Photos of Samuel

Here are some photos taken today of our sweet Samuel.

Meeting Samuel today melted my heart. I am so blessed to be the aunt of this angel! Kara is beautiful as always, even following major surgery and sleep deprivation. As usual, Ben is a source of strength and support to all. Eleanora is busy bringing everyone smiles, hugs, and kisses.

-posted by Natalie, member of the Hoffman Communications/PR Team

Sammy Update

Here's the latest on Sammy: He is doing fairly well, getting stronger breathing and digesting larger and larger amounts of food that they put in his feeding tube. Our biggest concern right now is some bleeding in his brain that they found with a head ultrasound yesterday morning. This is a common complication for babies younger than 32 weeks and may resolve on it's own with time. The scary part is that it could also cause developmental problems in the future and may require surgery if it doesn't get better on his own. We covet your prayers, specifically that this blood would go away on it's own and that it won't cause him issues in the future. Thanks so much for your prayers and support; we feel very blessed!

-Ben

Samuel Peter Hoffman

Samuel Peter Hoffman was born at 10:21 AM on Thursday, July 22, 2010 (2 months and 2 days before his due date). Right now, I'm sitting in the NICU as Kara holds little Sammy. It has already been a crazy road to get to this point, but I am as content as possible at this moment.

Here's the story of Sammy's entry into this world:

Thursday morning Kara had a regular checkup with her OB-GYN at 8 AM. The checkup was normal and she felt fine throughout it. As she was leaving, the car wouldn't start, so she called AAA. While she was waiting for them to arrive, she starting having some strong contractions and ended up back at her doctor's office (which luckily is in the hospital). She was already fully dilated when the doctor checked her, so they rushed her to labor and delivery. He was coming out feet-first, so they then had to rush her into surgery for an emergency C-section. You're reading this right: he was born 2 hours and 21 minutes after she arrived at the doctor's! Crazy, right?

During all of this, I was home with Eleanora without a car. Here is a summary of the phone calls I received:

9:00 - Kara: the car won't start, I'm calling AAA

9:15 - Kara: feeling weird, having contractions

9:30 - Random nursing student: I'm with your wife, she's having contractions, I'm taking her back up to her doctor

9:45 - Random nurse: your wife is being taken to labor and delivery

10:00 - Kara' s doctor: Kara is going into surgery for an emergency C-section

So as you can imagine, I was freaking out. Eleanora and I were able to finally get a ride to the hospital (thanks to my Aunt Sissy's resourcefulness), but by the time we got there, Samuel had been born. I was able to see him in the NICU right away, and be with Kara shortly thereafter. When it was all said and done, it was probably the craziest day of my life.

Samuel is doing really well so far considering how early he was. He was born at a weight of 4 lbs. 2 oz., which is in the 90th percentile for his gestational age (31 weeks). He initially had to have a breathing tube down his throat to help him breathe, but they took that out this morning. He was also having trouble regulating his blood pressure, but that issue is resolved.

Kara is doing great as well. They discharged her yesterday morning, only 48 hours after giving birth by C-Section! That's right, my wife is the strongest and toughest woman I know. Kara's mom arrived last night and her sister Natalie will be arriving on Tuesday, so we will have lots of help.

Thanks so much for all your thoughts, prayers, texts, emails, etc. We can't express how much they have meant to us. We apologize for not being able to respond to many yet, as all of our time and energy right now is going into our kids. We will keep you updated on Samuel's progress, and will be posting some pictures of the little guy soon. Thanks again, we feel so blessed to have all of you in our lives!