Ups and Downs

Life in the Hoffman Household has been filled with many ups and downs lately.  Visits from both of our Moms (yay!), negative progress on the nursing front (boo!), lots of fun sister/brother moments (yay!), two very exhausted parents getting very little sleep between the nursing (attempts), bottle feeding, and pumping (boo).  My selfless husband decided for the sake of my mental health and sanity I needed a good night's sleep.  Monday he sent me to sleep with Natalie, ordered me to turn on the fan for white noise and sleep as long as I could while he took the night shift solo with Sammy.  I skipped pumping just this once and got an uninterrupted seven hours of glorious sleep - more than I've had in one stretch since July!  It was the best gift I've received E.V.E.R.  Ben is pretty much a superhero as far as I'm concerned.

Father & Son - identical sleepers

Eleanora can't get enough of "Baby Sa-ee"!

The first of many joint baths

A Few Pictures

Here are a few pictures of our recent days...

Ahhh, baby love...

Eleanora woke from her nap yesterday and insisted on going to "bed" but not in her crib.  She wanted a pillow, "blankie", her baby and lambie (all night time essentials) tucked in with her on the floor of her room.  She then requested some milk and grapes in her cozy nest.  Here is a picture of the silly girl showing me her yummy snack.
 

Samuel continues to grow well, although nursing is still a challenge.  Thank goodness for the help of our Moms!  Ben's Mom was here last week, and mine is here this week.  We are so blessed by the help with Eleanora, the house, and all the craziness of life with two kids under two!

Crazy Beautiful Life

Leaving the NICU - YAY!

Driving home

Adorable welcome home sign from Aunt Natalie

Wanting to wake up her baby brother

First bath at home

The last 5 plus days have been wild, exhausting, exasperating, and filled with so much joy. Having both of my children under one roof is more overwhelming and wonderful than I ever imagined. Eleanora loves (and I mean loves) her baby brother! She wants to kiss him all over, touch him all the time, wake him up when he's sleeping (oh dear!), and calls for him at the door when he's in another room. She also imitates everything we do for Samuel with her stuffed animals. She burps them with burp cloths on her shoulder, shhh's them, puts them "ni-ni" (night-night), and gives them bottles. It is so so sweet.

Speaking of bottles, our little man has not made much progress in that area. He still refuses to nurse, or when he does gets frustrated quickly. We're still on the nursing (attempt), bottle feed, pump schedule every three hours which is utterly exhausting. Thank goodness for my wonderful husband who is up with me every time in the night to wash bottles, feed Samuel, and make sure I don't wonder deliriously into a wall or something. Natalie continues to be an invaluable help, cleaning, doing laundry, dishes, occupying Eleanora, holding Samuel, keeping me sane (no small job!) and just being the most amazing and selfless sister on the planet. She and Liam have sacrificed so much to take care of us and we are at a loss as to how to express our gratitude.

As draining and overwhelming as this all has been, I am so unbelievable grateful to have our little guy home and in our arms! He is so sweet and snuggly, loves to be held (thank goodness for the Moby - it's perfect for preemies!) and wants nothing more than to be close to us - which is fine by me. We are all just so in love with him!

Pictures

I just got an email with some beautiful pictures our friend Sarah took today. She graciously watched Eleanora while we were at the hospital. She is an amazing photographer, and lucky for us she brought her camera! Thanks, Sarah!

Home Sweet Home!

Just a quick update to let you all know Samuel is home and doing great!! He was discharged today at about 12:30 pm and we are so excited! Eleanora is completely obsessed with her baby brother, kissing him and patting him constantly. Her first words after waking up from her nap this afternoon were, "Hi to Baby Sa-ee?". She loves-loves-loves him and has so far been very gentle and loving. I'll try to post some pictures soon, but for now we are soaking in the joy of having our entire family under one crazy, sleep-deprived roof. Yay!!

We are Getting Close!

Samuel has successfully made it to day 3 of 5 on his spell count and we are on track for release on Monday! We received a visit from the discharge coordinator with instructions for home care which was very exciting. Samuel is scheduled for a car seat test tomorrow, which he must pass to go home. His vitals will be monitored while he sits in his car seat to be sure he can tolerate the trip home.

The pediatric neurologist examined Samuel due to his brain bleed. She is pleased with his progress and by the fact the blood is continuing to resolve on its own. She does want Samuel to continue to be closely monitored with another head ultrasound in one month, another in two months, and a full neurological and developmental exam in four months. For now, she was happy with his reflexes and responses and said he is acting completely appropriately for a fetus (going by adjusted age, Samuel is -2 weeks old). We will need to watch him closely for any developmental delays over the course of his childhood, so that any issues can be addressed quickly with therapy. It is all overwhelming to even begin to think about, so for now we are totally focused on getting him home and in our arms full time.

Last little bit of tape on his face

Sleeping soundly under big sister's watchful eye

And now for a few laughs from the land of Eleanora (or "Nowa" as she now refers to herself). The other day Natalie and I were talking while the bath was filling for Eleanora. Suddenly she ran into the room and said, "Big Bounce tub!" and then ran away. We peaked around the corner to see this...

Yes, Big Bounce (aka big kangaroo) apparently needed a bath too. Since he was already soaked, why not let him enjoy the soak?

7 Weeks

7 weeks ago our world was turned upside down by the unexpected arrival of Samuel Peter. The first time I saw him he was breathing with the help of a ventilator, swollen and covered in bruises. His little body shook without sound when he cried and it broke my heart. I wasn't able to hold him, only lay a hand on his tiny 4 lb 2oz body inside the incubator and watch him struggle to survive.

7 weeks later, Samuel's progress is amazing. He is now 6 lb 2oz, with pink chunky cheeks and a strong cry. Today was spell-free, which means we are still on track for release on Monday. We've come so far and are so close to the end of this chapter and the beginning of a different kind of exhaustion. The kind of exhaustion I'm looking forward to experiencing!

Small Setback

Today while sleeping blissfully in my arms, Samuel had an episode of bradycardia. Unfortunately, this means the spell count will start over, with tomorrow being day 1. Boo. We were hoping this weekend might be his homecoming party, but I guess Samuel had other plans.

On a lighter note, we've been trying to prepare Eleanora for Samuel's arrival as much as possible. Last night, we had the following conversation...

Me: Eleanora, who is Baby Sammy?

E: Baby Sa-ee? Baby Sa-ee!!!

Me: Is he your baby brother?

E: Baby broder! (points to her stomach) Baby broder!

Me: That's right, baby brother was in my tummy but soon he'll be coming to live in our house. Do you want a baby to live in our house?

E: Ummmm...yeah.

Me: What do babies do?

E: (in a high-pitched voice while rubbing eyes) Waaa, waaa. Baby cay-ing.

Me: Yes, babies cry sometimes. We'll have to take care of baby Sammy when he's crying. Do you want to be the big sister?

E: Yeah!! (thoughtful look) Where Na-na Leo (Natalie and Liam) go?

Thus ended our big sister conversation. I'm certain there will never be a dull moment with two under two in the house and I can't wait!

Wonderful Friends and Wonderful News

Eleanora "rocking" her animals

We have been so blessed by many many wonderful friends and family members who continue to show their love and support as we travel this l-o-n-g road towards getting Samuel home. We've been inundated with cards, packages, messages, emails, offers of help and food, and so much love. Last week we had a visit from our sweet Pittsburgh friends, Beth and James and their adorable daughter, Isabelle. They cut a day out of their vacation to Phoenix to drive the two hours to Tucson and booked a hotel in town. They spent 36 hours caring for Eleanora, filling our freezer with delicious meals, and tending to some much-needed projects around the house (repairing a broken window, for instance). We were so blessed to hear of their preemie experience and loved-loved-loved seeing Isabelle and Eleanora play, dance, and giggle together. What a wonderful breath of fresh air during such a tough time!

And now for the Samuel update...

Take a close look at this picture. See the tubes and tape on his precious face? As of Sunday morning, they are....completely gone. For the first time, we can stare at the completely uncovered face of our beautiful son. After many ups and downs, Samuel was taken off of oxygen on Friday morning. And to quote the resident responsible for his care, "he has been breathing like a rock star" ever since.

The next issue to address was feeding. Since Samuel is not a great nurser (interested one day, completely uninterested the next), he continued to have his milk poured into a feeding tube through his nose. We asked many doctors, nurses and lactation experts for advice, and received widely varying responses. The doctors and nurses seem to lean towards giving him a bottle of breast milk to get him home and eating on his own, while the lactation experts insist that will interfere with breastfeeding and cause confusion. We went back and forth and finally decided the most important thing right now is getting Samuel home and healthy where we can continue to work on breastfeeding on an outpatient basis. Saturday morning, Ben gave Samuel his very first bottle. Samuel did great. He paced himself well (preemies often forget to breathe while eating) and ate his complete feed all on his own. He continued to do great on the bottle and decided early Sunday morning that he was done with this feeding tube thing and pulled it right out. The nurse decided not to put it back in since he's been doing so well. Since then, he's been moved to "ad lib" feeding meaning he can eat whenever he wants, as much as he wants instead of the prescribed amount every three hours. We continue to work on breastfeeding, which he is very inconsistent with and still needs to be "topped off" with a bottle when he does nurse.

All of that means we are getting close to thinking about going home! We still have a couple of hurdles to overcome...

- Weight gain: Samuel is now 5lb 14 oz, but his weight gain has been inconsistent. He's had a few days recently of weight loss and the doctors would like to see him have a higher average weight gain before sending him home.

- Spells: Samuel needs to go 5-7 days without a "spell" of bradycarida, oxygen desaturation, or apnea. His last spell was yesterday so today is day 1 with no spells so far.

We are cautiously optimistic that he may be coming home over the weekend or early next week. Only Samuel can say for sure. In the meantime, we've been spending whatever time we have at home tackling our nesting projects and getting ready for our little guy's homecoming party!

Tired of those tubes in his nose!

Oxygen gone, only the feeding tube left

Samuel's first bottle

On Sunday we said goodbye to Samuel's first girlfriend, Sara. Samuel and Sara were born just 5 days apart and were due within a day of each other. They have been moved together to two different rooms during their NICU stay and have spent more time "together" then with any other person on the planet. Sara and Sam would often "misbehave" together, setting off alarms one after the other, crying when the other cried, and even laid facing each other staring into each other's eyes from across the room (I know, babies can't see that far, but it was very romantic). In the race to get home, Sara and Sam have been side by side, but this past week Sara made a break for the finish line. We are thrilled for her and her parents, but their presence is definitely missed. Our Samuel certainly is a gentleman, letting his lady friend go first, but now we need him to dig deep, and finish strong. The finish line is in sight!

Sara and Sam - first loves

Eleanora

Eleanora has been such a trooper throughout the last five plus weeks. Her life has been in upheaval of one kind or another for so long, I don't think either of us even remember what our "normal" routine was like. Despite all the change, she has been such a happy and fun girl and brings us so much joy.

Some of her latest antics include...

- Saying "bless" whenever anyone sneezes

- "Feeding" her stuffed animals in her high chair or at her table. She cooks for them in her kitchen, then gives them each something to eat saying "here a go" ("here you go").

- Begging for people to dance to "musie" ("music")

- Singing solos in the car (Twinkle, Twinkle is a favorite).

- Asking to read "stowies" and saying her favorite lines.

- Reading any piece of paper out loud in a very serious tone (with made up words) then announcing "de in!" ("the end!").

- Eating "cancakes" ("pancakes") for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Playing dress up with scarves

Samuel is now 5 weeks old and 36 weeks gestation. We are told to expect big changes in the next week or so as he gets closer to his due date. He has started nursing, and to date has taken three full feedings and six or seven half feedings by mouth instead of by tube. His progress is slow, moving ahead one day and back the next. His breathing has improved. His oxygen is currently on a 1/4 liter at 21% (room air). He will be weaned down to a 1/10 liter today or tomorrow and from there will go off of oxygen completely. We're cautiously hoping he will be home in the next couple of weeks. I can't wait to stare at this handsome face without any tubes or tape any time of the day or night!

Big sister can't wait to met "Baby Sa-ee"

One Month Old

Samuel Peter is one month old today! Ben and I celebrated by softly singing happy birthday to him this morning. All the excitement wore out our boy who showed very little interest in eating and spent most of the day sleeping in my arms. He now weighs 5 pounds 2 ounces and is more handsome than ever.

This has been by far the longest month of my life. Despite the difficulty, I am so unbelievable grateful for this sweet precious boy who I cannot wait to bring home!

A Day in the Life

With so many little ups and downs in the NICU, it's hard to easily summarize a day. Today was no exception...

2:30 am: My alarm goes off, time to pump. Oh, what fun. Getting up to feed a baby is sooooo much better than waking up to an alarm clock.

6:30 am: Pump again, this time while entertaining Eleanora with stories and songs. When I'm done she happily cries, "All done, milp (milk)!"

7:30 am: Ben and I say "bye-byes" to Eleanora (who after day 2 stopped crying every time we left) and wave to her and Aunt Na-Na (Natalie) as we drive to the hospital.

7:45 am: Greet our beautiful baby boy who is sleeping soundly. His nurse tells us he had a good night and is still on a 1/4 liter of oxygen at about 30% saturation (we breathe 21%).

7:50 am: We wake Samuel by unwrapping him and begining his "cares" which includes changing his diaper (a poopapalooza- all systems are a-go in that department), and taking his temperature. Our nurse then listens to his heart and lungs, feels his belly, and checks his soft spot. She then pulls the curtains in our little corner of the room we share with three other babies and leaves us.

8:00 am: Navigating the wires and tubes, I pick up Sammy and settle into the rocking chair next to his isolette. We stare into each other's eyes for a moment, then he licks his lips and promptly falls asleep with one arm draped over his face. Try as I might, I cannot convince the little stinker to wake up and eat. Boo.

8:15 am: Our nurse pokes her head in and asks the now perfunctory question, "is he eating?". Because the answer (as usual) is no, she warms the stored milk for his tube feeding.

8:20 am: Nurse returns with warmed milk (40 ml) in a syringe which is attached to Samuel's feeding tube. I hold the syringe with one hand and Sam with the other watching the milk flow into the tube that runs from his nose into his stomach.

8:45 am: Samuel's feed has finished flowing from the syringe into his NG tube. I disconnect the syringe and snuggle in for my favorite part of the day...kangaroo care. This is basically skin to skin contact and has proven health benefits for preemies and does wonders for my mental health. Samuel and I kick back in the rocker under a blanket and settle in for a nice mid-morning nap.

10:00 am: Ben wakes me up to let me know it's time to pump again. While I snoozed, he was working diligently on his laptop from an adjacent chair, trying to keep up with his piles of schoolwork and research. Oh, and he's also ordered me breakfast from the hospital cafeteria (a free service provided to parents of NICU babies). He is amazing. He takes such fantastic care of me and our kids, keeps us focused and calm, and guides us with his quiet wisdom when I'm sure I am losing my mind. There is no way I could survive this ordeal without him.

10:45 am: After pumping, grabbing some coffee from the Ronald McDonald House living room (I will no longer mock McDonalds, their free coffee has saved me from the horrors of hospital tar-laden coffee. Thank you Ronald!), and chowing down on my not-too-bad breakfast of yogurt parfait and granola, I head back to Samuel's room. While I was gone, Samuel's nurse turned his oxygen down to 25% because his oxygen saturation rate looked so good.

10:55 am: We start "cares" again. Diaper change, temp check, the usual drill (for the record, Ben does the temp, under Sam's armpit, and I change Sam's diaper. Not a particularly fair trade, but I refer you to the above paragraph about how fantastic Ben is). We again attempt nursing, to which Sam responds with tightly closed lips and eyes and falls fast asleep. Tube feed again.

11:15 am: Samuel's oxygen saturation monitor keeps alarming. The nurse watches for a bit, then decides to turn his oxygen back up to 31%. Boo. I move Samuel to an upright position for more kangaroo care.

11:30 am: Ben is called for rounds with the doctors. No changes are made to his care. Ben asks about continuing to wean his oxygen %. The attending physician tells him we have some time to play with that since he's not very close to going home. Another boo.

11:45 am: I continue to do kangaroo care with Samuel, this time reading aloud to him softly from the book I'm devouring right now, "Reading Lolita in Tehran". He and I are both enthralled. We also listen to the playlist of classical music researched and approved by our musical guru, Aunt Natalie.

12:15 pm: Ben heads home to spend a little time with Eleanora, put her down for her nap, and get some more work done.

12:30 pm: Our nurse informs us that Samuel will be moved from an isolette to an open-air bassinet. He hasn't really needed the isolette for a couple of weeks since he has been maintaining his body temperature successfully. The giant isolette is rolled out and a teeny-tiny bassinet is rolled in (the kind full-term infants are kept in!). We take down the pictures of us and Eleanora as well as the picture she drew for him and attach it to his new bed. We have much more space in our tiny corner of the world.

1:00 pm: Time to pump again. Oh, so very fun.

1:30 pm: I eat my hospital-provided lunch of a grilled chicken sandwich and fruit.

1:45 pm: Cares, attempted nursing (same result as last time), and snuggling.

2:45 pm: I leave the hospital to head home, passing the Sam-watch baton on to Ben who has returned for the early evening shift.

3:00 pm: I arrive home to squeals of, "Hi Mommy!!!!" from sweet Eleanora. We play, read some books and have a snack.

4:00 pm: Time to head to the dairy farm, and I am the cow. Moo.

4:30 - 7:00 pm: With Natalie's amazing help, I get a few things done around the house, feed Eleanora dinner, get her into the tub and pump (again).

7:15 pm: Ben arrives home from the hospital. He reads Eleanora her bedtime stories.

7:30 pm: I spend a couple of extra minutes rocking and humming to Eleanora (who hums along, so sweet).

7:40 pm: Natalie and I hit the door running to get to the hospital before Samuel's 8:00 pm feeding. We make it just in time.

8:00 pm: Another failed attempt at nursing, but very successful snugglefest. Natalie and I spend a long time admiring our sweet, handsome little guy.

9:15 pm: After about a hundred kisses and tearful I love yous, Natalie and I tuck Sammy in and head home. It goes against every fiber of my being to leave my baby behind each night. I play out crazy scenarios in my head where I grab Samuel and hit the door running.

9:30 pm: We are home. As I sit on the couch talking with Ben, I imagine Samuel sleeping softly in the bassinet in our room, instead of miles away in the hospital.

10:00 pm: Time to pump one last time for the day.

10:45 pm: I lay in bed, wondering what tomorrow will bring.

This is a pretty typical day for us these past few weeks. We've settled into a pretty consistent routine, but there's nothing routine about having a baby in the hospital. We just take it one day at a time, hoping for more forward progress than setbacks.

The Latest

Samuel continues to make s-l-o-w and steady progress. He was weaned to a 1/4 liter of oxygen from a 1/2 liter and seems to be tolerating the change well. On the feeding front, he has yet to discover the joy of eating (how is this possible given my family's love of food?!) and is content to let his feeding tube do the work of filling his stomach. As of last night, he weighed 4 pounds 12 ounces.

On the home front, my Mom left yesterday after three weeks of working tirelessly to keep our home clean, organized and well-stocked. She tackled dozens of projects on my "nesting to do list", kept Eleanora happy and fed, and was a constant source of peace, calm and love during this emotionally overwhelming time. We are all feeling the loss of her joyful, bustling presence in the house.

She did leave us in the excellent hands of Natalie who has taken over seamlessly as our live-in babysitter, housekeeper, and cheerleader. We are so thankful.

Friday Update and Pictures

Samuel's progress continues to be slow and steady. He weighed in at 4 lb 10 oz last night. Today he had two episodes of bradycardia while I (Kara) was holding him, which although is typical I will never get used to. Alarms ringing because your baby's heart rate has dropped never ceases to be terrifying. He recovered fairly quickly and on his own from both episodes, which is good. Last night he also had two episodes of near-apneas. A true apnea is defined as 20 seconds without breathing. His episodes were 15 seconds each. All in all, typical behavior for a 34 week gestation preemie.

What is not typical, is how absolutley beautiful this little boy is. Below are a few pictures taken today of our little guy. He is getting bigger everyday and is more handsome than ever.

My First Step

This is my first step outside the loving cocoon of my immediate family and Samuel's competent healthcare professionals. Beyond this very small group of individuals, I've become a complete hermit, unable to articulate my conflicting feelings to even my closest friends. I keep waiting, hoping I'll have a better grasp on my emotions, the reality of my current life, and have everything tied up in a neat little bow before reaching out. These past three weeks have been by far the most overwhelming and emotional of my life. I have felt disbelief, terror, panic, joy, guilt and gratitude, often all in the span of a single hour. I've been indignant with anger, smothered by guilt, overcome with happiness. I struggle to silence the questions that gnaw at the pit of my stomach. Why did this happen? Could I have prevented it? Will our life ever be "normal" again? My brain knows that this is just a short blip compared to the course of our lives, but it feels endless right now. I am just so very tired. Tired of having to choose which of my children to be with, tired of always being away from one of my babies, tired of feeling so helpless and unprepared.

Despite all this, I have so much to be grateful for. Grateful for a beautiful baby boy who takes my breath away with his sweet squeaks and sighs as we snuggle in the NICU. Grateful for a joyful and brave little girl who makes me smile every time I see her. Grateful for a selfless and loving family who have sacrificed their own lives to take care of us during this time of crisis. Grateful for the thoughts, prayers, cards, messages and emails from so many friends and family members sending us love and support.

Today was one of the brighter days. Samuel was visibly stronger, more alert, aware and hungry. His weight is up to 4lb 7 oz, which is a 3 oz gain from yesterday! Eleanora, who has been sick with a fever for the past several days, seems to have turned a corner and is back to her usual busy self.

In order for Samuel to come home, he must meet three criteria for discharge. Any day we move closer to meeting these three goals is a good one. Samuel must:

1. Regulate his body temperature outside of the isolette.

Samuel has this one nailed. He has been in a open-air isolette for nearly a week and his temps have been perfect.

2. Require no breathing support, and have no apneas (stop breathing) or bradycardias (heartrate drops) for 5 days.

Today Samuel was taken off caffeine (used to stimulate breathing) because he has had no apneas for several days! He is still on oxygen via a nasal cannula. His oxygen level at 4:00 pm today (which fluctuates hour by hour according to his vital signs) was 28%. Our goal is room air, which is 21%.

3. Consume all feedings without feeding tube.

We are attempting to nurse during 3-4 feedings a day, and progress is painfully slow. A full feeding is 10 minutes, and our all time record was 4 minutes today. We've been told this is very normal for a preemie, and that most don't figure out how to suck-swallow-breathe until 35 weeks, and boys are even slower (boo!). It's hard not to feel frustrated and discouraged on the days Samuel shows no interest or is too tired to nurse (yesterday was one of those days).

Obviously, we still have some major hurdles to overcome before Samuel is home. No one can tell us how long this will take, it is entirely up to Samuel. In the meantime, we wait and pray and try (and I usually fail) to be patient.

And to those who have sent phone messages, emails, and cards, thank you. I apologize that I haven't responded to any of you, but please know your support and love mean the world to me. Thank you.

Love,

Kara

Update

Sammy had another head ultrasound yesterday, and I was glad I was there to hear the results yesterday evening. The blood in his brain is showing signs of resolving on its own! Thank you so much for all your prayers about this specifically, looks like they are working! They will do another ultrasound in a week, but this is a very good sign. Otherwise he is continuing to progress slowly - 2 steps forward and 1 step back, as they told us it would be in the NICU. We are trying not to think too far ahead, as it gets to be a grind going to the hospital for several hours every day for almost 3 weeks now and counting. I apologize that we haven't posted many pictures; he looks very different from the pictures Natalie posted earlier, so we will post more soon. Thanks as always for your prayers and support!

-Ben

Quick Update

They did another head ultrasound on Monday, and the blood in his brain has yet to resolve itself. So this is something they will continue to monitor. We're still pretty concerned about this, so prayers are welcome! Otherwise he is doing very well breathing and keeping his food down. We are getting to hold him more which is the highlight of my day right now. That's all for now, thanks as always for your prayers and support!

-Ben

Samuel Update

Samuel has had a good couple of days this weekend. Yesterday they took him off all breathing support, and he has been doing fantastic! It's wonderful to be able to see his little face better now that he doesn't have the equipment on his face any longer. We're praying that he continues breathing well on his own so it can stay this way. His jaundice is also getting better, which means he doesn't have to be under any lights at the moment, which means we get to hold him more. He also is eating like a champ (no surprise there) and may be able to try breastfeeding soon. Our biggest concern is still the blood in his brain; they will be doing a head ultrasound on Monday to determine if the blood has begun to resolve on it's own. Thanks again for all of your amazing support, it helps us get through every day at the hospital.

-Ben

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