2lb 2oz!

So Sidney is being put on some supplements for a week to see if can help wean him off the ventilator. If that doesn't work, we'll have to unfortunately opt for a round of steroids. Please keep him in your prayers, we don't want to have to do the steroids, they could possibly cause harmful side effects.

On a good note, Sidney is steadily increasing his feedings (up to 17cc's now) and is gaining weight like a champ. What a big boy he's getting to be!

Sidney Shots from This Evening's Visit

Finally!!

Guess who's weighed in last night at a whopping 2lbs!! Sidney! :) We also found out that he's grown to 13"...that's an inch and a half bigger than when he was born. I'm so happy that my big boy is growing. I got to kangaroo him again last night, only this time he was swaddled in a blanket instead of skin-to-skin. Sidney just stared into his mommy and daddy's eyes the whole time. I guess he decided this was way too much excitement to fall asleep. :) I love my little buddy. More pictures to come...!

New Video of Baby Sid :)

Sorry we haven't posted in a while. Sid's doing really well. He's up to a whopping 9cc's of milk 8x a day! No residuals either...he's taking after his dad, has a bottomless pit for a stomach. LOL ;) We're so proud of him. His breathing is doing better. He's handling being touched and talked to more and more each day. He was a little sensitive there for a while...if you bothered him, his oxygen levels would go down really low (called "desat"). He's still on the ventilator, but we're confident our little trouper will outgrow this stage of preemie-hood and make his way to using the C-PAP again.

With a little coaxing, I convinced his nurse to allow me to kangaroo Sidney tonight for about 45 mins. I got him a little hat with his name embroidered on it. He's wearing it in this short video Jeremy took.

Jeremy's Kangaroo Care Experience (7/15/2010)

Here's a sweet picture that Jeremy's aunt Beverly (or was it Mary Margaret? or Joyce?) took of him Kangarooing Sidney for the first time. What a moment between a daddy and his son.

Another Blood Transfusion...

Sidney had to get another blood transfusion today. His red blood cell counts were low, the reason his breathing has been suffering as of late. This will help his little body out tremendously. The doctor assured us that this is normal in preemies because their tiny bodies just don't have the energy yet to do everything that it needs to be doing outside of the womb. After his last transfusion, he perked up and really improved immensely.

My beautiful baby boy, mommy and daddy's miracle, is now tipping the scales at 1lb 13oz. Only 3 more ounces to 2lbs! I'm so proud of him. I couldn't have asked for a better little man...he brings tears to my eyes, tears of joy. :)

New Pictures and Video!

Well, Sidney is up to 5cc's of breast milk every three hours now! I can't believe how fast he's progressing with his feedings, it's amazing. :) I got to Kangaroo with Sidney for an hour an a half tonight! He did SO well. His oxygen stats stayed steady the whole time. I guess the sound of his mommy's heartbeat soothed him. I love him so much.

Jeremy caught Sid and me off-guard in this pic. LOL. We're both "deer in the headlights"! Sid looks so shocked! He's like "whoa Dad, no flash photography!"

This is a cute video that Jeremy shot of Sidney looking around. For the first 30 minutes or so, Sidney was so interested in his surroundings. Daddy got to spend some time gazing into his little boy's eyes. It was a precious moment.

Sidney's "Bedroom" in the NICU

Thought you would like to see pictures of Sidney's "bedroom" while he's in the NICU at St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach, FL.

Today was a Good Day

Learned this morning that Sidney is now getting 2cc's of breast milk every eight hours, up from just 1cc. This is fantastic news, just means he'll start growing even more now. :)

I got to do Kangaroo Care with him again today. It's a wonderful feeling to have the warmth of your child's skin against yours. I'm so glad the nurses at St. Mary's Medical Center allow me to do this with Sidney.

He Keeps Growing and Growing and Growing...

Quick update on little Sidney. We learned at his nightly weigh-in last night that he's up to 1lb 11oz!! I can't believe that just last week my sweet baby was a teeny 1lb 4oz. He's doing so well...and I just know it's because of all of your love, support, and prayers. We can't thank you all enough for being there for him. He means the world to his mommy and daddy and we are counting down the precious days til he can come home!! :D

Check out this picture of his tiny preemie diaper! Thankfully these preemie Pampers are made of a super soft cotton and don't contain any plastic. Even the tabs have velcro instead of a sticky glue. It's not cloth diapers like I had planned on using, but it's the next best thing. ;) These diapers make me smile every time I look at them. It's so funny when I have to change his diaper. He's got the tiniest little butt. One day I'm going to look back and wonder how he ever fit into one of these.

Sidney Without His C-PAP

He looks so mad in this picture! *smiles* What a cutie pie. We were lucky enough to snap a picture of him without any of his breathing tubes. He was breathing on his own in this pic, and doing quite well actually. He's got a little bandage on his teeny nose though, but that's ok, we still love him. ;)

Some Videos of Kangaroo Care...

Jeremy was able to catch some sweet moments from today's Kangaroo Care. The first video is when the nurses first put Sidney on my chest and the second video is of little Sid enjoying his mommy's company. :)

Kangaroo Care! Finally!

Some great pics of our wonderful day today. We got to hold Sidney skin-to-skin today...what a moment!!

Our first family photo

Blood Transfusion...

So Sid had to get a blood transfusion yesterday. This is something that is common with preemies, so we weren't too worried. It took three hours to give him 11cc's of blood. Afterwards, it was immediate how much it helped his tiny body. His color was SO much better. He's already thriving! He's gained another ounce, he's up to 1lb 9oz now. He even looks chubbier and maybe even a little longer. He's still able to digest breast milk (yay!).

Our A/C went out last night (boo!), so I wasn't able to see my little guy this morning (waiting on the A/C repairman), but his daddy and his grandma Grace were able to spend several hours with him. Jeremy called to tell me the good news...for 15 minutes he was able to Kangaroo our little Sid for the very first time!! What a special moment. For those of you that aren't familiar with Kangaroo Care, it's when the baby is placed on the parent's bare chest for a period of time. Research shows that kangarooing preemies increases survival rates and shortens lengths of stay in the hospital. The skin-to-skin contact provides that closeness that the infant longs for and promotes bonding between the parent and child. It's really something special for a parent of a preemie in the NICU to experience. Hopefully this evening I'll get my chance to do this with my baby. :)

Thanks for Everyone's Support...

I just want to deeply express my gratitude to all our friends and family out there who have supported us throughout these tough times. Sidney was barely a few days old, and he was already more popular than me! ;) We appreciate all the thoughts, prayers, love, and positive energy that you all have given him and us. We love you all...

I had a moment the other day with Sidney that I would like to share with you all. It was a moment I'll never forget. During a visit with him, I was gazing down at him through the plastic of the incubator. For a few moments, I left everything behind...no stress, no worldly problems, no negativity. The only thing that existed was he and I. And instead of looking at all the tubes and wires that he's hooked up to, I just saw him as my beautiful son. Moments when thought and coincidence merge, I thought about God or the Creator and I thought about how that Being made all of this possible and held everything together. And in that very split second of thought, as Sid's head was turned slightly away from me, his left eye had opened with his tiny pupil concentrated right on me. I was something that I'll always have that can never be taken away. A perfect moment between a father and his son.

- Jeremy

He's Gaining Weight!!

Yay Sid! He's finally gained back his lost weight...he's back up to 1lb 8oz! I can't tell you all how excited that makes Jeremy and I. He's also eating and digesting all the breast milk that they are giving him.

Today I got to see Sidney get a bath -- well, a sponge bath really. The minute they took that diaper off the little stinker started peeing all over the place. He felt the freedom of the open air. lol. It was so cute. He's so tiny that the nurse used a soft bristled toothbrush to brush his hair! Adorable.

I also had the privilege of holding Sidney for a few minutes. Didn't get to hold him close, but at least I got to hold him in my hands. It was so special. He looked up at me with his beautiful eyes and I just knew that he realized that I was his mommy. He even got comfortable enough that he started to drift off to sleep in my hands. What a moment. I'll never forget today...

Our Little Angel

Upon our morning visit with Sid, we came to find him sleeping like a little angel. He looked so peaceful. The nurse put him on his side with a miniature Boppy between his legs...just like his daddy!

He's still on the ventilator, but it seems to be helping him overall. It's allowing him to focus on other things, like gaining weight (he's up 10 grams) and getting back to eating breast milk. I'm so glad that he's digesting the milk again...just means that he'll start gaining more weight and grow more and more each day. :)

Our Evening Visit

We spend time with Sid several times a day. This is a cute picture of him from this evening. He was attempting to open his teeny tiny eyes. :)

Mommy Changed My Diaper for the First Time!!

Today was super special for me. I got to change Sid's diaper for the first time. It's crazy how something as mundane as changing a diaper was such a big deal for me. It was the most wonderful experience of my life. I got to take his temperature (a perfect 98.2 degrees) too. The nurse warned me that he wasn't going to like getting his temp taken and that he would squirm. But mommy to the rescue...he didn't even flinch. It was like he knew that I was his mom and that I would never do anything to hurt him. He was so calm. Even when I changed his diaper and wiped his tiny butt clean...not a squirm. He really loves his mommy.

Sid had to be put back on the ventilator today; his little body was just too tired to breathe on his own along with trying to grow. It's ok though because now he can focus all this energy on getting stronger. This time on the ventilator shouldn't last long. Since he was born 8 days ago, he's only had to be on it 3 times, and each time was only for a few hours. So we have confidence this won't last long.

He's still not eating mommy's breast milk yet, but that's ok too. We found out this morning that his belly is getting better each day and he may be able to start back on milk tomorrow. Cross your fingers!

My boy is definitely a little angel. He's got the sweetest face that I've ever seen. In this picture, you'll see that he wasn't too happy with mommy cause she let too much light into his incubator. This is Sid making his "you're making me angry" face. I love this little guy.

His One Week Birthday...

Today we celebrated Sid's one week birthday. He's such a little trooper. We've suffered a minor set-back, he's lost a little weight, he's down from 1lb 6oz to 1lb 4oz. But we were assured that a little weight loss is typical in premature babies. According to a wonderful book on Premies that Jer's aunt Beverly brought for us to read, it's something that happens. It's reassuring when you start to feel down that things like this are normal. Thank goodness for that book; I've only read a bit of it, but I'm already feeling much better about things.

It's hard to feel happy and optimistic when you see the love of your life lying there with tubes and wires hooked up to him. You feel so helpless. He's so tiny and fragile. Your heart literally breaks with each glance. But I found strength deep in me today when my precious little boy wrapped his tiny toes around my finger. I know now that I can't let him see me cry, I have to be strong for both of us. Jeremy and I have to remain positive. There will be steps forward and steps back during these next long months of Sid being in the NICU, but in the end all of this heartache will be worth it when I can bring my Sidney home.

He's Breathing on His Own!!

Sid was off the ventilator the very first day he was born. I can't even believe it! He's now on what's called a "C-Pap", which basically just helps keep his lungs inflated so they don't collapse. But he's breathing room air all on his own.

Yesterday (Thursday, July 8th), Sid underwent a little surgery. He had a PICC line inserted in his tiny arm. It was really rough to see him have to go through this, but it is definitely for the best. Babies' veins are extremely tiny and fragile, especially at his size, so to have to constantly prick him for IV's is painful. This line is basically a tiny catheter that will remain in him instead of having to start new IV's on him every day or so. It's heartbreaking to have to see him bandaged up. Seeing him like this is the hardest thing I've ever had to experience in my life. He's so strong, stronger than I'll ever be. Sidney is my hero.

Smile for the Camera Sid

Our first picture of Sid.

Taken on 7/5/2010 -- 2 days old

Here you'll see he's wearing a very stylish black blindfold. :) That's just to shield his little eyes from the light therapy he was receiving at the time to combat jaundice. My little fighter was off the light in just a few short days. It's amazing how much he's accomplished already! I love him so much.

So we've started a blog...

Jeremy and I thought it would be easier for our friends and family if we started a blog to share updates on our precious baby Sidney.

For those of you that didn't know, Sidney was born via emergency C-section on the morning of Saturday, July 3rd. He was 25 weeks old and only weighed 1lb 8oz. It was a intensely scary time for Jeremy and me.

The previous Monday I was rushed to the hospital with serious bleeding and was even starting to have contractions. Luckily I was put on an IV to stop the contractions. I was given the news that I would have to remain in the hospital on strict bedrest for the remainder of my pregnancy -- 15 weeks. That first week was hell. Not only did the medication make me extremely ill, I developed fluid on my lungs and was gasping for every breath. By the end of the week, I had finally stabilized. Early Saturday morning I decided to finally attempt to take a well-needed nap. That's when disaster struck...the heavy bleeding returned. It was determined that I was suffering from Placenta Abruption -- my placenta was over 50% detached and I was bleeding internally. To save the baby meant I had to undergo an emergency C-section. Never have I been so scared in my life. Thankfully I have the most wonderful husband who was there with me every step of the way. I couldn't have done any of this without him.

Sidney Andrew Sandberg couldn't have come at a better time. The surgeons found that he had tied a true knot in his umbilical cord. This little guy is a fighter and a miracle.