Updates and Doctor Reports

It has come to my attention that I have done a very poor job of updating folks on how LilyJoy is actually doing. Most things are so much better than when we got home, that while they are still not "normal," they have become our "normal." Sleep has really been a non-issue since we figured out that little LJ just wanted to sleep on the floor. Now, we have a routine where I set out a crib bumper along various items of furniture to contain the sleeping baby while I sleep on an air mattress right next to her. Often, early in the morning she will need a reminder that I am still there and will basically crawl on top of the air mattress and all over me (much like a cat) until she finds a nice pleasant spot to settle back in again. Sometimes during that little awakening, she cries, sometimes not. All in all, we are getting sleep and that is really what matters to me. Naps are a different story, not quite as easy. She does usually sleep for about an hour at naptime, though, so I get a *little* break :)

A few weeks ago we also visited the Pediatrician and the Ophthalmologist. The ped had nothing but good stuff to report (aside from the report that we will probably have to start over with her immunizations... grrrrrrr.). At this point, she didn't see developmentally that LJ will need the Birth to Three services (the state's early intervention program) and she seems to be right on target. I think I will still call, though, and have her evaluated, given what I found out at her next appointment. She is tiny-- but on the chart!! I think she said about the 3rd %ile for both height and weight. Looking at her pictures from China to now, though, as DH would say, "SHE'S A CHUNK!" She no longer fits in her qipao dress that we had made for her, thanks to that little potbelly she now sports. So, in summary, she is doing great.

Her ophthalmology appointment was a little different story. While we didn't find out anything earth shattering (and really, it was exactly as I had predicted all along), it was a wee bit disappointing. When her ped looked at her left eye, she said, "oh my! she has a strange eye... I can't find her pupil!" Hmmm, not exactly what you want to hear! Well, the ophthalmologist laughed when I told him that and said, "I'm not surprised she couldn't find it. It is very abnormal." So, there is no cataract (as I suspected), but just a very large, irregularly shaped pupil caused by, well, who knows? He said she could have been born with it that way or it could have been some kind of trauma (heaven forbid), but she also has some kind of cyst next to it, nothing he was concerned about. The long and the short of it, she has very poor vision in that eye (if any) and it will always be that way, there is nothing they can do to fix it. As for the strabismus (lazy eye) in that same eye, they can do surgery later in life if we so choose to have it corrected. I wonder if insurance would cover such a thing, though, if she already has no sight in that eye. Sounds like it would be purely cosmetic. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there.
The hallelujah part of this story? Her right eye is completely normal!! I don't know what that Chinese doc saw, but it turns out it wasn't true and I am FINE with that!

We have a dermatology appointment coming up to check out a birthmark and another ped appointment to find out the verdict on her immunity and if we have to start over with the shots (they couldn't draw titers last time because she had just had her shots in Guangzhou before we came home. It was too early).

In other areas of life, we are doing well. I am still working on my bonding with her, but at this point she seems pretty well bonded to me. The past few days, she has had some rare moments of "I NEED TO BE WITH YOU AND YOU CANNOT PUT ME DOWN OR I WILL SCREEEEEEAAM." She has had a little cold for the past few weeks, though, and developed a cough today, so I wonder if maybe it is developing into something more and she is just feeling needy. I hope it isn't too bad. All the rest of us had this cold and it was the easiest cold I've ever had! Over within only a few days. Poor baby's nose just keeps on running.

So, there you go. You're all caught up on us!