I can’t believe it has already been over a week since our Lil’ Liv turned one. Where is the time going?!

Jeremy and I both took the day off and we took Livy to Apple Hill for the first time. Nonna came along as well. I will post more photos soon but here is a cute one to hold you over:

Olivia also said two more words on her birthday! Mama and Dada 🙂

Let’s jump in with the updates from our appointments last week.

First was Liv’s one year check-up with her pediatrician. Before each visit they have you complete a questionnaire to see where she is with her milestones. For her previous visits, there were quite a few questions that I would need to answer no to. BUT this time around the number of “nos” was much smaller. Olivia is doing so well with her milestones and she is already starting to catch up to her actual age in many ways. The doctor was happy with her progress and like most of our doctors/practitioners, wants us to keep offering more solids and working on sippy cups.

Our next appointment was with outpatient pulmonology. They were thrilled with Olivia’s progress on her weight gain. So, we just need to keep doing what we are doing. We are going to do another overnight study for oxygen. We are hopeful that she is ready! And everyone we met with at that appointment feels the same way.

Eating bottles has not gotten any easier, but we just keep trying. Lately we have had more low days and than meeting our goal of 23oz a day, but she is not dehydrated. It just means that she is going to grow a little slower. But hopefully with more solids that will help with growth. We have introduced four of the big eight allergies and had no allergic reactions, yay!

In my last blog I talked about how we would be hitting anniversaries. Here are some that have passed:

• 9/23 Olivia is intubated
• 9/25 First Family Photo (I had so many emotions about this photo in the moment)

• 9/26 Olivia meeting her first primary nurse, now Auntie Erin.
• 9/28 My discharge date

I leave today for a work retreat in Tahoe. I missed this retreat last year because of being in the hospital and recovering at home. It will be interesting to see how I do. This will also be the first time that I have been away from Olivia overnight since being at home. The retreat is Wed-Fri. Jeremy and Nonna will be on Liv duty.

Originally, when I found out about the retreat I thought it would be a perfect first family vacation. Jer and Liv could come up on Friday and we could spend the weekend there. But we think it may be just a little too soon to take Olivia to that high of elevation and I don’t want to set her back. So, now just Jeremy is going to come up on Friday and we are going to have a weekend with just the two of us. It will be really nice. We can count it as a getaway for our anniversary since that will be on 10.20. We haven’t gotten away since my birthday weekend in 2024, which was just an overnighter in Santa Clara for a concert. I am hoping everything goes well and I am able to handle my anxiety so I can enjoy this time. So, if you happen to think of me over these next five days, I’ll take any prayers or good vibes. People have been asking me about what I am looking forward to and the first thing I say is, “SLEEP!” I know I will still wake up because my body is used to it, but this will be the first time in over a year where I do not need to set any alarms to wake up in the middle of the night to either pump or feed Olivia.

Volunteering in the NICU has been good. I missed one week because of Liv’s birthday, but this last Sunday was really great. I had many meaningful conversations with parents. And then there were a couple of babies that I was hoping would have gone home that did.

Lil’ Liv’s Numbers:

• Age: 1 year + 9 days
• Adjusted Age: 9 months
• Weight: 14lbs and 13.2oz (5th percentile)
• BMI: 14.98 (10th percentile)
• Height: 26.75 inches (22nd percentile)
• Head: 43.3 cm (37th percentile)

Until next time…