July
2012
HOME for ONE YEAR
In spite of my intention to post monthly updates after Callie
came home, the time has flown by and frankly, life got in the
way. The past 9 months have been an incredibly busy time for our
family, and Callie has been at the center of the action. Two
days before Thanksgiving she underwent open heart surgery to
repair the heart defect which had drained her of energy for the
past 6 years of her life. The repair was a success and the
difference was almost instantaneous, our little firecracker was
full of ENERGY and she has not slowed down since. Gone is the
cough that plagued her all night, every night. Gone are the days
when she had to stop and rest if she ran across the room. This
girl is full speed ahead and nothing slows her down. And
finally, she is growing. She has grown 4 inches and gained 10
lbs since she came home, and now that she no longer throws up
constantly from all of the coughing, she eats an incredible
amount of food for someone so small. She still has a way to go
before catching up with Maili, but she has been completely
healthy since her heart repair and we are so thankful that it
was a success.
In December, Callie participated in SIX Christmas celebrations
with family and friends, and enjoyed every minute of them. It
was the first time she had met some of her extended family since
coming home, and amazingly she remembered everyone’s name and
asked dozens of questions to find out how everyone was related.
She has an incredible memory for names and she loves learning
about her new family tree, who is married to who, and how they
are all related to her.
In January, Callie and Maili participated in their first dance
recital, and they couldn’t have been more excited. They have
been taking Chinese Dance lessons since shortly after Callie
came home, and Callie loves to show us dances that she performed
in China as well as the new ones she has learned here. They also
performed at the local FCC celebration, where they enjoyed
celebrating Chinese New Year with all of their “China Friends”
as they call other Chinese adoptees.
At the end of the month we were blessed to have the opportunity
to travel to another state to meet the foster family who cared
for Callie while she was in China. She was ecstatic to see them
again and remembered fondly the time she spent living with them,
even though she was only three years old at the time they left
China and she returned to the orphanage. It is obvious that she
learned how to love from this family, and she has an incredible
memory of events that happened in China even from the time she
was two years old. I have no doubt that had she not experienced
the love of a family at that time in her life, her ability to
attach to us might have been very different. She has known from
day one how to be part of a family, how to give and receive
affection, and most of all how to love, and we will always be
grateful that they taught her those things.
In April, Callie celebrated her 7th birthday at Ch*ck E Ch**ese
and then again with two more family celebrations in South GA.
She was one happy birthday girl and thoroughly enjoyed being the
center of attention (after all, that’s where she prefers to stay
most of the time anyway!) So for 5 months she and Maili get to
be the same age, although they are quick to tell anyone who asks
that they are not twins, just sisters and best friends.
In May we traveled to Jekyll Island for a family wedding, where
Callie saw the ocean and beach for the first time. Her reaction
was priceless, she jumped up and down and screamed with
excitement for several minutes and then ran up and down the
beach shouting with joy. Just to see her running full speed
ahead like that brought tears to our eyes, remembering that a
year ago she would never have been able to do that even for a
few seconds due to her heart condition. These days she nothing
slows her down; in fact she has considerably more energy and
stamina than her big sister in spite of her small stature.
In June we took our first family vacation as a family of 5 to
Callie’s new favorite destination, the beach. This time we spent
a week in a beach house on Cape San Blas, where Callie spent her
days building sand castles, collecting shells, and dipping her
toes in the water. She never would get in past her knees, thanks
to Jamie’s fascination with Shark Week, but she did have an
awesome time.
We celebrated Callie’s one year Gotcha Day while we were on
vacation, with a family dinner in her honor. She received a gift
we purchased for her while we were in China, which happened to
be exactly like the one Maili received on her first Gotcha Day.
Because she wants to be exactly like her big sister at all
times, this was a big hit. Hopefully she grows out of this in
the near future though, because we purchased many of the gifts
from each girl’s province and they are not all the same.
Although the past 12 months with Callie have been wonderful and
full of firsts, I would have to say that this month was the best
month of all. July marked the end of a year-long medical journey
for Callie and we are all thankful that the journey is over.
While she was in the hospital having her heart surgery, she was
evaluated by a geneticist who confirmed what we had already
suspected. Callie has VACTERL association. Basically it is
collection of birth defects which are typically seen together
due to the fact that those body systems seem to form in the womb
at the same time. It is characterized by
Vertebrae abnormalities
Anorectal Malformations
Cardiac Abnormalities
Tracheoesophogeal fistula
Esophogeal Atresia
Renal (kidney) defects
Limb differences ( absent or fused fingers, missing bones in
arms or legs)
Usually if kids are born with one or more of these abnormalities
it is best to have them tested for the others, just in case
treatment or surgical intervention is needed. We knew that
Callie had been born with a couple of these but we weren’t
certain about the rest, so we have spent the better part of a
year having everything checked out by a huge number of
specialists. We knew before we adopted her that this was a
possibility ; there were many unknowns, and her medical file
seemed scary enough with regard to the things we did know about.
In the end, however, we knew that this was our daughter for
better or for worse, and we would prepare for the worst and hope
for the best. So on July 11, Callie underwent urodynamics
testing, the last in a year-long lineup of tests and
specialists. And this final test, like all of the previous ones,
came out perfectly NORMAL! Yes, she has a very unique anatomy
which is created differently than that of most people. But
everything is working perfectly fine in spite of her unique
anatomy, and what we have is one healthy, happy little girl with
a personality way bigger than the rest of her. This little girl
is going to do big things, we have no doubt about it. And we
can’t wait to see what life has in store for her. |
Always Smiling
Christmas Morning
Preparing for their dance recital
Double Trouble
Sibling rivalry
Celebrating her first Easter
Make a wish
Gotcha Day 2011 |
