surgery plans

I left people hanging this weekend because I was hoping to have our surgery date before I posted, but I have time now so I'll blog now! 

Haylie did pretty amazing at her cleft doctor appointment. We were there for 3hrs and we spent that entire time seeing physicians, nurses etc. We saw dental, audiology, ENT, nutritionist, speech, OT, social worker and the cleft surgeon.  Haylie failed her hearing test in both ears (we were prepared for that) but the ENT and audiology are hopeful that with placement of tubes she'll gain full hearing.  As of now her hearing is functional so that's a good thing! Dentist said her teeth looked ok and she didn't see any cavities, yay!  Nutritionist was pleased that she eats everything we give her. Even though Haylie doesn't correctly say any words, in Chinese or English, speech was still pleased that she attempts sounds and also was happy with how quickly she is picking up basic sign language. We'll continue teaching her signs, and then will get in touch with our school system to have her started in speech therapy. I was impressed to hear that most kids are 100% caught up on the english language within 9-12 mos of being adopted! 

(She loves wearing shoes, thank you to everyone who donated clothes!!!! She's a little diva!)

We are using Dr Jiang at Childrens Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. We really enjoyed meeting him! I'd love to tell you that Haylie liked him, but I won't tell a lie! She was ok with him though, up until he needed to see inside her mouth. In her defense though, I had to turn her facing me then lay her backwards with her head towards him so that he could get a good look at her palate. As soon as he said "flip her over" we knew it would be ugly! Nothing that goldfish couldn't fix though!

So her surgery plan.....he is going to fix her lip and her hard palate (her gumline) first, and they will place tubes at the same time. This will take place in about 6-8 weeks. After her tubes are placed then we'll retest her hearing. Then about 6mos from then they will fix her soft palate (the roof of her mouth). I was a little confused as to why not do it all at once, or soft palate first to help her with speech.  Some hospitals do things differently, and Dr Jiang comes highly recommended so we'll go with his plan! 

Some of Haylie's likes & dislikes:

She likes snacks, animal crackers & goldfish are a huge hit! She's not a fan of mac n' cheese, but loves her veggies and chowed down on lasagna and pizza rolls!!!! She loves getting dressed, loves shirts with glitter and bows, and still likes to accessorize. She will walk around in her jammies with shoes, hat & a scarf. She doesn't carry her doll around anymore, I think she started to associate the baby doll with bedtime so the doll quickly lost it's importance! Bedtime is still a subject that gives me anxiety.  She tolerates the dogs, but still would prefer if they didn't look at her. She loves her brothers and gives them pretty good hugs!  She cannot stand being told "no" or being forced to do something that she doesn't want to...for instance if she throws something and we make her pick it up and put it where it belongs...woah, hello tantrum! Luckily they seem to not be lasting as long, though they still come frequently. It's just typical "terrible 2" behavior though.  

(Already enjoying being picked on by her little brother!)

This week we will be thrown back into reality. The kids will all be back in school and Sage will go back to work. I'll work a partial shift this Friday and then next week will return to my normal schedule.  While it will be bittersweet having us all go our own ways again, some routine is definitely needed.  Oh, this Friday we have Haylie's appointment with the International Adoption clinic at Childrens Mercy, this will be where they actually assess her overall health and draw labs etc.  I imagine it won't be as tear-free as her cleft appt! 

On a side note, to all of you parents that have two toddlers at once, or even better, twins...you guys are pretty amazing. Let me ask you this, how do you keep your house clean?! I mean seriously, it's as if a tornado went through our main floor and left nothing untouched! And seriously, 2 babies can find so much more trouble than 1 ever could on his own! :-)