One Year!

Well, we made it! Our sweet Vivienne turned the big o-n-e on March 18 - a huge milestone in her journey. We celebrated with a small party at our house. Viv played with her cousins and was completely underwhelmed by her first encounter with cake. There were no freak outs or vomiting, so all-in-all it was a success (a low bar - such is life with a baby!).

Viv continues to make progress in all of the important areas. She's able to stand unassisted for a short time, cruises with the help of furniture, and tries her best to communicate with mom and dad. The changes she has experienced over the past 365 days are nothing short of amazing. An outsider would look at her and never know how difficult her start was. The only evidence is a fading scar and a slight sensory issue with textured food. No oxygen. No feeding tube. No wires or machines. All for a baby that was originally given a 40% chance of survival. It's truly remarkable.

As we celebrated this milestone, we spent a lot of time reflecting on our journey. We remembered the devastation we felt when we received the CDH diagnosis, the anticipation we felt waiting for Viv's arrival, and the fear we felt immediately after her birth. Each day in the hospital we watched her surpass all expectations and she continues to beat the odds. We are truly blessed, and we don't take a single moment for granted.

CDH doesn't define our daughter, but it will always be a part of her story. We have enjoyed sharing the first year of that story with all of you through this blog. However, the time has come to move on, and this will be our final post. Thank you for following Vivienne on this journey. Thank you for all of the prayers, positive thoughts, and kind words. Your support has truly meant so much to us.

So what's next? Don't worry - we'll continue updating friends and family as Vivienne grows through social media and other outlets. And as for the 85 posts on this blog? Well, we will be turning them into a book for Vivienne to read and appreciate later in life. It will certainly be a baby book unlike any other!

We'd like to close with a note to our darling daughter:

Our Sweet Vivienne,

Simply put, you are an inspiration. All parents feel pride, but ours is immeasurable. We hope this blog serves as a testament to your amazing strength and that you enjoy reading these posts for years to come.

We didn't know what would happen when we found out about your CDH, but we knew that we loved you and would do anything for you. It was a hard road, but we would do it all again in a heartbeat.

You are the light of our lives, and we love you more than you will ever know.

Love Forever,

Mommy and Daddy

Birthday girl with daddy.

Farmer Viv.

Looking cute in her jammies.

Viv's wonderful nanny Taylor threw her a little birthday party!

Kicking back on her birthday.

Easter fun!

Looking sharp.

11 Months

Our sweet Vivienne turned 11 months last week. It's hard to believe she's going to be a year old soon! Everything has been going really well. Viv is sleeping through the night, has really mastered crawling, and is now pulling up/standing on everything. It's only a matter of time before she tries to take her first steps! The only area where she's a bit behind is feeding. She does great with her bottles and purees, but she is still having issues with textured foods. She's getting there though and this isn't abnormal for a CDH baby. I'm confident she'll be enjoying a variety of snacks in the near future.

Here's a video of Viv showing off her crawling skills:

And, as always, here are a few pictures of our girl.

Just catching up on some reading.

Always so happy.

Working on textured food.

Her new favorite spot looking out the window.

March 1st marks the one year anniversary of when we left home to prepare for Vivienne's birth. Dave and I have been reflecting a lot on our time at CHOP and the Ronald McDonald House. Strangely enough we look back on that time fondly. I'm sure it's largely because everything turned out about as well as we ever could have hoped, but it's also because the experience brought us closer together and allowed us to meet some amazing people.

Sadly, we lost some of those people this past week. We met our friends Pat and Casey at the Ronald McDonald House. Casey was pregnant with her daughter Madi when we first met. Madi was diagnosed with Spina Bifida and Casey and her mom Pat traveled to CHOP from Michigan to have fetal surgery. We quickly bonded and became very close during our time there and stayed in touch after we went home. Tragically, Pat, Casey, and baby Madi were taken in a fatal car accident last week. Dave and I are still in shock and are so devastated for their family. We are so sad that we will never be able to see them again and introduce the girls to each other. Pat and Casey were inseparable, and Casey fiercely loved and protected Madi during a year full of hardship and uncertainty. I don't understand why they were taken like this after enduring so much, but it only reinforces the notion that our time here is short and precious. It's important that we cherish the moments we have and make the most of the time we're given.

10 Months

Yum!

Little Miss Viv is 10 months old! This time last year we were starting to prepare for our time away from home. It's crazy how time flies.

Viv is doing really well. She is crawling (hands and knees, not just an army crawl anymore) and is starting to pull herself up. She's getting into everything and is very curious. Another exciting milestone is the appearance of her two bottom front teeth. Their arrival - along with a cold and sleep regression/growth spurt - resulted in a horrible week of sleep for the three of us, but thankfully we all survived (barely). I'm also happy to report that Viv has mastered her "m" sounds, so the occasional "ma ma ma" is sprinkled in with her abundant and enthusiastic "da da da's."

Here are a few pictures of our girl:

We got some snow.

Viv wasn't very impressed, but she sure did look cute.

"Hi, Mom!"

Full of hope before the playoff game.

9 Months

Well, more like 9 and a half months. The holidays have come and gone, and we have been busy! We recently embarked on a very long (but enjoyable) journey to visit family and friends, and Viv did great on the trip. This has been an exciting time for us. Not only did we get to experience our first Christmas together, but Viv's development has really taken off over the past several weeks. She has a few words - "uh oh" and "dada" being her favorites - and she's crawling all over the place. Baby proofing has shot to the top of the to do list!

Vivienne continues to be in good health and all of her check-ups have been routine. We survived her first fever a few weeks ago and she's overcome a few minor head colds, but overall it has been an uneventful fall/winter. We're hoping to get through flu season unscathed.

We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and wish everyone the best in the New Year!

Christmas morning!

Loving her new toys.

Standing with the help of an ottoman. 

Enjoying a book in her own special chair.

Christmas Eve!

Happy New Year!

Being indoctrinated by daddy at a young age.

Outgrowing the Boppy lounger!