Mystery solved
Luke has been home a little over a week. A week already?! How is that possible?
As most international adoptive families do, we spend the first week in medical appointments. We visited the clinic and hospital on there different days to see the doctor, obtain labs, and run tests.
I haven't talked much about why Luke was labeled "special needs" on this blog so far. Partly because we had limited information to share, and in part because as an adoptive parent you think about how much is my story to share and how much is his story to share. Well the reality is, it is going to come up before he is old enough to share this part of his story. When he's wearing a swim suit. When a babysitter is changing him into pajamas. When he's rolling around on the floor and laughing so hard that his shirt comes up. You'll see it. You will see the scar. A large 8cm surgical wound on his abdomen. He was found as a newborn with this scar. No surgical records. No note from his parents. No knowledge what so ever about why he had surgery.
Again seeing God's sovereignty in this process, our adoption agency chose to give us Luke's file. Us. Two parents who are physicians. Ask my daughter, Eliana, what mommy does for a living, and she will tell you, "takes care of sick babies" - babies who are premature, medically ill, or need surgery right after being born. (That's what "Neonatologist" do for those of you who still are exactly sure what that term means. 😉) Babies like Luke. Babies who have surgery as a newborn. This is my world.
On the night Luke was sick in China, throwing up almost constantly and looking miserable, it wasn't until 3 or 4 hours in that Kanhka asked, "you don't think this has to do with his surgery do you?". At that moment, the agency's wisdom in giving us Luke's file was solidified. The thought of Luke's surgery being related to his current symptoms honestly hadn't even crossed my mind. It seemed like straight forward foodborne or GI illness to me. But to a new parent who didn't use the phrase "non-bilious vomiting" in their every day conversations (a phrase I said back to Kanhka that night), I realized this situation could have been really really scary. You are told over and over again to prepare for the medical situation to be worse than the file may portray.
Before we even went to China, one of my pediatric surgery colleagues and I had looked at all of the information we did have about Luke and concluded he most likely had one of two surgeries. On Friday, we confirmed those suspicions. I took Luke to UNC for a study that confirmed his intestines were rotated incorrectly inside his body when he was born. Technically they still lay inside his body incorrectly, but after the presumed surgery he had as a baby, they should be tacked down in such a way that it will not cause any further issues. They most likely made the diagnosis when he was a newborn because of symptoms resulting from decreased blood flow to his intestines when the intestines had twisted - a life threatening situation.
The surgery they performed in China literally saved his life. And now he is fine. For months we had wondered and speculated about this scar. And within seconds of the test starting, I looked at the images and knew what the surgery was to correct. This is probably the one surgical procedure on the intestines that we could have identified so quickly and easily after the fact. We could very easily have never known what his surgery was for if it had been done for any number of other things. Prayers number "I've lost count" answered. God is so good! Luke is not showing any symptoms now, and he is not likely to have any other issues in the future.
One of the best signs of how Luke's intestines are doing is how well he eats. He doesn't seem to care that we eat nothing of the bland diet he had in the China orphanage. If he sees brother and sister eating something, he is willing to give it a try. And I must mention he is a southern boy at heart, even liking lima beans! If anyone wants noodle bowls, come on over and pick some up. I stocked the pantry with noodle bowels and rice anticipating that he would not always want to eat American food, but this boy would much prefer a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a banana for lunch.
Overall, this first week at home has gone great. We have not "cocooned" because he continues to adjust phenomenally well. We have made trips to the grocery store, the library, the park, and even church today. He knows where his place is at home - his bed, his seat at the table, his seat in the car. He is full of smiles and continues to sleep well (not even phased by daylights savings!). He's starting to learn English, which is mostly the phrases his brother commonly says at this point, "bye bye", "uh-oh", "all done" and "here-you-go" (all mushed into one word). I'm not sure I've heard the word "mama" so many times in my life though. The three of them create a chorus. And, oh how he loves his brother and sister already.
One of the unique things about adopting an older child is that they already have a personality and habits. Of course everyone loves their newborn, but there are not really unique things you can identify. I have found myself thinking of all the things I love about Luke already.
I love...
- How you wrap not just your arms but also your legs tight around me when I hold you.
- How you stroke my hair when I'm holding you in a new place or a situation that makes you nervous.
- How you call out "mama?" every 10-15 minutes when we are in the car just to make sure I'm still there since you can't see me rear-facing.
- How you look at me for permission before doing anything, even picking up a toy to play.
- How you call for Ge ge (brother) and Jie Jie (sister)
- How you and your brother giggle once the door closes at bedtime; and how you jet down in the crib and pretend to be sleeping when I open to door again.
- How you already try to keep your brother out of trouble by taking his hand and attempting to lead him away from something you know he isn't suppose to be doing.
- How I know you are asleep in the car when I see your right foot turn out and hang over the side of the care seat.
- How you give cheek kisses.
As most international adoptive families do, we spend the first week in medical appointments. We visited the clinic and hospital on there different days to see the doctor, obtain labs, and run tests.
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Napping in between x-rays
(He exhausted himself crying. Seeing him cry, calling for mama, and reach out for me but me not be able to pick him up was one of the hardest things on me yet)
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I haven't talked much about why Luke was labeled "special needs" on this blog so far. Partly because we had limited information to share, and in part because as an adoptive parent you think about how much is my story to share and how much is his story to share. Well the reality is, it is going to come up before he is old enough to share this part of his story. When he's wearing a swim suit. When a babysitter is changing him into pajamas. When he's rolling around on the floor and laughing so hard that his shirt comes up. You'll see it. You will see the scar. A large 8cm surgical wound on his abdomen. He was found as a newborn with this scar. No surgical records. No note from his parents. No knowledge what so ever about why he had surgery.
Again seeing God's sovereignty in this process, our adoption agency chose to give us Luke's file. Us. Two parents who are physicians. Ask my daughter, Eliana, what mommy does for a living, and she will tell you, "takes care of sick babies" - babies who are premature, medically ill, or need surgery right after being born. (That's what "Neonatologist" do for those of you who still are exactly sure what that term means. 😉) Babies like Luke. Babies who have surgery as a newborn. This is my world.
On the night Luke was sick in China, throwing up almost constantly and looking miserable, it wasn't until 3 or 4 hours in that Kanhka asked, "you don't think this has to do with his surgery do you?". At that moment, the agency's wisdom in giving us Luke's file was solidified. The thought of Luke's surgery being related to his current symptoms honestly hadn't even crossed my mind. It seemed like straight forward foodborne or GI illness to me. But to a new parent who didn't use the phrase "non-bilious vomiting" in their every day conversations (a phrase I said back to Kanhka that night), I realized this situation could have been really really scary. You are told over and over again to prepare for the medical situation to be worse than the file may portray.
Before we even went to China, one of my pediatric surgery colleagues and I had looked at all of the information we did have about Luke and concluded he most likely had one of two surgeries. On Friday, we confirmed those suspicions. I took Luke to UNC for a study that confirmed his intestines were rotated incorrectly inside his body when he was born. Technically they still lay inside his body incorrectly, but after the presumed surgery he had as a baby, they should be tacked down in such a way that it will not cause any further issues. They most likely made the diagnosis when he was a newborn because of symptoms resulting from decreased blood flow to his intestines when the intestines had twisted - a life threatening situation.
The surgery they performed in China literally saved his life. And now he is fine. For months we had wondered and speculated about this scar. And within seconds of the test starting, I looked at the images and knew what the surgery was to correct. This is probably the one surgical procedure on the intestines that we could have identified so quickly and easily after the fact. We could very easily have never known what his surgery was for if it had been done for any number of other things. Prayers number "I've lost count" answered. God is so good! Luke is not showing any symptoms now, and he is not likely to have any other issues in the future.
One of the best signs of how Luke's intestines are doing is how well he eats. He doesn't seem to care that we eat nothing of the bland diet he had in the China orphanage. If he sees brother and sister eating something, he is willing to give it a try. And I must mention he is a southern boy at heart, even liking lima beans! If anyone wants noodle bowls, come on over and pick some up. I stocked the pantry with noodle bowels and rice anticipating that he would not always want to eat American food, but this boy would much prefer a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a banana for lunch.
Overall, this first week at home has gone great. We have not "cocooned" because he continues to adjust phenomenally well. We have made trips to the grocery store, the library, the park, and even church today. He knows where his place is at home - his bed, his seat at the table, his seat in the car. He is full of smiles and continues to sleep well (not even phased by daylights savings!). He's starting to learn English, which is mostly the phrases his brother commonly says at this point, "bye bye", "uh-oh", "all done" and "here-you-go" (all mushed into one word). I'm not sure I've heard the word "mama" so many times in my life though. The three of them create a chorus. And, oh how he loves his brother and sister already.
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First trip to the library.
(We only lasted about 20 minutes before all my energy was zapped trying to keep 3 little ones quiet)
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| Sister and brother showing him the ropes at the park. |
One of the unique things about adopting an older child is that they already have a personality and habits. Of course everyone loves their newborn, but there are not really unique things you can identify. I have found myself thinking of all the things I love about Luke already.
I love...
- How you wrap not just your arms but also your legs tight around me when I hold you.
- How you stroke my hair when I'm holding you in a new place or a situation that makes you nervous.
- How you call out "mama?" every 10-15 minutes when we are in the car just to make sure I'm still there since you can't see me rear-facing.
- How you look at me for permission before doing anything, even picking up a toy to play.
- How you call for Ge ge (brother) and Jie Jie (sister)
- How you and your brother giggle once the door closes at bedtime; and how you jet down in the crib and pretend to be sleeping when I open to door again.
- How you already try to keep your brother out of trouble by taking his hand and attempting to lead him away from something you know he isn't suppose to be doing.
- How I know you are asleep in the car when I see your right foot turn out and hang over the side of the care seat.
- How you give cheek kisses.
This is just too precious for words!! Hoping to come to B-Town and meet him soon. Love from the Willetts!
ReplyDeleteThis is soooo sweet! You will cherish all of the posts for years to come.
ReplyDeleteI love that God has answered so many prayers that you can’t even keep track!
ReplyDelete