Post Op Visit

D had her post op visit today with the cleft team. Her plastic surgeon was very happy at how everything is healing-everything is healing evenly and she has no fistulas at all. She still has a small cleft at the gum line (as planned) and they will fix that when they do the bone graft in 5-6 years or so. It means that occasionally food will still come out her nose :) I am not sure how this will affect her teeth as they come in- she only has one on that side and it is a little crooked already. Time will tell. The ENT thought her tubes looked great on one side but the other side is closed with a blood clot. They think it will dissolve with another course of meds. We take her back in a month. She passed her hearing screening so at least one ear has normal hearing. Based on how they give the test they can't say for sure that both ears have normal hearing but this is still much better than the results of her pre surgery testing. When she is older they will be able to do a more comprehensive test to ensure there are no problems in either ear. She is done for 6 months, when the team will check her again, with a focus on what services she needs for speech and language (maybe nothing, maybe surgery, maybe therapy..... they can't tell until begins (or attempts) to speak English). The only bad news is that they did not let her out of the arm restraints early- but as of Friday morning she is restraint free and allowed to eat what she wants

We are home from the hospital

We are home and things are going as well as can be expected. The surgery took 2 hours but both the plastic surgeon and the ENT thought everything went great. She cried off and on all night long except for an hour between 3 and 4 am, where she was strangely tranquil, but wide awake. We watched reruns of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air (you can't be picky at 3am) She was refusing to eat so it looked like we would be staying a second night when she finally started to eat at lunch this afternoon. We forced her to have a little juice for a snack so they would let us leave and as we were getting ready to go there was a tornado warning for our county so they wouldn't let us leave and gathered all the patients in the hallways. They brought her dinner as we waited out the storm and she did eat a bunch of that so I felt better about bringing her home. Once home, she perked up and actually ate some mac and cheese and mashed potatoes. The hard part is with her arm restraints. She is a finger sucker at bedtime and it is so pathetic watching her try to figure out a way to get those fingers in her mouth. Provided everything heals well, she will be released from the restriants in 3 weeks and is finished with surgery until she is 4 or 5.

Surgery Day

D's surgery is scheduled for noon today. We have to be there at 10am and hopefully whatever we have to do for those 2 hours will keep her mind off the fact that she hasn't been allowed to have food since midnight and nothing at all since 8am. Pray that everything goes well for her and we have a quick and easy recovery. I am a little concerned about 3 weeks of arm restraints....

I am going to try to update the blog from the hospital (assuming there is a usable connection- it's probably too much to hope for wi fi in the room, huh?)

Look Who's Walking

In the last 2 weeks D has learned how to walk!!! It was interesting watching her learn to do it. A and X never really "learned" to walk, they both didn't walk and then they did. D has been wobbling around for days. She looks like she is trying to stand on the deck of a ship. One step forward, two backward. It is amazing to watch the drive to accomplish her goal. She falls over and over, but continues to get up and keep going. She is now the proud owner of a pair of stride rite sandals and tennis shoes. (Girls shoes are so much cuter too)
We have been busy doing all the summer things but are beginning to shift gears back to "school mode" I have a grant for work that I have finally begun work on so that is keeping me busy. We meet with D's surgeon next week so hopefully everything will still be on target after talking with him.

Here are a few photos of the Walking Girl

Surgery date- finally

It has finally all come together and D will be having ear tubes put in and her palate surgery on August 24. While the surgeon's office was less helpful than we would have liked the people at Really Good Children's Hospital have really helped to get this all worked out. We don't know what time or any of the specific details yet. We expect she will be in the hospital at least until Aug 25 but likely till the 26th, depending how well she eats and drinks post surgery. She meets with the surgeon on Aug 15th so we should get some answers about the specifics of what they will be doing at that point.

We have been busy this summer swimming and just enjoying the weather. We have also spent much of the summer chauffering A. between all his camps and activities. At least it gives D a chance to really get used to her car seat. I will try to post new photos later this week.

It's About Time

that I updated the blog

I can't believe that is has been a month since we got home with Miss . We have had lots of fun tests at Really Good Children's Hopsital in the last few weeks. D had her first appointment with the International Adoption Clinic. We have learned (after a somewhat bad blood draw) that she is fairly afraid of doctors. Everything checked out as well as can be expected. She needs to have most of her vaccines repeated. There was also an abnormality in her blood work which required more blood work but after the additional testing everything looks fine- so YEAH!!!!!

She was also seen at the cleft palate clinic- the docs there thought her lip repair looks great (although they will like do a little revision, mostly of the inside, before she starts kindergarten) She failed her hearing test so at this point she has a moderate hearing loss in either one or both ears. She was fairly uncooperative for the test (see above- fear of doctors and now anyone who remotely looks like they might be a doctor or in any way affliated with the medical profession) They will be placing tubes in her ears in August and as of now her palate surgery is scheduled for mid September. I am trying to get that changed to sooner since I think that it is carzy to wait 3 months for a surgery that the surgeon recommended happen within 6 weeks (of course, he doesn't realize his schedule is full) Hopefully the care coordinator for the clinic will be able to get something worked out.

She seems to be adjusting well and except for sleeping we aren't haven't too many problems. She is sleeping (mostly) through the night but will not nap (except in the car) Even if I am able to get her to fall asleep for a nap she is up within 20 minutes. It is making getting things done (like say updating the blog) very difficult. The boys are doing well with her, although they are often too rough with her- trying to carry her around and hug her and kiss her. She loves to ride in the grocery cart and has realized that they will give you cheese samples at the deli so we always have to stop by- the girl likes her food! She is trying to stand alone and take a few steps but so far all that has happened is alot of "falling with style" Maybe soon...

Some other fun things from the last month

We are HOME!!

After a couple of brief flight delays (including one that added an extra 90 minutes to a 14.5 hour flight) we made it home at 9:30 Wednesday night.

D is adjusting well. She will stay with B. at times without crying and has been crawling around exploring the house and her toys. She was absolutely terrified of the dogs at first, but is beginning to adjust to them. They are beginning to realize that the high chair tray is a good supply of yummy treats. D no longer screams when she sees them, but does still get worried if they get too close. It is great to finally see some of her personality emerging.

Our big problem is trying to adjust back to local time. Sleep is a real issue for D. We have decided to get a second crib so that she can sleep in our room at night in her crib right next to our bed (but still have the other crib in her room so she can-hopefully- use it for naps so when the time comes to get her in her own room, the transition will be a little easier) The other kids slept in today until 6:30 (D was up at 5) so things are gradually getting better.

We have her first doctors appointment on Friday at our children's hospital (they have an international adoption clinic) and then on Tuesday next week she will see the specialists on the cleft palate team there. So we will be busy for a while yet I think.

I would write more, but a small pair of fingers is trying to "help" me and I think a diaper change is in order as well.

See you all soon