Maria Marcela received a phone call from the doctor yesterday with Emily's blood test results. Thankfully everything came back normal. There were no signs of lead poisoning which is one of the common things they look for in children coming from particular environments such as a highly polluted city as Tianjin is.
We are still waiting for the stool sample results, which should come later. Next will be her appointment with the specialist to determine the severity and recommended treatment for her spine. Aside from her condition, she is definately gaining strength and it wouldn't surprise me if she is walking in a few months. I don't want to get anyone's hopes up, but it's a definate possibility. We're giving her some goat's milk that we got from my mother in east Texas this past weekend.
On that note, we had them all over for the weekend to introduce Emily to her extended family and we also enjoyed a wonderful welcome home gathering Saturday night over at John and Becky Elliott's home in McKinney. Monica Noguera-Jedamski, Jeannette Gordon-Reinoso and Becky were terrific in hosting with about 50 people in attendance.
On another note, throughout this whole process, many people have asked about our adoption and why. In the next post, I hope to answer that.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Friday, March 7, 2008
Settling In - Friday, March 7th
Just an update to this week's events.
Emily had her primary doctor's visit on Wednesday, so we're still waiting for the blood test results to come back. However, what we got from the doctor regarding her condition thus far is that she has an abnormally rapid heart rate, the flattened portion on the right backside of her skull might could have been corrected had she been given a special type of helmet before her front lobes had closed. There will be further tests to determine the seriousness of both and whether anything can be done.
The red spidery web looking blotch on her back is thought to be a birth mark. Man, what a birth mark. Interestingly, Andrew has a dark area on his back since birth, but no comparison in size.
The TB test came back negative.
All is going well at home. She is certainly settling in to her surroundings and, more importantly, "ba ba". That's me.
Today, Maria went to the chiropractor and left her with me. We're becoming quite chummy, although she sporadically feels the need to counteract my supposed male dominance. A trait that I've most recently been unfortunate to encounter. But that's another story...
Anyway, Emily allows me to hold her. She lays her head on my shoulder. So, all is good. More later. Guests have just arrived and I'm ready for a drink.
Emily had her primary doctor's visit on Wednesday, so we're still waiting for the blood test results to come back. However, what we got from the doctor regarding her condition thus far is that she has an abnormally rapid heart rate, the flattened portion on the right backside of her skull might could have been corrected had she been given a special type of helmet before her front lobes had closed. There will be further tests to determine the seriousness of both and whether anything can be done.
The red spidery web looking blotch on her back is thought to be a birth mark. Man, what a birth mark. Interestingly, Andrew has a dark area on his back since birth, but no comparison in size.
The TB test came back negative.
All is going well at home. She is certainly settling in to her surroundings and, more importantly, "ba ba". That's me.
Today, Maria went to the chiropractor and left her with me. We're becoming quite chummy, although she sporadically feels the need to counteract my supposed male dominance. A trait that I've most recently been unfortunate to encounter. But that's another story...
Anyway, Emily allows me to hold her. She lays her head on my shoulder. So, all is good. More later. Guests have just arrived and I'm ready for a drink.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
How to Subscribe to New Posts
Ok, what I originally suspected is true. At the bottom of the post page, there is an option to "Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)".
When you click on this, it will open a new browser window, under the main heading is a hyperlink allowing you to subscribe to the newsfeed. By clicking on this link, it will open a small window telling you it will, by default, put it into your favorites center along with Favorites (bookmarks) and History of your internet browser under feeds and will update daily.
Having never done this before, I'm not certain as to the way it functions. I, myself, have subscribed and hope to let you know as I find out more.
When you click on this, it will open a new browser window, under the main heading is a hyperlink allowing you to subscribe to the newsfeed. By clicking on this link, it will open a small window telling you it will, by default, put it into your favorites center along with Favorites (bookmarks) and History of your internet browser under feeds and will update daily.
Having never done this before, I'm not certain as to the way it functions. I, myself, have subscribed and hope to let you know as I find out more.
Another family's blog and thanks...
Upon returning home, I thought to look at one of the other family's blog that was in our group and frankly, I wish I had looked at it before our trip and taken the time to put a little more into ours. Anyway, in case you're interested, I would certainly encourage you to look at it. I believe there to be more details to the trip and their personal experiences.
http://ladmans.blogspot.com/
Also, if I have already mentioned it, I'm going to mention it again. I can't imagine having taken this trip without Beatriz and Anamaria. It made all the difference in the world having them with us to help, support and share in our experiences. I want to thank Ana for incredible photography that we would not have otherwise had. What an amazing record we have to pass on to Emily when she is of age to become interested in her heritage. Not to mention, the recollection of the memories we shared.
I wanted to ask if anyone knows of a way to subscribe to the blog in order to know when a new post has been uploaded. Reason being is that I will probably continue to post updates now and then. Particularly the results we receive when we take her to the family doctor this week and, more importantly, the diagnosis of her scoliosis from the specialist we will be seeing on April 7th.
Anyway, I don't anyone to have to keep checking and there not be anything new posted.
Oh, I do want to report that Emily is yelling out "Ba Pa" and "Ma Ma" quite a lot and it seems certain she is referring to me, obviously on the "Ba Pa" part.
As I might have mentioned, when we picked Emily up, we were given a journal that was either kept by the foster family or the representative at the orphanage. Either way, I have a few resources in which I'm hoping to get it translated. I will share those findings as soon as I get them.
http://ladmans.blogspot.com/
Also, if I have already mentioned it, I'm going to mention it again. I can't imagine having taken this trip without Beatriz and Anamaria. It made all the difference in the world having them with us to help, support and share in our experiences. I want to thank Ana for incredible photography that we would not have otherwise had. What an amazing record we have to pass on to Emily when she is of age to become interested in her heritage. Not to mention, the recollection of the memories we shared.
I wanted to ask if anyone knows of a way to subscribe to the blog in order to know when a new post has been uploaded. Reason being is that I will probably continue to post updates now and then. Particularly the results we receive when we take her to the family doctor this week and, more importantly, the diagnosis of her scoliosis from the specialist we will be seeing on April 7th.
Anyway, I don't anyone to have to keep checking and there not be anything new posted.
Oh, I do want to report that Emily is yelling out "Ba Pa" and "Ma Ma" quite a lot and it seems certain she is referring to me, obviously on the "Ba Pa" part.
As I might have mentioned, when we picked Emily up, we were given a journal that was either kept by the foster family or the representative at the orphanage. Either way, I have a few resources in which I'm hoping to get it translated. I will share those findings as soon as I get them.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Formal Statement
Since Andrew was sick the Friday Ana and I went to visit Emily's birth town, I had not posted the info. I think I gave a different name for the city, but it should be Jinghai. Below is the formal announcement from the orphanage's president proclaiming her to be an orphan. I believe she used the same wording from the announcement in the Tianjin Legal News that ran from March 13 to May 12, 2006:
This is to certify that Wei Mingsu (female, born on January 19, 2006) was abandoned at the north coal room of the doorway of a resident home, No. 9, Row 1, Dongfanghong Road, Jinghai Town, Jinghai County, Tianjin on February 9, 2006 and was found at the same place herein above. The local Xicheng Police Station of Jinghai Branch, Tianjiin Municipal Public Security Bureau had searched for her parents or relatives, but nobody claimed that she was the daughter of them. After that she was affirmed as an abandoned child and was sent to Institute of Children's Welfare Tianjin by the said police station on February 9, 2006. Her biological parents or other relatives can not be found up to now.
President: Feng Liwei
Institute of Children's Welfare Tianjin (January 23, 2008)
The first pic is the address with copy of the newspaper announcement (you can find the larger pic on Flickr), then the residence where she was found and finally, our guide, Wendy, showing me the coal room. Apparently, a passerby found her and took her to the police.
Anybody for scorpion soup?
I know this may seem strange, to post this at this time, but I thought this was sooo strange on our trip, that I had to show the photo as I described in a previous post of us going through the China market.This woman is funneling a measure of live scorpions into a container. From the four bowls, there were four different varieties to choose from.
For a larger view of this, you can click on the post title above and it should take you directly to the photo on flickr.com/johnnysnyder.
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