. To my shock when I got there, someone had beaten me to it. Little Abigail from the crib next to him (or actually her mom) had already given him a Valentine. She passed out Valentine's to all the babies in the NICU. Very cute idea though. I wish I'd have thought of it. :)

He is doing great today. The formula feedings have been working and he is back up to 5 lbs 8 oz, his birth weight. He got his IV taken out today, so that is very nice having one less wire attached to him. The Dr is going to try to reintroduce breast milk to him tomorrow and see if he is able to digest it now. He is one week old today!

I had my one week follow up at the Dr today and got my stitches removed. All is well with me!

Adam and I went to dinner to Prime Quarter tonight and had our favorite waitress, Jodi. :) Then we went to visit Sebastian again.

Here's Sebastian and I. He was thrilled with his Valentine's presents, as you can tell. :)

Can't wait until Sydney can get in on the family pictures.

Going Home

Friday was my last day in the hospital. It was also a very busy day for labor and delivery. They had so many new patients come in, that there weren't enough rooms for everyone. They asked me to move since my baby wasn't at the same hospital. Adam and I got moved to the Pediatrics floor and he had ALOT of fun. As you can see above, they had Xbox in the room. We ordered Pizza Hut and had a game night.

We were the only people on the floor (the hallways were actually dark) so we were goofing around a bit. :) I was a little drugged up on Vicodin. :)

Here's a picture of Sebastian that my friend Julie took when she came to visit.

The above picture is Sebastian and the two pictures below are of Sydney when she was a newborn. They look like twins!

This one was taken when she was in the NICU.

Here's Sebastian's little house.

Now for an update on him. He had a rough day yesterday. The neonatologists told us that there would be good days and bad days, but it still is hard. He was born at 5 lbs 8 oz and now has lost weight. He was down to 4 lbs 13 oz and that was more of a drop than they would like to see. He's not been able to digest my breast milk for some reason, so yesterday they switched him to formula to see if that will make a difference. It can also be a sign of an intestinal infection, so we are praying that isn't the case and that he just doesn't like my milk for some reason.

He did start sucking on a bottle so that is good. They are going to try to have him take a bottle for his feedings and then if he can't or won't finish it all, they will put the rest through his feeding tube.

Please keep praying for him. Seeing what God has gotten us through already in these past 15 weeks, we know He will get us through this as well and bring Sebastian home safe and healthy.

Baby Update

Sebastian is doing so well. All his test results have come back showing good results. The only thing he has to work on is eating. He has a feeding tube in and is having a hard time keeping down my milk. Babies this young aren't really interested in sucking yet, so they just feed him through a tube in his nose. Once he can get the hang of eating and is gaining weight, we will be able to bring him home. We are hoping this will be only a few weeks away!

As you can see from the pictures, we've gotten to hold him quite a bit now.
I go to visit in the morning for his 10:00 feeding and then I get to hold him like this for about 2 hours. They call it "Kangaroo Care" and he lays under my shirt like a baby kangaroo. It's suppose to help premature babies with all different kinds of problems. Here's an article about it.

http://www.med.umich.edu/nicu/pdf/C.3KangarooCare.pdf

He looks very similar to Sydney when she was a baby.

5 lbs 8 oz sounded like a decent size to me, but he's so tiny. You can see here how little he really is.
Adam and I got Sydney a new book about being a big sister, as well as a new doll. She hasn't been able to see Sebastian yet. They don't allow anyone under 18 in the NICU. We've shown her pictures and video of him, but she doesn't quite get it yet. I keep having hospital stays, but she never sees a baby. :)
A family picture :)
Enjoying a cookie from my Dr.
Not many doctors send gifts...this was very nice of him. Very good cookies and very cute!