Ella is 1!

Yesterday, my sweet little Ella Sophia turned 1! My how this year has flown by. Ella's first year was amazing, although she had such a rough start. Even thinking about it has me choked up. She was such an easy birth, such a beautiful baby.

We had a lot of trouble getting her over jaundice that first week and she had to have a light kit at home for as close to 24 hours a day as we could do. Although I do feel blessed that we didn't have to admit her back into the hospital. She had to have her poor baby foot poked almost everyday.

Once we got through the jaundice, I thought that we were in the clear. I thought wrong. Just as Ella turned 2 weeks old, Hayden got her first cold. That cold turned into RSV for Ella. My tiny baby started throwing up every single time she nursed. And throwing up a lot. Thus, she was having a hard time gaining weight. On February 14, 2011, we took her to the doctor for what I thought was just a cold. The doctor made her go by ambulance to the hospital to be checked for RSV. The ambulance was just a precaution because she was so little. (*Note* She had one breathing treatment while at the doctor's office.)

She was admitted to the hospital and given 2 or 3 more breathing treatments. She tested positive for RSV. Will went home to stay with Hayden and I stayed at the hospital with Ella. Well, then my world came crashing down. At 2 am the doctor raced in and checked her heartbeat because the monitor was reading over 300 beats per minute. Normal is about 140-160. 300+... is NOT good. In fact, it's almost cardiac arrest numbers. Without explaining anything to me, he and about 5 nurses ran in, grabbed her bed and raced her to the PICU. Then a huge team surrounded her doing everything they could to make her heartrate go back down. (*Note* I am in hysterics, and alone now.) I call Will, but he isn't answering. I call my mom and she immediately starts heading over to my house with the intention of waking Will up and take over being there with Hayden. I call my dad too and explain the nothing that I know. All I know is that I'm watching about 20 people surrounding my tiny now 3 week old daughter, holding ice on her face, crunching her legs to her chest, calling out counts of doses of medicine that are now reaching the teens.

It was truly the scariest thing I have EVER gone through. Will finally woke up before my mom got there, didn't understand a word I said except that mom was on her way over. He immediately left the house... leaving Hayden sleeping, and my mom about 5 minutes away. I can't even explain the utter fear in my heart for my precious baby girl.

My tiny baby filled with IV's.

Daddy and Ella

Grandma bringing Hayden to visit

Ella and Mommy

Mommy and girls

Papa and Ella

Mommy and Ella

After about 15 doses of medicine in a span of maybe 15 of the longest minutes of my life, Ella was stable. Through a week's stay in the PICU, 2 Echocardiograms, and NO MORE breathing treatments, we found out that Ella has WPW Syndrome. It's not as scary as we thought. She's now taking Propranolol 3 times a day, and it's simply a part of life now. She sees a cardiologist and wears a heart monitor about every 3 months.

All that said, it's been an amazing year of Ella. She's got her 1 year check up in the beginning of February, so I'll update her stats then, but I believe she's 20lbs now. She's almost walking, "talking" up a storm, in LOVE with Lenny (her Scentsy lamb from my BFF Tresa, that Grandma gave her for Christmas), and having so much fun trying to keep up with her big sister!