She Believed She Could, So She Did

We are fast approaching Riley's first birthday in just a few weeks time; what an unbelievably crazy thought!? It feels like a lifetime ago that we were anxiously waiting in Brisbane for her arrival. I even remember when we were in the theater and I was sitting next to my wife holding her hand; very nervous because I was about to be a dad and also the fact that the day was not turning out the way we had planned. The doctor lifted Riley up into the air to show us and it finally hit us that we were parents. I have photo's of the event that I don't think I have ever really shared with anyone because Jess and I would look at it and say "Aww look at her" whereas everyone else would look at it and say "Eww look at that!". Needless to say a freshly newborn baby does not look the way that you would expect from Movies and Television. But she was ours and she has been ours for almost a year.

What can I say about our little girl since I last shared on this blog almost 6 months ago? Last time I wrote all about how we had come home and everything just felt normal. Despite the fact that we had a baby with a very special condition; everything just clicked into place the moment we returned to Mount Isa. Throughout these past six months we had been preparing ourselves for the big roller coaster ride of having a Child with a congenital heart defect. Of course there is that moment when your heart kid catches a cold or some kind of sickness and you need to take them to the hospital because they need a little extra help to fight it; except that moment never came. We haven't had one sick day with Riley. Sure she has experienced teething and all that entails (she just got her ninth tooth yesterday) but nothing that required any extra visits to the hospital besides checkups. Super thankful about that one.

Or how about the moment when your child is experiencing a developmental delay which means that because

of their time in hospital and surgeries; they aren't hitting the same expected time frames for talking, crawling, rolling over, walking etc. Now this one we actually have experienced; sort of. Riley is a chatterbox. This would be a surprise to people who know her because in public she seems to quieten down and just give an intense stare (though she is warming up in that regard); she even says words like 'Mum', 'Dad' and anytime she sees a dog she says "Dog". I am still not 100% sure she knows that the words Mum and Dad refer to Jess and I; but I am certain she knows that a dog is "Dog". Go figure.

But the rolling over/crawling hasn't quite come as easily to her as we had hoped. Initially we didn't do a great deal of tummy time with Riley and people look at us when we say that with a sympathetic expression saying "Oh because of the surgeries huh?"; short answer is "Yes and No". Riley had reflux so EVERY SINGLE TIME we put her on her belly she would throw up like nobody's business. Even when we thought there can't possibly be anymore in there, lo and behold Riley showed she was a baby of unlimited supply.  We could handle it at the hospital because there were never-ending towels for us to go through but at home you are working with a much more limited capacity. It took a couple of months of being at home when Riley's reflux finally calmed down and she was able to finally enjoy being on her tummy. Somewhat enjoy is probably a better description. She would scream the house down after a few minutes wanting to be rolled back over.

Even getting her to roll over was quite the mission; she still to this day will not do it unless we tap her leg as if it all comes flooding back to her that she has the ability to do it herself. Trust me we have done all the tricks in the book on that one; she will just figure that out on her own. Then recently she has transitioned from moving backwards to moving forwards; albeit in the most awkward way she could possibly do it. It's like she gets her hands out on the floor then flings forward making herself do a body slam with every lunge forward. Eventually she will learn it is much more comfortable to just do it on your hands and knees. But all of these things we have been told are normal for a baby who has gone through something she has. They expect there to be some delays so whilst the baby next to her may be moving onto walking, Riley is still figuring out the complexities of getting from here to there on her hands and feet. Though to be honest I anticipate Riley will walk sometime in the not too distant future because all she wants to do now is stand up and for you to hold her steady while she walks forward.

One question we get asked almost immediately after someone queries how Riley's health is these days, is "Does she need another surgery?". We have answered that question quite a lot (and by "a lot" I mean whatever you think is "a lot" then times that by 100) and the answer is "Yes she

still has another surgery to go". I think people either don't realise or forget that just because we are back at home with her and she looks so normal; that she still needs one more open heart surgery in a few years time. Honestly there are some times where we forget too. We will have friends come visit us and they will catch a glimpse of her scar which leads into a conversation about how it's really healed up well or discussions about how when she grows it will become less and less noticeable. For us it takes us a moment to remember she has a scar because we have only known Riley for a few days without it. It's just normal to us; we see it everyday. But I understand that it is not the norm for everyone else. We spoke with her doctor recently and he gave us a good time frame of when her next surgery will occur. He believes she will have her Cardiac Catheter procedure which is a precursor to surgery towards the end of 2017 and then will have the Fontan Surgery in 2018. After that Riley will have regular checkups with her cardiologist to monitor her condition. But that is still a long time away for us; for now we are just enjoying the in between. Her first Christmas, Birthday and all of the other good things that come with watching your daughter grow up (Not gonna lie; not looking forward to the multitudes of dirty nappies in between now and potty training; sigh!).

Jess made a sign a little while ago that was placed just above Riley's bed that had the saying "She believed she could, so she did". That's what we believe about her delays, her surgery and anything else that comes her way in the future. She believed she could, so she did.We have a wonderful little girl that both Jess and myself are unbelievably proud of. And if there is one thing we could impart to her, it's that no matter what comes your way believe in yourself and trust that God will handle all the rest. It's been a whirlwind year and we can't wait to see all the good things in store next year for our determined little girl.