Happy Birthday Kennedy!!

One year ago today at 4:52pm our beautiful daughter was born by cesarean weighing 1pound 6ounces and measuring 12 ¼ inches long. The doctors didn’t tell me what they were doing during the operation and Kennedy didn’t cry when she came out so Shawn and I were left behind the curtain wondering if she had been born yet and weather or not she was alive. The thing I remember most about the operation was asking Shawn if he could see anything. He said, “No, but I think I see a chunk of you on the floor” to which I replied “Does it look important?” I don’t remember anyone telling us if she was alive or not. I think maybe they aren’t supposed to say, since its so touch and go with the micros, until after they get them into the NICU and can watch them for a bit. It was a few hours later in the recovery room that Patty, one of the NICU nurse practitioners, came in to update us on Kennedy’s condition. I was still doped up form the morphine they gave me during the operation so a lot of it is hazy but I remember her saying that Kennedy was in critical condition, but stable and that she had blond curly hair and she was feisty. She was a fighter and being feisty helped save her life. It would be 12 hours after her birth before I would see Kennedy for the first time, and ten days before I could hold her.



To look at her today you would never guess the struggles she has faced in her short life. She has relatively few scars from her NICU days, she has a perfectly round head thanks to Nurse Gail and her dedication to "beauty sleep," and she has managed to get off all her medications AND her oxygen before her first birthday. Although Kennedy doesn't eat much and is hard to feed sometimes she hasn't show any of the aversions to foods that a lot of micro preemies have, nor does she show any signs of other sensory issues. She sits, she plays and she never stops babbling. Kennedy hasn't started crawling yet, but she gets around by rolling, scooting and arching her back and pushing with her legs. She loves standing and is really good at doing it on her own if you just give her your hands to hold on to for leverage. She has just started taking big steps and bending her knees when she steps. She loves walking so much we think she might even skip crawling. Just yesterday Shawn and I watched and cheered her on as she was able to maneuver herself from laying down completely to sitting up on her own for the very first time. Every day she amazes us with something new. Shawn and I feel so grateful to have her for our daughter.

We are going to the doctors office today, so i will edit this post later and give you her 1 year height and weight

Update- appointment was changed to 18th