Good!!

Livie is doing a lot better! (: She's finally gotten rid of the fever and runny nose. She is breathing so much better now. (She wheezes just a little bit, but that's pretty good for Alyvia.) The steroid has worked really well, even her cough has gotten much better. Yay!

The Infant Toddler Program and Early Intervention have been working with Livie. (They come into the home and work with her, they provide therapy and preschool if she needs it. They evaluate her monthly to see where she is at mentally and physically.) She just had her last evaluation, she did really well. Especially compared to when we first got home. When we first got home from the hospital, Alyvia was not at all where she needed to be. She couldn't even walk, she couldn't see (her vision was just starting to come back) She didn't talk much, she just cried, a lot. It was really frustrating to finally be home, and realize that Livie didn't really know what home was.

More than anything, though, it was really hard knowing I had a normal, regular child and now I had a child who had suffered so much brain trauma and so many other complications that her brain was not working right, she was so out of it, and completely not herself. Everyonce in awhile I would get a glimpse of my Livie and I knew she was in there. She needed more time. Her brain needed more time to heal.

When we left the hospital, Livie's CT scans showed that Livie had suffered so much brain trauma that she had brain atrophy. It was really hard hearing that my little girl had brain trauma and damage to her brain. No one knew the extent of the damage, or what Livie would or would not be able to overcome.

After a while of being home though, it was like something finally healed in Livie's brain and she "woke up." She was my Livie Bug, she was back! She had the same personality, some things were a little different, but she was back and started making progress in leaps and bounds.

Like I said, Alyvia just had her last evaluation. She is where she needs to be for her age. She did not show signs of delay. It seems Livie's brain is working just fine. The coordinator gave me Livie's very first evaluation results along with this last one so I could compare....
I sat there and cried and cried. Livie has come such a long way. To know that she had sooo much brain truama, to now being a normal little two yr. old. To see where she came from and then to see where she is now.... Alyvia really is our miracle. I do not know what the future holds for us, but I am very thankful Livie is here and doing as well as she is.

Then: In the PICU when Alyvia was so sick. (She was still only 17 lbs, but she was SO swollen with crepitus - air in her tissues)

>Now: I think the picture speaks for itself

Since it's been so cold out lately, we've been trying to keep ourselves busy in the house....I got some paints out and Livie really loved it! (She even painted the table and chairs -good thing for washable paint!!)




Livie and Rachel (her second mom)

Livie loves Pat!