Finally, a post!

I can’t believe I’ve let Nora’s blog go for so long without a post! But we’re still out here moving along and we have some very exciting things to report that have happened since our last update.

Our Super Nora turned 5 years old last month on the miraculous date of April 27th. It’s hard to believe she’s 5 already. She has gone through so much and has come so far in her first 5 years of life that I am overcome with so many feelings that all result in overwhelming thankfulness and joy for our little sweethearts life.

These are Nora’s super excited poses from when we took her to Build A Bear on her birthday.

Which was preceded by Nora’s first time around the race track in a go cart.

On your mark, get set….

GO!
(even though Nora looks as though she’s sliding down into the floorboard, she was safe and having a really fun time) 🙂

We celebrated Nora’s actual birthday day with just the three of us having a super fun day of surprises we had planned out for her. Then the weekend before her birthday we celebrated her special day with a party of friends and family.

Every single one of Nora’s birthdays has been a very special day with a huge reason for celebration. But her 5th birthday felt extra special….almost like a sense of “we made it”. Ever since Nora was born, getting her to the 5 year mark strong and healthy has always been like an unspoken goal. To reach that goal with how well she is doing at the moment fills our hearts with so much joy….like we can take a breath and know that she’ll be alright, no matter what challenges may come down the path.

Not only has Nora come a long way in the last 5 years but especially in the last six months she has made some huge leaps and bounds in two areas we’ve been working towards for a very long time. It’s really exciting….are you ready?  Drum roll please …..Nora has been off of TPN for six months and has been doing great!!! AND she is finally potty trained!!!

After getting Nora down to being on TPN for only 2 nights a week for a few months her GI docs moved her to hydration fluids a few nights a week. Then after being on hydration only for 2 months we gave it a trial run with no IV’s at all, she was able to keep her hydration all on her own and keep her weight. It’s been 4 months now with no IV’s of any kind and she’s doing really well. She has had more consistent energy than ever before, she actually has a LOT of energy. She hasn’t gained much weight but she is holding her weight up and she’s growing taller. Her GI docs think she’s doing great, and we do too, and are talking of having her port taken out soon.

After over 3 years of potty training, Nora finally giving up her dependance on diapers was a huge turning point in her health. Since she has been using the potty her issue with bloody stools and horrible frequent tummy aches has completely cleared up. We had been suspecting that she was causing herself a lot of irritation from holding because of anxiety of overflowing the diaper, then stopping and not completely emptying her bowels but she refused to use the potty no matter what we tried. She had a love/hate relationship with diapers that caused her a lot of anxiety and now that she finally kicked the habit, not only is she feeling much better physically but has a lot more big girl confidence.

Now for some fun Nora highlights that happened since our last post.

Nora joined the YMCA soccer team last fall.

Rode her first pony!

Was the cutest little chicken ever for Halloween. (Ironically she came down with the Chicken Pox not too long afterwards but thankfully it was a mild case and Nora came through it resiliently)

And got to play in the snow for the first time!

I really hope to be able to keep Nora’s blog updated more often and plan to be sharing more good Nora news soon. 🙂