Medical Appointments

We had a busy week this past week with medical appointments.  We went in on Tuesday for Kora's 4th try at her hearing screening.  The state of Minnesota requires children to have a hearing screening within three months of being home.  We've tried 3 times before to have this done without success, and there's a possibility Kora would have to be sedated if we couldn't get it any other way.  The screening requires Kora to have a little earplug in her ear for about a minute while she is fairly quiet so the machine can read the echo in her ear to determine if her hearing is okay.  We got the right ear completed on try number two, but we haven't been able to get her to cooperate for the left ear.  So this time, we got a prescription for a medicine that helps kids sleep, which is what they give for dentist appointments, etc.  I gave it to Kora 45 minutes before her appointment like they recommended, and then brought her into the clinic in her car seat.  Well, she woke up immediately, was alert, and there was no chance of her going back to sleep at the clinic.  But she did go back to sleep after riding around in the vehicle again and was out cold after about 2 hours after receiving the medication.  So we were able to get the screening done on the left ear, which she passed. 

On Thursday, Kora had her appointment with the ophthalmologist.  This went about the same as any other appointment.  She's okay until the strange people start touching her and trying to do stuff with her.  Then she starts crying and she's done cooperating.  The doctor only got a partial exam completed, but he felt most likely she would need surgery to correct her vision.  He recommended we go to the U of Minn to see a pediatric ophthalmologist because they would be the best to get a thorough exam and the best to perform the surgery.

Other than that, everything has been going well.  Kora is pulling to stand by herself and walking when you hold both her hands.  She waves and claps, and now has 5 teeth.  We're looking forward to celebrating our first Christmas as a family of five.  We hope you all have a Merry Christmas.       

Thoughts

Just before Thanksgiving, we were asked to have an article written about our adoption for the local paper.  At first, we didn't want to because we don't usually like to draw attention to ourselves.  We also didn't think we were any more special than others in our area who had adopted, and they didn't get an article in the paper.  We feel we're just a regular family who followed the path that God set before us.  But we then decided we should do the article because if some other family read it and considered adopting because of us, it would be so worth it. 

People have told us that Kora is so lucky that we adopted her, but it's us who are so blessed to have her.  She has added so much to our family.  It's amazing to think that here we are at home with our daughter when it all started from two small photos and a limited medical history.  What a leap of faith adoptive parents take when they receive their referrals and decide to make those children their own.  But God is so good and has made her a part of our family.  Of course it hasn't been all wonderful.  We've all had to make adjustments.

On the lighter side, we are doing a good job turning this Chinese girl into a Northern Minnesotan.  She says "ya" with the best of them.  Kora also has learned to sign "more", although it is more of a clap then touching her fingers, but that's okay with us as long as she knows what it means.  Sometimes she will do it on her own without prompting, sometimes she doesn't.  She's got a mind of her own, imagine that!  Here is another photo taken before Thanksgiving of all of us.