Here at Dreamland Baby HQ, nothing makes us happier than to hear our customer's feedback! That's why we created a new blog feature, Spotlight, to introduce you to "real" families who can share their unique experiences with our products. If you'd like to be profiled in an upcoming post, email us at [email protected].
We look forward to hearing from you!
Meet Brenna
We're excited to introduce you to Brenna Smith, a SAHM from The Woodlands, Texas. Brenna reached out to us about her adorable son Knoxley who was born on December 12, 2021 and was a micro-preemie who has bravely battled chronic lung issues. Brenna's family also includes her husband, Terry, her 4-year-old son Kash, and their 8-year-old golden retriever, Jax!
Brenna's Story
Hello! As mentioned, my family and I live in Texas now, but we are recent transplants from Minnesota. Our son, Knoxley, was born on 12/20/2021, a micro-preemie weighing only 12oz and only 10 inches long. We had a long journey in the MN Children's NICU, battling his chronic lung issues, which led to pulmonary hypertension. Knoxley had been vent-dependent and had to be intubated for a long time, and we finally decided to go ahead and have a tracheostomy and G-tube surgery. It went well but then the pulmonary vein stenosis reared its ugly head, and it wasn't long before Knoxley was really sick again and struggling to oxygenate his blood because of the severe PVS.
On June 11, 2022, we got a med flight to Houston, TX, to see special cardiac doctors who performed his first heart cath and helped open up his veins. He has had two more of these vein cath procedures and has three stents in his veins. We are staying here for his treatment and keep praying for more miracles for him. He is almost 14lbs., so he has already accomplished SO much on his journey.
Dreamland Baby Experience
Knox wasn't on much of a sleep schedule after spending 239 days in the hospital, and he was used to being woken up for constant medical checks throughout the night. So when we got home, we were still determining what his sleep would be like and how he would adjust. It wasn't terrible, but it definitely needed some help. He would wake himself up a lot from leg movements, which would also set off his pulse ox machine to beep. It can't do his sats great when he moves, so it beeps loud to alarm us. You can imagine the lack of sleep this would cause! Anyway, that's when Mom said: "we need a sleep sack for this dude!"
I knew he needed something to comfort him when he came home from the hospital and help with his constant leg startles. I had heard about Dreamland Baby's weighted Sleep Sacks on Shark Tank and social media. So I took the chance and ordered one.
When Knox started using the Dreamland Sleep Sack, it was amazing to watch how quickly he would drift off to sleep.
Watching him feel comforted when he's wearing the sleep sack is always so sweet and reassuring. When Knox gets better rest, we know he can grow better (which he needs as he started SO small), and we get rest which means we have the energy to tend to all his medical needs throughout the day and look after his 4-year-old brother, Kash.
We are very thankful to Dreamland Baby for helping Knox get a restful night's sleep.
Dreamland's evenly distributed weight is the perfect comfort to help my baby, and other babies get the sleep they need. Our Dreamland Baby products have lived up to the standards I had initially heard about on the Shark Tank episode. I am very pleased with the sleep sack and will order it for him in the next size up soon.
The additional sleep Knox is getting will support his growth, which is what he needs to continue moving in a forward direction on his medical journey. The good news is he is growing new lung tissue, so hopefully, someday, he may not need the trach or be vent-dependent.