As of yesterday, April 28th, Penelope Mei has been home for 2 months. I think I've confused myself marking Gotcha Days and how long she's been home. Next month I'm going with Gotcha Day....
Some days I have to still pinch myself to know this is real. I still forget here and there and call her a boy-it's all I knew for 14 years!
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
2 Months Home
But most of the time, it feels like she was always here!
Most of the time, it's hard to remember the "before" cause the "after" is just so, so sweet.
Posted by Michelle F at 9:05 PM 0 comments
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Setting Things Straight.....
Her eyes that is...
If you are creeped out by medical stuff be careful of these pictures, nothing too graphic at all but you have been warned....
This time last year, Jason and I were in the very early stages of the China adoption process. So hard to believe that just a year later, we have been home with our daughter for almost 2 months!
In the months that followed getting Penelope's file, we spent hours staring at her pictures. Studying every little detail. Getting to know her the only way we could.
One thing we asked each other over and over, "So is she cross eyed???" Every time, the answer was the same, if she is, that's the least of our worries. She was a 2 year old who weighed 14 lbs and 6 oz. Cross eyes was low on our list of worries.
Strabismus was not one of her official special needs, but as you can see from the pictures below, her eyes were certainly crossed.
Adam sent us to St Louis Children's where the specialist confirmed exactly what Adam had told us. Penelope's esotropia was not the type to be fixed with glasses or patching. He recommended we schedule surgery sooner rather than later. Dr. Tychsen pointed out that her double vision wasn't helping her with her developmental delays.
On Tuesday we got up extra early and headed to St. Louis Children's Hospital for Penelope's eye surgery.
Long drive for a baby who could have nothing to eat of drink! She was happy as long as we were touching pointer fingers....
Hello St. Louis!
We went to the surgeon's office for them to do some eye measurements before we went to outpatient surgery
No idea what the mark on her head meant. I called her Penelope Potter :).
How cute is she in her hospital gown?!?
Everyone was very, very nice but it was a lonnnnnnng wait. Finally the nurse took pity on us and let us go down to a play room while we waited. Penelope wants this car!!
I was very nervous about Penelope being taken from us awake & her waking up without us. I understand no parents want to have to hand their kids over to a stranger, but for a child who has only had parents for 2 months, it is a very different situation. I worried that Penelope would think she was being taken from us or that we had left her. Fortunately the anesthesia staff was very understanding. They gave her versed and let us carry her back almost all the way. She was quite loopy when I handed her off. No problem!
The Dr talked to us after the surgery-he said it went fine, but it he will be more interested in how she is 3 months from now. He said her brain will have to relearn what it is seeing.
She woke up REALLY mad!! She swigged down 2 bottles of apple juice and calmed back down.
You can see how puffy her eyes are. We didn't have to stay too long in recovery the we were able to head home.
Looks like she lost a fight.....
Just a few short days later, looks so much better! I will be the first to admit, I wanted her to "look normal". Not just for vanity, though that is part of it. I just can not stand the though of her having someone tease her about anything, let alone something within our power to fix. Not only that, but now her vision will be just as accurate as any other child. I'm thrilled for her!
Posted by Michelle F at 8:08 PM 3 comments
Monday, April 21, 2014
Happy Easter
Blogger wouldn't let me post any more pictures so Easter Sunday will be it's own post.
Yesterday was our first holiday with Penelope. What a wonderful blessing that our first holiday together was Easter!
The reality is that in China, Penelope would probably never have had the chance to know about Jesus. She certainly would not have been able to openly celebrate the resurrection of our Saviour. We all take so, so much for granted!
Finally, some pink to add to all this blue!!!
Quincy and Dexter both sing in the Sonshine Kiddies Choir. Our church has so many kids! Love seeing them all up there together!
Gabe singing with the Kingdom Kid's choir. He looks like he is in pain the whole time :).
Celebrating Easter at Mam & Bamps. Or as we called it this year, Greasester. There's no way to tell this without us sounding like complete white trash but it is what it is... We usually have ham and all the fanciness that goes along with it for Easter. This year Dad wanted to turn on the fryer he keeps in the garage (mom would never let him fry food in the house) so we had porkburgers, french fries, onion rings and mushrooms. No one fries food in our family so we all thought it was great, though I do think most of us had some food shame within an hour or so...
Happy Greaster!!
Penelope is actually singing here. I turn the music on and she put the phone to her ear and sings her little heart out!
Easter Egg Hunt 2014!
There's always one "special" egg with something extra in it. One year Dawson was the lucky recipient of the dead mouse. This year Dex was so excited that he had found the mystery egg. Everyone gathered round to see what the prize might be....
It was chicken poop.
Mom said dad had been drying it for days.
Bubba was more than happy to hold Penelope for her nap!
Penelope had her own Easter egg hunt when she woke up. No grass touching required.
Happy Easter 2014!!
Posted by Michelle F at 10:38 PM 1 comments
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