Sunday, May 16, 2010

Almost 7 weeks home with Maura!












Easter Morning at Narberth Pres!

Such a girly girl!

Good Old Fashion Fun!



Bedtime Stories...my favorite!

Date Night with Daddy! LiLi LOVES Salmon Eggs!








Okay..get ready since this will be a LONG post..since I haven't posted in over 7 weeks. Maura is doing great. I will be honest...the first three weeks were pretty difficult. When she did not get her way, she would instantly fall to the ground and start with her fake crying. She did have 4 major temper tantrums where George actually took the other kids out of the condo so they wouldn't see her behavior (it was very upsetting to us so I knew it would upset the kids). I will say that Maura has gone through a lot since we brought her home. I will start from the beginning. We had only been home for a few days when we took her to the CHOP (Children Hospital of Philadelphia) International Adoption Chinic (great place!). They did a complete physical, as well as, tested her for all the infectious diseases, blood counts, lead level, vaccine titers, and much more. They also evaluated her gross and fine motor skills. She did great with all these. She is on target for a 5 year old, and we have never seen a child so eager to learn. She has a few permanent teeth and is very tall (90%) so they did a bone scan of her right wrist to determine her age. We were very surprised to find out that she is 5...we thought she was probably 7. She had a PPD placed and it was negative. The only things that we had to treat when we arrived home from Ethiopia was giarddea, bilateral ear infection and a vitamen D deficiency. They started her on Flagyl for the giarddea...and she broke out in hives...obvious allergy. We spent Easter Sunday at the ER...she was itching and started grabbing at her throat. We called the doctor and they started her on another medication...it was for 3 days and it cost $75 with insurance! WHEW! She completed it with no problems. She has been retested and her giarddea is resolved. She had a complete coarse of oral antibiotics, as well as, ear drops for her ear infection. She will have tubes placed on June 15th. She does have a little permanent hearing loss in the left ear. They said that she had had an ear infection for so long that the bone had started to erode. Luckily, her right eardrum had ruptured so it was allowing the fluid to drain. One big issue..is her right ankle. Since the day that I picked up Maura, she has complained of ankle pain. The doctor in Philadelphia ordered an xray. They immediately came out to tell me that it was abnormal and wanted her to be seen by an orthopedic doc. We had an appt. at 10:00 and was finally seen by the doctoe at 1:50 (of course, I had Bella with me also). The doctor wanted an MRI done. I had noticed that her right calf muscle is considerably smaller than the left. We had the MRI done at CHOP (the nursing staff was excellent). We were at the hospital for over 8 hours because we were unable to leave because Maura was going ballistic. She was not happy at all. The staff kept saying it was the medicine and I kept saying, "No, she is not happy and this is the way she is showing it". Four hours later, they agreed. :) After the MRI report came back, they wanted us to be seen by Infectious Disease. We found this out the day that we were leaving for Charleston. I was luckily able to get in to see an ID doctor in Charleston (thanks to Courtney). He ordered several labs and got us an appt to see an ortho guy at MUSC to have a biopsy done. We went into MUSC at 9 am and it was an amazing experience. They had a Child Life Therapist visit Maura and help her feel less scared. My friend Karen kept Bella and LiLi so both George and I could be there. They biopsied the fluid around her ankle and put her in a cast from her ankle to her upper thigh. Apparently (long story short), she had an infection a LONG time ago in Ethiopia, such as TB in the bone. It is not present now and all the biopsies came back clear BUT she was in pain for so long that when she walks and runs, she is not putting all her weight on her right foot. They applied the weight bearing cast to "make her" walk correctly. She only had it on for 6 days and did GREAT. She was such a trooper. I'm sure it was very traumatic for her, but she feels confident in our family and loved all the attention from mommy and daddy. She also loved how everyone signed her cast.



While we were in Charleston, she also had a dentist appt. She had 2 small cavities that will be filled in 2 weeks. She also saw her peditrician. Due to the results of her titers, she only needed 1 vaccine. she weighs 46 pounds and is 46 1/2 inches tall.


We had a "meet Maura Genet party" out at Wadmalaw. It was a lot of fun. The kids rode bikes, rode the golf cart, played on the swing set and did some fishing. Maura enjoyed meeting all the people that she prays for every night.


While we were in Charleston, we applied for Bella's SS card. She received it today in the mail. We also applied for her US passport. We also received her Certificate of Citizenship right before leaving for Charleston. That means that we have officially completed all of her post placement reports, finalization of adoption, SS#, passport and Certificate of Citizenship. WOOHOO...now I will begin Maura's! :)

The kids are doing great...fighting like they have known each other forever. There are days that I get so frustrated with the fighting but on most days I am so very happy and proud. We are truly blessed to have 4 beautiful little girls. It is amazing to think of Maura's life 2 months ago and her life now. We have an Ethiopian CD (thanks Kelly) that we play often so she will remember her Amharic. It is such a beautiful language. Maura is a pretty picky eater. She is also stubborn so if she doesn't want to try something, she won't. She has gone to bed without dinner a few times. We don't make her eat things that she doesn't like but she does need to try them. She does like her fruits and veges though so that is a plus!

We are so truly blessed to have such a wonderful family! I hope you enjoy the pictures!