Surgery and Time Since.......

Alex had his first surgery on May 24th. We had to be at the hospital at 8:30 and the surgery was scheduled for 10AM. However, the doctor was running behind and Alex didn't actually get into surgery until almost noon. The surgery lasted 5.5 hours and Alex did great. The surgery was successful in what the doctor was able to do, however, he was unable to do everything that he had planned. After starting the surgery, the surgeon found out that Alex's eurethra was so under developed - that he spend the entire 5.5 hours working on that. I met Alex in the recovery room and he was so brave. He was lying on that bed attached to all those monitors - it's such a scary site to see your baby like that. The nurses let me pick him up and hold him while he was coming out of the anestheisa. After he woke up a little, they moved us to another room where Doug could join us. At this point - it was 6PM at night and Alex hadn't eaten in almost 24 hours. He was SO excited to see that bottle! He drank the whole thing and ate yogurt melts instantly. The few days after the surgery were much better than we thought they would be. He was obvioulsy a little uncomfortable - but never seemed to be in a great deal of pain. One of the things Doug & I worried about was that this surgery would slow down his progress developmentally...and in fact, the exact opposite happened. He didn't like to crawl after the surgery (had a tube in his bladder for 10 days and crawling must have been uncomfortable for him) - so he started walking more. He contineus to do well. We had a minor scare the day they took the tube out of his bladder. He developed a 102 fever that night. Ended up being a bladder / urinary tract infection that was controlled by antibiotics. His surgery was one month ago tomorrow and you would never even know he had it. It's amazing how resiliant little ones are! Thank you all for your prayers! Next one will be sometime around Thanksgiving.

Alex is still a "challenging" boy...and we are still in the transition phase as a family (almost 5 months later)! He definitely wants all the attention and will let you know he is very unhappy when he isn't getting it. He is also still very resistant to anything new and it takes several tries to make him feel comfortable in a new setting. He's a demanding, stubborn, strong willed little boy, who is completely attached to his mom! However, after not getting any love or affection for the first 15 months of his life - no wonder he has some of these issues we are still working through! He's grown so much in the past 5 months. We just stopped giving him his nighttime bottle this week. The doctor said it was no longer necessary as he is now 28 pounds! He is also so close to walking. Actually, he is walking - but just refuses to do it without holding onto someone's hand - even though he totally could (remember the stubborn comment :-) He has the coordination and the balance down - just needs to gain the confidence now. He continues to learn new words. He just added banana to the list and will recognize and point some words out in a book. I can't help but wonder in a year from now what he'll be like - talking and running around after his big brother.

More Firsts....

In the past 2 weeks Alex has learned to clap, wave hello and good-bye and has added his third word to his vocabulary! He now says "ut oh." He is so proud of himself when he says it. He just grins from ear to ear. He's been saying it non stop for the past few days. I even hear him saying it in his crib when he wakes up from his nap (like he's practicing). It's pretty cute.

His surgery is one week from tomorrow on the 24th. We had his pre surgical consultation last week. The surgery will be 3-4 hours and is a pretty complex procedure. We would really appreciate your prayers. The surgeon said right now it is scheduled to be an out patient procedure, but he will re-evaluate the day of the surgery.

We've noticied a few occasions now where the boys are playing together...instead of just playing in parallel. It brings such a huge smile to my face! Tonight Alex was swinging in the baby swing on our swingset in the backyard and Sam would walk in front of him and pretend like the swing hit him...and Alex would just crack up laughing, which in turn made Sam laugh. It was so fun to see. Both boys also helped us plant strawberries and tomaotes tonight. I had one helper on each side. Loved it!

Pictures

18 month check up

I know it's been awhile since we posted on here, but I am going to try and update it once a week this month leading up to Alex's surgery. His surgery is scheduled for May 24th. Doug went into work late this morning and we took Alex in for his 18 month check up. The doctor said he looks fantastic! He gained 4 pounds in the 3 months that we have had him home (now weighs 26 lbs and is in the 55%). He has also grown 1.5 inches and is now 30.75 inches tall (10%...but we are cutting him some slack seeing that he IS Asian and being measured on an American scale :-). He has also reached some major milestones in the past week. He has just learned how to feed himself (with his hands...not using utensils yet) and he is also now "crusing" around furniture. He is down to 1 bottle a day - which the doctor said we could do away with at anytime now - since he is no longer lacking in nutrients. I think the doctor referred to him as a "tank" once! He still only says the words "momma and dadda" but our doctor said that isn't a cause of concern being that he has only heard English being spoken for 3 months. Doug & I do think he understands some things we say (night- night, bye bye, kitty cat, etc..) even though he can't speak them yet. Alex had an appt with the surgeon a few weeks ago and has received 2 of the 3 testosterone booster shots that he needs before his surgery on the 24th. The surgeon was very happy with the growth the shots have produced because that will give them more tissue to work with for his reconstruction. We would appreciate all of your prayers in the upcoming weks as we prepare for his surgery.

I went back to work at the beginning of April. I was worried that the transition would be hard for the boys - but they both did great. In fact - I think it really helped Alex gain some independence. He became so attached to me in the 3 months that I was home with him...that I was starting to worry that it was hindering his development. He wanted to be held all the time. Now that I've gone back to work 3 days a week - he is more content to play with toys, crawl around the house and explore, and is genreally just much less clingy. The transition has gone well for me too. I really love the balance that working part time brings to me.

Alex's fist Easter was alot of fun. We hosted both the Tobins and the Wichmans at our house. Sam and Alex got to spend alot of time with their cousins and family. Sam was part of the Palm Sunday celebration at church this year for the first time. Doug & I just loved watching him walk into the church waving his palm. When they got up to the front of the church - he spent most of the time facing the wrong direction - but we thought he did great! Both boys also got to take part in an Easter egg hunt at our church. Sam had a blast filling up his basket with all the eggs. Alex crawled around and swatted at most of them, so Sam helped to fill his basket.

Doug & I just got back from spending 3 beautiful, relaxing days in AZ. Doug had to go for work, and I just tagged along. It was the first time were were away from Alex for that long - but the boys did great. They stayed home and got spoiled from grandma and grandpa while we were gone. Sam seemed to really enjoy himslef and not miss us so much - so I think he has officially forgotten about the trauma from us leaving him for 2 weeks while we were in China!

This week Alex turned 17 months old! He's made some huge leaps forward this past week. He now pulls himself up unassisted and also drinks from a sippy cup! He doesn't hold onto it himself yet, and we're still working on teaching him to feed himself, but he sure has come a long way from 6 weeks ago when we brought him home!

His surgery is scheduled for May 24th. He has to have 3 testosterone booster shots before the surgery (which have to be spaced at 3-4 week intervals) so that is why the surgery isn't until then. He gets his first shot next Monday.

Today was beautiful outside and we spent most of the day outdoors. We went to 2 parks and Alex took his first wagon ride! He wasn't too sure of it at first, but after he got use to it I think he enjoyed it (except for the few times Sam tried laying on him)! I'm exhausted tonight after basically holding Alex all day. I know you're not suppose to wish things to come too early for your kids..but it will be so much easier when Alex walks! I caried him all over today while pushing Sam on his tricycle, pushing Sam on the swing, playing with Sam at the playgound, etc... I'm worn out!

Here are a few pictures from the past few we

eks!

First Family Vacation

We took our first family vacation as a family of 4 this weekend. Doug had bought a Wisconsin Dells weekend away last June (before Alex was even in the picture) so we spent Sat-Monday there. The boys had a blast. The first day of the trip was rough (Alex crying a good chunk of the 3 1/2 hour drive, wrong room accomodation when we got there, Alex waking up in the middle of the night crying) - but after all that, the last day was alot of fun. Sam couldn't get enough of the big water slides with his daddy. They must have gone down them 20 times before we left. Alex also just loves the water! He should fit right in this summer on the boat! He went down the little slides with mommy and spent alot of time hanging out with me on the lazy river. It was a nice little getaway.

The doctor called and all test results were great news for Alex. He is all boy and just has external problems that can be fixed with his surgeries. So, we are now in the process of getting the first one booked. We're hoping it will happen in March before I go back to work part time.

Pictures of our time in the Dells coming soon!

Making Progress

Sunday will be one month since we've been home with Alex. Everyone was right...it does get a little easier each day. We are starting to get into more of a routine which is helpful. Alex has recently become interested in toys. His favorites right now are a monkey jack in the box and any toy that has beads on it he can push around with his hands. We have a big cube that has activities on each side. The top has wires on it with beads that slide along the wires. He loves to push those beads back and forth. He also loves his jack in the box. He works so hard to turn the knob on the side. He doesn't have the coordination to turn it yet...but he sure is contect on trying! I've also learned that he can really get around a room when he wants something. I left my sunglasses laying on the floor yesterday...and he crawled all the way across the floor to get them. He doesn't get up on all four when he crawls..it is more of a belly crawl...but he can certainly move when he wants to.

Doug had President's Day off on Monday so we had a nice 3 day weekend as a family. Saturday it was still nice enough to get outside a little so we spent alot of the morning playing on our swingset in the backyard. We couldn't believe how much more coordinated Sam is. He can now climb right up the rockwall to the fort with no trouble and no help. He also got to show his big brother how to go down a slide and how he likes to swing in the big boy swing now. Alex swung on the swing with me and seemed to like it. I couldn't help but think how much easier my life would have been if we adopted in the summer! The morning flew by just being able to go outside with the boys! We all get cabin fever stuck in the house all day. Monday we took the boys to the Naperville Children's Museum. Sam just loved it. Most of the activites were too advanced for Alex, but he got to enjoy some things. They had a station where you could put colored stickers on a window and peel them back off again. This was his favorite station. He loves to work with his hands....exactly like his big brother!

I'm expecting a call from the doctor today regarding the results of Alex's bloodwork and ultrasounds. From what the nurse told me yesterday, everything looks good...however, the doctor will need to interpret them completely and call me back today. The doctors wanted to rule out any "mixed" gender issues due to the severity of Alex's genital deformity. It looks like that has all been ruled out - and we will be able to proceed with the surgeries like we had expected. Thanks for the prayers