Cast #7

Cast day has come and gone again. I am not sure I have fully processed the day. You would think, having done this 6 other times, that I would be fully prepared for whatever cast days throws at us. Man oh man was I wrong.

This cast day completely kicked my butt. I was physically and emotionally exhausted. To be fair, we asked to switch cast days. Kiya was supposed to go in the week before but we wouldn't have been with two of my closest friends and cast day is not good without them. I refused to be given any time other than the last cast of the day. They usually take the kids in order youngest to oldest and I didn't want anyone else's kid to get bumped down because we asked to switch. Kiya was the 6th kid to get a cast that day. We reported to the hospital at 9am.

After we got checked in we went straight to xray. This is where the day started to go awry for us. Kiya knows who Mr Tom is. She knows that he takes pictures of her back and then she gets a beanie baby and a sticker or two. Mr Tom was not there when we went down to xray. It was a whole group of women that we had never seen before. They were nice but took Kiya and had her stand for her xray alone. We were told to walk on the other side of the wall and wait. With Mr Tom, he lets us wear a bib and stay with her. Kiya being the amazing kid that she is was fine and followed directions like a champ. Kiya got her stickers and her beanie baby and then the told us to leave. I had to ask to see the xray. Mr Tom knows we want to see it. I saw it and my heart sank.

At this point it was about 10am. We had A LOT of waiting to do. Kiya watched A LOT of TV and we went for a few walks. She started asking for a snack or some juice around 11am. Poor kid hadn't eaten anything since about 8:30 the night before and had just a few sips of water around 7am. We stalled. We explained that she could eat after she got her cast. She accepted it and moved on. She asked again a little later and we just reminded her that she didn't have her cast yet and again she accepted and moved on.

Finally around 12:30pm we were called back to pre-op. Kiya knows this is where she has to drink the orange medicine (aka Versed). Per Kiya this medicine is sour. We had to hold her down and force her to take the medicine last time. This time we just talked about the medicine for a few days prior. We told her that she needed to take the medicine or she had to have a shot (aka an owie). When we got to pre-op, she was told she could have a sticker after she took her medicine and some bubble gum flavored drops. She directed the process and told Ruby "just a little first." We tried to tell her to drink it fast but she did it in 3 sips and then immediately said "Princess sticker please".

Around 1:30 they called her back to surgery and we went to grab some food. It was just about 2:30pm when we ran into Dr. H. He and Linda sat down and chatted with us. It wasn't good news, it wasn't bad news but it was merely the same. A wise friend told me same is good so I went with that even though I was deeply frustrated. We have been at this two years almost and we have no end in sight. He told us surgery wasn't an option right now since Kiya is so flexible and gets into the 12-17 degree range in cast. He then said we could continue casting or brace. We can do cast. Brace is the unknown and she is still at 46 degrees out of cast. So back again in 12 weeks and likely 12 weeks after that and 12 weeks after that until we are all ready for the next step.

The day had been emotional and full of unknowns for all of us and after our chat our day got let's just say really interesting. I am not proud of my behavior during taping/cast trimming. I was grumpy, moody and borderline rude. Kiya was HYSTERICAL and ANGRY and fighting every piece of tape and padding. I finally made them all walk away and give her a minute to settle, eat a graham cracker and drink some juice. Kiya was much better the second go round and even helped hold the tape.

The highlight of this cast trip was the amazingly fun pool party. Kiya was hesitant at first but saw others jumping and splashing and a switch flipped and she turned into part daredevil and part fish. She wanted to jump in and she was trying to swim. She kept putting her face in the water and even went underwater a few times. She loved it and the best part was she got to play with her cast buddies outside of the hospital and I got to hang out with some really cool moms. I am truly blessed to walk this path with these amazing women and their kids and families. It makes the tough days doable.

In hindsight our day wasn't great but it could have been a whole lot worse. My heart aches for my friends who faced bigger let downs and more questions on cast day. I should quit my whining and really except that same is good. Easier said then done but I am working on it. Sending hugs and prayers to my amazing support system. I couldn't ask for better friends. It is more like a marriage really as for better or worse we will always stand beside each other. Can't ask for much more than that.

Wordless Wednesday....Katie edition

See ya cast #6

On Tuesday we cut off cast #6. It has become second nature now. Out come the tin snips, or red scissors as Kiya calls them and in about 5-10 minutes she is cast free. It is so nice to do it at home without the dreaded cast saw. Immediately we headed to the big tub for a bubble bath and lots of splashing.

 Post bath picture of her back. In some photos she looked really straight, others not so much. I have a love/hate relationship with cast off week. I love being able to hug my daughter without the barrier of the cast. I hate the worry. I hate that we both lost our security blanket in away.

Kiya, being the amazing kid that she is, asked for her cast to be put back on. She has never done that. She said "Mommy, I want my cast back on. Pink one please. My back needs it." I hate that at almost 3 and a half she has such an understanding of her reality. She is super excited about getting her new cast. We shall see how that goes on Monday when we get to the hospital.

Besides getting a pink cast, Kiya and I are super duper excited for a hotel pool party. We are staying at the same hotel as some of our cast friends and the hotel has a pool. Some other local Chicago cast friends are popping in for some fun in the pool also. It will be so great to see my friends and for Kiya to play with her cast friends outside of the hospital. It is going to be amazing and my guess loud. Hope the hotel doesn't mind :)

unexpected

About one week after my last blog post, we got an update on Katie :) I was beyond thrilled. I wish we had gotten photos. The report made reference to photos but still haven't seen them.

Here is what we learned about our sweet now one year old:
-She has 7 teeth
-She is cruising on furniture and will stand for about 5 seconds unassisted.
-She is eating yogurt, rice, apples and more
-She sleeps through the night
-She naps twice per day
-She is starting to scribble
-She LOVES music and apparently loves to dance

We also learned about the grabbing ceremony that is tradition for 1st birthdays in Korea. There is also a traditional “tohl jahbee” via which the child grabs an object from a collection of objects and the chosen object, per tradition, represents what the child will be when he/she grows up. Miss Katie grabbed a pencil which means that she will be an academic or scholar.

I love that we got this update. I also have a feeling if Miss Katie's love of music and dance continue she and Kiya will get along great. I am not close with my sister and it stinks so I really want my two girls to be friends.

Kiya is so ready to be a big sister and talks about Katie a lot. Kiya recognizes the letter K and will see a capital K and say this "K is for Kiya" and then point to a small k and say "this k is for Katie. I am bigger so I get the big K."

Love both my girls so much and can't wait to see them together.

Bummed

Well, Katie's first birthday has come and gone. I was really really hoping we would get an update this month. Like I refreshed my email 50 + times an hour hoping. Such was not to be I suppose. I guess it is still possible but unlikely given the timing of our other updates.

Therefore I am officially bummed. My baby girl turned 1 and it was bad enough that we couldn't witness it in person but to not get any kind of update really hurt. In reality I shouldn't complain. Since we accepted our referral there has only been one month that we haven't gotten an update, this would be the second month.

The upside is that the 1st batch of emigration permissions for our agency have all been approved. Those families should travel to Korea in the next 2-4 weeks to finally be united with their children. Now we wait on the next batch to be submitted for approval. Given what we know of the numbers which is little, I admit, we if all stays on course would likely be in batch 5, 6 or 7 that would be submitted for approval.

On a completely random note, we decided on a middle name for our sweet Katherine. It is tradition in my husbands family that the oldest son share their father's name. So my father in law is Robert Norman (his father's first name) and my husband is David Robert. Well we have two girls so this presented us with a little bit of a challenge. Kiya shares my middle name and it is also my mother's middle name. We really wanted Katie to also have a name that meant a lot to the family. So we selected Emma. Dave's grandmother's name. Katherine Yeon Emma. And both of our daughter's will have two middle names and they both start with Y and then E. Annakiya Yewibdar Eileen.


So there you have it. It didn't take a month and it may not be a long update but it is an update indeed. Hoping this week or next brings lots of good news to waiting families.

Vacation, illness and funk

I can't believe it has been a month since I last posted. So much has been going on. I will start with with the good stuff.

1) VACATION :)  We took a family trip to Arizona for Spring Training to cheer on our Brewers. We made it to three games and Kiya had a blast. We also went to the botanical gardens, the zoo and Sedona. It was a busy trip but nice to enjoy the sunshine and the time together. Our adventures continued on our flight home. Apparently you need to get to the Phoenix airport 3 hours ahead of a domestic flight especially at the start of Spring Break. We gave ourselves half that and missed our flight. We spent most of the day in the airport, then on to a flight to Chicago where we had to rent a car and drive ourselves back to Milwaukee where our car was parked. Then we had to drive from Milwaukee back to our house. Instead of being home by 4pm on Saturday we got home around 1am Sunday morning. Fun. Kiya did great and made lots of new friends in the airport.

Here is the bad part.

2)  Kiya has a mild case of pneumonia. Sunday morning after just a few hours of sleep from our long travel day, we took Kiya to urgent care. We left with a prescription for antibiotics. She has this horrible cough. Her cast doesn't help. She wasn't eating really much of anything. We are a couple of days into her medication and she actually asked me for food yesterday. She loves to take her medicine and seems to be getting the spring back in her step. The issue I am struggling with is her cast. She is due to get cast #7 on April 10th and I am hoping this illness won't delay that. I am so glad she is getting better though.

Here is the funk.

3) Sweet Katie turns one on Saturday and we won't be there. It is hard to know that our daughter is half a world away and hitting a milestone and we won't be there to celebrate. I try not to focus on it as there isn't much we can do but celebrate Katie here even if we aren't all together. This adoption is approaching the 3 year mark. 3 years to add to our family. It has been a long almost 3 years. I am ready to complete my family. We are getting closer. The process is moving again in Korea and we are thinking we could be in batch 6 or 7 this year so hopefully Sept/Oct to travel. Reality is this is international adoption so things could change. The phone could ring next month or it could be November. We are just praying it is this year.

So there you have it. Here's to hoping it isn't a month before I post again.

Busy busy

I know that I have been MIA for awhile. Things are busy. Life is busy. So what have I been up to

1) I registered Kiya for preschool. Yup my baby girl is eligible for actual preschool in the fall. We sent in the form and should find out soon if she will be going there. We did select a private school for Miss Kiya. I am nervous about changing schools but she will still go to daycare at her current school and then 2 days a week preschool at her new school if she gets in. Kiya doesn't always do well with change but this is the school we really want her to go to and hoped that change at a younger age would be easier.

2) I shockingly accepted a promotion at work. This definitely changes what I had thought the rest of the year would look like but it was a good opportunity. It is a lot of responsibility and pressure but I am excited and ready for the challenge.

3) I don't have an adoption update other than I am super frustrated and sad about the whole thing. There has been zero children given emigration permission from Korea so far this year. 0. So not right and so not okay but alas there is nothing we can do about it. We have our provisional I600 approval and all necessary paperwork is on its way to the US Embassy in Seoul. In theory you would think this would mean we were closer to Katie joining our family and in a way yes she is but we need the Korean government to give her emigration permission. There are lots of families ahead of us waiting for this as well. It could be longer than 14 months from referral to travel. In fact I would be surprised if we travel by September. Sigh....

4) Plane tickets purchased. Rental car rented. Baseball tickets ordered. We are headed to spring training in a few weeks in sunny Arizona. Go Brewers!

So there you have it. Not very exciting but an update nonetheless.