What a Difference a Year Makes

One year ago today, Alaina came home from the NICU and our family was all together for the very first time. 


Here's she is settling into her bouncer that day:

We didn't realize it at the time but looking back at photos, she was still so jaundiced and fragile when she came home.  But look at our not-so-little peanut now!

It's absolutely amazing how far Alaina has come in just one year.  For a while, her GI doctors were worried she'd never be off of TPN and even if she tolerated regular food, they weren't sure she'd absorb enough nutrients to grow.  They sent her home with a G-tube just to have a back up plan in case she developed an oral aversion and wasn't gaining enough weight taking her formula by mouth.  We had no idea what would happen but in my wildest dreams, I never thought she'd be on the weight charts for her actual age and be heavier than Gabrielle.  And yet on both counts, she is.       

After her surgery to reconnect her intestines, I remember asking her surgeon if her intestines would ever work properly.  He told me he was confident that one day, she'd eat hot dogs.  He told me he wasn't sure if it would take six month or six years, but one day she'd do it.  And guess what?  On Saturday, she ate a hot dog for the first time.  And it only took a year.