Hey Guys,
This. Is. A big one. Why you ask? Well, this time last year…
Lucille Carolyn Hickson was discharged from Mt. Sinai hospital.
When we finally stepped outside of the hospital as a family of three, we were elated... We wondered, was 50 degrees going be too cold and make our daughter freeze into a popsicle? Was the cab driver going too fast at 25mph? We could both feel every, single, bump the cab hit on the way home. Once we got home, Lucie was still very sleepy! She had gotten a shot that morning, so we thought, she must really need her sleep. So we let the little one sleep and sleep instead of waking her up and sticking to the routine she was used to in the NICU. That night we paid for it. BIG time. Lucie cried from 10pm straight through to 3am. After she fell asleep, the sound of this beautiful baby girl breathing was so new that it was hard for us to fall asleep and at the same time we thought we had to stay awake to make sure she wouldn't stop breathing... why couldn't we pick our favorite nurse from the NICU to come home with us?
So much has happened since that night but somehow it really doesn't feel like a year has gone by. Sometimes it feels like we were just riding the Mt. Sinai shuttle bus to the hospital, walking through the tunnels under the hospital to make our way to the NICU where we could anxiously look for a nurse to update us to see how our little girl had been doing since we last called when we first woke up. We can remember the smell of the bus, the feeling of the floor as we would walk, can picture every turn we had to make, the sounds as we entered the NICU and being able to finally exhale when we would gaze upon our little girl seeing her resting...
To us, (and to some of you) Lucie-Pie is nothing short of a miracle. We didn't know if she would be able to see, hear, talk, walk, let alone survive the birth! We just can't think of all that she's doing today, like babbling, walking pretty much on her own, crawling everywhere, getting into the trash (yea, that happened), and much more without thanking God. We've spoken to some "higher ups" and April 8th will now be known as National Lucie Day... too much? Fine, for us it will be, you all can celebrate something else if you'd like, that's your call, lol.
Earlier this week, we had our first Team Meeting with all of Lucie's therapists at once. Her Occupational Therapist, Speech & Feeding Therapist, Special Instruction Therapist, Nutritionist, Physical Therapist and Service Coordinator all huddled up in our cozy living room in our NYC apartment. This meeting was great because they each got to share what they're working on with Lucie and what they would like to focus on to help her continue to make such great strides. Phrases like motor development, pincer grasp, supination, closed mouth posture, squat to stand, sit to play and nice chin tuck were swirling around the room. In all honesty though, having them all together discussing Lucie's amazing progress was incredibly helpful. They were able to bounce ideas off each other and collaborate together so that now they can keep each other's focus in mind during their own sessions. Although sometimes it can feel like we have a lot to balance with Lucie's therapy sessions, we can see how beneficial they are and they are worth every second. We are so thankful that she has such a great team surrounding her and encouraging us.
We've said it before and we will keep saying it... We love you all and thank you again for all of your prayers and support. Each night when we put Lucie to bed and pray for her, we thank God that we get to be her Mommy and Daddy. Words cannot express how thankful we are that this is our life and that this is our story. Now that Lucie has been home for one year, we are going to switch things up. Not only did we give the site an updated look (hope you like it), but this will also be our last post from the We Love Lucie Blog.
DON'T PANIC.
We will continue to post updates, and they will continue to appear on the Los Hicksons website, but you will no longer receive email updates. We will probably post 1-2 updates every month. They will be about all of us and whatever shenanigans we are up to, and not just progress reports about The Goose. If you really want to get notified about these updates, for your convenience you can just put your email address in the form at the end of this post and you'll be signed up for all future posts. (Grandma and Abuela, don't worry, we already preemptively signed you up to the new list.)
Happy Lucie Day, and as always, ENJOY THE PHOTOS!
Love,
Los Hicksons
We think this is an adorable Easter Tradition. Lucie waking up in her crib with Boonches Bonita the Bunny. The top photo is from this Easter and the bottom photo is from last Easter when she was still in the NICU.
Luke and Lucie in their Easter Sunday best!
Easter Family Portrait
Rooftop Easter Egg Hunt with some of her favorites! (Uncle Scottie, Aunt Katie and bestie, Elle)
Figuring out how to take her bottle while sitting.
Straight up chillin' in her Easter Sunday casual attire.
Lucie discovered a new hiding place in the small wedge between the couch and the wall.
Nothing like a good reading nook, Am-I-Right?
FLAMINGO FRIDAY, Y'ALL!
Mom in FL for a quick trip. Visiting Grandpa Raul in the Rehab Clinic where he's recovering from a partial hip replacement.
This isn't even all of her toys.
Dad and Daughter date while Mom was in FL.
When you think it will be warm and Spring-like outside so you don't bring a hat for your daughter, you improvise and use the stroller blanket. #ParentsOfTheYear!
Lucie and Rob with Scott and Pat McVittie! Deckerville in Yorkville :)
Haven't stopped singing this song from The Beatles, thinking about this time last year when we were overjoyed to bring Lucie home. So of course, we had to put it on the chalk board, and then that called for a photo shoot, obviously.
In this photo, Lucie is wondering where Bess is.
In this photo, she is giving 'Dolly' a kiss.
And now, the chalkboard needs a kiss.
ROAWWWRRR!
And about 30 pictures later, we got the shot! It's not easy to get photos of Lucie in just one take anymore! We love you, our little darlin'.
Reading some more. We had to get her a new copy of this one, as you can tell it completely came apart!
We started off National Lucie Day by having breakfast together at Sarabeth's.
Being silly!
Later in the afternoon, after Physical Therapy, we stopped for coffee at Bluestone Lane Cafe while Lucie napped.
…one year later, today.
Coming back to say thank you to the awesome NICU team at Mt. Sinai!
Walking with mommy and her day time primary nurse to take the tour of the remodeled NICU.
Last time we were here, we carried her out in her car seat. One year later, she's walking out :).