Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Happy Birthday Sienna!!


My sweet Sienna turned 2 years old just days ago! Happy Birthday sweet Sienna!! I can't believe it, time has truly gone by too fast. Sienna Jo was born on a January morning (4:18am!) in Oceanside. She came quite unexpected- SEVEN weeks early! Her actual due date was March 10th, but she just couldn't wait to come. After putting mommy on bedrest for a few weeks in the hospital, she made her big debut. Weighing in at 4-lbs 1-oz and being only 16 inches long she was a very strong baby. It was such a blessing that she never needed help breathing, which I attribute to our prayers, faith and a lovely betamethazone shot (steroids) that I got to recieve, which helped develop her lungs. It was just amazing that such a tiny person could sustain herself so well.

She still spent 20 days in the NICU (Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit), during which time she got to sunbathe (as seen below), learn how to eat/breathe at the same time and maintain her own body temperature. She stayed in an incubator for about 16 of those days and swam in her premie clothes. The NICU nurses all constantly told me what a sweet and vibrant spirit she had. They also said what a laidback baby she was. She is a Californian!!One of the sadder days I had was when she had an IV in the top of her head (as seen). As horrible as it looked to me, the nurses all say that the baby's don't mind it all because they can't really bother it. I was sure glad to see it gone though!
We constantly marvelled at how tiny her body was! Despite all the machines she was constantly hooked up to, Stephen and I maintained such a strong faith that she would be fine. I received numerous blessings in and out of the hospital before and after the birth that she would live and live strong. I'm sure we were naive, Sienna being our first child, but I admit that I'm glad we were. It made this experience a little easier to bear.
Now she's a thriving, jumping, screaming, cute, laughing two year old who is constantly making my life better. She is such a good big sister to Chloe, who loves watching and imitating her already! Yikes!
She has many faces...



...and LOVES, LOVES, LOVES her daddy!

Happy Birthday Sienna! I love you!!

14 comments:

shayla said...

I didn't realize Sienna was a preemie! Has she completely caught up or did she really ever have a delay since she was a whoppin 4 lbs?! What a blessing she didn't need to be intubated or need a capula. Happy Bday to Sienna!

Tiffany said...

Happy Birthday Sienna! You are so beautiful!

*katie said...

What a cute, sweet, sweet girl! Happy Birthday Nenna!!!

p.s. Love your blog look!!!!

brooke said...

Shay- she has caught up for the most part. At her doc's appt yesterday he said that she is. Her speech is slightly behind, but not by much. Surprisingly, she was 20lbs by 6 months...who would've known! She is a trooper! Seems to me that Vivie is too!

Hazen5 said...

Happy Birthday Sweet Sienna! January birthdays are the best anyways!!! I love your dimples.

Lindsey Bunjes said...

wow, I didn't know any of that! we almost went through that with Evie and I am so thankful we didn't.I am so glad both of your girls are doing great!

queenieweenie said...

I love that story! I didn't know that about Sienna. I love your new blog!

shayla said...

BROOKE---you HAVE to fix that outer color on your header to the brown one I sent you!!!! You can do it! I know you can!

shayla said...

Yay!! It looks sooo much better!!!

mariah said...

Yay for Little Sienna!!! Happt Birthday to a sweet girl- and congrats to you guys for having a 2 year old!!!!

Marcie said...

I love your new header and would love to learn how to make one myself. I guess I need to track Shayla down! This was a sweet post.

Terra said...

Brooke! So good to hear from you. Your girls are beautiful. We live in Utah (for now). We just moved here from Oregon. My husband is still finishing school. I'm glad you found me. Are you in California?

flip flop mama said...

Happy Birthday Sienna!! What a sweetheart!

Mike and Bianca said...

Wow! I can't believe how big she is! She is so adorable