Springtime in Texas

Words cannot express how much I am enjoying this stage of Ellie's life! She is transforming into a little girl, more and more, each and every day. I love watching her grow and I love her amazing personality and her exuberance. She is becoming so much less frustrated as she begins to put more words and sentences together. You can see in her eyes that she loves communicating with us and loves making us laugh---she is such a little hambone.

The weather is about perfect right now in Texas. We've been in the pool almost every day for a few weeks now, and Ellie LOVES it. She still uses her inner-tube bathing suit but she is becoming a little daredevil in the water. She thinks it's hilarious to splash people, and of course, the more you ask her not to, the more she will splash you!

The picture above is Ellie in the Texas Bluebonnets. It is so funny because I didn't even notice the wildflowers last year---I think I was still in shock that we had actually moved to Texas! Anyway, the wildflowers are blooming everywhere right now and are so beautiful that Chris and I decided to head out a few Fridays ago to find the perfect patch of flowers to take some Ellie pics in. It is a very big tradition down here and was our attempt to assimilate more into the Texan culture---I'm so glad we did because we took some wonderful pictures on a perfect day and Ellie had a great time!!

Good medical news...

Chris and I took Ellie down to Texas Medical Center in Houston last week for her

Neuro-Ophthalmologist appointment. Come to find out, the doctor she is seeing there is one of less than 20 doctors in the country specializing in Neuro-Ophthalmology. I had no idea there were so few doctors specializing in this area of medicine, but I feel very lucky that we are living so close to one.

To back track a little---- after Ellie underwent brain cooling therapy at U-M, she had a MRI, which revealed significant damage to the occipital lobe of her brain. This is the portion of the brain that controls vision and subsequently affects movement to an extent. While we were upset to learn of any damage, we knew in our hearts that had Ellie not undergone brain cooling, the damage to her brain would've been much more severe. The doctors assured us that the parts of the brain that control learning and emotion had not been affected by her birth trauma. They said that they did not know if she'd have motor skill issues, but one thing they seemed quite sure of was a permanent visual impairment--specifically on her left.

The most frustrating thing I heard over and over from doctors during this time was, "we'll just have to wait and see how she develops". In their defense, and in actuality, that is all we could do. There's no tell-all on how someone's brain is going to develop. They suggested that we get her into early occupational and physical therapy so that we could identify issues and begin to work with her. One thing I learned about during this time was "neuroplasticity"---the ability of the brain to compensate for damaged areas by re-routing and forming new connections. I also learned that newborn babies have the best chance of neuroplasticity. All of this gave us a lot of hope for Ellie's future.

As time went on (probably around the time Ellie was 4-5 months old) we started to notice that she appeared to not see things on her left side. Ellie would be startled when you walked up to her left. Also, when she started tracking objects she'd lose them as they moved to her left. This was consistent with what the doctors told us based on her MRI. The amazing part to me, however, is that once we noticed this, and the therapists started doing things to stimulate her left side, she seemingly began to see things on her left. I'll never know if this would've corrected itself on it's own but as a result of Ellie's story I'm a firm believer in early childhood intervention. Since then we have had no concerns about her vision. She doesn't run into things, she doesn't appear to have any problems with depth perception, she is able to pick objects out in pictures, she recognizes letters and numbers, and she's super coordinated for her age.

Anyway, to make a long story even longer, but to get back to my first paragraph---we went to see the doctor last week where Ellie was given another clean bill of health for her vision at age 2. Ellie does not need to go back to see this doctor for 2 years, when she is 4 years old. I'm amazed at where we are with her now. Had anyone told me 2 years, 18 months, or even a year ago, that Ellie would be thriving in the manner in which she is, I would've never believed it. She really is our little miracle and we love her more than anything.

January 2007

A friend of my mom sent her some beautiful internet pictures of Michigan today. After viewing the pictures, I discovered that the photographer, who appears to live in Ann Arbor, has a whole website dedicated to his travels and outdoor digital photography. I went through many of his beautiful slide shows, but one, in particular, caught my eye because it was dated January 17, 2007 (one week after Ellie's birth). This was a slide show of Ann Arbor, Michigan which contained many pictures of the horrible ice storm that had occurred that day. I was amazed to see these pictures because we spent every day from January 11-January 22, 2007 in Ann Arbor while Ellie was in the NICU at the University of Michigan, but yet, at the time, I had NO IDEA that there was anything else going on in the world, including this ice storm in which I must have traveled. I was 100% consumed with Ellie's medical situation, and nothing else, for those 2 weeks and for months and months afterward.

I really do not want to dwell on the past, but yet I want Ellie to someday know how many people were praying for her during that time, and how much she was loved even before we knew her. Ellie's amazing outcome is a product of modern medicine but I truly believe she has thrived from the outpouring of love given to her by everyone who supported us during that time, most of all my parents and Chris. The strength and support they provided Ellie and I is something that I will never forget, yet it is something that Ellie will never remember, so I want her to know how special she is to all of us and how much she was loved from day one.

Talking!

I'm sitting here this morning waiting for Ells Bells to wake up, realizing that, for probably the only few minutes in my day, it is 100% quiet. It seems like Ellie has been talking since the day she was born, but now she is actually starting to string sentences together and it is so amazing to me. Of course, only the few in her inner circle (grandma, grandpa, mom, and dad) can actually understand what she's saying, but she's well on her way to becoming a little chatter box.

Yesterday she was taking a bath and she wanted me to repeatedly fill up a plastic cup with water from the bathtub faucet, so she'd say..."waan pees", this means "one more, please" in Ellie speak. Then she'd take the cup of water and dump it over her head, and say (while shaking her head), "no hot mom"---Translation: "the water isn't too hot, mom".

Now, I know this may not seem amazing to most people, but I'm floored every day at how far this little person has come in the world and I look forward to years of listen to her talk incessantly. I can only imagine the bombarding of questions to Chris and I on a daily basis, and I can't wait for that day to come, but yet I love every second of the way Ellie is right now and want to preserve and remember this time when she's not quite speaking English but so desperately wants to.

Speaking of which...she's now up and at 'em for the day. I can hear her talking to herself in the mirror in her crib--- and I look forward to the next 13 hours of hearing that sweet little voice chattering away!

My First Blog...

I decided to start this blog upon realization that, with all the chaos during Ellie's first year of life, I never put together a baby book to journal her development and progress. I hope to catch up here and to share memories of Ellie's childhood and memories of our beautiful little family.

Ellie is our little miracle baby. She has defied the odds in every way. I'm sure I'll get into greater detail as time goes on, but suffice it to say that we are amazed each and every day by her will, strength, and determination to live life. When she was in my belly, Chris and I would joke about how feisty she was with her constant kicking and moving, and we'd laugh about how we were really going to have a spunky kid on our hands----little did we know what we had in store.

Ellie just turned two and she keeps us busy every second of every day. She has an amazing imagination and a such a vibrant personality. She absolutely loves music, dancing and drama, and we are convinced at this point that she's going to pursue an acting career (after college, of course!).

Ellie and I are so lucky to have a dad and a husband in Chris. He could not love that little person any more than he does. I watch him interact with her and am astounded by how well he relates to her. Ellie absolutely and positively adores her "Nan", and she thinks he's the most fun person in the world---frankly so do I. I love spending all my time with Chris. He is, by far, the best friend I've ever had and I love him with all my heart. I'm so lucky that he affords me the luxury of staying home with Ellie, and I know that Chris wouldn't have it any other way. I get to watch this amazing person grow and learn every day and I wouldn't trade that for anything.