We're finally starting to feel like ourselves a bit more. We're getting caught up on sleep and starting to settle into a routine. Ellie-Kate is sleeping through the night, and she loves playing with her new toys, laughing at our dogs (and Chelsea), and being carried around the house by Mommy and Daddy. Her first English words are "more" (yes, as in "more food") and "uh oh" (even when she sure seems to throw bottles on the floor with enthusiasm!). She does say "mama" and "dada," but we're not always sure that the names are connected with us quite yet. However, on the plus side, she definitely recognizes us as her parents, and she hesitates to go to or communicate with people beyond our family. We know that our bonding is proceeding well, and that knowledge comes as a huge relief, especially given all of our reading and preparation prior to our journey to China. Christie's mom and grandma are set to arrive anytime now, and they'll be here through Easter week-end, and it will be fun to introduce the new grand-baby to them :)
On another note, as most of our readers know, Ellie-Kate came into our lives as a special needs baby. She has been diagnosed with spinal biffida occulta, heart problems, and dislocated hips. Fortunately, the spinal biffida occulta *should* not cause any problems, and we've been told that the hole in her heart has healed. (We don't have any medical reports to back up that claim, though, so we're definitely going to have it checked out.) Although Ellie tries very hard to be mobile, we can tell that she has little control over her right leg so we're pretty sure that the hip on that leg remains dislocated.
Tomorrow, we drive to Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus for an appointment in their international adoption clinic. We are truly blessed to have such a tremendous resource so close to our home (only an hour and a half away). Ellie-Kate will be checked out from head to toe, and we hope to get some preliminary answers to questions about marks on her skin that remain unexplained as of yet as well as about possible treatments for her hip and/or heart. We already know that we have to return to Children's on Monday, April 13, for a follow-up appointment, and we're pretty sure that we will be facing subsequent consults with pediatric neurologists, cardiologists, and orthopedic specialists, given her various health conditions.
Please pray that our visit will go well, that we'll get some valuable information, and that the doctors will be able to recommend effective yet minimally- invasive treatments. Ellie-Kate is doing so well, and we hesitate to introduce trauma into her little life, but we know that she is already a few months beyond the ideal time frame for treating her legs. We'll definitely post an update as soon as we know what we're facing in terms of medical treatments.
We'll post pics from St. Louis and from here at home as soon as we can. We've been scrambling to get settled and, for the girls, to get caught up on school and other commitments. We'll do our best to get them up ASAP.
Happy Easter!!
Christie and Roger
