Anna's first tea and a fun new dress

Okay, so Anna didn't actually drink any tea or have a scone or cucumber sandwich, but she did attend her first ladies tea at our church this past Saturday!  One of her favorite friends, Becky, was there; Anna happily sat with her and enjoyed the music and festivities.  And what a surprise - no screaming!  Yes, the sweet baby is starting to come back again.  

Becky really is the "baby whisperer"

In a few weeks Anna is going to be an honorary flower girl at her cousin Taylor's wedding, and her dress arrived yesterday.  It was pretty exciting to try on her fun new dress! Well, maybe not as much fun for Anna as it was for me, but anyway...someday she'll appreciate dressing up much more.  And it really cracks me up at how excited the boys are about Anna wearing her frilly dress - all 3 of them were very expressive (oh Anna - you look so pretty! so beautiful! etc etc)  Looking forward to a scream free wedding (I really hope so, Taylor!)

Freedom!

Well, it was a joyous morning last Tuesday when I was finally able to take the arm immobilizers off and give Anna her bottle again.  I had thought about how great it would be if I cut back on her bottle, since she hadn't had it for the 2 weeks after her surgery, but I gave in pretty quickly.  Anna is still pretty attached to her bottle, so I am happy to give in at this point.  She has lost about 2 pounds since her surgery, but I anticipate she will gain those back quickly.  Poor Anna has had a rough couple of weeks, which was anticipated.  She certainly is happier to have those terrible things off her arms, but I will say that she is not as overjoyed with life as I had hoped.  I think she is still adjusting to all the changes in her mouth, and I also think she got used to me holding her ALL the time.  I am thankful, however, that she has found such comfort in my holding her after this past surgery.  While I think she took comfort with us after her first surgery, we had only known each other for a few weeks - but now I can tell a huge difference in how she responds to me, David, and the boys.

In other news, I attempted put her sweet little hair into 2 tiny ponytails tonight.  Some friends inspired me to try it, and I think it actually helps take away from the mullet look that she has been sporting.  I am thankful that her hair is growing out, but it has been growing out into a pretty serious mullet.  I have had a few people ask me if I have had it cut like that - and the answer is definitely NO!  So, despite Anna's protests, she ended up with 2 uneven ponytails.  I anticipate some serious hair battles ahead of me...

Not too bad for my first attempt with a squirming baby

It is clear from all the tears that Anna did not appreciate my hairdressing attempt

When Will walked into Anna's room, he was very impressed with her new ponytails and said (with a lot of 4 year old expression), "Oh, Anna, you look SO pretty!  You are BEAUTIFUL!"  He then promptly attempted to add another ponytail without success.

Oh, Mom, I can't believe you are letting Will fix my hair!

My sweet little Alex helped me with dinner tonight, and in an effort to be kind, I let the boys have hamburgers with bell peppers on the side instead of the stuffed bell peppers that David and I had.  Alex participated happily in cooking, and he was very proud of his results.  

Hooray for Alex!

And one last thought - it has been pretty amazing to me to think that I saw Anna's picture for the 1st time a little over a year ago.  I got the call on January 18th last year, and I'll never forget waiting for her pictures and information to pull up on my computer, sitting there with David.  It is pretty nostalgic, and I'm so grateful to have this precious little girl in our family.

Four more days...

I have been counting the hours until our post-op visit today, fully expecting to be free of the dreaded arm immobilizers and back to the bottle!  However, I was hit with the sad reality that my poor crying baby would have to continue with the torture devices for 4 more days.   Here's a summary of our doctor visit:

Setting:  Anna and I have been sitting in the exam room for about an hour.  Anna has cried (on and off) before we left for the appointment, outside the hospital, throughout the hospital, in the waiting room, and in the exam room (where we had waited for about an hour at that point).  I had finally given up trying to entertain/comfort/distract and was sitting there holding my poor crying child with my head in my hand.  Surgeon, resident, and nurse walk in.

Surgeon:  Hello!  How are you?  Oh, look - she's crying for us and making it easy to look in her mouth.  Oh, good, healing nicely!

Me: So I can take these things off her arms?  (in a joyous voice)

Surgeon: Oh no no no - how long has it been?  Not 2 weeks yet, right?

Me:  Almost - surgery was last Monday - 10 days ago!

Surgeon:  No, don't take them off till Tuesday.  Be very careful - we must let this heal.  She is older than most kids that we do this surgery on...it will take a little longer for her to heal than a younger baby.

Me: What about the bottle? (I had packed a bottle in Anna's diaper bag in anticipation of giving her one in the exam room in a joyous reunion of baby and bottle)

Surgeon:  Oh no - no bottle!  Wait till Tuesday - we must be careful!

Me: Wait, no bottle?  She won't drink anything!  (sort of in a fake/ha ha exasperated voice)  She won't stop crying!

Surgeon: Well, she's not dehydrated (noting the tears flowing freely as she continues to scream).  And besides - you can do it - you just have one baby - I have 4 children, including triplets!

Me:  Wait a minute - I have 3 other children at home...this isn't easy, buddy.  You can tell me all this stuff I have to do and then go home to your non-screaming children (I didn't actually say all that stuff at the end, I just thought it.  I did tell him we have 4 children too, though).

Surgeon:  Well, I need my wife to call you.  She wants to adopt a cleft palate baby from China.  

Me: Ha!  Yes - you should do it - it's just a lot of work!

Surgeon:  Okay.  Are you massaging her scar on her lip? 

Me: Wait, am I supposed to be doing that now?  I thought I wasn't supposed to go near her mouth?

Surgeon:  Yes - keep it up!  I mean, she's already crying, right?

Me:  Right, okay, I'll do it.  Wait, my husband wants me to ask about her teeth - what's the plan for her poor teeth?

Surgeon:  Oh that's right - your husband is the one who worries about the teeth.  The baby teeth will fall out, she'll get her grown up teeth, then she'll get braces, just like all her friends.  No big deal.

Me: So in the interim, I mean, her poor crazy teeth are pitiful...my husband is just worried about her being made fun of...

Surgeon, turns to nurse: Have you ever heard of our cleft kids getting made fun of for their teeth?  (as in, they have a lot more to be worried about than their teeth, for crying out loud)

Nurse: No, not really...

Me: Okay, sounds good.  See you in 3 weeks.

Anna:  scream, scream, scream

As much screaming is going on, however, I am very grateful that Anna has done so well.  The surgery is behind us, she looks great, and I know she is going to take off even more once we get rid of these arm immobilizers!  Thanks for all the prayers and encouragement!

A brief respite from crying to make faces at the phone camera

Before we left home

Outside the hospital

Waiting to see the surgeon

poor little pitiful...

Recovery is slow but going well thus far!  In my reading and talking with friends who have gone through this surgery with their kids, it is pretty universal that it is just miserable - no way around it!   Poor thing is crying so much that she was hoarse by this weekend, and David called her our little Chinese torture device.  She developed a fever this weekend and I had to take her in to get checked out, but all was fine.  I am counting the days until her follow up appointment on Friday - where hopefully she will be able to stop wearing these stinkin' arm immobilizers (and have her beloved bottle back).  Eating and drinking has been an issue, as Anna has refused any and every cup that we offer her...and it is a struggle to get her to eat much.  I have finally figured out the best way to get her to eat - I put her in the bumbo seat in front of the TV with a Baby Einstein DVD on (terrible, I know, but desperate times call for desperate measures) and try to shovel baby food and use a medicine syringe to get some formula in her.  She still flails her arms around to push me away, but it is a little less than when I have her sitting in the high chair in the kitchen.  However, Anna is a trooper and is overall doing well.  She is crawling around and playing in her room even with her immobilizers in place.  

One thing that has been a new development is that Anna now enjoys looking at herself in the mirror.  A good tool for me to use in the doctor's office (as we spend a lot of time in waiting rooms these days) is my camera on my phone where she can see herself.  It is pretty amusing to see her goofy faces!

I've seen lots of this expression this past week...

Goofy face #1

Goofy face #2

And...this is what Anna thinks of all those doctor visits

One more surgery down...

Thankfully surgery was a go this AM...I kept worrying that Anna would get sick at the last minute and that we would have to reschedule again!  With other kids sick now, David stayed home to take care of that crew while I headed to the hospital with Anna.  I am so grateful that my friend Laura agreed to go with me (at 4:30 AM!) to the hospital - it is certainly nice to have someone around to get an emergency Starbucks and/or Diet Dr. Pepper.  We thought it was pretty amusing that Anna's little hospital gown had panda bears and bamboo on it - did they save that just for her? 

Surgery lasted about 2 hours, and Anna's doctor said he felt good about her repair...although he kept mentioning that "she had a very wide cleft" - ha!  He also injected a steroid into her scar to help with the scar repair on her lip.  Her post-op nurse said that Anna was "quite a fighter", which certainly has to be the case for any poor baby who has survived an orphanage.  I think this also means that she was quite loud until they gave her the full dose of morphine!  So now we are in a room and hope to leave by tomorrow, depending upon several factors.  The next 2 weeks will be the critical healing time - hopefully all will heal nicely with no complications - and we will face life with no thumb-sucking or bottles...ugh!  Thanks for all the prayers and encouragement!

thanks for coming, Ms. Laura!

Pitiful little post-op baby

Just a few more hours...

If Anna can just stay well for the next 10 hours, she will have her surgery in the AM.  Thanks for the prayers!

Last few hours of thumb sucking before the torture begins  (arm restraints post-op for the next 2 weeks)

On the move...and getting ready for surgery!

Thankfully it seems like Anna is finally getting over her sickness - just in time for surgery!  The last time surgery was scheduled it had to be canceled due to illness, so hopefully we will make it this time.  Poor thing has been sick a bunch, but she finally is back to her happy self these past couple of days.  As I read about others who have gone before me with their children having palate repairs, it is a bit intimidating to think about the details...but I just keep telling myself that this is the next major hurdle, and then hopefully she won't have to have another surgery for a couple of years.  The biggest bummer for Anna, I think, is that she won't be able to have her bottle or suck her thumb for 2 weeks.  Super big bummer.  Since she has been sick so much, I have just been giving her the bottle and not really working hard to transition to the cup.  Today, however, when I spoke to the nurse about the surgery, she suggested I ease up on the bottle over the weekend to make the transition a little better after surgery.
Now I have been a little crazy over the past few months and have bought about 5000 different kinds of sippy cups, in hopes that Anna will like maybe one of them.  None of them have totally caught her eye, but today I tried one of Will's old cups without the valve in it - and she actually took it!  Woo hoo!  So, I guess I will leave behind all the cute flowery/girly cups I bought and use the cool Texas Rangers baseball cups.  I also have found it interesting that some of Anna's favorite toys are the plastic lids from the baby food containers.  Some people, who are crafty and cool, probably think up all kinds of great things to do with their empty baby food containers - while I, on the other hand, like to use them as toys.  Much easier.

It is fun to watch Anna really take off in the mobility department.  She is crawling everywhere now, and particularly enjoys crawling in and out of her room and playing with her toys.  So now I can blame the mess on Anna...

On the move...

Loves those musical toys

Check out this tall kneeling!

Thanks for your prayers as we approach surgery day on Monday!