Macie at One Year

That's my beautiful little, one year old girl.  Man, what a year.  Really, what a year and a couple of months.  The rollercoaster we shared really left the gate a month and a half before she was born, and went through some incredible drops in the beginning.  But our highs have far surpassed those lows.  I know that I have written about it endlessly, and I beg pardon for anyone who feels I may have taken it too far.  Here's why I've spent so much time writing about it on my blog:

• I am proud of what we've done and I want to remember it, and I want my daughter to know it too.
• For my own medical documentation, I want to have a record of everything I can remember.  In case I'm crazy enough to go down this road again post-HELLP.
• Because it's been amazingly therapeutic for me.  I feel that my writing, and the occasion it has given me for frequent reflection has saved me from the level of postpartum depression I could have reached.
• For others.  When I was in this situation, I searched exhaustively for tales from others.  There were very few to find.  Now I've added one more to be found.  And if we could help one other person to get through their ordeal, to not feel alone, to have hope in positive outcomes... everything will be worth it.

I did a lot of reliving of this journey in the months before her birthday.  If you haven't read our story before, or if you want to reread it in parts, here are links to the different pieces.

• My Stay in Bed
• Delivering Macie Drew
• Macie's First Day
• Macie in the NICU: Days 3-7
• Macie in the NICU: Day 8 Magic
• Macie in the NICU: Week 2
• Macie in the NICU: Week 3
• Macie in the NICU: The Final Week
• Macie at One Month
• Macie at Two Months
• Macie at Three Months
• Macie at Four Months
• Macie at Five Months
• Macie at Six Months
• Macie at Seven Months
• Macie at Eight Months
• Macie at Nine Months
• Macie at Ten Months
• Macie at Eleven Months

Also, I think it needs to be said that the emotions that followed Macie's homecoming surprised me both in their intensity and their duration.  I never realized in considering the potential of having a premature baby, the fact that most of the emotional work would be done after everything was alright.  I've also tried to document much of this emotional journey:

• Remember This
• My Little Princess
• Six Months Past
• Unexpected
• Fierce
• Memories Unstoppable
• March, The Third Week

And I promise not to share any more links.  Whew, I've written a lot about this little girl and about how we got to the special One Year milestone!

My little girl at a year was just as she should be.  Practically perfect in every way.  And I'm so lucky to have her in my life.

Stats:

Chronological Age - 12 Months

Adjusted Age - 10 Months

Weight: 19.5 pounds, 16% normal charts/75% preemie charts

Length: 28.5 inches, 19% normal charts/50% preemie charts

Head Circumference: 18.9 inches, 98% normal charts/100%+ preemie charts

*I waited until 13 months to take Macie in for her one year appointment, so these stats are from her 13 month visit, however all percentages compare her to other 13 month old babies.

Milestones:

• Army crawl - 49 weeks
• Takes practice steps while holding someone's hands - 49 weeks
• Says "Dada" and "Mama" - 50 weeks
• Starts rocking on all fours - 52 weeks
• First all fours crawl - 52 weeks
• Pulls to a stand - 52 weeks
• First zoo trip - 52 weeks

At 12 months, Macie was wearing 6-9 month clothes and size 3 diapers.  We did wear the occasional 12 month outfit.

Feeding:

This month Macie finished her transition to formula for milk.  She continued to have some choking issues, so we continued to take food introduction slowly.  

Solid foods introduced this month included:

• Beef
• Pasta
• Bread
• Goldfish crackers
• Chocolate
• Cake

Sleeping:

Except for teething nights, Macie continued to be a fantastic nighttime sleeper.  She went to bed between 8:30pm - 9pm and slept until 7-8am in the morning.  Most mornings, Macie and I would get 30-60 minutes of alone time before Ephram woke up to join us.  It was nice, quiet time for us!

She played around with her naps during the day, thinking about dropping her morning nap and going down to just one daily nap.  In the end she stuck to two naps, with the morning one decreasing to 30-60 minutes in length and the afternoon nap usually around 3 hours.

Macie slept in her crib.  When she woke, she usually went back to sleep on her own in a minute or two.  During the day she slept in her swing for naps.

Teething:

Macie cut teeth 9 and 10 just before she celebrated her first birthday.  (Tooth 10 came through the day before!)  She had six teeth on top and four teeth on bottom at the end of the month.

Communicating:

Macie loves to talk!  She quickly added beginning-sound words for:

• Block
• Book
• Mama
• Dada
• Brick (Legos)

She also continued to use a lot of gestures and a few official signs to communicate.  Her best communication tool was her smile.

Favorites:

• Playing with musical toys
• Moving around the house on her own
• Playing with Legos
• Collecting cheerios on the counter
• Getting her brothers to do things for her
• Reading magazines
• Sticking out her tongue
• Smiling
• Toy: Alphabet house blocks
• Song: The Wheels on the Bus
• Book: Pajama Time

Happy One Year Macie Drew!  We made it!!!