Life as we know it

Hey Ivie Mae-bay. That's what I call you, either that or Ives. I can't believe you're turning one. It seems like yesterday I found out I was pregnant with you after one miscarriage and lining tests up to see if you were healthy. When I found out I was pregnant with you, I told your daddy and no one else for a while. We kept you our little secret for a while until we knew you were healthy. I think we knew deep down you were, because we trusted God, but the odds were stacked against you. You were "supposed" to have either Cystic Fibrosis or Microcephaly like your sister, so we call you our miracle baby. You didn't have either, and you were a perfect little baby growing inside of my tummy, so at 10 weeks after genetic tests confirmed you were a girl, we named you Ivie Mae. You and I got lots of bonding time your last two weeks in the womb. We spend those two weeks in Greeley, sitting on a bed in the hospital, as I got to hear and watch your heart beat 24 hours a...

It's been one year since we prepped ourselves for a scary surgery for Zoie; her VNS surgery to somehow help her seizures. Little did we know, it would cause my water to break, and that Derik would be taking care of a post-surgery girl all on his own. Taking a few steps back, last March 14,2014 we showed up to Children's, or I actually waddled in being 31 weeks pregnant and huge (I thought so anyways) to prep Zoie for a much anticipated surgery. I think we knew it would be easier to get it done before Ivie made her debut, and we were hopeful it would help Zoies seizures. I remember waiting in the room, Zoie in her little gown, spending time in the playroom to waste time until the operating room was ready. Around 11, we carried her to the CT Scan room where they would put her under, do a CT Scan of her chest for Pulmonary purposes, then wheele her off to surgery. That was tough. Laying your child down and kissing them and holding their hand, as they have no idea what's about ...