Karma

On the twenty-third June 2011, Eliza finally slept through the night for the one hundredth night of her life.

This was 100 nights in the 1,927 she has been on this earth.

Eliza came home from the NICU on June 23, 2006.  So exactly 1,827 days since leaving the NICU. she finally made it to the night I have been looking forward to for 5 years.

I think it is a good karmic sign that this happened on the anniversary of her homecoming, don't you?

Todd is Now Living With Us!

Now let's not get all excited that I have either (a) given birth to a boy named Todd or (b) have had a date with someone named Todd (that last happened on December 13, 2004 and he wasn't named Todd).

Do you remember Biscuit and Cracker?  Let me refresh your recollection:

Biscuit:



Cracker:


Now meet Todd:



I really thought this latest addition was going to be Scone or Muffin. But Todd? Never would have guessed that one.

So now my well meaning friends and family who frequent IKEA keep showing up with these lovely faux-Labradors just to see what the next name will be. At this rate I will have to establish one of those dog rescue groups.

June 23, 2006

Five years ago today, I walked out of Lenox Hill Hospital with a five pound baby, a couple of monitors, a bag of medicine, a handful of prescriptions, a list of doctor appointments and a portable O2 tank. The day we left Lenox Hill Hospital was bittersweet since many of the nurses and doctors had become like family to me.  Every single picture of the occasion is blurry since even the friend behind the camera was weeping.

On June 23, 2006, Eliza, my Mom, Dad and I strolled 500 yards to my apartment, an apartment from which I could see the NICU every day and night.

That walk on June 23, 2006 was the first time in her 100 days on this earth that Eliza had seen a blue sky, the sun, a tree, smelled a flower or even saw a good old NYC pigeon. We were brave and took an extra lap around the block so we could just feel, well, normal.

As a single parent, coming home alone with a medically complicated baby was daunting.  I had never heard of an oxygen concentrator, didn't know anyone whose baby had a handful of specialists, a dozen prescriptions or needed weekly doctor appointments. I knew of no other single parents in this situation.  I didn't sleep for the first week for more than an hour at a stretch since I was so afraid something would go wrong, or some machine would break and there was no one there to help.

But we figured it out on our own, with the help of some special people and frequent calls to and from the NICU.

Five years has flown by. I entered Lenox Hill Hospital in February 2006 with predictions that not only would Eliza not likely survive, but that I might not survive HELLP Syndome.  It was so bad at one point that my doctor recommended I have a guardian in place for Eliza if she were to survive and I did not.  Pretty surreal when you have not yet entered your third trimester.

But somehow, we have not only survived but thrived.

I can never thank the doctors and nurses enough for saving me and Eliza.  After about two months in the NICU Eliza was declared to be a "very, very good baby" by the head neonatologist at the time.   She didn't look "very, very good" to me, but he seemed to know something that I didn't, and thankfully he was right.

Eliza has not only been a very, very good baby, but she has grown to be a wonderful, delightful and remarkable little girl.  Eliza has worked so very hard to get where she is today and I give her full credit for all that she has achieved.

Oh the places you will go Eliza Grace, the very, very good baby.

Graduation!

SHE DID IT!

On June 17, 2011, Eliza Grace graduated from Gramercy Preschool!

At the start of the ceremony, Eliza and her soon-to-be-husband, Otto, performed a few song and dance numbers to "Lean on Me" and the classic "Time of My Life" by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes (you remember, from Dirty Dancing?)  Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey had nothing on these two! OK, except for maybe the whole jump-from-the-stage-catch-her-in-the-air move.

Medals were awarded.  Eliza was giddy with excitement:

Otto took his degree a bit more seriously:

The children sang along with pretty darn good sign language, far better than you average hula dancer:

Mama, Nana and Eliza were are pretty excited:

Eliza was particularly thrilled to show off her medal to Nana and Nana was just as happy to share the moment with Eliza:

So five years after I brought Eliza home from the NICU with great trepidation as a single mom with dire predictions about whether Eliza would walk, talk, run, laugh or even enjoy life, I think it is safe to say that she has done it all.

Oh the places she will go!

Mama loves you so very much and could not be happier or prouder!

Central Park Challenge

Eliza is officially a road runner! This past weekend Eliza "ran" in the Central Park Challenge, a fund raiser for YAI, the organization that has provided Eliza with Early Intervention services, CPSE services and which runs her school, Gramercy.



Eliza ran on the team 2011 Best Friends Forever. Much like nailing Jello to a wall, it was not quite possible to get all of the team members in one photo.



Thanks to cousin Peter, we had some pretty spiffy shirts made up and a very nice banner. This of course maybe be the only moment in time when the banner was actually carried by the under 30 crowd. The team raised close to $2,000 for YAI. Not too shabby.



Eliza graduates from preschool in the coming weeks. Her graduation comes just a few weeks shy of her five year anniversary of leaving the NICU. Who knew that this little one pound baby would be able to run and play with the "big" kids, debate whether her favorite dinosaur is a Barosaurus, a Saltosaurus or an Apatosaurus and explain the difference between Reef, Tiger, Hammerhead and Lemon sharks.

Oh, and to the gentleman from the Department of Education who insisted Eliza was in the 3d percentile for gross motor function and intellectual function, kiss my backside.