Merry Christmas!

Five months old!

Sarah's favorite thing now is chewing on her hand...but it isn't always easy to make contact. If nothing else, she's determined!

Merry Christmas!!

Sarah's Santa photo by Stephanie Fisher (www.sfisherphotography.com).


A BEAUTIFUL story board created by Stephanie using two photos from the NICU (Sarah was 11 days old) and one from her homecoming (at four months). What a change!! It's 10"x 20" and will soon hang over Sarah's crib.

Finally, for all my dog loving friends, Sarah with our male pit bull Ralphie. Ralphie LOVES Sarah and I expect that will only get better as she learns to rub his belly!

Wubbanub!

Sarah is digging the new Wubbanub - it's a pacifier with what amouts to a small beanie baby on the end for little hands to hold on to. She can't quite get it back into her mouth on her own yet, but at least it's not flying across the room like her regular pacifier. I also like that it's an infant sized paci so she's not gagging on it all the time. I'm just afraid it's going to become a $13 dog toy...

I'm taller up on my soapbox...

I'll admit, until yesterday, we didn't even get The Learning Channel which hosts the reality show "18 Kids & Counting" featuring the Duggar family from Arkansas. Their 19th baby was born earlier this week. 15 weeks early. While I'm pretty sure I'll NEVER be able to relate to having 19 kids, I can absolutely relate to having a micropreemie.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I LOVE a good soapbox. My main soapbox issue has always been (and will likely always BE) animal welfare. But the soapbox of premature birth is running a close second these days. When news broke of the Duggar's new baby, there were headlines like, "Baby Arrives Early - Doing Well" and comments from network representatives like, "mom and baby need as much rest as possible." In my mind, those statements perpetuate the idea that preemies are simply small babies. That with time and rest, they'll be just like a term baby. As someone who knows how incorrect that is...it makes me incredibly angry with the media. But what's new?

Sarah was born at 27wks and believe me, of all the things we did during her 109 days in the NICU, "rest" was at the bottom of the list. And while I would agree that overall she did "well"...that's all relative to the situation. She did (and is doing) well for a baby born 13wks early who had no amniotic fluid for a month prior. Preemie parents live in a world of ventilators, cannulas, PICC lines, O2 sats and countless specialists. We have to learn about things like intraventricular hemorrhages, chronic lung disease, patent ductus arteriosis, retinopathy of prematurity and necrotizing enterocolitis. To put it simply...we worry every minute that our child might die. And sadly, many do. So to see something as serious as a premature birth glossed over...gah!

I wish the Duggars well and pray that Baby Josie is a fighter. They have a long hard road ahead of them.

New photos - you know you want them!

Here's Sarah at the end of the SEC Championship game...watching Alabama wallop Florida wore her out! Is there anything cuter than a baby in blue jeans?! And her shirt says, "Who needs Santa...I've got grandparents!"



Trying out her new Nap Nanny. It's sort of like a little recliner for babies with reflux, it keeps her upper body elevated to 30*. Purchased new, these run about $150 with shipping - OUCH! We were lucky to find one gently used for about half the price. It just fits in her cradle and so far it really seems to help at night.


Houston, we have a smile!!

*gasp* It's a pit bull! With a baby! What you don't see is Ralphie licking the lotion off of Sarah's head just prior the photo. He loves baby sister.

Busted! Sleeping on the job!

Lily and the Bumbo

Sarah tried out her Bumbo seat for the first time today - she can only sit in it a few minutes at a time because she's still learning to hold her head up on her own. She pooped while sitting in it...so I'm guessing that's her seal of approval! That's Lily with her - we were initially concerned about how Lily would react to Sarah, but so far she's been great. When Lily comes into the room, the first thing she does is check Sarah out. That usually means Sarah gets a big wet nose in her ear, but she's okay with it :-)