Ella had her first appointment with the Doctor yesterday. Dr. Perez was just wonderful with her and so gentle! He did a complete exam from head to toe and found Ella to be, "a normal, healthy, happy, child who appears to be adjusting and adapting great." She has gained 2 pounds in just under 2 weeks...either it is the peanut butter & bananas or the previous scale was off.
I was a bit concerned about a "bump" on her lower spine however, it turned out to be nothing significant or out of the ordinary.
She had blood work done in Ukraine in 04 with all results within the normal range. We were having a blood typing test done and since she was going to be poked for it we opted to repeat all the standard test for accuracy and under U.S. standards. Ella does not like needles nor do I! The moment she saw the needle she knew what was happening. She's a tough little girl though and only cried briefly when the needle went it. Thankfully, they used the butterfly needle which isn't so big and not nearly as scarey. We should have the results of the labs by early next week.
Then we were off to immunizations - she needed 5 to bring her up-to-date. She was only given four since we think she has had the chicken pox already (the labs included a test to see if she has). She had 2 pokes in each thigh; and yes she cried and so did I. Once she was off the exam table she was fine....until we had to sit in the waiting room for 15 minutes (reaction to immunization wait) and she cuddled in my lap and cried the whole 15 minutes.
In Ella's translated medical records (not the diagnoses given by the SDA), it stated she has speech delay. Of course, neither Dr. Perez or I are fluent in Russian and we cannot tell if she actually has a speech delay. We have decided to wait until she is speaking more English to have her evaluated.
I knew exactly what would be her bright spot after all those needles - her Papa. I called Papa who was ready for lunch so we took Ella to her very first meal in the O'Club. She is such a little daddy's girl and it is so cute to see her explode with joy when she sees him. Okay, it's cute to watch a big man like Jim melt when he sees her to!
That's it for now...
About Our Family
- ...
- El Paso, Texas, United States
- We are James, Lisa, Patrick, Christian, Carson, and Ella Payne a military family serving our country via service in the U.S. Army. Jim and I have been married for 18 years and have 3 wonderful home grown sons -Patrick, Christian and Carson. We recently adopted our beautiful daughter Ella Grace Ana from Donets'k, Ukraine in September. Jim and I began our Army life together at Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas and every assignment thus far has extended unique opportunities and challenges for our family to grow and learn; to become a stronger, committed, and a prepared Army family. Having recently lived abroad for six amazing years, we cannot express how thankful we are for the opportunity to have represented our great country and to discover the cultures and customs of other countries; to become close to the people and learn from them; to open our hearts and minds to the unfamiliar languages and way of life in other countries. Having now moved back to the United States, we are looking forward to discovering what new adventures await our family. Rest assured, wherever the Army sends us we will continue to serve you and our country proudly. Army life, we wouldn’t trade it!
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This is our "spot" we began at the beginning of our journey in May 2007, to adopt a child from Ukraine. In August 2008, we traveled to Ukraine to bring our daughter/sister Ella Grace Ana home; and on September 12, 2008 we did just that.
While our journey to bring her home is complete, our journey together is just beginning. We will continue to keep our spot here, posting as frequently as we can; and keeping you updated on our next journey in life...maybe a second adoption is in our future.
Please join us by following us by clicking on the "Follow" link to the left and posting your notes at the bottom of any post we have made.
While our journey to bring her home is complete, our journey together is just beginning. We will continue to keep our spot here, posting as frequently as we can; and keeping you updated on our next journey in life...maybe a second adoption is in our future.
Please join us by following us by clicking on the "Follow" link to the left and posting your notes at the bottom of any post we have made.
3 comments:
Uck! I hate needles too, and making my kids get those shots redone just about killed me! I feel for you!
It is awesome that little Ella is doing so well with her adjustments and her health.
Ella is a such a brave girl. Sounds like she is doing great. The bonding sounds like it is going awesome too!
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