Happy Holidays!

December 2011

Season’s Greetings! We hope that 2011 has been a great year for you and your loved ones.

For us, 2011 has forever changed our lives. We found out early in the year that we were expecting our first child, due November 12. Then in July, we found out that we were expecting a little girl. The morning of October 11, Phil took Julie to the emergency room because of a pregnancy-related complication, and a few short hours later our daughter was delivered.

Sarah Mae Shilane was born October 11, 2011, at 2:18 p.m. at Lower Bucks Hospital. She was 4 lb 5.7 oz, 17” long, and she had a full head of dark hair. Thankfully, she was very healthy considering how early she was born, and she should not have any long-term health problems. After we had a few brief moments to meet our daughter and to introduce her to Julie’s parents, she was taken to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), where she spent the first 10.5 days of her life. The nurses and doctors there took excellent care of Sarah and taught us how to care for our little preemie.

Each day in the NICU, Sarah made significant progress: breathing without support, regulating her body temperature, and learning to eat consistently without a feeding tube. On the tenth day, we found out that Sarah would be coming home the next day! Like most preemies, she had a tendency to breathe shallowly when in a deep sleep, so she was sent home on an apnea monitor but thankfully never had any episodes. A visiting nurse also came to our house frequently in the beginning to make sure Sarah continued to gain enough weight at home.

Sarah’s now two months old, weighs more than 7 lb, and is doing extremely well. She loves to cuddle, is generally quite happy, and sleeps fairly well during the night. We love every minute of parenthood with our sweet little Sarah!

If you’d like to see more photos of Sarah, you can find links to our online photo albums here.

Besides welcoming Sarah into our lives, we also celebrated several other special occasions this year.

In May, Phil’s sister Amy and Brent Phipps got married just outside of Washington, DC, where they currently live and work. We were both honored to be a part of their bridal party.

In July, in celebration of our 5th wedding anniversary on August 13, we went on a cruise and land tour of Alaska with both sets of our parents. Julie’s parents celebrated their 35th anniversary, and Phil’s parent’s celebrated their 39th.

Sadly, shortly after we returned from our trip, Julie’s grandmother passed away. She had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease for many years. We traveled with Julie’s parents and brother to Lady Lake, Florida, for the memorial service. All of Julie’s aunts, uncles, and cousins attended, including her cousin’s daughter who lives in Mexico and whom we hadn’t met in person before. In memory of Grandma, we taught the youngest generation how to play her favorite card game, Canasta.

For the first time in about 10 years, Phil, his parents, and his siblings got to spend Thanksgiving together. They all visited at our house so they could meet Sarah. Julie’s parents also came for Thanksgiving, and Sarah’s grandparents and aunt and uncles came to her naming ceremony the following Saturday.

We hope your holidays are filled with cheer and that 2012 brings good health, happiness, and many blessings to you and your loved ones.

Happy Holidays!

Phil, Julie, & Sarah Shilane