Our little peanut

"Celebrate the little things in life."

Happy Birthday to our little peanut Sarah. 3 years ago she came into our world weighing only 4 lbs. She did very well being so small. She came out screaming. They let me give her a quick kiss, then they took her to the NICU. Tom followed. After I was all taken care of, my Daddy came in. My friend had brought my daddy to the hospital - and my camera. I was put in a wheelchair and taken to meet my daughter. It was difficult seeing her all hooked up in the NICU, but we knew she was being well taken care of. I spent as much time as I was allowed in the NICU. There was one doctor that took a great interest in Sarah. He was amazed at how well she was doing. When he ordered tests for her, he would call down to the lab to make sure they did it immediately. The first night, she did stop breathing once and there were some concerns and thoughts of having her moved downtown to the Children's Hospital. But little Sarah was strong. She loved having her little feet rubbed. She would straighten her leg and stretch out her little toes. The lactation consultant came in on the first day and asked me if I wanted to try feeding Sarah. She told me that I should tell the nurses that I wanted to feed my baby. The nurse I had was wonderful. She helped me to hold my little bitty baby and helped me get her to latch on and nurse. She did great!
Later, Sarah's brothers and sisters came to the NICU and took turns holding her. Most people would be nervous holding such a little baby, but each of our children were very comfortable holding their baby sister. Brandon even gave her a bottle.
My mother and father came to visit. They were only in town for a couple of days. I guess Sarah wanted to make sure she got to meet them before they traveled overseas. And we had a few friends and neighbors come meet Sarah at the hospital too.
We had an idea of giving our baby the name Sarah if our baby was a girl. We still didn't have a middle name. The hospital kept telling us we had to pick a name soon. They kept coming in to have the Birth Certificate filled out. We thought we still had a few more weeks to pick a name, so there was a little bit of pressure. But then I decided I wanted her to have my name - and Tommy agreed. Sarah Christine.
The day I went home, I was miserable. I remember pacing my room and I started to panic. A nurse went and got my doctor. He came in and helped to calm me down - then the "tough love" happened. He looked at me and just told me straight that I had to go home. My other children needed me and Sarah would be just fine in the NICU. I could come visit her every day. Which I did. Tom drove the 30 minutes every morning before work to sit and give Sarah a bottle. When I could find someone to watch my other little ones, I would go for Sarah's 2nd feeding. I would also go at bedtime to feed her and tuck her in. Taking care of 5 children at home and driving back and forth to the hospital for Sarah, and getting up every 2 hours during the night to pump - was exhausting! I did have one night where I finally brokedown. I was leaving for the bedtime feeding when I just fell to our laundry room floor and cried. I was so tired, but felt the need to go see our baby. Tom told me it was ok to just stay home and take care of myself for one night. Tom called the hospital - used our password "precious" - and spoke to the nurse who was taking care of Sarah that night. I got on the phone and she reassured me that Sarah was ok and that she would hold her and cuddle with her for me. Nurses are the best.
The song "Sarah Smile" by Hall and Oates came on 3 different times while Tom and/or I were in the NICU feeding Sarah. Great song. Perfect lyrics. I had never really paid attention to it before. One of the nurses was sitting with me when it came on once. She said "Just wait until it is her wedding day and she has her Daddy-Daughter dance to this song." Wow.