Reflection over the last year on Elizabeth

I think now is the time of year that most of us look over the last year of our life and reflect on everything that has happened good and bad and what we have learned from all of it. And that is what I have been doing today. However, I have been looking back on not only my own life this last year, but Elizabeth's as well. And it is with her that I will start with.

This picture of E was taken in Feb of this year. And even now as I look back at it I can't believe how much she has changed not only physically, but personality wise as well. In Jan of this year she under went her only surgery of the year. It was a T&A to remove tonsils and adenoids. It was done to help her over come her sleep apnea. And even though it was probably the easiest surgery she has ever under gone, the recovery I think was one of the worst. They sent her home on Tylenol with codeine and it gave her night terrors from hell. It was the worst 4 nights I had ever experienced with her. But then it was over and she was back to her normal self.

In February I decided to move her into her own bedroom and that brought with it a whole new set of things to overcome. She had always since day 1 of being home slept in my room with me, mostly in her own bed, but from time to time with me as well. Stacey and I painted her room yellow and sponged over it and then put up Winnie the Pooh wallpaper and stickers. E loved her new room, but wasn't so thrilled to be sleeping in it on her own. It took a couple of weeks of crying it out, before she figured out that we weren't budging and she was going to have to sleep in there. And she now loves her own bedroom.

And in the winter she got to enjoy snow for the first time ever in her life. She thought it was great. And it was so wonderful to see her do something most "normal" kids get to do very early on. She made snow angels and went sledding and had great fun. In fact she even decided that eating snow was great fun and even now I have to get after her for it.

She also unfortunately started what seemed like a very bad trend in February. She ended up hospitalized for 6 days from Feb 16-22 for severe RSV and strep pneumonia. She was honestly sicker than I had ever seen her since being born. She was in constant need of oxygen, had a horrible fever we couldn't keep down and was very listless. After 6 days she was able to come home on oxygen only when sleeping, but from that point out it seemed like I couldn't keep her healthy lung wise.

Her speech skyrocketed in the spring and she started talking non-stop. We still have trouble understanding her, but she is finally trying to repeat everything we say, which at times is not a good thing...But I'm so proud of how far she has come.

Every month that spring she ended up with one upper respiratory infection after another, that caused numerous steroid bursts and antibiotics, along with some hospital stays as well. Despite all this she continued to thrive at school, which she loved and even had her first airplane ride. In May we flew to Arizona for my Uncle's memorial and to reunite with family I hadn't seen in forever and that E had never met. She did great on the trip and i was very impressed with her behavior and even had many compliments from other travelers on her being so good. I was very proud of her.

The beginning of June we celebrated Elizabeth having her trach out for 1 year. It was a very significant thing for our family and a day of celebration for her. She also received her first ever bee sting that day, which allowed us to find out if she was allergic, which I am happy to report that she isn't. I am so thankful to everyone that attended and helped us celebrate such a great accomplishment for her.

School got out in the middle of June and Elizabeth gave her Aunt Stacey and I the biggest scare I think either one of us has ever had. She decided she missed one of her classmates that lives just up the drive from us and instead of asking us to take her there, she wondered off on her own to find Megan's house. She was missing for about 5 minutes before we realized it and then we freaked out and even called the police. We did find her before the police showed up, but it was still terrifying. She had gone about 1/2 mile from the house and was barefooted as well. Needless to say she hasn't done that again.

At the beginning of July my daughter decided that she apparently doesn't like holidays and instead wanted to spend it in the hospital yet again. She had strep pneumonia and parainfluenza type 3, which earned her 3 days in the hospital and a new doctor. She was referred to an immunologist/allergist because of all her illnesses. Where it was discovered that her baby vaccines hadn't taken and she had to have them redone. However, on a good note she finally learned how to ride a tricycle and was able to finally reach the pedals. A very big accomplishment for her and one that earned her lots of praise and claps.

Another accomplishment of hers in July/August was the fact that she actually decided to eat baby food. I know for many children this isn't a big thing, but for Elizabeth this was a terrific thing, as she hadn't ate by mouth since she was 7 months old. She still isn't eating completely by mouth and still relies entirely on her feeding tube, but it is a step in the right direction for her.

September started a new school year for her. She was back in the class she had been in the year before with the same teacher and aide. She was so excited to go back to school and see all her friends and Mrs. Melissa. Her speech therapist at school said she was very close to testing out of the class, but they would keep her in there for the year to help improve her speech skills and social skills.

October of course was Halloween and and Elizabeth has a unicorn and got more candy then I know what to do with. In fact I still have all the candy here. But she really had a good time and actually understood the concept for once and it was warmer then any other Halloween I can remember in a long time.

November brought her 4th birthday and again she was actually interested in opening gifts and got really excited about all of them. Looking at her on that day and remembering back 4 years ago to the day she came into this world was heart warming to me. It still amazes me every day how far she has come. Also in November was another first for both of us. She actually went and spent a whole week with her father. She was sick the whole time, but enjoyed her visit with him all the same.

In December we got another scare from little Miss E as she decided our life must have been too boring for awhile, so she had 4 to 6 seizures in a half an hour period of time. This won her a trip to the hospital via ambulance. It also won her a visit to her neurologist and an EEG as well as the fact that her Dr. decided she needs to be put on anti-seizure medication now. Christmas was fun for her. She again was actually interested in opening gifts and was excited about the presents she received.

In a years time I can't believe how much my daughter has grown. She is now in a size 4t in pants and 5t in shirts. She has shot up in height to nearly 38 inches and weighs 32 lbs. I am looking forward to the new year and what it will bring for my wonderful, stubborn, intelligent little girl. She really impresses me each and every day with what she learns. My wish for her in the new year is that we get her lung issues under control, she learns and wants to eat like everyone else, and that her cognitive and physical strengths grow each and every day.