LITTLE Lotte Moore has celebrated her first birthday with her family, medical device-free and blissfully unaware of the dramas of the past few months.
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And dad Ryan said it wasn’t the only milestone she’d reached: she had started to crawl, sit up, wave and clap.
All exciting news after Lotte spent six months in and out of hospital, away from her dad and siblings, as she endured several procedures and operations related to a rare cyst almost blocking her airway.
The Tamworth family celebrated with a lunch at the View Cafe Restaurant on Sunday.
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Now they’re temporarily separated again, but for happier reasons.
Mum Katie is attending an intensive school towards her nursing degree, which had to be put on hold while she cared for Lotte.
Born at 33 weeks’ gestation, Lotte had to be flown to John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle, where she was diagnosed with having a congenital supraglottic cyst, which was obstructing her breathing.
After months living apart – mum Katie and Lotte in Newcastle, and Ryan and Lotte’s siblings in Tamworth – the family was reunited at Christmastime.
“She’s going really well,” Mr Moore said.
“She’s taking on drinking now, so her nasal tube was removed about a week ago, and she’s off the home oxygen, too.
“The check-ups will keep coming up for the next few years, but they’ll eventually drag them out if she’s going good.”
He said the birthday had been a day of reflection, particularly for his wife, who’d been on the spot during Lotte’s many interventions and one especially frightening time “when [Lotte] crashed badly”.
“Katie’s been through a lot; she’s very strong woman.”