Where in the World Are You???

In conversations I have had with many people lately, they mentioned that their mother, fathers, sisters, friends, etc. are always checking up on sweet Baby Sarah from all over the globe. They check in for updates, to see her amazing progress and support. I thought it would be interesting to know where Sarah is being watched, supported and prayed for.

There is no need to give your name if you don't feel comfortable doing so. We don't know many of the people that check on her, but we appreciate it, nonetheless. Please follow these simple instructions so we know where Sarah has touched so many lives:

To the right of this post click on comments. In the "Leave Your Comment" area enter in your city, state, country, etc. Select anonymous- AGAIN, you do not need to give us your name if you don't want to. We are just interested to show Sarah one day how many people all over G-d's beautiful green earth are praying for her.

Thanks again for all of your outpouring of love and support for the sweet baby girl!

Friday morning

Sarah's spirits are high this morning. She's doing a lot better than I'd be doing if my legs were in a cast, that's for sure. She was a little fussy this morning when I got to the hospital, but a few seconds of hearing daddy's voice and squeezing my fingers calmed her down.

She weighed in over 1000 grams yesterday, most of which is her, but the rest is the cast. We won't be able to get an accurate reading of her weight over the next two weeks, but as long as it keeps going up, we're okay with that. Hopefully when the cast comes off, she really will weigh over a kilogram.

Momma's going to bring some colorful Sharpy markers today, and we're all going to sign Sarah's cast. If we can, we'll keep the cast so that Sarah can see how small she was, when she's old enough to appreciate it.

Have a nice weekend everyone, and keep her in your thoughts.

Late Evening Report

Today was a LONG day. I spent most of it talking to multiple doctors and worrying. The orthopedic surgeon was in and thought that Sarah was just the cutest little baby. He explained that unfortunetly many premature babies get fractures often (see Grandma and Grandpa's comment from lunch for more info). While all of the great staff at the NICU are very careful when handling her, fratures can happen, not by fault of anyone. The fracture Sarah has is just a hairline and shouldn't have any lasting effect in the long run. Nevertheless, I wish I could be there with her 24/7.

The doctors decided to put her legs in a cast to try to minimize her moving around too much and displacing the femur. They estimate she will have the cast on for two weeks. We can still hold her and snuggle her as usual, just instead of kangaroo-ing, we will have the swaddle her and hold her in our arms.

Sarah didn't seem phased by any of it, she is not in pain and it hasn't effected her movements much at all. She is still wiggling all her toes just fine. I think the worst part is, because of the cast, Sarah can not lay on her tummy. While she has the cast on, she won't be wearing any of her adorable clothing, so I am sure when the time comes to take off her cast she will have outgrown most of her Micro-clothes! That thought is so exciting. I can't wait to see how big she gets. Her weigh in's will be a little bit off until the cast comes off since they don't know exaclty how much the cast weighs...another reason to look forward to the cast coming off , an accurate weight after all this.

I have decided that we won't be posting pictures of Sarah in her cast because it looks worse than it really is. We will however, be putting up pictures of her in Daddy's arms today. Yay for Daddy snuggle time!

While we realize that this is serious, in the grand scheme of things, we are greatful that nothing that has happened so far is life threatening. We continue to pray for Sarah's growth and good health.

Happily snuggled in Daddy's arms sucking away on her pacifier

Sarah pulled the pacifier out for this picture

Nothing is better than a Daddy's loving arms

Lunch

Don't worry too much, but we need your prayers again. Sarah has a hairline fracture in her femur. They say its not uncommon in little girls. She's getting a cast put on now. Updates to follow.

Sent from my iPhone

Mid week morning report

So Sarah had several episodes of explosive poo poo yesterday, and one more last night. I still can't wait to get her home, even though Erika will have to get up in the middle of the night to clean up while I go to the other room and fall back asleep. I think that's how it works.

Sarah is still 810 grams, no gain, no loss, no problem. I think we know where all the weight went. Tomorrow is 7 weeks!

Tuesday morning

Sarah reached that 800 gram milestone last night. She is now 810 grams, or 1.78 pounds. She's over a pound and three quarters! Her feedings went up last night to 18 mL every three hours, and she is eating like a champ. Almost nothing left in her tummy at the next feeding.

Everyone in the NICU is so impressed with her, and really, how can you not be impressed with her? You BETTER be impressed, or we're gonna need to have a talk...

Monday Afternoon Update

Sarah is having a good day. Her feedings were bumped up to 16 mL every 3 hours and if all goes well she will be bumped up again to 18 mL tonight. She had a session with the developmental therapist today and that certainly tuckered her out. She is napping comfortably for the rest of the afternoon. That is until Mommy comes over later and swoops her up for a late afternoon kangaroo session.
Fun fact: Panda Bears are born weighing about 3.5 ounces. Sarah's birth weight was 14 ounces. Keep on growth little miss Sarah Bear. You are almost DOUBLE your birth weight! Just another 10 grams to go...Yipee

Monday morning

I hope everyone had a nice, long weekend. It was a chore getting up at 5:00 a.m. this morning after sleeping in for four days.

Sarah gained another 30 grams last night, bringing her weight up to 770 grams, which is about 1 pound, 11 ounces. She was also measured last night, and is longer and has a bigger head. All good news!

She had another transfusion last night, her first in several weeks. She's doing really well and looks fantastic. I'm so proud of her and so is mommy!

Sunday Report

We hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend. Sarah is sure having one. She is up to 740 grams (1 pound 10 ounces) and eating 15 mL's every 3 hours, for a total of 4 ounces a day! She is eating 15% of her body weight daily. Imagine if we did that! Ugh.