The snow is driving us all mad! We are both stir crazy and starting to get on each others' nerves. Appointments keep having to be cancelled and rescheduled but we did make it to the ear doctor last week. A long visit in short, her tubes are still in place and we just need to wait until they fall out to see if she needs new ones. He said cleft palate repairs usually have tubes until age 4 or 5.
Then the tubes came in handy this weekend as she had a fever for 4 days straight and whenever she woke up, she kept saying her right ear hurt. After 4 days, I finally gave in and went to the walk-in clinic. The ear was red but didn't look infected yet. She said that the tubes probably prevented the accumulation of fluid from this viral cold. She finally woke up yesterday without a fever! She's still a little lethargic, but obviously felt better as she wouldn't go to sleep last night because she had 4 days of energy pent up. It's good to know that my kid isn't any more contagious than all the other snotty, drooly, coughy, sneezy little kids out there! Hahaha!
I think we have earned a Chapters date today!
Showing posts with label medicals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label medicals. Show all posts
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Eye Doctor
We had our followup with the ophthalmologist today. All is great. This kid was such a trooper during the initial wait, then she was so good to cooperate with the optician and her tests (all of which she had just done 2 weeks ago!). Even when she was getting bored and just guessing at the shapes on the eye chart - she wasn't even looking in the right direction! - she was still well behaved. They confirmed she was seeing depth perception, which was the only test before she wasn't too sure about. it involves putting on the 3D glasses and looking at a big bug picture (seeing if they try to grab at it or are startled by it's appearance of being off the page), and also by being shown a group of buttons with 1 that pops out and asking her to push the button that needs to go down. She even sat good for the ocular pressure test again. Then we had to get the dilating drops put in. She laughs as these go in! The optician was a bit taken aback. She said that they actually sting a little and I did try them once so they do burn a little initially. Dania knew she got to go get a muffin in the cafeteria once she had the drops though!
We then waited an hour to go back in and see the actual ophthalmologist who did a few more tests and then let us know they had no concerns and that her prescription was still correct. We go back in 6 months and if nothing has changed and genetics are normal, just annual followup after that. She will need correction for life, but we just want to ensure there isn't a fast progression in her myopia. I inquired further about the genetics appointment and she said that they must have a bigger wait than she initially thought. She is still taking the precautions as if she is genetically positive for something like Stickler syndrome (the ocular pressure testing) but all is okay now and we just have to wait and see if we need to follow closely or not. They were definitely impressed with her speech improvement and could understand almost all of her answers without having to look at me for confirmation.
We were at the hospital for almost 3 hours in total. She, thank goodness, was better behaved than she normally is when it's just me. I think she likes it in the Eye Clinic waiting room. Fish, lots of fish, and the promise of muffins... if only I could apply that everywhere...
We then waited an hour to go back in and see the actual ophthalmologist who did a few more tests and then let us know they had no concerns and that her prescription was still correct. We go back in 6 months and if nothing has changed and genetics are normal, just annual followup after that. She will need correction for life, but we just want to ensure there isn't a fast progression in her myopia. I inquired further about the genetics appointment and she said that they must have a bigger wait than she initially thought. She is still taking the precautions as if she is genetically positive for something like Stickler syndrome (the ocular pressure testing) but all is okay now and we just have to wait and see if we need to follow closely or not. They were definitely impressed with her speech improvement and could understand almost all of her answers without having to look at me for confirmation.
We were at the hospital for almost 3 hours in total. She, thank goodness, was better behaved than she normally is when it's just me. I think she likes it in the Eye Clinic waiting room. Fish, lots of fish, and the promise of muffins... if only I could apply that everywhere...
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Postop Followup
We had a postoperative followup with both of her surgeons and the audiology clinic. As always, she enjoyed riding the elevators all over the hospital. She did get very quiet when seeing the cleft palate surgeon because I do think she remembered him and what he meant (pain) to her. After we just talked and he let her slide down the dentist chair instead of sitting in it! He peaked in her mouth with the mirror while she sat with me and that was all he needed. He told me he was extremely pleased with how it looks. The palate is raising up like it should (I never thought of it as doing that, but I look in there almost everyday), and the scars are looking like they should and no stretching or pulling. He was also happy to hear her making so much noise and asked about her speech progress as a whole. We also talked about her nasal regurgitation. I told him how it only comes out of one nostril now and only when it is something more liquidy. He explained that her swallowing and chewing will take a long time to change as she was so used to holding her tongue one way to help her swallow and she is probably still doing it. He is confident it will change and remedy the regurgitation.
Next we headed off to the ENT Clinic and met with the surgeon who put in her tubes. She didn't really care about his presence because he never looked in her mouth! The tubes were perfect and they had no concerns. We will see them again in 6 months and then they might even be able to come out! Then she can have bubble baths again because the soap won't cling to the plastic tubes and cause ear aches from clogging up as it dries!
Lastly, we had a hearing check that was finally successful. I laughed when the ENT Clinic told me her files from the other office we have tried to get her hearing checked said she wasn't cooperative. The kid normally sits on my lap and makes no sound. The first time she cried because it turned out she had a slight ear infection. At the followup she did't make a peep but they didn't have adapters that were small enough to fit in her ears. She would sit there and as the test was going on the tube would slowly work its way out and fall in her lap. The third attempt was the same with the tubes not fitting. The woman even said to me that they didn't have tubes small enough to stay in her ears and then made a followup for a month later (I remember thinking, how are the tubes going to fit in a month if they don't fit now!?). I missed the fourth attempt and they never called to say I missed it or make a followup. It is the same office that I go to every 3 weeks for speech pathology but I'm starting to wonder if they actually scheduled that last attempt or if I imagined that phone call! Either way, this time she sat on my my lap perfectly and didn't flinch at the tubes being put in (ones that were small enough because they didn't budge once they were fit) and she passed with flying colours. The woman said the volume response is just below ideal but she thinks it is because her canals are so narrow because everything else was perfect. This was good to know to finally have a baseline for her hearing!
So, that was 6 months from the last visit. We will probably go to 12-month intervals after the next one. She is best case scenario for them all! (Us too!)
Next we headed off to the ENT Clinic and met with the surgeon who put in her tubes. She didn't really care about his presence because he never looked in her mouth! The tubes were perfect and they had no concerns. We will see them again in 6 months and then they might even be able to come out! Then she can have bubble baths again because the soap won't cling to the plastic tubes and cause ear aches from clogging up as it dries!
Lastly, we had a hearing check that was finally successful. I laughed when the ENT Clinic told me her files from the other office we have tried to get her hearing checked said she wasn't cooperative. The kid normally sits on my lap and makes no sound. The first time she cried because it turned out she had a slight ear infection. At the followup she did't make a peep but they didn't have adapters that were small enough to fit in her ears. She would sit there and as the test was going on the tube would slowly work its way out and fall in her lap. The third attempt was the same with the tubes not fitting. The woman even said to me that they didn't have tubes small enough to stay in her ears and then made a followup for a month later (I remember thinking, how are the tubes going to fit in a month if they don't fit now!?). I missed the fourth attempt and they never called to say I missed it or make a followup. It is the same office that I go to every 3 weeks for speech pathology but I'm starting to wonder if they actually scheduled that last attempt or if I imagined that phone call! Either way, this time she sat on my my lap perfectly and didn't flinch at the tubes being put in (ones that were small enough because they didn't budge once they were fit) and she passed with flying colours. The woman said the volume response is just below ideal but she thinks it is because her canals are so narrow because everything else was perfect. This was good to know to finally have a baseline for her hearing!
So, that was 6 months from the last visit. We will probably go to 12-month intervals after the next one. She is best case scenario for them all! (Us too!)
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
5 and 7
Well, just got back from the doctor's office. It is official that she grew 7 inches and gained 5 pounds in a year hahaha! Wish I only gained 5 pounds in a whole year...
Monday, September 22, 2014
A Whole New World
We picked up her glasses today and it was amazing to watch her response. I was so curious to see what would happen because she can see things, just not clearly. As soon as they were on and she took a look at the lady who just fitted her, she started nodding her head up and down to see through and then above the lenses. We all giggled. The lady then took the glasses off because she realized the arms were too long. She couldn't find shorter arms, so they are on order, but she got a head strap and put the glasses back on her and made it so they wouldn't slide down her bridge-less nose. She ran around a bit and then she stood up and it kind of dawned on her that it was different on a bigger scale. Her mouth actually dropped open and she was looking around the store as a 'big picture' for the first time. SO ADORABLE! We went for a walk in the mall and went under the skylight and when she was looking she said, "woooOOOOoow!" because she could see the details of the clouds through the skylight! She also ran to a store that had a shelf of stuffed animals on a front display - like, ran from far away because she saw what it was! I let her play with those for a bit and then wanted to take her to the book store. She sat on the ground and opened a book and did the "wooOOOOooow!" again. She doesn't always do this for books but I cannot say whether it was for the new clarity and being able to take in a page as a whole or if it was because there was a shiny spot on the page; either way, she didn't keep hitting herself with the pages while she looked at the book because she wasn't as stooped over!
Now, after a whole weekend, I can say that they have made a bigger difference then I imagined. She giggles and laughs SO much more now - which I adore! She can see our expressions better and mimics so much more. She stood under a tree on a walk and just stared up (I'm assuming noticing the layers of leaves for the first time), she saw all the fun stuff at the waterfront at the same time Mike and I saw it, she pays attention to things for a longer time in general! She watched the small tv we have in the upstairs for the first time ever! I took her downstairs and she sat in a chair instead of standing directly in front of the big screen - not for a very long time though. What can I say? Old habits die hard! She skyped with my family and giggled more at their faces because she could see them clearer too (and also at the little face of her in the corner because THAT was now like looking in a mirror for her). She has not tried to take them off herself since we left the store on Friday morning. She asked once to have them off but when I shot her down she just kept doing what she was doing without a fuss. I think it's the strap on the back of her head pushing her hair that bothers her more than the actual glasses. She has not fought us once when we put them on after waking her up in the morning or at nap. AND, my fav, she can actually lay in bed beside me while we read bedtime stories. She doesn't have to sit up each time I turn the page to see the smile on Gerald's face that she knows is there! Then, she also doesn't cause a stink when we take them to say goodnight. It has been an absolute joy to watch her with her new eyes.
(crap, I thought I'd get through that whole thing without tearing up and there I go on the last sentence.)
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Vindicated!
I got a call yesterday from the Eye Clinic saying they had a cancellation today and could we make it at 9:45? Heck yes, we can! I have been waiting for this because as she grows more and does not stop looking at things close up, I feel more and more that she needs glasses. I know she can see far away shapes, like, she knows a slide is a slide... but she never really looks at things unless she can hold it to her nose.
Long story short - she needs glasses... big time. The doctor looks in her right eye with a lens and says, "oh my, are you ever myopic!" She is -7.5 in one eye and -5 in the other and then has astigmatism on top if it. This kid has NEVER seen anything in the distance in focus! I am SO excited to take her for her first walk or to even look at a book and not have her bend right over it and block the text! They said kids with myopia are usually the ones that keep their glasses on without trouble because they are actually SEEING now! This is also something that she will live with forever so it's best that we got on top of it now. I dropped her prescription off and got her fitted for baby glasses on the way back from the appointment and they should be ready in a week and a half! I'm hoping that by next weekend my baby girl will see!
Long story long... and it's gonna be long because I find it SO fascinating!
First of all, I was worried she was going to be cranky because she, like me, is not a morning person. She wants to be left alone to enjoy her coffee (cereal) and then do something quiet (read) until she wakes up. I got her a muffin and she was fine. Even hugged the muffin before eating it. When we get to the hospital she is excited because she remembers the elevators - better than remembering the surgery! Ha! We ride up 6 floors, register, and after a quick "WooOOOOOwwww!" at the fish tank and before she can even play with the toys they are calling her name. We go into the room and I sit her on my lap in 'the chair' and she gets quiet. I notice the Sesame Street finger puppets and start playing with her while the optometrist came in to do the initial evaluation.
I was really keen to know what they did since I knew babies can't say their answers... she started with pupil reaction to light, then to reacting to light from different angles. She did some focus testing by having her look through a prism at an image that has now been split into 2 images to see if she flicks focus back and forth between the two. She had a flashlight with an end that had 1 one light, 2 green lights, and 1 red light in a diamond pattern and put on the red-green glasses and had her point to the lights (she even counted them aloud). She did distance testing by turning a television on and off. She had these slats that were grey with a square that was made of grey and white lines located somewhere on it. The slats started with very wide lines, making the square very obvious. She would (blind to the location herself so as not to unintentionally suggest the answer) flip the slat over and have Dania point to the square. She nailed it. LOL! They also did some perception testing with 3D images... Dania didn't like those very much, or, at least, wouldn't touch the images. She would say her sound for 'ball' and point but not actually try to touch the 3D ball - I guess that happens a lot with little kiddos. She did some other light testing that I have no idea what it did because I saw the back of her head and it didn't look any different from the initial testing - it might have been different coloured lights and the pupil reaction. So, all in all? This part took about 30 minutes and she sat so well and they kept commenting on that. They also took an oral history from me and I told them about the adoption and that it was noted in her info given to us. I told them that I have always noticed she looks at things closely and doesn't pay attention to things farther away for very long and that my gut said it wasn't attention span because she will sit and play with her Leapfrog reader for an hour! I told them how it was my family doc that referred us to the eye doctor and how we saw him once, he told us to come back with the drops, and then he told us she was near sighted and referred us to the people that can deal with kids properly. Then she had to put the dilating drops in her eyes. Enter the tears - that I think were more from boredom and sitting still than anything. Now we had to go to the waiting room and wait for the drops to kick in.
She played, happily, and seemingly unaffected by the drops. She was not walking weird or seemingly having a messed up depth perception from the drops. She did disregard the books quickly and opted for staring at the fish tank at length. After about 30 minutes she asked me for Pocoyo. Now, this is a show on youtube that we watch sometimes and I wasn't about to say 'no' when I had no idea how much longer we were going to be. I also knew her vision must be screwy by now so I pull out my phone, find the show, press play, and her name is called. So, we are now going into this next part with an anticlimactic Pocoyo experience...
She was so good! It blew my mind her patience! She wouldn't have this for me at home but she is also an inquisitive girl and was fascinated by the new activities going on close to her. She did ask for Pocoyo in between every lens trial though! So, this new session involved the Ophthalmology fellow and a student. They were both so nice and very patient and clearly used to working with kids (automatically lowered their chairs, put smiles on their faces and raised the tones of their voices). This was the part where an adult sits behind the big lens machine and looks at the alphabet chart (I know it has a real name) and tells the doc if number 1 or number 2 is more focused. For a kid? They have mum sit Kid on her lap and gently keep her head forward (I say gently because I'm sure for the 3 times I had to adjust Dania that others have had to do 30 or just brace their child's head). I think she has this fear/reverence for doctors. She has a love/hate relationship with them because the first bit of her life was composed of a lot of poking and prodding - especially in the mouth and ears - but has now experienced long-term results and 'get's it.' Anyway! He started with her right eye, chose a lens strength that was to an extreme (I don't know what extreme!) and holds it to her eye with a light scope and looks at her inner eye reaction. This is where he exclaimed, "oh my! Are you ever myopic!" He then tries a bunch of different strengths and just like with adults, flicks back to the one he thinks is right while going to extremes and ever-so-slight variances. He finds the one he thinks is good and then starts on the adjustment for her astigmatism. After about 15 minutes, he finds the right combo for the right eye. This whole time she has sat so still on my lap and listened to every direction from the doctor. He would say, 'oh, chin down,' and I knew he was talking to me but she would then put her chin to her chest and he would laugh, 'oh, not that much!' and she would bring it up a little. He kept telling her how smart she was. Made me really proud! It takes a bit longer for the left eye because she's done this all before now. He starts getting her eye to look at the right spot by saying, 'HEL-looooo!' To which she immediately says it back. The student is laughing off to the side and making his hand creep up on her and making faces - he's going to be good with little ones! After about 35 minutes total, the doc has the right combo and writes me a prescription and we sit and chat about what it means and I ask all my questions about what it was he was actually doing so I understood it enough to tell it here! At this point, I do put Pocoyo on the phone for her to watch! They laughed at the dancing that ensued.
The fellow told me that this was something that couldn't be corrected. She will need glasses forever. Ok, no big deal. I had initially thought it might be correctable but I am not as concerned with her keeping them on because she will wear sunglasses outside for a long time and I wear glasses and she points that out a lot. I think about how my prescription has a similar astigmatism to Dania's but that my eyes are 7 times and 5 times better than hers and I get major headaches if I sit at the computer without them. What does she get?!?! It makes me wonder if she has ever seen far away to understand near and far!? After a lot of my questions were answered, the fellow goes to get the ophthalmologist and she comes in to talk to us.
She sits down and immediately begins asking about Russia. What region is she from? How much history do you know? What tests did she have over there? How come it took so long to get here? Okay, the last one? Not a Russia thing... that was the Eye Clinic and Canadian health care system. I made sure she knew that (and please, I am not knocking it at all! I LOVE our healthcare. I just felt slightly off put because of this sudden barrage of questions and nothing to do with the eyes!). She takes a big breath after she asks what age we brought her home and then tells me that was the same age her son was when she brought him home from Moscow! HOLY MOLY! Seriously?!?!?! What are the odds?!?! It's been 6 years for her now since her adoption but as soon as she told me that she instantly warmed up and seemed so involved and concerned. She explained that her region was important because of ethnic physical features (wider set eyes, flatter bridge of nose, almond eyes) to be taken into consideration but also because she was curious about our knowledge of hereditary syndromes. It's none, by the way. She said that there are syndromes from that region related to cleft palate and myopia that would be worth considering for the long run. She asked if I would be okay with a referral to genetic medicine for testing to see if the 2 problems are genetically related or not. I have no problem with that! I was excited when she said it! So fascinating! I do a lot of genetic transcriptions in my job and was giddy at the thought of being part of this unique world; moreover, it would almost be like being given a link to her past that we don't know! This would be something that, if relevant, would affect any biological offspring and her long-term healthcare. Such syndromes, the most obvious being Stickler's syndrome, which I had heard of (thank you new job!) can progress quickly without intervention and treatment (aka, eyesight and hearing getting worse without aid) and can affect connective tissues and cause joint pains/arthritis in the long run. Despite what it can cause, just knowing can help with future healthcare needs. I have to wonder if this ophthalmologist hadn't adopted from Russia herself if Dania's file would have stuck out in her immediate thoughts like this (remember, only yesterday she was given the file)? I mean, I do not doubt that this connection would have been brought up eventually by one of the many specialists but now that we have these 2 conditions to work with and a woman who recognized the regional relevance, we have a starting point for possible special action. SO DANG FASCINATING!
So much of Dania has seemed 'meant to be' in this process... this is a scientific aspect that I never could have predicted!
As I said, we went to the glasses store that was recommended as specializing in little ones and would also consider the flat bridge of her nose and we had frames within 10 minutes of walking into the store. I didn't expect a wide array of choice with what is considered 'baby' frames. I got to choose dark copper versus gold and then the colour of her plastic arm cover that wraps around her ears. Either way, the store kept proclaiming how good she was and she only had to sit for a total of 2 minutes (three times with different widths of glasses and twice for the pupil distance measure). At this point, she was asking for the ice cream I promised her for good behaviour. HAHAHAHA! We did get a pumpkin pie blizzard to share, but we also walked away with the order of glasses to be delivered in a week and a half! SO EXCITING! Seriously, like, beyond exciting to think that she will really see for the first time because she was worse than I had thought! She won't have to stop and work to see things and will be able to catch things at a glance or in dimmer lighting! WOW! I can't wait! I can't even explain to her what she is about to experience! HOLY MOLY!
Long story short - she needs glasses... big time. The doctor looks in her right eye with a lens and says, "oh my, are you ever myopic!" She is -7.5 in one eye and -5 in the other and then has astigmatism on top if it. This kid has NEVER seen anything in the distance in focus! I am SO excited to take her for her first walk or to even look at a book and not have her bend right over it and block the text! They said kids with myopia are usually the ones that keep their glasses on without trouble because they are actually SEEING now! This is also something that she will live with forever so it's best that we got on top of it now. I dropped her prescription off and got her fitted for baby glasses on the way back from the appointment and they should be ready in a week and a half! I'm hoping that by next weekend my baby girl will see!
Long story long... and it's gonna be long because I find it SO fascinating!
First of all, I was worried she was going to be cranky because she, like me, is not a morning person. She wants to be left alone to enjoy her coffee (cereal) and then do something quiet (read) until she wakes up. I got her a muffin and she was fine. Even hugged the muffin before eating it. When we get to the hospital she is excited because she remembers the elevators - better than remembering the surgery! Ha! We ride up 6 floors, register, and after a quick "WooOOOOOwwww!" at the fish tank and before she can even play with the toys they are calling her name. We go into the room and I sit her on my lap in 'the chair' and she gets quiet. I notice the Sesame Street finger puppets and start playing with her while the optometrist came in to do the initial evaluation.
I was really keen to know what they did since I knew babies can't say their answers... she started with pupil reaction to light, then to reacting to light from different angles. She did some focus testing by having her look through a prism at an image that has now been split into 2 images to see if she flicks focus back and forth between the two. She had a flashlight with an end that had 1 one light, 2 green lights, and 1 red light in a diamond pattern and put on the red-green glasses and had her point to the lights (she even counted them aloud). She did distance testing by turning a television on and off. She had these slats that were grey with a square that was made of grey and white lines located somewhere on it. The slats started with very wide lines, making the square very obvious. She would (blind to the location herself so as not to unintentionally suggest the answer) flip the slat over and have Dania point to the square. She nailed it. LOL! They also did some perception testing with 3D images... Dania didn't like those very much, or, at least, wouldn't touch the images. She would say her sound for 'ball' and point but not actually try to touch the 3D ball - I guess that happens a lot with little kiddos. She did some other light testing that I have no idea what it did because I saw the back of her head and it didn't look any different from the initial testing - it might have been different coloured lights and the pupil reaction. So, all in all? This part took about 30 minutes and she sat so well and they kept commenting on that. They also took an oral history from me and I told them about the adoption and that it was noted in her info given to us. I told them that I have always noticed she looks at things closely and doesn't pay attention to things farther away for very long and that my gut said it wasn't attention span because she will sit and play with her Leapfrog reader for an hour! I told them how it was my family doc that referred us to the eye doctor and how we saw him once, he told us to come back with the drops, and then he told us she was near sighted and referred us to the people that can deal with kids properly. Then she had to put the dilating drops in her eyes. Enter the tears - that I think were more from boredom and sitting still than anything. Now we had to go to the waiting room and wait for the drops to kick in.
She played, happily, and seemingly unaffected by the drops. She was not walking weird or seemingly having a messed up depth perception from the drops. She did disregard the books quickly and opted for staring at the fish tank at length. After about 30 minutes she asked me for Pocoyo. Now, this is a show on youtube that we watch sometimes and I wasn't about to say 'no' when I had no idea how much longer we were going to be. I also knew her vision must be screwy by now so I pull out my phone, find the show, press play, and her name is called. So, we are now going into this next part with an anticlimactic Pocoyo experience...
She was so good! It blew my mind her patience! She wouldn't have this for me at home but she is also an inquisitive girl and was fascinated by the new activities going on close to her. She did ask for Pocoyo in between every lens trial though! So, this new session involved the Ophthalmology fellow and a student. They were both so nice and very patient and clearly used to working with kids (automatically lowered their chairs, put smiles on their faces and raised the tones of their voices). This was the part where an adult sits behind the big lens machine and looks at the alphabet chart (I know it has a real name) and tells the doc if number 1 or number 2 is more focused. For a kid? They have mum sit Kid on her lap and gently keep her head forward (I say gently because I'm sure for the 3 times I had to adjust Dania that others have had to do 30 or just brace their child's head). I think she has this fear/reverence for doctors. She has a love/hate relationship with them because the first bit of her life was composed of a lot of poking and prodding - especially in the mouth and ears - but has now experienced long-term results and 'get's it.' Anyway! He started with her right eye, chose a lens strength that was to an extreme (I don't know what extreme!) and holds it to her eye with a light scope and looks at her inner eye reaction. This is where he exclaimed, "oh my! Are you ever myopic!" He then tries a bunch of different strengths and just like with adults, flicks back to the one he thinks is right while going to extremes and ever-so-slight variances. He finds the one he thinks is good and then starts on the adjustment for her astigmatism. After about 15 minutes, he finds the right combo for the right eye. This whole time she has sat so still on my lap and listened to every direction from the doctor. He would say, 'oh, chin down,' and I knew he was talking to me but she would then put her chin to her chest and he would laugh, 'oh, not that much!' and she would bring it up a little. He kept telling her how smart she was. Made me really proud! It takes a bit longer for the left eye because she's done this all before now. He starts getting her eye to look at the right spot by saying, 'HEL-looooo!' To which she immediately says it back. The student is laughing off to the side and making his hand creep up on her and making faces - he's going to be good with little ones! After about 35 minutes total, the doc has the right combo and writes me a prescription and we sit and chat about what it means and I ask all my questions about what it was he was actually doing so I understood it enough to tell it here! At this point, I do put Pocoyo on the phone for her to watch! They laughed at the dancing that ensued.
The fellow told me that this was something that couldn't be corrected. She will need glasses forever. Ok, no big deal. I had initially thought it might be correctable but I am not as concerned with her keeping them on because she will wear sunglasses outside for a long time and I wear glasses and she points that out a lot. I think about how my prescription has a similar astigmatism to Dania's but that my eyes are 7 times and 5 times better than hers and I get major headaches if I sit at the computer without them. What does she get?!?! It makes me wonder if she has ever seen far away to understand near and far!? After a lot of my questions were answered, the fellow goes to get the ophthalmologist and she comes in to talk to us.
She sits down and immediately begins asking about Russia. What region is she from? How much history do you know? What tests did she have over there? How come it took so long to get here? Okay, the last one? Not a Russia thing... that was the Eye Clinic and Canadian health care system. I made sure she knew that (and please, I am not knocking it at all! I LOVE our healthcare. I just felt slightly off put because of this sudden barrage of questions and nothing to do with the eyes!). She takes a big breath after she asks what age we brought her home and then tells me that was the same age her son was when she brought him home from Moscow! HOLY MOLY! Seriously?!?!?! What are the odds?!?! It's been 6 years for her now since her adoption but as soon as she told me that she instantly warmed up and seemed so involved and concerned. She explained that her region was important because of ethnic physical features (wider set eyes, flatter bridge of nose, almond eyes) to be taken into consideration but also because she was curious about our knowledge of hereditary syndromes. It's none, by the way. She said that there are syndromes from that region related to cleft palate and myopia that would be worth considering for the long run. She asked if I would be okay with a referral to genetic medicine for testing to see if the 2 problems are genetically related or not. I have no problem with that! I was excited when she said it! So fascinating! I do a lot of genetic transcriptions in my job and was giddy at the thought of being part of this unique world; moreover, it would almost be like being given a link to her past that we don't know! This would be something that, if relevant, would affect any biological offspring and her long-term healthcare. Such syndromes, the most obvious being Stickler's syndrome, which I had heard of (thank you new job!) can progress quickly without intervention and treatment (aka, eyesight and hearing getting worse without aid) and can affect connective tissues and cause joint pains/arthritis in the long run. Despite what it can cause, just knowing can help with future healthcare needs. I have to wonder if this ophthalmologist hadn't adopted from Russia herself if Dania's file would have stuck out in her immediate thoughts like this (remember, only yesterday she was given the file)? I mean, I do not doubt that this connection would have been brought up eventually by one of the many specialists but now that we have these 2 conditions to work with and a woman who recognized the regional relevance, we have a starting point for possible special action. SO DANG FASCINATING!
So much of Dania has seemed 'meant to be' in this process... this is a scientific aspect that I never could have predicted!
As I said, we went to the glasses store that was recommended as specializing in little ones and would also consider the flat bridge of her nose and we had frames within 10 minutes of walking into the store. I didn't expect a wide array of choice with what is considered 'baby' frames. I got to choose dark copper versus gold and then the colour of her plastic arm cover that wraps around her ears. Either way, the store kept proclaiming how good she was and she only had to sit for a total of 2 minutes (three times with different widths of glasses and twice for the pupil distance measure). At this point, she was asking for the ice cream I promised her for good behaviour. HAHAHAHA! We did get a pumpkin pie blizzard to share, but we also walked away with the order of glasses to be delivered in a week and a half! SO EXCITING! Seriously, like, beyond exciting to think that she will really see for the first time because she was worse than I had thought! She won't have to stop and work to see things and will be able to catch things at a glance or in dimmer lighting! WOW! I can't wait! I can't even explain to her what she is about to experience! HOLY MOLY!
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
She Sucks!
Literally! The surgery worked! She can suck through a straw now!!!! It was 5 months to the day of her surgery (Jan. 27) that she finally used a straw and has continued to do so. Of course it was a double-caffeinated beverage that I was drinking and said, 'sure, you can have some because you can't use a straw,' and she takes a giant gulp as I watch the liquid go up the straw! I yelled out in surprise and startled her. We then got her a chocolate milk with a straw right away and I kept raising my arms and yelling in happiness and had to explain to the lady at the counter that she had been physically unable to do this before and had surgery and now - SUCK! She didn't seem to care ha ha ha! It was funny because just the day before I was forcing her to poise so I could take a pic of the roof of her mouth to see what progress the dent has made with filling in (if any!).
I know it was three days before I posted, but the days are busy now that we are always outside! This most wonderful news definitely couldn't wait long though ;)
She is proving to love summer and water just as much as me. And boy, oh boy! Her skin is going to be dark. Her region generally had the darker skin tones and she is going to follow suit for sure! She fights me with the sunscreen in the morning (mostly just the back of the neck which furthers my theory that she didn't like the bucket hats because they touched the back of her neck with their brims) but we get it on and reapply if we get wet but she is still going to be very obviously of darker than me (and Mike, well, he is always pale though so I'm not counting him) and I said it might be the first times that strangers might think she is not our biological child. I always LOVE playing along with people who say she has my smile or looks just like Mike. It's easier than explaining the whole story to a total stranger! LOL! Meanwhile, anyone who knows genetics would know that two blue-eyed people could not produce a dark brown-eyed child. Genetics was my favourite part of science in school! As her hair is growing in it is getting lighter though and might be more of a golden brown than a chestnut brown that I thought she would be. We shall have to wait and see!
I love that you can see the scar around the toothline that shows just how much was filled in!
She is proving to love summer and water just as much as me. And boy, oh boy! Her skin is going to be dark. Her region generally had the darker skin tones and she is going to follow suit for sure! She fights me with the sunscreen in the morning (mostly just the back of the neck which furthers my theory that she didn't like the bucket hats because they touched the back of her neck with their brims) but we get it on and reapply if we get wet but she is still going to be very obviously of darker than me (and Mike, well, he is always pale though so I'm not counting him) and I said it might be the first times that strangers might think she is not our biological child. I always LOVE playing along with people who say she has my smile or looks just like Mike. It's easier than explaining the whole story to a total stranger! LOL! Meanwhile, anyone who knows genetics would know that two blue-eyed people could not produce a dark brown-eyed child. Genetics was my favourite part of science in school! As her hair is growing in it is getting lighter though and might be more of a golden brown than a chestnut brown that I thought she would be. We shall have to wait and see!
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Mother's Day and 1 Year
March had us beginning our long stretch of annual celebrations. The next stretch of dates is May 11: 1 year from when we left for Russia the first time, May 13: 1 year to when we met her, May 17: 1 year from submitting our official paperwork for court, and May 19: 1 year from the end of our first trip. Yeah!!!!
How did I celebrate? I got her photo taken for her citizenship application! Yeah! Hopefully that whole package can be mailed off shortly. Have to double check everything and pay the fees and then as long as everything is good to go, she will be Canadian officially!
We had dinner with our new friends who also adopted from Russia. Dania was much more talkative this time around. She really took a shine to their middle son, aged 7 or 8, and is so happy she can say I's name! We got to watch their video they made of her trip and look through the photo book they made. The city they adopted through, Kazan, was sooooo different from Sterlitimak. It was a big city and had touristy spots and lots to see. It was okay for them to stay in a hotel and go out on their own hahaha. Such a different experience that way!
We have had our 6-month followup visit to the eye doctor and now he isn't happy with how her muscles have failed to develop with her. She is definitely nearsighted now. She is worse in the right eye. He had thought it was slight enough before that it would grow with her, but I guess not. It's funny because I feel like she has fine eyesight now... she sees things far away (like the book the lady reads to the group at the library) and doesn't lean in as close to books now. He referred us to the kids hospital (again) so we now await an appointment with their eye doctors. At least she won't need a barrage of blood work for this! I did forget to submit her requisition at her surgery to double check for rubella and chicken pox vaccinations, and I've been waiting for a reason to go back to the hospital to get it done... eye appointment is a PERFECT reason.
We are also going to be seeing the speech pathologist every 3 to 4 weeks now. We go again next week. We shall see what happens now. We are very much working on getting her to blow with her mouth (working with bubbles, harmonicas, noise makers) and the 'B' sound. I am curious if it is someone else doing these activities with her if she will be less frustrated; she should benefit from your classic student-teacher relationship.
On top of it all, we just had our first week of big change with Mike back at work. It went okay. I need to learn to relax a bit more. I see a mess and if I can't clean it right away I start to get upset. For example, Leia was sick on the floor and I had to let it sit there until I could ensure Dania was happy and distracted and Leia was okay. It sat there for about 45 minutes before I could get to it to clean it thoroughly. GUH! I just feel very hurried when it comes to anything not Dania related. All my time with her though? HILARIOUS! She wants to be outside as much as possible and I am SO okay with that. I love heading out right after breakfast and playing in the sun. I've been on a few stroller walks with her too (thanks again to everyone who helped gift us that gem!) Last year I didn't get to go on really long walks but she is okay with it now for sure! As long as cars pass us every once in awhile lol! She gibbers away about everything, reads to herself aloud now, tries to sing, pretends to be the dog in more ways than I like, and makes me laugh and feel soooo happy to see the light in those brown eyes.
Oh! We got her ears pierced! I was sick of her being called a boy (even with the frilly red coat with the butterfly broach). I had thought about after seeing a friend's cute pictures of her daughter. The extra sparkle was just adorable with the round face and cheeks. I mentioned it to Mike and we went the next day. She sat there quietly and suspiciously while the lady marked her lobes. They kept commenting on how small and dainty her features were. I had never noticed before, but she doesn't have a lot of lobe! Mike sat on the chair and held Dania on his lap while the ladies lined up the piercing guns. 1...2...3 BANG! Done. She gasped, did the silent cry while tears welled, let out the cry, I picked her up, they showed her a bucket of lollipops and she was done crying. It was about 6 seconds of crying in total. She then kept pointing to her ears and then to mine. I really think she understood what had just happened. I take mine out every night so sometimes in the morning I don't have them in and she will point out the difference, but all in all, she is so fine with it that I'm not even worried about infection from hand transfer. She did take one out while refusing to go down for a nap. These are the standard piercing studs that snap into place so she must have pulled HARD! I woke her up and she pointed to her lobe and said "OOOWWwwwwWWWW." Right away I knew where to look, the window ledge. Sure enough, both pieces were on the floor by the window ledge. She likes to stand and look out her window while she poops or is anti-sleep. She was a little pissed about having it put back in but that, so far, was the only bad instance of her handling them. The lady had mentioned they can get pinched too tight and I'm wondering if she did that and then counteracted... she just looks so cute!!!
Oh, also, she is shooting up in height again. She has grown almost 2 inches since her birthday! That's almost an inch a month! GIANT!
How did I celebrate? I got her photo taken for her citizenship application! Yeah! Hopefully that whole package can be mailed off shortly. Have to double check everything and pay the fees and then as long as everything is good to go, she will be Canadian officially!
We had dinner with our new friends who also adopted from Russia. Dania was much more talkative this time around. She really took a shine to their middle son, aged 7 or 8, and is so happy she can say I's name! We got to watch their video they made of her trip and look through the photo book they made. The city they adopted through, Kazan, was sooooo different from Sterlitimak. It was a big city and had touristy spots and lots to see. It was okay for them to stay in a hotel and go out on their own hahaha. Such a different experience that way!
We have had our 6-month followup visit to the eye doctor and now he isn't happy with how her muscles have failed to develop with her. She is definitely nearsighted now. She is worse in the right eye. He had thought it was slight enough before that it would grow with her, but I guess not. It's funny because I feel like she has fine eyesight now... she sees things far away (like the book the lady reads to the group at the library) and doesn't lean in as close to books now. He referred us to the kids hospital (again) so we now await an appointment with their eye doctors. At least she won't need a barrage of blood work for this! I did forget to submit her requisition at her surgery to double check for rubella and chicken pox vaccinations, and I've been waiting for a reason to go back to the hospital to get it done... eye appointment is a PERFECT reason.
We are also going to be seeing the speech pathologist every 3 to 4 weeks now. We go again next week. We shall see what happens now. We are very much working on getting her to blow with her mouth (working with bubbles, harmonicas, noise makers) and the 'B' sound. I am curious if it is someone else doing these activities with her if she will be less frustrated; she should benefit from your classic student-teacher relationship.
On top of it all, we just had our first week of big change with Mike back at work. It went okay. I need to learn to relax a bit more. I see a mess and if I can't clean it right away I start to get upset. For example, Leia was sick on the floor and I had to let it sit there until I could ensure Dania was happy and distracted and Leia was okay. It sat there for about 45 minutes before I could get to it to clean it thoroughly. GUH! I just feel very hurried when it comes to anything not Dania related. All my time with her though? HILARIOUS! She wants to be outside as much as possible and I am SO okay with that. I love heading out right after breakfast and playing in the sun. I've been on a few stroller walks with her too (thanks again to everyone who helped gift us that gem!) Last year I didn't get to go on really long walks but she is okay with it now for sure! As long as cars pass us every once in awhile lol! She gibbers away about everything, reads to herself aloud now, tries to sing, pretends to be the dog in more ways than I like, and makes me laugh and feel soooo happy to see the light in those brown eyes.
Oh! We got her ears pierced! I was sick of her being called a boy (even with the frilly red coat with the butterfly broach). I had thought about after seeing a friend's cute pictures of her daughter. The extra sparkle was just adorable with the round face and cheeks. I mentioned it to Mike and we went the next day. She sat there quietly and suspiciously while the lady marked her lobes. They kept commenting on how small and dainty her features were. I had never noticed before, but she doesn't have a lot of lobe! Mike sat on the chair and held Dania on his lap while the ladies lined up the piercing guns. 1...2...3 BANG! Done. She gasped, did the silent cry while tears welled, let out the cry, I picked her up, they showed her a bucket of lollipops and she was done crying. It was about 6 seconds of crying in total. She then kept pointing to her ears and then to mine. I really think she understood what had just happened. I take mine out every night so sometimes in the morning I don't have them in and she will point out the difference, but all in all, she is so fine with it that I'm not even worried about infection from hand transfer. She did take one out while refusing to go down for a nap. These are the standard piercing studs that snap into place so she must have pulled HARD! I woke her up and she pointed to her lobe and said "OOOWWwwwwWWWW." Right away I knew where to look, the window ledge. Sure enough, both pieces were on the floor by the window ledge. She likes to stand and look out her window while she poops or is anti-sleep. She was a little pissed about having it put back in but that, so far, was the only bad instance of her handling them. The lady had mentioned they can get pinched too tight and I'm wondering if she did that and then counteracted... she just looks so cute!!!
Oh, also, she is shooting up in height again. She has grown almost 2 inches since her birthday! That's almost an inch a month! GIANT!
Friday, January 31, 2014
Recovery
The first few days home have made a huge difference, as expected. The first night was a little rough. We could tell she was still sore and she kept wiggling out of the sleeves of her pajamas, and therefore the arm braces. She let out this high pitched scream at one point and I know she must have hit the roof of her mouth with her fingers! I ran in and picked her up and started looking for the braces. I was moving the crib, all of her toys, everything it seemed, and could not find one of them. I started singing for "Daaaaddy, pleeeeease come he-elp!" and other similar phrases, but was not getting any back up. She is whimpering and I'm trying not to yell so I don't upset her more. I knew she needed pain medication and she needed the braces and some cuddling - can't do all three myself at the same time. I start singing louder and then just plain yelling and still no help. I finally walk to the side of our bed and just yell, "MIKE!" Well, that scared the crap out of him! He jumped up and I told him to run and get all the pain medications hahaha. It's good to know one of us was getting the sleep we both needed. After we dosed her up with all her medications, I snuggled with her in the spare room until she fell asleep. She slept for four hours after that. She needed it!
The following morning she played as usual, but just quieter. She isn't doing her squeals and yells like she did before. She gets tired quickly and wants to be picked up a lot, but as long as she isn't laying down she doesn't need the arm braces. It is only when she is sleeping that she wants her hands in her mouth. She is drinking and eating and has even overcome the constipation from all the anesthesia and morphine. This kid is kicking her surgery's ass! When she gets sleepy or if she gets worked up because she hurts her mouth when eating, we give her the computer to watch so she calms down fast and gets distracted from the pain. She has gone down for her naps like normal and has even started her usual night time routine of chattering away to herself for hours!
Last night, her arm braces stayed on - we put them on under the onesie - and she only woke up twice but was able to go back down in her crib after being settled. One time was because she had pooped and not even because of mouth pain. She ate so well this morning and Skyped with her gramma and was her flirty self, just a bit quieter. She even started doing her Grover impressions again but they just sound more muted haha! Let's hope the next few nights go this well too. If she continues to heal this well, we might not need the braces on her arms as long as they say! Yeah!
I also want to say, 'thank you,' again to all of the well-wishes and good thoughts from everyone following our journey. More and more come out of the woodwork each day and I love knowing my girl has so much support! xoxo
The following morning she played as usual, but just quieter. She isn't doing her squeals and yells like she did before. She gets tired quickly and wants to be picked up a lot, but as long as she isn't laying down she doesn't need the arm braces. It is only when she is sleeping that she wants her hands in her mouth. She is drinking and eating and has even overcome the constipation from all the anesthesia and morphine. This kid is kicking her surgery's ass! When she gets sleepy or if she gets worked up because she hurts her mouth when eating, we give her the computer to watch so she calms down fast and gets distracted from the pain. She has gone down for her naps like normal and has even started her usual night time routine of chattering away to herself for hours!
Last night, her arm braces stayed on - we put them on under the onesie - and she only woke up twice but was able to go back down in her crib after being settled. One time was because she had pooped and not even because of mouth pain. She ate so well this morning and Skyped with her gramma and was her flirty self, just a bit quieter. She even started doing her Grover impressions again but they just sound more muted haha! Let's hope the next few nights go this well too. If she continues to heal this well, we might not need the braces on her arms as long as they say! Yeah!
I also want to say, 'thank you,' again to all of the well-wishes and good thoughts from everyone following our journey. More and more come out of the woodwork each day and I love knowing my girl has so much support! xoxo
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Primary Closure
What a whirlwind few days! Sunday night I packed up the bags, put her to bed early, drank a lot of wine so I could sleep, and then tried to wrap my mind around how her world was about to change...again! Of course I had moments where I fretted about losing her and over reacted about everything that could go wrong, but I woke up ready and calm on Monday morning.
Day 1
We got her to the pre-op room early, early (she was second surgery, only after a suture removal), and began our wait. She hadn't eaten and I had to keep saying no to her drink requests but she was in such good spirits. She was wonderful and happy and only a little hesitant when they took her away. We moved to the waiting room. My biggest concern was if there was going to be a reaction to the anesthesia - we would know about that right away. About 20 minutes later the ear surgeon comes out and tells us the tubes are in and they were starting the cleft - well, I guess the anesthesia was okay! When it hit the 2 hour mark I started to get antsy... the surgeon had estimated 1.5 - 2 hours. I had to remind myself that it was 2 hours starting AFTER the anesthesia and tubes. I resolved to sit patiently still. I looked up and the surgeon was walking out to us and said it had all gone well. He said her muscles were strong and moved well, which should help her speech development, and that everything closed over like he expected. They had to cut the tissue up into the hard pallet so that he could stretch it enough but he had said that might have had to happen too. He assured us again that it was all good, kept asking if we had any questions, and said they would call us in an hour or two when she was ready to be taken to her room. Mike and I heaved a big sigh and finally felt safe to go eat lunch! Almost as soon as we walked back into the waiting room (30 minutes tops) the surgeon came back and said he had just checked on her and they would be calling us soon! He said she was reaching for her mouth so they had to put the braces on her arms, but we expected that since she sucks on her fingers. I was surprised that they were calling us now. The phone rang and we went back to see her in recovery. She was hyperventilating and clearly very upset. The nurse said she thought we would calm her down better than anything else. She saw me and said "hiii" like she does from her crib every morning, and then she started wailing - it was a strange, stuffy-sounding wail, but it broke my heart. The nurse told me to sit and she handed her to me and I just began singing and talking. She stopped crying and just did the big, racking sighs. She eventually drifted off and Mike and I sat there holding and petting her for over an hour. She was attached to IV fluid and a morphine infusion and was swollen and slightly bruised around the mouth. My poor baby.
At around 2:30pm, the nurse came and took us to our room and we moved her to a crib. She looked at Mike and asked, 'up?' in that same stuffy voice but that made me feel good that she is still in there and not traumatized. She slept and we waited for her to wake up again. She would wake up and be upset that she couldn't touch her hair or wipe her eyes and the tubes clearly bothered her. She would reach for us and we did our best to console her. I even climbed into the crib for 4 hours and held her. When she woke up again, she asked for something to drink! Good sign since she was on IV fluid and finally feeling thirsty! She tolerated a little water and then Mike took her and held her until the morning.
Day 2
The resident surgeon came in with his entourage and checked her mouth. He said the wound looked dry and intact and that they would take her off the IV this morning. He also said our primary surgeon would be in later. Once the IV was out she ate a LOT compared to all of our expectations! Another good sign! Then the diapers started needing to be changed. Yeah to fluid passing through her no problem. She was still receiving morphine every 4 hours with her acetaminophen but being off the infusion made her so much more herself. She did get really fussy just after lunch but we could tell it was because she was tired and angry that things felt different. She didn't seem to have problems swallowing food or water though! It was the new sensation of suction that was hurting her. She kept sucking her tongue to the new roof of her mouth and causing it to hurt! After her much needed nap she asked for Elmo (which we had packed) and wanted to go for walks. We went to the activity room and the play room, where the clown and her entertained each other, and she was so much herself that it felt amazing.
Now, I say she was herself personality and spirit, but there are things that are obviously different. The first big thing, which we never had even considered, is that the tone of her voice is different! She is even higher pitched than before. She is nasally, more from the blood and swelling, but there is a definite 'Minnie Mouse' quality that was not there before! She already had such a girly sing-song voice that it cracks me up to hear her now. She also snores now, which I had never heard before. It makes sense if you consider that they do surgery to make the soft palate smaller to reduce snoring and she didn't even have one before! hahaha! It is also refreshing to not see food come out her nose right after eating - although the blood right now is not so fun. It keeps scabbing over so she can't breathe! (The bath when we got home cleaned a lot of that though!)
At the end of this day she went to sleep in the crib by herself. She was fussy because she knew we were right there but she did eventually fall asleep after spending the day with limited pain medication. Success!
Day 3
After a visit from the resident and his students, we were told we were clear to leave today if we felt comfortable with that. He was happy with what he was seeing and hearing of her progress. The primary surgeon came in after that and said very much the same thing. I told him that we wanted to try her without the morphine this morning just to see if she could tolerate the pain, and then we would be comfortable taking her home. She had a good morning eating and reading books. She went about 6 hours without morphine and then she through another fit (again, I think it was because she was woken up every four hours so she never really got a good sleep) and eventually I think it was hurting her in her throat and mouth because she was crying so much. We called for the morphine to help her sleep. The nurse brought the magic and she fell asleep not long after and woke again in good spirits. The surgeon came in while she slept and I said we were ready because I think being in her own home will do her better and he agreed wholeheartedly. He said that all they were doing was pain control and we can do that at home as long as we felt okay with that. He was still very assuring that everything was going well and made sure all of our questions were answered. He wants to see us in 3 weeks for followup. When she woke up, we ate lunch, packed, and were officially discharged. She was quite dopey in the car but perked up when we got home. She ate a small dinner, played a whole lot, and started to crash early. We gave her a bath, which seemed to make her happy, and gave the ears a chance to be 'cleaned.' I use quotations because the amount of scabbing in there doesn't allow for us to really go in and clean and know we won't hurt anything, so we just let her lay underwater and then I removed what scabs I could from the outer opening. Poor kid. So full of scabs. Anyway, she is at home now and asleep in her crib. She has only had two doses of morphine today and will hopefully have a good sleep - her first in three days. Hopefully, Mike and I will too!
Kid is an incredible survivor. She proves it again by blowing all my worries out the window for the newest giant upset in her life!
Day 1
We got her to the pre-op room early, early (she was second surgery, only after a suture removal), and began our wait. She hadn't eaten and I had to keep saying no to her drink requests but she was in such good spirits. She was wonderful and happy and only a little hesitant when they took her away. We moved to the waiting room. My biggest concern was if there was going to be a reaction to the anesthesia - we would know about that right away. About 20 minutes later the ear surgeon comes out and tells us the tubes are in and they were starting the cleft - well, I guess the anesthesia was okay! When it hit the 2 hour mark I started to get antsy... the surgeon had estimated 1.5 - 2 hours. I had to remind myself that it was 2 hours starting AFTER the anesthesia and tubes. I resolved to sit patiently still. I looked up and the surgeon was walking out to us and said it had all gone well. He said her muscles were strong and moved well, which should help her speech development, and that everything closed over like he expected. They had to cut the tissue up into the hard pallet so that he could stretch it enough but he had said that might have had to happen too. He assured us again that it was all good, kept asking if we had any questions, and said they would call us in an hour or two when she was ready to be taken to her room. Mike and I heaved a big sigh and finally felt safe to go eat lunch! Almost as soon as we walked back into the waiting room (30 minutes tops) the surgeon came back and said he had just checked on her and they would be calling us soon! He said she was reaching for her mouth so they had to put the braces on her arms, but we expected that since she sucks on her fingers. I was surprised that they were calling us now. The phone rang and we went back to see her in recovery. She was hyperventilating and clearly very upset. The nurse said she thought we would calm her down better than anything else. She saw me and said "hiii" like she does from her crib every morning, and then she started wailing - it was a strange, stuffy-sounding wail, but it broke my heart. The nurse told me to sit and she handed her to me and I just began singing and talking. She stopped crying and just did the big, racking sighs. She eventually drifted off and Mike and I sat there holding and petting her for over an hour. She was attached to IV fluid and a morphine infusion and was swollen and slightly bruised around the mouth. My poor baby.
At around 2:30pm, the nurse came and took us to our room and we moved her to a crib. She looked at Mike and asked, 'up?' in that same stuffy voice but that made me feel good that she is still in there and not traumatized. She slept and we waited for her to wake up again. She would wake up and be upset that she couldn't touch her hair or wipe her eyes and the tubes clearly bothered her. She would reach for us and we did our best to console her. I even climbed into the crib for 4 hours and held her. When she woke up again, she asked for something to drink! Good sign since she was on IV fluid and finally feeling thirsty! She tolerated a little water and then Mike took her and held her until the morning.
Day 2
The resident surgeon came in with his entourage and checked her mouth. He said the wound looked dry and intact and that they would take her off the IV this morning. He also said our primary surgeon would be in later. Once the IV was out she ate a LOT compared to all of our expectations! Another good sign! Then the diapers started needing to be changed. Yeah to fluid passing through her no problem. She was still receiving morphine every 4 hours with her acetaminophen but being off the infusion made her so much more herself. She did get really fussy just after lunch but we could tell it was because she was tired and angry that things felt different. She didn't seem to have problems swallowing food or water though! It was the new sensation of suction that was hurting her. She kept sucking her tongue to the new roof of her mouth and causing it to hurt! After her much needed nap she asked for Elmo (which we had packed) and wanted to go for walks. We went to the activity room and the play room, where the clown and her entertained each other, and she was so much herself that it felt amazing.
Now, I say she was herself personality and spirit, but there are things that are obviously different. The first big thing, which we never had even considered, is that the tone of her voice is different! She is even higher pitched than before. She is nasally, more from the blood and swelling, but there is a definite 'Minnie Mouse' quality that was not there before! She already had such a girly sing-song voice that it cracks me up to hear her now. She also snores now, which I had never heard before. It makes sense if you consider that they do surgery to make the soft palate smaller to reduce snoring and she didn't even have one before! hahaha! It is also refreshing to not see food come out her nose right after eating - although the blood right now is not so fun. It keeps scabbing over so she can't breathe! (The bath when we got home cleaned a lot of that though!)
At the end of this day she went to sleep in the crib by herself. She was fussy because she knew we were right there but she did eventually fall asleep after spending the day with limited pain medication. Success!
Day 3
After a visit from the resident and his students, we were told we were clear to leave today if we felt comfortable with that. He was happy with what he was seeing and hearing of her progress. The primary surgeon came in after that and said very much the same thing. I told him that we wanted to try her without the morphine this morning just to see if she could tolerate the pain, and then we would be comfortable taking her home. She had a good morning eating and reading books. She went about 6 hours without morphine and then she through another fit (again, I think it was because she was woken up every four hours so she never really got a good sleep) and eventually I think it was hurting her in her throat and mouth because she was crying so much. We called for the morphine to help her sleep. The nurse brought the magic and she fell asleep not long after and woke again in good spirits. The surgeon came in while she slept and I said we were ready because I think being in her own home will do her better and he agreed wholeheartedly. He said that all they were doing was pain control and we can do that at home as long as we felt okay with that. He was still very assuring that everything was going well and made sure all of our questions were answered. He wants to see us in 3 weeks for followup. When she woke up, we ate lunch, packed, and were officially discharged. She was quite dopey in the car but perked up when we got home. She ate a small dinner, played a whole lot, and started to crash early. We gave her a bath, which seemed to make her happy, and gave the ears a chance to be 'cleaned.' I use quotations because the amount of scabbing in there doesn't allow for us to really go in and clean and know we won't hurt anything, so we just let her lay underwater and then I removed what scabs I could from the outer opening. Poor kid. So full of scabs. Anyway, she is at home now and asleep in her crib. She has only had two doses of morphine today and will hopefully have a good sleep - her first in three days. Hopefully, Mike and I will too!
Kid is an incredible survivor. She proves it again by blowing all my worries out the window for the newest giant upset in her life!
Thursday, January 23, 2014
A Whole Lot of Anxiousness (3 weeks of drafts)
Jan. 9th: We had our social worker visit today and it went swimmingly, or course. She was a little shy at first but then D was able to see her be silly in a comfortable environment. The visit was so we can report on Dania's physical, social, and emotional growth. We had to report on our ENT visits and update them with the date of the surgery.
NOTE: Now, I did not post anything too far in advance of the surgery just because (like not buying clothes before she was ours) I didn't want to jinx anything. I have been saving my drafts with all my fears and anxiety and EVERYTHING that has to do with the operation.
We also got the phone call about the surgery date today, just after I said to Mike, "well, they haven't called and wouldn't 2 weeks before, right? So, it must be next month." WRONG! Apparently this woman did not have our right phone number - which has been properly attached to Dania's health card since September as I have confirmed it at every one of her appointments... Whatever, we just need to wait for the package in the mail and spend a whole day in pre-op. It is scheduled. I was instantly nervous.
Jan. 16th: We received the pre-op package today. It contains hospital instructions as to parking, staying for a few nights, and procedure on the day of the operation. We also have our schedule for the pre-op day on the 23rd. It will be a loooooong day; they estimate 8 - 3:30. Guh. No nap that day - she will be a pill for the last appointment for sure! Poor kid. More needles, x-rays, and being taken to 3 different offices where none of her toys or anything familiar will be. I have been getting a slowly growing pit in my stomach. I know the whole procedure will be harder on Mike and me than it will on Dania. I am scared for her frustrations at having her arms braced. I am already sad for her because, as we all know, when something is different in your mouth you constantly poke it with your tongue and it is going to hurt. It will be different for her to eat, talk, and BREATHE! Our basic human instinct of breathing is going to feel so foreign and possibly scary because her nose and mouth won't feel like they are taking in as much air! I am also preparing for the after care and hoping that no one will come visiting until she is comfortable again. It is hard to not visit someone so precious when she is hurting, but we really will need our space at the beginning.
Jan. 23rd: Today was preop day. First of all, I have to say that she was an amazing trooper and I cannot believe she wasn't melting down after 7 hours when we got to our last appointment. We woke her before 7 am and left the pediatrician's office at 3pm. GUH! Our first appointment was in the oral maxillofacial clinic. We signed the consent forms, went over her history and had some pictures taken of her cleft.
Then we went to the second building to meet the nurse that will be there for her on Monday. He was so nice. We got the tour of day surgery and the low down about where we will be staying after the surgery. We were told how there should be a liaison nurse going back and forth between the OR and the waiting room and were shown the phone that they call as soon as a surgery is finished. They expect anyone waiting to pick it up and pass along the news that the surgeon will be coming out to speak to so-and-so. We then wait until she wakes up and is stable before we can see her. We will probably get there at 7 am and get to see her around lunch, as long as everything goes as planned.
Then we went and got her blood work done (the only real tears of the day) and went to talk to the surgeon again. He was just as nice as I remember and thorough and seemed pleased to be able to help. He laughed when I asked about brushing her teeth after; I said I had not seen anything about it in all the literature we were given. He said it is because this is normally done before the teeth are present and laughed. He said it was a good question and addressed it right away. He went over pain control and antibiotics and how this is just the primary closure...it could always lead to more operations down the line as she heals and grows. It was a lot of the same but it was good to hear it all again.
We then had a lunch break where she charmed the waitress at Smitty's - still in a good mood. After lunch we went to the pediatrician and waited forever. All 3 of us looked tired at this point. We waited a good while just to have the pediatrician tell us this was actually an unnecessary visit really. Just what we want to hear as she is being robbed of her nap! She has a runny nose but her lungs are clear so the pediatrician cleared her and completed the required forms and sent us on our way. She said the anesthesiologist will make the final call Monday morning since he is the one putting her to sleep; sometimes he can be really picky about runny noses or the chance of cold. She asked how we thought she was attaching and adapting and I told her how Dania blows my mind with how well she is understanding us and handling everything. That was when she said, "well, that is really you. You should congratulate yourself because it is not always like this for orphans and if she is blooming so successfully it is because she watches you and imitates you." That felt amazing to be told we have modeled a good routine and showed her the right attention and affection. I mean, I know we are doing well and have a wonderful situation, but to have this seasoned professional say it made me want to cry... and I was tired.
She crashed almost as soon as we were on the road. What a good kid.
On an almost different note, our magazine interview was published and another local couple looked up this blog and contacted me. They brought their little girl home a month before us and had a cleft lip and pallet surgery last fall. Their girl is from a different city, about half way between Moscow and Ufa, but the timing and overlap between sources of information seems to be similar. We are going to meet up after Dania is heeled and ready for play-dates again.
Well, 4 more sleeps and it is go-time. We appreciate the love and well-wishes but respectfully request that there are no drop-ins and visits from anyone at the hospital and none after discharge until we say she is up to it. This is important as we don't know if this could cause any setback in her development and she is going to be pretty friggin' miserable. We don't show up and try to hug you when you are feeling gross, can't talk, spitting blood, and dopey... offer her the same respect even though she is tiny, please!
NOTE: Now, I did not post anything too far in advance of the surgery just because (like not buying clothes before she was ours) I didn't want to jinx anything. I have been saving my drafts with all my fears and anxiety and EVERYTHING that has to do with the operation.
We also got the phone call about the surgery date today, just after I said to Mike, "well, they haven't called and wouldn't 2 weeks before, right? So, it must be next month." WRONG! Apparently this woman did not have our right phone number - which has been properly attached to Dania's health card since September as I have confirmed it at every one of her appointments... Whatever, we just need to wait for the package in the mail and spend a whole day in pre-op. It is scheduled. I was instantly nervous.
Jan. 16th: We received the pre-op package today. It contains hospital instructions as to parking, staying for a few nights, and procedure on the day of the operation. We also have our schedule for the pre-op day on the 23rd. It will be a loooooong day; they estimate 8 - 3:30. Guh. No nap that day - she will be a pill for the last appointment for sure! Poor kid. More needles, x-rays, and being taken to 3 different offices where none of her toys or anything familiar will be. I have been getting a slowly growing pit in my stomach. I know the whole procedure will be harder on Mike and me than it will on Dania. I am scared for her frustrations at having her arms braced. I am already sad for her because, as we all know, when something is different in your mouth you constantly poke it with your tongue and it is going to hurt. It will be different for her to eat, talk, and BREATHE! Our basic human instinct of breathing is going to feel so foreign and possibly scary because her nose and mouth won't feel like they are taking in as much air! I am also preparing for the after care and hoping that no one will come visiting until she is comfortable again. It is hard to not visit someone so precious when she is hurting, but we really will need our space at the beginning.
Jan. 23rd: Today was preop day. First of all, I have to say that she was an amazing trooper and I cannot believe she wasn't melting down after 7 hours when we got to our last appointment. We woke her before 7 am and left the pediatrician's office at 3pm. GUH! Our first appointment was in the oral maxillofacial clinic. We signed the consent forms, went over her history and had some pictures taken of her cleft.
Then we went to the second building to meet the nurse that will be there for her on Monday. He was so nice. We got the tour of day surgery and the low down about where we will be staying after the surgery. We were told how there should be a liaison nurse going back and forth between the OR and the waiting room and were shown the phone that they call as soon as a surgery is finished. They expect anyone waiting to pick it up and pass along the news that the surgeon will be coming out to speak to so-and-so. We then wait until she wakes up and is stable before we can see her. We will probably get there at 7 am and get to see her around lunch, as long as everything goes as planned.
Then we went and got her blood work done (the only real tears of the day) and went to talk to the surgeon again. He was just as nice as I remember and thorough and seemed pleased to be able to help. He laughed when I asked about brushing her teeth after; I said I had not seen anything about it in all the literature we were given. He said it is because this is normally done before the teeth are present and laughed. He said it was a good question and addressed it right away. He went over pain control and antibiotics and how this is just the primary closure...it could always lead to more operations down the line as she heals and grows. It was a lot of the same but it was good to hear it all again.
We then had a lunch break where she charmed the waitress at Smitty's - still in a good mood. After lunch we went to the pediatrician and waited forever. All 3 of us looked tired at this point. We waited a good while just to have the pediatrician tell us this was actually an unnecessary visit really. Just what we want to hear as she is being robbed of her nap! She has a runny nose but her lungs are clear so the pediatrician cleared her and completed the required forms and sent us on our way. She said the anesthesiologist will make the final call Monday morning since he is the one putting her to sleep; sometimes he can be really picky about runny noses or the chance of cold. She asked how we thought she was attaching and adapting and I told her how Dania blows my mind with how well she is understanding us and handling everything. That was when she said, "well, that is really you. You should congratulate yourself because it is not always like this for orphans and if she is blooming so successfully it is because she watches you and imitates you." That felt amazing to be told we have modeled a good routine and showed her the right attention and affection. I mean, I know we are doing well and have a wonderful situation, but to have this seasoned professional say it made me want to cry... and I was tired.
She crashed almost as soon as we were on the road. What a good kid.
On an almost different note, our magazine interview was published and another local couple looked up this blog and contacted me. They brought their little girl home a month before us and had a cleft lip and pallet surgery last fall. Their girl is from a different city, about half way between Moscow and Ufa, but the timing and overlap between sources of information seems to be similar. We are going to meet up after Dania is heeled and ready for play-dates again.
Well, 4 more sleeps and it is go-time. We appreciate the love and well-wishes but respectfully request that there are no drop-ins and visits from anyone at the hospital and none after discharge until we say she is up to it. This is important as we don't know if this could cause any setback in her development and she is going to be pretty friggin' miserable. We don't show up and try to hug you when you are feeling gross, can't talk, spitting blood, and dopey... offer her the same respect even though she is tiny, please!
Friday, December 13, 2013
All of the Appointments!
It has been a crazy busy time right now. First of all, we had her hearing tested, which was inconclusive due to the amount of fluid in her ears. Then we went to the family doctor to see if she had an ear infection. Also inconclusive due to the amount of wax, nonocclusive though. She did burst into tears upon seeing her doctor who, up to this point, has only given her needles... sorry kid! A week later, we return to the doctor for her flu shot! She got over it much quicker this time.
We also received her permanent resident card finally! Yeah!!!! Now, at any time before she is 18, we can apply for her citizenship!
We also had first hair cut, first snow fall, visit from Gramma Mary, and many other antics!
Then we did the big visit to the cleft palate clinic at the children's hospital here. We met some really nice parents of kids who have been attending the clinics for longer than us and have assured us that this really is the best clinic. They had to travel to other provinces for a few surgeries and were grateful that this hospital was their home base for everything. The team of employees we met were very, very nice and informative. It was a heck of a lot of information thrown at us in a few hours (still much longer than I had anticipated and Dania did wonderfully being trucked around from office to office and only getting cranky at the very end!). The cleft palate coordinator and head nurse met us first and went over standard protocol of who we would meet and who might be in our future. We didn't need to meet with their speech pathologist or pediatrician because we had prior appointments with them outside the clinic and nothing has changed. That probably saved us 2 hours of time! They talked about preparation and recovery procedures. A lot of prep had to do with weening kids off of bottles, soothers, sucky things that can pop the incisions - we are ahead of the game there! Then the recovery had to do with the possibility of bracing the arms so the kids can't get their fingers at the incisions, how to eat, and how to clean and care for the wounds properly. Then we were sent to the ear surgeon and met with him and his nurse. They looked in her ear, confirmed the presence of fluid still, and said that she probably always has a build up of it because it cannot drain properly. He showed us the tubes and how they would be inserted during the main operation. They will stay in for a year and we will reevaluate at that time, and after hearing testing post operation, if he needs to intervene further. There was a lot of post tube care that seems different from when I had tubes, but nothing drastic. She didn't mind him poking around in her ears and was very good. Overall, the big question of whether or not she has ever heard us correctly (due to constantly present fluid) has been raised. We may sound a whole lot clearer post surgery ie. M and B or G and K not sounding the same.
We then had to go back to the shared surgery section and be directed to the oral maxillofacial surgeon. He and his resident were so nice and gentle. She was cranky at this point, hungry and thirsty too, and she has never liked people poking in her mouth - I assume it is because she has always had that! My nose started gushing blood due to dryness and I got over a sink only to discover the tap didn't work. Mike had to find someone to show them so it could get cleaned up... well, that resulted in me being heavily questioned and I kept insisting it was just dry nose and I only wanted to ensure the blood got cleaned up! Afterward, we started playing a game with Dania. The crush-up-tissue-and-throw-it-out game while we waited and waited. When the surgeons came in it was actually pretty quick. They both looked in her mouth and she semi-cooperated. She didn't bit the mirror in half, at least! The main surgeon then drew up some diagrams for us and I now have an even better understanding of what will happen. He says he can do it all in one surgery since her jaw isn't too wide and he wants to get it done before she is 2. She turns two in two months and a week! I asked if this could happen in January. He seemed to imply that he just had plans change with a different client so there is a distinct possibility that that could happen (next month! holy smokes!) but if not, this winter for sure. Wow! Now I'm nervous! The procedure will be: we come in the day before for prep, go home and come in first thing the next morning with her having fasted. The actual surgery is 1.5-2 hours and, if all goes smoothly, 2 days in recovery. The first day with strictly IV food, the next day and the next 3 weeks will be soft food only. We will stay with her in a private room and decide if we need the arm braces. They look to be fun fabric covered bamboo place mats that tie around the elbow so kids cannot bend the hand to the mouth but can still use their arms for arm-length play.
Now, we wait for a call, probably next week, with the proposed date!
Wow! All of that, my play going on (3 more shows to perform as of this moment!), my last two weeks of my course, AND Christmas!
I'm tired hahaha. Now, hopefully, you can understand why I had almost a month gap in between blog entries! Sorry and thanks to those of you who still follow! xoxo
We also received her permanent resident card finally! Yeah!!!! Now, at any time before she is 18, we can apply for her citizenship!
We also had first hair cut, first snow fall, visit from Gramma Mary, and many other antics!
Then we did the big visit to the cleft palate clinic at the children's hospital here. We met some really nice parents of kids who have been attending the clinics for longer than us and have assured us that this really is the best clinic. They had to travel to other provinces for a few surgeries and were grateful that this hospital was their home base for everything. The team of employees we met were very, very nice and informative. It was a heck of a lot of information thrown at us in a few hours (still much longer than I had anticipated and Dania did wonderfully being trucked around from office to office and only getting cranky at the very end!). The cleft palate coordinator and head nurse met us first and went over standard protocol of who we would meet and who might be in our future. We didn't need to meet with their speech pathologist or pediatrician because we had prior appointments with them outside the clinic and nothing has changed. That probably saved us 2 hours of time! They talked about preparation and recovery procedures. A lot of prep had to do with weening kids off of bottles, soothers, sucky things that can pop the incisions - we are ahead of the game there! Then the recovery had to do with the possibility of bracing the arms so the kids can't get their fingers at the incisions, how to eat, and how to clean and care for the wounds properly. Then we were sent to the ear surgeon and met with him and his nurse. They looked in her ear, confirmed the presence of fluid still, and said that she probably always has a build up of it because it cannot drain properly. He showed us the tubes and how they would be inserted during the main operation. They will stay in for a year and we will reevaluate at that time, and after hearing testing post operation, if he needs to intervene further. There was a lot of post tube care that seems different from when I had tubes, but nothing drastic. She didn't mind him poking around in her ears and was very good. Overall, the big question of whether or not she has ever heard us correctly (due to constantly present fluid) has been raised. We may sound a whole lot clearer post surgery ie. M and B or G and K not sounding the same.
We then had to go back to the shared surgery section and be directed to the oral maxillofacial surgeon. He and his resident were so nice and gentle. She was cranky at this point, hungry and thirsty too, and she has never liked people poking in her mouth - I assume it is because she has always had that! My nose started gushing blood due to dryness and I got over a sink only to discover the tap didn't work. Mike had to find someone to show them so it could get cleaned up... well, that resulted in me being heavily questioned and I kept insisting it was just dry nose and I only wanted to ensure the blood got cleaned up! Afterward, we started playing a game with Dania. The crush-up-tissue-and-throw-it-out game while we waited and waited. When the surgeons came in it was actually pretty quick. They both looked in her mouth and she semi-cooperated. She didn't bit the mirror in half, at least! The main surgeon then drew up some diagrams for us and I now have an even better understanding of what will happen. He says he can do it all in one surgery since her jaw isn't too wide and he wants to get it done before she is 2. She turns two in two months and a week! I asked if this could happen in January. He seemed to imply that he just had plans change with a different client so there is a distinct possibility that that could happen (next month! holy smokes!) but if not, this winter for sure. Wow! Now I'm nervous! The procedure will be: we come in the day before for prep, go home and come in first thing the next morning with her having fasted. The actual surgery is 1.5-2 hours and, if all goes smoothly, 2 days in recovery. The first day with strictly IV food, the next day and the next 3 weeks will be soft food only. We will stay with her in a private room and decide if we need the arm braces. They look to be fun fabric covered bamboo place mats that tie around the elbow so kids cannot bend the hand to the mouth but can still use their arms for arm-length play.
Now, we wait for a call, probably next week, with the proposed date!
Wow! All of that, my play going on (3 more shows to perform as of this moment!), my last two weeks of my course, AND Christmas!
I'm tired hahaha. Now, hopefully, you can understand why I had almost a month gap in between blog entries! Sorry and thanks to those of you who still follow! xoxo
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Speech Pathologist
Today was the first of all the ear, nose, throat appointments. I loved her. She, E, was very informative and kind and, above all else, impressed! She really was impressed with Dania's stages of speech development considering she had only known Russian up until 3 months ago! She went over how cleft pallet kids are delayed in sounds or make other sounds for compensation but had expected Dania to be further behind because of the second language. She said for a child who stared English 3 months ago Dania was pretty much at par with most stages of typical speech development.
She did tests to see if she recognized her name, ie would stop her present activity and acknowledge the name prompt. She gave simple commands, put in box, give to Mama. Tested how much she could do without a physical gesture to prompt her, ie. saying hug without opening your arms. She gave her objects to see how she would interact with them and wanting her to use them in conjunction with each other even though they might not be a set of toys normally used together, ie. clapping them together, putting one inside the other. She then progressed farther to commands like 'throw the ball to mama,' which we haven't done with her. She also would show her two objects, or pictures of objects, and ask her to point to a specific one, which we have just started with animal pictures. I told E that Dania loves books and loves animals so E got a book and a bag of toy animals that correspond with the pictures. Well, Dania was RIGHT into that game! She asked about what sounds Dania makes and we explained all front of the mouth or back of the throat, with the exception of 'la la la,' and she was happy that she was bringing her tongue forward to make a sound. We then showed E how Dania recognized the parts of the body without us gesturing and she was impressed with that!
She gave us some suggestions for work at home, more work in front of a mirror to get her to use her lips more, we need to stop saying "can you" when we ask her to do something and make it more simple and direct, start giving her two objects and getting her to identify a particular one to hand to us, place objects out of reach for her to gesture to them and then we can say the object and try and get her to say it too - even if it is just a vowel sound, and always reinforce what we are doing with simple dialogue. She said she loves what we have been doing because clearly we are doing stuff right for her! That felt great! We just need to simplify and work on the front of the mouth more. She said that even once she has the pallet repaired, if she is using compensation sounds now she will most likely continue to use them. Basically, a cleft kid doesn't have the glottis at the back of the throat that cuts off the airway to make a difference between nasal sounds and non-nasal sounds. If she is using the back of her throat to simulate a sound she will continue to so we will need to follow with E even after the surgery.
She wants to see us again in about a month to see development, go over in more detail things we can do, and set us up in a cleft pallet workshop as well as an early language development workshop. She had gone over with us the physicality of her throat and nose and even said that cleft kids are often prone to ear infections because of fluid drainage issues so it is great we are going to get her ears and hearing looked at in detail next week. Also, if there is an issue with the inner ears, the cleft kid may not be hearing the sounds properly to mimic them!
We spent almost two hours going over different tests and strategies. It was awesome. She was laughing that I was all over the difference between speech and language and developmental stages and then I told her I learned a lot of that in teacher's college.
It was just such a good visit and I look forward to the next and the workshops!
She did tests to see if she recognized her name, ie would stop her present activity and acknowledge the name prompt. She gave simple commands, put in box, give to Mama. Tested how much she could do without a physical gesture to prompt her, ie. saying hug without opening your arms. She gave her objects to see how she would interact with them and wanting her to use them in conjunction with each other even though they might not be a set of toys normally used together, ie. clapping them together, putting one inside the other. She then progressed farther to commands like 'throw the ball to mama,' which we haven't done with her. She also would show her two objects, or pictures of objects, and ask her to point to a specific one, which we have just started with animal pictures. I told E that Dania loves books and loves animals so E got a book and a bag of toy animals that correspond with the pictures. Well, Dania was RIGHT into that game! She asked about what sounds Dania makes and we explained all front of the mouth or back of the throat, with the exception of 'la la la,' and she was happy that she was bringing her tongue forward to make a sound. We then showed E how Dania recognized the parts of the body without us gesturing and she was impressed with that!
She gave us some suggestions for work at home, more work in front of a mirror to get her to use her lips more, we need to stop saying "can you" when we ask her to do something and make it more simple and direct, start giving her two objects and getting her to identify a particular one to hand to us, place objects out of reach for her to gesture to them and then we can say the object and try and get her to say it too - even if it is just a vowel sound, and always reinforce what we are doing with simple dialogue. She said she loves what we have been doing because clearly we are doing stuff right for her! That felt great! We just need to simplify and work on the front of the mouth more. She said that even once she has the pallet repaired, if she is using compensation sounds now she will most likely continue to use them. Basically, a cleft kid doesn't have the glottis at the back of the throat that cuts off the airway to make a difference between nasal sounds and non-nasal sounds. If she is using the back of her throat to simulate a sound she will continue to so we will need to follow with E even after the surgery.
She wants to see us again in about a month to see development, go over in more detail things we can do, and set us up in a cleft pallet workshop as well as an early language development workshop. She had gone over with us the physicality of her throat and nose and even said that cleft kids are often prone to ear infections because of fluid drainage issues so it is great we are going to get her ears and hearing looked at in detail next week. Also, if there is an issue with the inner ears, the cleft kid may not be hearing the sounds properly to mimic them!
We spent almost two hours going over different tests and strategies. It was awesome. She was laughing that I was all over the difference between speech and language and developmental stages and then I told her I learned a lot of that in teacher's college.
It was just such a good visit and I look forward to the next and the workshops!
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Eyes and Hair
This week started with the visit to the eye doctor again. We had to use the dilating drops and I had put one in my eye the night before to see how much they 'sting,' (as the pharmacist informed me they would). They sting a bit but they didn't seem to bother her. As I have previously stated, she likes water being pored on her face. The first round of drops went in with ease. We held her down and held open each eye and dropped in one drop. The second round, five minutes later, had her crying and I think it was because of us forcing her eyes open. Once the drops were in, she was fine. Even when I knew the drops must have made her vision blurry, she was playing happily with her train. She wore her sunglasses in the car the whole time and was a star at the clinic. The doctor said Dania's eyes are much better than he had thought! No glasses needed... I admit, I am a little sad about that. She would have been so cute with glasses. We have to go back in six months just to ensure her muscles continue to develop appropriately.
I also had my hairdresser take a look at her hair. It is growing in top-heavy and I wanted to know if it was worth it to shape it and if that would bring out the curls more. After she was cooed over by a lot of the ladies at the salon, my hairdresser said she would definitely bring her in to shape it in a few more weeks. She was taken by how long and thick the hair from the top of her head is compared to the rest.
We also had her permanent resident card photograph rejected so we had to take that again. I did it at the shoppers myself so I know it is the correct size. The one we sent before was the one from Russia and her face was a centimeter too big. We will mail this back tomorrow and THEN we should get her card! Finally!
I also have to relate the tale from Sunday night prebedtime... We were at our friends' place for boardgames and I had been saying she is a different kid now since Ontario. Much more playful. As soon as the bath was done and they two little ones were in their jammies, Dania began spinning and acting silly. Well, this was new for E and he seemed to like it. He climbed up onto the couch and I had to help Dani up and then E started mimicking her! Well, this was the most hilarious thing ever to her! She was squealing and giggling and doing different things for him to copy. Erik seemed to like all of this too and even laughed himself right off the couch! I cannot explain how much it warms my heart to see Dania play this way. She was always so quiet and self-sustaining in her actions, as we noted at the orphanage, but now she enjoys interacting with other kids with imagination and delight! I LOVE it!
I also had my hairdresser take a look at her hair. It is growing in top-heavy and I wanted to know if it was worth it to shape it and if that would bring out the curls more. After she was cooed over by a lot of the ladies at the salon, my hairdresser said she would definitely bring her in to shape it in a few more weeks. She was taken by how long and thick the hair from the top of her head is compared to the rest.
We also had her permanent resident card photograph rejected so we had to take that again. I did it at the shoppers myself so I know it is the correct size. The one we sent before was the one from Russia and her face was a centimeter too big. We will mail this back tomorrow and THEN we should get her card! Finally!
I also have to relate the tale from Sunday night prebedtime... We were at our friends' place for boardgames and I had been saying she is a different kid now since Ontario. Much more playful. As soon as the bath was done and they two little ones were in their jammies, Dania began spinning and acting silly. Well, this was new for E and he seemed to like it. He climbed up onto the couch and I had to help Dani up and then E started mimicking her! Well, this was the most hilarious thing ever to her! She was squealing and giggling and doing different things for him to copy. Erik seemed to like all of this too and even laughed himself right off the couch! I cannot explain how much it warms my heart to see Dania play this way. She was always so quiet and self-sustaining in her actions, as we noted at the orphanage, but now she enjoys interacting with other kids with imagination and delight! I LOVE it!
Monday, October 14, 2013
Busy Week for Dania
This week started with a visit from the social worker. She was a total doll for D! She came in the morning and stayed for almost 2 hours. She probably didn't need to stay that long but she was obviously happy for us and I was excited for D to meet Dania. She actually said that she could sit there all morning and just watch me and Dania play because we there was such positive and happy energy from us all!
She took notes and asked a lot of the standard questions about what the leave situation is like, how much is our monthly income, what's our schedule like. Then she kept asking about Dania and, well, I just couldn't stop talking! She asked about her likes and dislikes, habits, how she has changed, what medical plans we have, how she reacts to people and surroundings and the animals. It felt great to keep relaying how awesome this kid is! Really! It may all hit the fan when she decides to rebel because "you're not my real mom" but for the time being, this kid is wonderful!
The next day we had an ophthalmologist appointment. This older gentleman took one quick peak in her eyes with the lighted scope and said, "yes, she is near-sighted." I asked how he could tell and he replied, "you see that plaque in the hall that says I've been doing this for 36 years? That's how." Oh my! How we all laughed! I liked him instantly. He also kept proclaiming how cute Dania is. He held a few items in his hand at different distances and then tried to get her to look at a lighted cartoon dog across the room and she definitely didn't focus on it. He wants us to come back on Nov. 4th and do a more extensive test with the dilating drops just to make sure there isn't anything more going on. I think she will be so adorable with glasses and was a little disappointed that we didn't get to try glasses on right away!
Thursday we had the pediatrician visit. This lady said she used to see all of the international orphans at one time because GPs tend to be weary about drawing some conclusions for these children and would feel more comfortable with an expert. She told us this after she asked us what concerns we had and I said I didn't have any! She also said that she is the pediatrician at the IWK (children's hospital) in the Ear, Nose, Throat clinic and was shocked we had not been contacted by them for an appointment yet. She said that a cleft like hers would normally be treated after two years old (one year if she was born here) because the tissue heals better when it is older. She asked us to call her on Wednesday and she will check on Thursday about Dania's appointment. Jackpot! Dr. S said she was going to keep Dania's file open but that she did not have any concerns. Dania was extremely well-behaved, even gave a fecal sample almost on cue. She wanted us to come back at 2 years just so she can keep tracking her measurements. Dania has gained a pound since the GP visit (18.5 by official scales) and she is proportionate. There was one oddity, her head circumference went down from 1 year to now... Dr. S seems to think this is not accurate but we will double check progress at her 2 year appointment. The female growth spectrum chart had Dania in the bottom for everything so she will probably always be petite, but, again, no concerns. She even settled my concern that Dania wasn't drinking enough milk (she totally is) and Mike's concern that she doesn't eat enough (again, she totally is).
Then she had Thanksgiving dinner with all of Mike's side of the family! Uncle Jon is the favourite because he can lift her the highest! She loves being able to touch the ceiling. She also was given cheesecake again and went nuts. She was spinning around and being a super zombie. It was so funny! She wore a cute dress and was pretty well behaved. Starting getting a little cranky at the end of the night but that was expected. If she has a frisbee that she can push around on the ground or bang on hard floors she is a happy camper. She liked the turkey too - and cranberry sauch!
As for my personal observations from the week, she is starting to make different sounds, finally. She actually was trying to mimic 'hello' while we were playing peed-a-boo. She kind of sounded like a dove, it was so cute. She is also indicating specific pictures in books or more specific items (and less of just the general direction of 'over-there') and making a sound after as if she is saying what it is. She can indicate toes and knees, and tries shoulders but she cannot touch them without my help; she touches her armpits LOL. She is trying hard to jump and has gotten off the ground a few times - this stems from her want to dance and not the fact that she knows what jumping is. She sings aloud whenever I play Sarah Slean - it is instant. Most other musicians she will start by swaying and then, maybe, make a little coo here or there. She must love Sarah Slean as inherently as I do! She also lights up as soon as she hears the Muppet Show theme song!
We travel this week. I'm a little nervous about the plane because it could bring back memories and feelings from the looooong flight from Moscow. Although, if she is similar to how she was on the flight from Ufa to Moscow we will be fine! I know my family has gotten everything she could possibly need for when we visit so that is a huge relief and I feel lucky, again, to have such great family! I also went shopping with a friend, M, and he picked out the dress that Dania will wear for my cousin's wedding! She will be adorable!
She is almost always adorable!
Here is my favourite pic of the week:
-Still waiting for the permanent resident card.
-Printed the photos for our post placement report that we have to mail tomorrow. We also have to get the money order for that. D will mail her report directly from her social work business.
-Booked an appointment with speech pathologist next month.
-Need to phone Dr. S. to investigate Dania's ENT appointment.
Here we come Ontario!
xoxo
She took notes and asked a lot of the standard questions about what the leave situation is like, how much is our monthly income, what's our schedule like. Then she kept asking about Dania and, well, I just couldn't stop talking! She asked about her likes and dislikes, habits, how she has changed, what medical plans we have, how she reacts to people and surroundings and the animals. It felt great to keep relaying how awesome this kid is! Really! It may all hit the fan when she decides to rebel because "you're not my real mom" but for the time being, this kid is wonderful!
The next day we had an ophthalmologist appointment. This older gentleman took one quick peak in her eyes with the lighted scope and said, "yes, she is near-sighted." I asked how he could tell and he replied, "you see that plaque in the hall that says I've been doing this for 36 years? That's how." Oh my! How we all laughed! I liked him instantly. He also kept proclaiming how cute Dania is. He held a few items in his hand at different distances and then tried to get her to look at a lighted cartoon dog across the room and she definitely didn't focus on it. He wants us to come back on Nov. 4th and do a more extensive test with the dilating drops just to make sure there isn't anything more going on. I think she will be so adorable with glasses and was a little disappointed that we didn't get to try glasses on right away!
Thursday we had the pediatrician visit. This lady said she used to see all of the international orphans at one time because GPs tend to be weary about drawing some conclusions for these children and would feel more comfortable with an expert. She told us this after she asked us what concerns we had and I said I didn't have any! She also said that she is the pediatrician at the IWK (children's hospital) in the Ear, Nose, Throat clinic and was shocked we had not been contacted by them for an appointment yet. She said that a cleft like hers would normally be treated after two years old (one year if she was born here) because the tissue heals better when it is older. She asked us to call her on Wednesday and she will check on Thursday about Dania's appointment. Jackpot! Dr. S said she was going to keep Dania's file open but that she did not have any concerns. Dania was extremely well-behaved, even gave a fecal sample almost on cue. She wanted us to come back at 2 years just so she can keep tracking her measurements. Dania has gained a pound since the GP visit (18.5 by official scales) and she is proportionate. There was one oddity, her head circumference went down from 1 year to now... Dr. S seems to think this is not accurate but we will double check progress at her 2 year appointment. The female growth spectrum chart had Dania in the bottom for everything so she will probably always be petite, but, again, no concerns. She even settled my concern that Dania wasn't drinking enough milk (she totally is) and Mike's concern that she doesn't eat enough (again, she totally is).
Then she had Thanksgiving dinner with all of Mike's side of the family! Uncle Jon is the favourite because he can lift her the highest! She loves being able to touch the ceiling. She also was given cheesecake again and went nuts. She was spinning around and being a super zombie. It was so funny! She wore a cute dress and was pretty well behaved. Starting getting a little cranky at the end of the night but that was expected. If she has a frisbee that she can push around on the ground or bang on hard floors she is a happy camper. She liked the turkey too - and cranberry sauch!
As for my personal observations from the week, she is starting to make different sounds, finally. She actually was trying to mimic 'hello' while we were playing peed-a-boo. She kind of sounded like a dove, it was so cute. She is also indicating specific pictures in books or more specific items (and less of just the general direction of 'over-there') and making a sound after as if she is saying what it is. She can indicate toes and knees, and tries shoulders but she cannot touch them without my help; she touches her armpits LOL. She is trying hard to jump and has gotten off the ground a few times - this stems from her want to dance and not the fact that she knows what jumping is. She sings aloud whenever I play Sarah Slean - it is instant. Most other musicians she will start by swaying and then, maybe, make a little coo here or there. She must love Sarah Slean as inherently as I do! She also lights up as soon as she hears the Muppet Show theme song!
We travel this week. I'm a little nervous about the plane because it could bring back memories and feelings from the looooong flight from Moscow. Although, if she is similar to how she was on the flight from Ufa to Moscow we will be fine! I know my family has gotten everything she could possibly need for when we visit so that is a huge relief and I feel lucky, again, to have such great family! I also went shopping with a friend, M, and he picked out the dress that Dania will wear for my cousin's wedding! She will be adorable!
She is almost always adorable!
Here is my favourite pic of the week:
-Printed the photos for our post placement report that we have to mail tomorrow. We also have to get the money order for that. D will mail her report directly from her social work business.
-Booked an appointment with speech pathologist next month.
-Need to phone Dr. S. to investigate Dania's ENT appointment.
Here we come Ontario!
xoxo
Monday, October 7, 2013
Week 7
Can you believe that is all it has been??? I'm soooo antsy for that permanent resident card!
Well, this is a big week coming up. We have our social worker 'play date,' (we've been calling it that because we both know that there aren't any issues and this added first report is unwarranted) tomorrow. We have the eye doctor on Tuesday and the pediatrician on Thursday. I'm hoping the pediatrician will have a better idea for a timeline for the ENT doctor since my GP said he really doesn't know or have a patient reference. He just sent the referral to the hospital at the same time he sent the pediatrician and eye doctor.
We've been putting sunglasses on her to try and get her used to wearing something. It will be interesting as I'm sure she will need glasses... Oh! My favourite is when I get her dizzy during our prebedtime dance parties and her one eye goes all wonky from being unable to focus! WoW! The first time I saw that I kind of had my heart jump into my throat! Hilarious now, though!
Ok, so this week we took her to the community pool to try her out and she loved it. I had a HUGE round of "oh, she's so small," in the women's locker room. Sigh. Just the beginning. I told them the quick version on her story and she pointed out her eyes and they all forgot how small she was. Beautiful. I suspect we will get a lot of that now that we are going out more with her. Just have to say that aunt Candy made her a monkey hat and it was almost too small so she's not THAT small! (Such a cute hat too! Dania could pull the ears when asking where her ears were!)
We also had our first round of strangers mentioning genetic looks too! LOL! We went to vote and she received a future voter sticker, which she was completely enthralled with, and just sat quietly and played in a chair off to the side with whomever wasn't in the booth, and the lady running our poll was so impressed with Dania's calmness. Then Dania started 'flirting' a little - her definition of flirting is to show you where her hair is and ask for a fist bump. The lady kept telling her how pretty she was and made comments about whose side the looks came from... we just smiled and laughed. As I buckled Dania into the car I conspiratorially stated how we were going to fool a lot of people in the future and it will be our joke to giggle at afterwards! I think that's the angle I'm going to go with for those situations where we don't bother explaining since it really doesn't matter to a 2-minute stranger.
We also went to our first party with her. This was a birthday party for our friends' daughter turning 3. Dania had met 3 of the kids that would be there and we dressed her up in a cute outfit (now that some of the bigger clothes are fitting!) and went over wondering how she would react since it was the first big crowd of little kids since the orphanage. Well, she spent the night trying to kiss the dogs (3 of them ranging in size from 6 pounds to 85 pounds), slowly circling the whole scene, and playing beside a kid who would sit still for a few minutes. I was soooo happy and, again, impressed with how well she did! She honestly did not seem upset in the least and also didn't seem like she was out to please anyone (a coping mechanism I'm on the look out for) and just had fun! She had no problem going to sleep after and also didn't shy away from people. She is so amazing. Yes, I'm biased, but I really have to wonder what's going through her head, and I know others think that too, but she is just so chill! She also expressed an affinity for the kid-sized foam chairs so we had to go get her one. I was looking up where to buy them and at one place they happened to be on sale so we just went for it and I am so excited for her to find it in the morning! She sat and bounced herself in it for a long time. I'm hoping she will sit with her books in it.
She is starting to point to thinks in her books now. She loves flipping pages and is pretty rough with the cardboard books but she will point to something specific and say, "ghka-ghka," and wait for me to say the name of the picture and then turn to another. Things like that make me antsy to get to the ENT doctor but I have to remember that she was losing her Russian and then gaining her English. A normal human, on average, wouldn't start the 'ga-ga-ing' at specific thing like she is saying what it is at 7 weeks. She really could still just be absorbing. She makes the L, M, K, G, H, sounds so it's just a matter of practice and exposure.
Ok, That's all for tonight... well, it's morning now, but we spent the Sunday night at our friends' playing board games and we put her down there and then do the sleep transfer after a few hours and I just HAD the need to blog right now! I wanted to get this stuff in before all of the appointments. This will be a big week for entries, I'm sure.
xoxo
Well, this is a big week coming up. We have our social worker 'play date,' (we've been calling it that because we both know that there aren't any issues and this added first report is unwarranted) tomorrow. We have the eye doctor on Tuesday and the pediatrician on Thursday. I'm hoping the pediatrician will have a better idea for a timeline for the ENT doctor since my GP said he really doesn't know or have a patient reference. He just sent the referral to the hospital at the same time he sent the pediatrician and eye doctor.
We've been putting sunglasses on her to try and get her used to wearing something. It will be interesting as I'm sure she will need glasses... Oh! My favourite is when I get her dizzy during our prebedtime dance parties and her one eye goes all wonky from being unable to focus! WoW! The first time I saw that I kind of had my heart jump into my throat! Hilarious now, though!
Ok, so this week we took her to the community pool to try her out and she loved it. I had a HUGE round of "oh, she's so small," in the women's locker room. Sigh. Just the beginning. I told them the quick version on her story and she pointed out her eyes and they all forgot how small she was. Beautiful. I suspect we will get a lot of that now that we are going out more with her. Just have to say that aunt Candy made her a monkey hat and it was almost too small so she's not THAT small! (Such a cute hat too! Dania could pull the ears when asking where her ears were!)
We also had our first round of strangers mentioning genetic looks too! LOL! We went to vote and she received a future voter sticker, which she was completely enthralled with, and just sat quietly and played in a chair off to the side with whomever wasn't in the booth, and the lady running our poll was so impressed with Dania's calmness. Then Dania started 'flirting' a little - her definition of flirting is to show you where her hair is and ask for a fist bump. The lady kept telling her how pretty she was and made comments about whose side the looks came from... we just smiled and laughed. As I buckled Dania into the car I conspiratorially stated how we were going to fool a lot of people in the future and it will be our joke to giggle at afterwards! I think that's the angle I'm going to go with for those situations where we don't bother explaining since it really doesn't matter to a 2-minute stranger.
We also went to our first party with her. This was a birthday party for our friends' daughter turning 3. Dania had met 3 of the kids that would be there and we dressed her up in a cute outfit (now that some of the bigger clothes are fitting!) and went over wondering how she would react since it was the first big crowd of little kids since the orphanage. Well, she spent the night trying to kiss the dogs (3 of them ranging in size from 6 pounds to 85 pounds), slowly circling the whole scene, and playing beside a kid who would sit still for a few minutes. I was soooo happy and, again, impressed with how well she did! She honestly did not seem upset in the least and also didn't seem like she was out to please anyone (a coping mechanism I'm on the look out for) and just had fun! She had no problem going to sleep after and also didn't shy away from people. She is so amazing. Yes, I'm biased, but I really have to wonder what's going through her head, and I know others think that too, but she is just so chill! She also expressed an affinity for the kid-sized foam chairs so we had to go get her one. I was looking up where to buy them and at one place they happened to be on sale so we just went for it and I am so excited for her to find it in the morning! She sat and bounced herself in it for a long time. I'm hoping she will sit with her books in it.
She is starting to point to thinks in her books now. She loves flipping pages and is pretty rough with the cardboard books but she will point to something specific and say, "ghka-ghka," and wait for me to say the name of the picture and then turn to another. Things like that make me antsy to get to the ENT doctor but I have to remember that she was losing her Russian and then gaining her English. A normal human, on average, wouldn't start the 'ga-ga-ing' at specific thing like she is saying what it is at 7 weeks. She really could still just be absorbing. She makes the L, M, K, G, H, sounds so it's just a matter of practice and exposure.
Ok, That's all for tonight... well, it's morning now, but we spent the Sunday night at our friends' playing board games and we put her down there and then do the sleep transfer after a few hours and I just HAD the need to blog right now! I wanted to get this stuff in before all of the appointments. This will be a big week for entries, I'm sure.
xoxo
Her new "uh-oh" face.
After swimming.
Daily walks with sunglasses now.
Being pulled around by Erik at the party.
Friday, September 13, 2013
Needles, and Grampa, and English, oh my!
What a week! We had our first major flashback or horror (at least, I think it was!). We went to the doctor on Monday to get our referrals for the pediatrician; ear, nose, and throat specialist; and ophthalmologist. She also was given her 18-month needles. She did not like that. She was as could be expected in the office and then off for the rest of the day. That night she would not sleep. She woke up screaming and would not stop. I picked her up and she couldn't even look at me and just kept screaming and thrashing her head and hands around. I had to hold her close to me and I rocked in the chair and sang for a loooong time. Nothing seemed to be working. I really think the needles brought back memories from her medical exams in Russia. It was so not her normal crying. Eventually, I had to put her back in the crib because she was getting so hot and sweaty. I rubbed her hair and kept singing and she kept screaming. Then, she turned her head and looked at me, actually looked at me, and poked her fist up at me for a fist bump. There was my girl! She was still upset but calmed down after that! Phew!
My dad came to visit on a whim too! That was great for me to watch him watch her. He looks at her like she is a scientist. She is very inquisitive and observational and takes it all in and then does it! I felt bad he had to see her out-of-sorts because of the needles, but she was her giggly self once her legs didn't hurt her anymore! Dad now knows the train songs and her circuit of the main floor here. He saw her in the tub, pretty much swimming, and we pushed her up and down the driveway in her car (a purple Flintstone-style car that her legs are too short to work). Dad got to see her learning her new game. 3-2-1-Kaboom! All I do is count down from 3, say kaboom and she squeels and falls on her butt. Over and over again. It made me realize she is recognizing my words better.
We started to teach her some body part words. Hair, nose, eye, teeth, neck, ear. She knows these ones. She also "says" (more like hummmms) them with the same inflection that I do. She is so freaking smart! Everything we were told by our Russian training said she shouldn't have lost her Russian yet but she is already recognizing and trying to speak the English! She listens (sometimes) when we say 'no,' like, when she unrolled the toilet paper; she hasn't tried again.
Speaking of being told by the Russians, guidelines and rules have changed yet again! We now have to submit a 3 month post-placement report before the formerly initial 6 month one. I shake my head but we will do it because we have to. It just means paying for an extra set of document translation and certifications, postage, and the social worker visit. If this money actually went to Russia I would say it was a cash-grab, but it does not.
Lighter notes: Other things I've noticed this week are, she still likes her moon. She says 'ha-ka' for anything she wants. She is faster coming down the stairs. Her hair has gotten darker and curlier. She is getting bolder with the dog and approaches both pets a lot more. She enjoys laying in the tub water now; relaxing with her ears under the surface. She is bigger but she looks a lot bigger because we were handed-down a bunch of clothes that don't fall off her shoulders or need to be pinned. She is getting quicker at talking to new people. She can work her talking Russian dog by herself - and has totally worn out the mechanism inside as it now plays 1 and a half phrases out of the 6 or 7 it initially spoke! She can walk 3/4 of the way around the block. She motions to be picked up in the kitchen so she can 'ha-ka' the arrowroots we keep on the counter... clever girl.
Jeans that fit and a sticker from the doctor.
My dad came to visit on a whim too! That was great for me to watch him watch her. He looks at her like she is a scientist. She is very inquisitive and observational and takes it all in and then does it! I felt bad he had to see her out-of-sorts because of the needles, but she was her giggly self once her legs didn't hurt her anymore! Dad now knows the train songs and her circuit of the main floor here. He saw her in the tub, pretty much swimming, and we pushed her up and down the driveway in her car (a purple Flintstone-style car that her legs are too short to work). Dad got to see her learning her new game. 3-2-1-Kaboom! All I do is count down from 3, say kaboom and she squeels and falls on her butt. Over and over again. It made me realize she is recognizing my words better.
We started to teach her some body part words. Hair, nose, eye, teeth, neck, ear. She knows these ones. She also "says" (more like hummmms) them with the same inflection that I do. She is so freaking smart! Everything we were told by our Russian training said she shouldn't have lost her Russian yet but she is already recognizing and trying to speak the English! She listens (sometimes) when we say 'no,' like, when she unrolled the toilet paper; she hasn't tried again.
Speaking of being told by the Russians, guidelines and rules have changed yet again! We now have to submit a 3 month post-placement report before the formerly initial 6 month one. I shake my head but we will do it because we have to. It just means paying for an extra set of document translation and certifications, postage, and the social worker visit. If this money actually went to Russia I would say it was a cash-grab, but it does not.
Lighter notes: Other things I've noticed this week are, she still likes her moon. She says 'ha-ka' for anything she wants. She is faster coming down the stairs. Her hair has gotten darker and curlier. She is getting bolder with the dog and approaches both pets a lot more. She enjoys laying in the tub water now; relaxing with her ears under the surface. She is bigger but she looks a lot bigger because we were handed-down a bunch of clothes that don't fall off her shoulders or need to be pinned. She is getting quicker at talking to new people. She can work her talking Russian dog by herself - and has totally worn out the mechanism inside as it now plays 1 and a half phrases out of the 6 or 7 it initially spoke! She can walk 3/4 of the way around the block. She motions to be picked up in the kitchen so she can 'ha-ka' the arrowroots we keep on the counter... clever girl.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Day 5 Moscow
The clinic visits were successful... phew! The hospital felt like a fancy bank as it was all marble and crown molding, really swanky and non-sterile feeling. Our translator was great and very assuring for both of us. We saw 7 different specialists, one doctor counted for two signatures, and got our chests x-rayed. It took about 4 hours.
After, we celebrated. We walked the Arbat pedestrian street, which is a touristy area close to our apartment, and just checked it all out. We ate at the Moscow Hard Rock Cafe and relaxed. After dinner we went to one of the pubs across from our apartment and stayed on the patio into the night. It felt good to sit and talk about so much that was non adoption related.
People keep asking me how I can seemingly hold it together. I did cry once we were all done yesterday, but I can say it is because she isn't mine yet. I have to be guarded. Even if I am 99% in love with her I have to have that 1% that I could cling to if it all fell apart. If I didn't have that small portion of doubt inside me, I would be completely crushed if something went wrong. Even though it feels wrong to stay guarded, (trust me, I don't feel it when we are with her) I have to be so in order to keep going. When she is in my arms in the rocking chair in her room, I will let everything wash over me 100%. so, this is why I am seemingly composed. Survival.
Gods I miss her already. I hope she misses us too.
After, we celebrated. We walked the Arbat pedestrian street, which is a touristy area close to our apartment, and just checked it all out. We ate at the Moscow Hard Rock Cafe and relaxed. After dinner we went to one of the pubs across from our apartment and stayed on the patio into the night. It felt good to sit and talk about so much that was non adoption related.
People keep asking me how I can seemingly hold it together. I did cry once we were all done yesterday, but I can say it is because she isn't mine yet. I have to be guarded. Even if I am 99% in love with her I have to have that 1% that I could cling to if it all fell apart. If I didn't have that small portion of doubt inside me, I would be completely crushed if something went wrong. Even though it feels wrong to stay guarded, (trust me, I don't feel it when we are with her) I have to be so in order to keep going. When she is in my arms in the rocking chair in her room, I will let everything wash over me 100%. so, this is why I am seemingly composed. Survival.
Gods I miss her already. I hope she misses us too.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Day 2
The second day of visiting had us seeing how she eats (the cleft doesn't affect it at all), seeing some of the exercises they do with her to help her muscle development, and then all about the doctors in the morning. We first had her Russian doctor go over her entire medical file with us. Nothing alarming was mentioned. She is very tiny (6.3kg last month's weigh-in) but she has progressed in a way that they are happy with. She has had all of her vaccinations in the proper timeline and she has had ultrasounds of the brain, heart, joints, etc every six months to ensure no development of problems. The Canadian designated medical doctor was very thorough in his explanations of her examination. She seemed to get a kick out of his stethoscope and was very pleasant during the whole thing. Other than the cleft, (which does not impede eating and shouldn't impede speech, it really is just the roof of the mouth) the concern is her size and muscle development. They keep calling it her physical delay. And her psychological delay is because she doesn't have the one-on-one interaction or contact that is required for a kid to flourish.
The best part was that she was more relaxed with us today. Not as many self soothing motions and she was way more vocal.
The child psychologist talked with us for a bit too. She explained about her behaviour, which is calm, good at showing emotion, and rocks or pets the side of her head to self soothe. She spoke a lot about the things we learned from the Russian training and how extra scheduled and vigilant we should be for the first bit. We should always talk aloud about what we are doing so she is completely used to our voices. She said Dania should get music a few times a week, I told her how I sing and dance and play piano, and the woman laughed and said Dania will definitely enjoy being in that environment. She also said to encourage physical movement, like gymnastics, dance, etc, in order to keep her muscles growing.
Honestly, considering that she is in an institution that currently houses 65 kids, the medical attention that every child receives is impressive. The files are very thorough and the doctor is there everyday.
Her case file showed us more about her parents. There is really no medical history, just what they told the hospital before they left her there. She was never breastfed and has never known a family life. She lived at the hospital for 6 months, and then was transferred to the orphanage. Her parents terminated their rights almost immediately. No other family members seem to want anymore of this woman's kids. All five children have been given away. Stop having kids, already! She is 37, the father is 34, as of this year. Five Russian families have showed interest in her but, more than likely, opted for a younger, healthier child. Remember, she has to have been shown no interest for 6 months before she could go on the international register.
We walked around with her today. Played with lots of toys. She crawled about for us and really seemed more comfortable.
Now, starting tomorrow, they were going to start playing with her nap times and try to reduce her to one, so we were told this could be difficult tomorrow! LOL!
yup, me with my giant pupils
she loves to lean in and bump noses
The best part was that she was more relaxed with us today. Not as many self soothing motions and she was way more vocal.
The child psychologist talked with us for a bit too. She explained about her behaviour, which is calm, good at showing emotion, and rocks or pets the side of her head to self soothe. She spoke a lot about the things we learned from the Russian training and how extra scheduled and vigilant we should be for the first bit. We should always talk aloud about what we are doing so she is completely used to our voices. She said Dania should get music a few times a week, I told her how I sing and dance and play piano, and the woman laughed and said Dania will definitely enjoy being in that environment. She also said to encourage physical movement, like gymnastics, dance, etc, in order to keep her muscles growing.
Honestly, considering that she is in an institution that currently houses 65 kids, the medical attention that every child receives is impressive. The files are very thorough and the doctor is there everyday.
Her case file showed us more about her parents. There is really no medical history, just what they told the hospital before they left her there. She was never breastfed and has never known a family life. She lived at the hospital for 6 months, and then was transferred to the orphanage. Her parents terminated their rights almost immediately. No other family members seem to want anymore of this woman's kids. All five children have been given away. Stop having kids, already! She is 37, the father is 34, as of this year. Five Russian families have showed interest in her but, more than likely, opted for a younger, healthier child. Remember, she has to have been shown no interest for 6 months before she could go on the international register.
We walked around with her today. Played with lots of toys. She crawled about for us and really seemed more comfortable.
Now, starting tomorrow, they were going to start playing with her nap times and try to reduce her to one, so we were told this could be difficult tomorrow! LOL!
yup, me with my giant pupils
she loves to lean in and bump noses
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)