This week, after 132 days in the NICU, Eric and I brought our miracle baby HOME! God has been so good to us, blessing us with this little one. It's been a long road with good and bad days along the way, but He has brought us through. Baby Andrew weighed 1 lb, 6.5 oz when he was born in April at 24 weeks, and was the most fragile looking micropreemie. 
Every day, Eric or I snuggled him close - what the NICU nurses call "kangaroo care." Even when intubated, with tubes and drains and wires coming out in all directions, they encourage parents to hold their babies as much as possible. It was scary at first to hold such a tiny, tiny baby, but our snuggle time was quickly the best part of the day.
The summer has passed by, with surgeries, transfusions, medications, and procedures, but almost every day and week brought some improvement. Even the little milestones mean so much when you're dealing with a preemie - opening his eyes for the first time, getting fed milk through a tube, even when it's just 1 milliliter, being able to hold his temperature when we held him so we didn't have to pile on blankets, and every ten grams of weight gain. You can imagine the excitement for the big milestones such as finally being extubated successfully and being on full NG (nasogastric) feeds! :)
The end of July, my family came down to visit for my baby shower, and we took a four generations picture with Great-Granny and Granny:
Finally, at long last, we could bring him home to stay! YAY! We are loving being our own little family together! :) He is quite the little chunky monkey now, already almost 8 pounds.
We want to thank all the many family and friends, as well as the numerous Christians that we've never met or heard of, who have been faithfully praying for us over the past 4 months. Your prayers, encouraging emails, and practical support have been a great help to us!!
Praise the Lord for what He has done!
~Sarah
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He is definitely a miracle baby! I'm so glad you're all finally home together.
Posted by: Toots | Thursday, September 01, 2016 at 07:36 AM
I am so happy for you! My first child, Matthew, was born early and the technology was not there to live. I had to have surgery but went on to carry two babies full term. My daughter named one of her son's Matthew.
Love the photo with the four of you together.
Posted by: Brenda Nuland | Thursday, September 01, 2016 at 10:58 AM
Congratulations! God is good.
Posted by: Courtney | Thursday, September 01, 2016 at 11:01 AM
Praise the Lord!!! Happy to see this post!
Posted by: Tammy | Thursday, September 01, 2016 at 01:19 PM
So happy that you are all together at home! I'm thankful that the Lord has brought you through this hard time and pray that He will continue to help you care for your sweet little miracle.
Posted by: Becka Loach | Thursday, September 01, 2016 at 02:20 PM
Oh wow, what a precious little bundle! I'm so, so happy you're all doing well. Love seeing the photos.
Hope you have a relaxing Labor Day!
Posted by: Toni | Thursday, September 01, 2016 at 02:49 PM
Oh, Sarah, once again you have brought tears to my eyes. I hope everything is going smoothly at home. I'll have to share this with some of my prayer warriors.
Posted by: Barbara J. | Thursday, September 01, 2016 at 03:45 PM
DEAR SARA: ESTOY EMOCIONADA HASTA LAS LAGRIMAS DE SABER QUE TU BEBE ESTA EN SU CASA, DIOS ES TAN BUENO, TAN AMOROSO, TAN PIADOSO, TANTAS ORACIONES DERRAMADAS DELANTE DEL TRONO Y EL HA ESCUCHADO LAS ORACIONES DE LOS HERMANOS DE DISTINTOS LUGARES. GRACIAS PADRE POR ESTA VICTORIA EN EL NOMBRE DE JESUS. Y AHORA A SEGUIR CUIDANDO DEL PEQUEÑITO. BLESSINGS FROM BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA.
Translation:
DEAR SARAH : I'M EXCITED TO TEARS TO KNOW your baby is at home. God is so good, so loving, so merciful, so many prayers SPILLED BEFORE THE THRONE, AND THE PRAYERS OF THE BROTHERS OF DIFFERENT PLACES ARE HEARD. THANK YOU, FATHER, FOR THIS VICTORY IN THE NAME OF JESUS . AND NOW TO CONTINUE TAKING CARE OF THE LITTLE ONE. BLESSINGS FROM BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA .
Posted by: ANA | Thursday, September 01, 2016 at 04:12 PM
What an answer to prayer! We are so glad that Andrew is home!!!! Wow, a very long journey. We have prayed for you and are so thrilled for you to have this new journey at home together.
Praising the Lord,
Rachel for the Short Family
Posted by: Rachel | Thursday, September 01, 2016 at 06:29 PM
Congratulations on the homecoming!
Amazing to see how far care for micropreemies has advanced.Almost 8 lbs is a good weight in so short of a time.
Nice picture of the 4 generations.Any generation pictures from Eric's family.
Have fun with Andrew as he grows.
Posted by: Tammy C | Friday, September 02, 2016 at 11:30 AM
Sarah and Eric, We rejoice with you all at this amazing miracle of life! God is certainly in the business of showing the world that HE is in control, that He loves us so much and that He delights in doing the impossible! We will continue to lift you all up to the Father as you settle in to your family being all under one roof!! We send bunches of hugs, lots of happy tears and many prayers continuing your way!
Mrs. "O" for all of us
Posted by: Chris | Friday, September 02, 2016 at 03:22 PM
Oh I am soooo happy for you all!!!! We are rejoicing in prayer with you and for you!!!
His,
Shari
Posted by: Mrs U | Friday, September 02, 2016 at 04:14 PM
Dear Sarah,
I have thought of you and Dad and baby every one of these 132 days, hoping that you would be blessed with a miracle. God is good! Thank you so much for sharing your pictures and story. What a blessing! May God continue to bless you, love to you all,
Jenny (Short) Jones
Posted by: Jenny Jones | Friday, September 02, 2016 at 10:01 PM
Hello Sarah,
Smiles all round, wonderful news and congratulations.
Happy days.
Bev.
Posted by: Bev | Saturday, September 03, 2016 at 05:11 AM
Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Posted by: Dorothy | Saturday, September 03, 2016 at 07:31 AM
Yay, he is home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Emma | Sunday, September 04, 2016 at 09:29 PM
Indeed! You already know that my sweet husband and I have prayed nearly every day since Andrew's birth. And, while our prayers have changed over time, we continue to pray that God will keep growing his little body, and that God will draw his little heart to Jesus at an early age. Oh, may it be so!
Posted by: Cathy | Sunday, September 04, 2016 at 10:55 PM
What a precious miracle! Wow! I'm so happy for you and Eric. I can only imagine how happy you must be to have your little boy so healthy that he can be home now - yay!! You're welcome for the prayers very much 🙂 God must have a special plan for that little fella! Thanks for sharing your good news and journey the past several months...
Posted by: Danielle | Monday, September 05, 2016 at 04:11 PM
What a blessing to read about your precious baby boy and how the Lord sustained and blessed during the time in the NICU!!!! I'm so glad for you and your husband. Praise the Lord! And Andrew is a handsome little man!
Posted by: Susan | Tuesday, September 06, 2016 at 10:10 AM
God is so good! Praise Him, praise Him, all ye little children. God is good! God is good!
Posted by: Carolyn | Friday, September 09, 2016 at 10:09 PM
Congratulations! Precious baby.
Posted by: Jodi Deputy | Saturday, September 10, 2016 at 08:27 AM
Yay yay yay!!!! I'm so so excited and happy for y'all! God has been so good.
We have been praying for y'all through this difficult time. And loved receiving all the updates and ADORABLE pictures of little Andrew.
So glad you are finally all home together.
Posted by: Katelyn T Wahlquist | Monday, September 12, 2016 at 10:00 PM