One year. This time last year, Matt and I walked back into Nola’s hospital room where she had her arms and legs raised in the air, as if to show us that she is all better now. Also showing us what we already knew, you can’t keep this girl down. This has been such a full year. Nola has relearned how to eat and hasn’t stopped eating since. She can crawl and walk around the furniture. She loves to be in the water and to feel the breeze in her hair. She has watched the Frozen movies approximatley 7 billion times. She went from getting 16 meds to 2. She is sassy, sweet, loud, funny, and gives the best cuddles.
So many people helped her get to this day. Our family and friends who supported us, prayed for us, and cheered her on along her journey. The PICU and floor staff at UVA, her cardiologists at UVA, and her speech/OT/PT therapists. This day also cannot pass without acknowledging her donor’s family who selflessly said yes to donation. I think often about whoever they are and the pain that this year must have been in losing their baby. We will forever be grateful for their decision as it gave our daughter the gift of life. We also know the work that God laid out for all these medical interventions to happen at just the right time for her life.
It is truly amazing to think back to the baby she was this time last year. She could not hold her head up on her own, didn’t finish her bottles on her own, and had to go to the doctor twice a week. Now she is incredibly strong, eats more than we do, and does not have to see the cardiologist until April. Our little recovering baby has turned into a wild toddler. Each day when we hold her close and feel her heart beating strongly in her chest we are grateful, each meal we watch her eat we are are blessed, and for every joyful moment we have been blessed with for the past 365 days we are the luckiest parents alive.
We are so proud of you Nola Grace! You will always be our hero!
