It's Been a While .......

I know, I know, it's been a while since I posted an update.  Things have been good, but super busy.  Here's what's been happening.

• Kenzi's lip looks great.  These surgeons are just amazing.  We feel so blessed that we get to work with some of the best cleft surgeons in this country.  She had a followup with ENT a few days ago and her ear tubes look great.
• She had her evaluation with Early Intervention and they raved about how advanced all her motor skills are.  She is really catching up and I am so happy that she was not further behind due to being in an orphanage for 18 months.  She does qualify for speech therapy for an expressive speech delay. I'm waiting to hear from her therapist, and we will get started with that soon.
• Her palate repair surgery will be in May, hopefully.  She sees the cleft team March 20 and we will schedule surgery at that point.  Her surgeon may also do a revision on her nose.  The nose is typically the toughest part.  Our surgeon explained that it's because it's hard to make the nostril bigger.
• Luke had strep again last week.  This is his third since the beginning of the year and fifth since the beginning of September.  With the next one, we will be referred to ENT.  I have a feeling he will end up having his tonsils taken out this summer.  I'm hoping to avoid that, but he can't keep having strep.  All these antibiotics aren't good, and his symptoms are very mild, so he could have it for a while and we don't know.  Untreated strep can damage his heart and he already has a mild heart murmur.  I'm also investigating some natural things to supplement the medical things.  At this point, I'm willing to try almost anything.
• Luke has really found his groove with school.  It took him a while to adjust.  He is doing so well now.  His last report card was excellent ... he met grade level expectations in all areas, and exceeded them in Math.  Of course, I like that because I'm a Math teacher and Aaron is a Computer Programmer.  Luke is really enjoying Math and he's having a lot of fun with it.
• Jacinda continues to have a hard time adjusting to having Kenzi home.  I think it's a lot of factors ..... new sister who is also sharing her room, J's speech delay, sharing all her toys, etc.
• We signed Jacinda up for Preschool starting in the Fall.  She will go Monday-Thursday mornings.  It's a pretty academic program, but I think she will really enjoy it.  She's a pretty smart kid and I think it will be so good for her.  The class sizes are small (max. of 12), and they have 2 teachers, so it will be good for her to get some extra attention.
• Jacinda also sees the cleft team on March 20.  We're hoping she will allow them to do a scope down her nose to see what's going on at the back of her palate.  I say "allow" because they do this procedure without anesthesia, so Jacinda will really need to cooperate with the doctors.  This procedure could give us the answers we need about her speech delay.  Depending on the outcome of that procedure, there are surgeries that could help, or specific speech therapy techniques.  The surgeries are ..... debatable.  We haven't done much research on those surgeries until we know if they are even an option.

OK, the girls are being too quiet in the other room, so I'd better go see what they're up to!  Here are a few recent pics!!!

Update on Kenzi's Surgery

Kenzi has healed SO well after her cleft lip and nose surgery.  We saw the surgeon today for a follow-up and he was very pleased.  It amazes me that these surgeons can do this.  Here's a picture only 9 days after surgery:

Other updates:

Kenzi - She'll see the cleft team in March and then we'll schedule her palate repair for probably May.

Jacinda - We are currently deciding where to send her for preschool next year.  We're looking at a few places that offer 3 mornings a week.  She will also see the cleft team in March and the focus will be on determining if her palate is contributing to her speech issues.

Luke - He is doing great in Kindergarten.  It took him a while to adjust, but in December, he seemed to finally hit his stride.  He's doing great, and he is working above Kindergarten level in Math.  He does seem to be getting a bit bored ..... they do a lot of repetition and once he learns something once, he doesn't need that repetition.  So at home, we're doing a little "after schooling", which is basically supplementing school with some homeschooling.  I'm letting him choose the subjects he wants to learn about and then I find activities that are appropriate for him.  Last week, he wanted to learn about dinosaurs and next week, he wants to learn about space.  I'm hoping this will help counteract a little of his boredom at school.

Also on that note, we've instituted an afternoon routine at home.  He gets him at 11:45, so this is our routine:

Lunch
Homework - both big kids
Computer time for Luke and Leapster time for Jacinda
Outside Play Time
Quiet Play Time in their rooms
Snack time
Afterschooling time

Kenzi pretty much follows along with the routine and she usually fits a nap in somewhere in there.

As far as our family goes, we're still adjusting, but we're starting to settle into our new normal.  We're hanging in there and things get better every week!

Cleft Lip and Nose Surgery Update

Kenzi had her first surgery today.  First, she had ear tubes placed.  A few weeks ago, the ENT with the cleft team saw fluid in both ears, which is common for a cleft kid.  The ENT surgeon today saw lots of infected fluid in both ears, so tubes went in.  A double ear infection could explain why she's been really fussy and "off" for the past few days.

Then the cleft surgeon repaired her nose and lip.  It is truly stunning what these surgeons can do.  I just can't believe it.  Here's a picture of her about 1 hour after surgery.  Of course, there is a lot of swelling and bruising, and it will get worse over the next few days.  Isn't the transformation amazing?

She woke up from the anesthesia and cried just for a minute.  She drank a ton of Pedialyte and we went home about 2 1/2 hours after surgery.  She did great on the way home .... she was still pretty dazed and she fell asleep when we were almost home.  True to form, she woke up when Aaron came home with food!  She ate some Jell-o and applesauce.

I'm sure the recovery period will be full of ups and downs and it won't all be as easy as today was.  I'm very thankful that friends are bringing us dinner tomorrow night and Monday.  We'll be working hard to control her pain, keep her fingers away from her lip, and keep the big kids from being too rough with her!

Thank you to everyone who has said prayers and sent good thoughts and kind words to us.  We are so lucky to have this gorgeous little girl in our family.  As hard as this adoption stuff is, this is what our family is supposed to do and we couldn't be happier.  We love all 3 of these little miracles and it takes my breath away that God gave them to us to take care of.  We surely don't deserve these 3 precious children and they all came to us by way of a miracle .... Luke through infertility treatments and the girls through complicated birth family situations.  I'm so glad that God can take bad situations and create good things.  People tell us all the time that the girls are so lucky to be in our family, but the fact is that we are the lucky ones.

Updates Galore!

Luke

• He is finally adjusting to Kindergarten and improving so much with everything .... social skills, fine motor skills, everything!
• He has been attending Occupational Therapy to help him deal with some sensory issues and his last session is this week.
• He has worked SO hard to learn how to deal with school and life in general and we are so proud of him.

Jacinda

• She saw a Neurologist last week and he said she does NOT have Verbal Apraxia.  He was pretty clear about it, too.
• The Neurologist said her speech delay could be cleft-related, or it could just be a developmental thing.  Either way, he said to continue what we are doing.
• J's Speech Teacher has been such a blessing to us.  She continues to use her own time to find ways to better help Jacinda.  She has even been seeking out speech therapists that have experience with cleft kids and asking for their advice.
• J will see the cleft team in March and we will evaluate at that point if there is anything surgical that will help her.  The procedures are pretty extensive, so we want to make sure it's the right thing for her before subjecting her to any of them.

Kenzi

• Her lip/nose/ear tubes surgery will be on February 1st.  Her surgeons (cleft surgeon, and ENT surgeon) had a cancellation, so we jumped on it.
• She continues to improve with regards to her daddy .... it's a very slow process, but we're seeing progress every day.
• She has an evaluation scheduled with Early Intervention for Feb. 15.

Whew!  We've definitely had a lot going on around here.  We are still adjusting to life as a family of 5!!!

• She understands more and more of what we say every day.

Cleft Team Update - for both girls!

Cleft team update (for both girls):

Kenzi~

- 1st surgery is Feb. 1  They will repair her lip, nose, and put tubes in her ears.
- She had fluid in both ears today, typical of cleft kids. Jacinda never had the fluid, so this is new territory for us. She also had wax in one ear, which got cleaned out.
- She had a hearing test - she has some mild hearing loss, but hopefully it is nothing permanent. She'll have a repeat Audiogram after the ear tubes to see if the fluid resolving has taken care of the hearing issues.
- The Orthodontist said her teeth are great ... no cross bite that is typical of cleft kids.
- Palate repair surgery will be about 3 months after 1st surgery, assuming no problems.
- Speech Pathologist said everything looked great. She wants Kenzi off the bottles completely before her first surgery.
- We told the Speech Pathologist that Kenzi had an appointment set up with Early Intervention for an evaluation in early February (which will have to be changed) and she was very happy that we were getting started with that process.

Jacinda~

- She has a full appointment with the cleft team on March 20, for her yearly checkup. Apparently I missed the boat on this one and forgot she needed to be seen once a year. Since she was with us, everyone wanted to check her out unofficially.
- ENT said she had a ton of wax in both ears, which is typical for her. No idea on the fluid situation, but she's never had it before.
- Orthodontist said she does have the cross bite, which we knew, but agrees with her cleft dentist that her teeth look amazing.
- Speech. This is the big one for her. She is still very speech delayed.
- Cleft surgeon said that when he sees her in March, he'll evaluate her palate and see if it's contributing to her speech issues. He will probably also do a scope down her nose to see if there are any issues at the back of her palate. Hopefully she will cooperate with that ..... if not, we'll have to wait.
- Speech Pathologist agrees with us that it's time to get aggressive about her speech delay. We need to get to the bottom of what is causing the delay so that we know how to treat it.
- She has an appointment tomorrow  with a Neurologist to talk about Apraxia of Speech. Apraxia has been mentioned before, and it's time to figure out if this is truly the cause.
- If Apraxia (or anything else motor-skill wise) is ruled out, then her speech delay is likely caused by her cleft. So in March, when she sees the cleft team, the focus will be on her speech and figuring out where to go from here.
- There is a speech therapist that deals only with cleft kids like Jacinda, so if we need to, we'll pursue getting on her schedule.

Whew! I think that's it. 

Happy Birthday to Jacinda!

Jacinda turned 4 yesterday.  She walked around all day saying, "Mama, it's my birthday!"  We had a little family party after dinner and she had a great day.

Her birthday is a bittersweet day for us.  We're happy that it's her birthday and happy that we get to share it with her.  But we're sad that her birth mom and birth family don't get to share it with her.  I wonder if her birth mom wonders about the baby she had to leave.  I just can't imagine having to be separated from my baby and not know if she's OK.  In a perfect world, no one would have to be separated from their babies.  But we certainly don't live in a perfect world, so I'm happy that adoption is available as an option.  Lots of people tell us that Jacinda and Kenzi are lucky girls, but the truth is, we are the lucky ones.

Things here are pretty much utter chaos.  I had a moment yesterday where Kenzi was sleeping next to me and I could hear Luke reading a book to Jacinda.  It was rainy and cold outside, and warm and cozy inside.  The house was quiet, except for Luke's reading and I was so thankful for these 3 blessings God has given us.  We certainly don't deserve them, but I am so glad that God has entrusted us with them.

I'm so looking forward to Kenzi's appointment with the cleft team on Tuesday.  I'm so curious what the plan will be.  I'm ready to get these surgeries done and moving on.  These surgeries are not easy, but we trust our cleft team 100%.  I'm also looking forward to seeing them all again.  They are an extension of our family, really.

Updates from the First Week of 2012

Life here is busy, busy, busy.  We had a great holiday break, but we are all glad to be back to a routine.  Here are some updates in no particular order.

• Kenzi saw our pediatrician again and she gained 2 pounds in 2 weeks!  All of her lab work was normal, so the doc was very happy about that.
• Kenzi sees our cleft team on January 17th.  We should have a better idea of how many surgeries we're looking at to repair her lip and palate.
• She has an evaluation scheduled with Early Intervention on February 6th.  They will evaluate all areas of her development.  I'm fairly certain that she has no delays except for speech.
• Jacinda turns 4 (!) this week.  We're starting to look into options for preschool for her for next year.  With her speech delay, it's hard to know what will be best for her.  Especially since there's no way to know what her speech will be like 8 months from now when preschool starts!
• I started back to work today.  I'm teaching a few online courses at our local community college.  My department chair is trying to talk me into working some part-time hours in one of the Math Labs on campus, but child care would cost as much as I would make.  So I think I will have to tell him no.
• Luke has been doing great in Kindergarten.  He struggled at the beginning with some things, but he has settled in nicely.  This month, I need to get with his teacher because we've had some concerns about his fine motor skills (writing, cutting with scissors) and she wants to talk this month so that we have time to do something this school year if we need to.  He has worked hard and is improving, so I'm hoping he has caught up.  We've also been working with the Gifted teacher at his school to keep an eye on him and see if some of his difficulties in school are because he is "bored".  Our school system evaluates everyone for the Gifted program in 1st grade, so we're learning about the process so we're ready!
• Kenzi still much prefers her mama.  She is getting a little more used to daddy, but it's a VERY slow process.
• We're definitely starting to see more of her personality.  Overall, she's happy and smiles at everyone!
• I've been pleasantly surprised that we've had nothing but positive comments from people.  I wasn't really sure how people would react to seeing her cleft lip.  But no one has stared or even given her a funny look.  Random people come up to us and tell us how gorgeous she is.  So that's been a nice surprise!
• I have recently been appointed as the Changde Assistant Coordinator at Love Without Boundaries (LWB).  I'll be helping out with a school that LWB operates in an orphanage in Chnagde, which is in the Hunan province in China.  I'm SO excited to be doing this.
• We are rearranging our house to make our former guest room into a part-playroom and part-sewing room.  The big kids need a place where they can have their tiny toys so that Kenzi doesn't eat them!  So we're purging and organizing, which is great!

Whew!  I think that's it for now.  As you can see, life is a little chaotic these days.  But we're hanging in there.  Thanks to everyone to who has helped us out!  My neighbor takes Luke to the bus stop in the morning if the girls are still sleeping.  A friend bought us some special sippy cups for Kenzi - they are way expensive and she wanted to help us out.  Another friend bought a water sling for me so that I could take a shower without holding a slippery baby in my arms.  She had it sent directly to my house, so it was waiting for us when we got home from China.  Several friends have brought us dinner!  Aaron's mom is helping us out with watching the big kids while Kenzi sees the cleft team and has surgery.  We're so thankful that her job is flexible enough that she can help us out.