Wow how time is flying we have had Jailyn for 5 weeks and we were blessed to be able to celebrate our baby girl's first Birthday! To think our baby one year ago was left outside the orphanage gate and now she is with her forever family here in Cincinnati. Jailyn turned one on Monday, July 11, 2011, and shares her Birthday with her mommy, me. It was a day of chaos and challenges however we had presents, birthday cake and ice cream with the grandparents and big sis Katie and Billy. Her world was rocked with over stimulation and sheer joy. She wore her birthday girl outfit and had her first cupcake ever and made a big ole mess that her daddy could not stand her to make however it was all fun. She got so many talking toys and gifts. She was spoiled rotten and rightly deserved to be......Mike said Jailyn was the Birthday Princess and I was the Birthday Queen. Daddy spoiled us both with roses and great gifts, a birthday keepsake box for Jailyn from Tiffany's and a mommy Brighton bracelet for me. It was the hottest day of the year 100 degrees plus and they decided to black top our private drive with no parking at our home and her cupcake cake took a tumble carrying it up the hill to our home. Mommy was not happy. So you do not have a story until something goes wrong. I wanted everything perfect and I patched the cake back to together and turned it around for the pictures. Got over it and enjoyed a great birthday with best birthday present ever, my baby girl that I get to be her mom. Jailyn loved the attention, the pictures, the cards, the wrapping, the gifts, the cupcake..... and was so interested in every bit of her party. She was an excellent Birthday girl!!!!! Her world was rocked without a nap and over stimulation at her party and we had a terrible night trying to get her to bed 2 hours of crying, sweating, scratching and big tears. That seems to still be her only big issue is bed time however nap time is alot easier. It is getting better and in the next 21 days of consistent routine we are going to knock out the screaming bloody murder temper tantrums full of fear at bedtime. With all the processing of change, grief, jet lag, catching up emotionally and developmentally it is all normal for these little girls coming from China and by golly I want her emotions and grief processed. So we endure and love her and assure her it is okay. She is truly an amazing little girl. She has been through so much and we are tackling her skin issues too. She had contact dermatitus on her little face which we have no idea how she got that and a form of eczema that makes her scratch which I believe is the the same kind of eczema she has with the little bit of cradle cap we are tackling in her hair.
We had our big clinical appointment at Children's Hospital July 13 which was a big milestone for us. Reassurance we are taking great care of her and that we could get some help tackling our itchy little girl. Jailyn was a pro at our 5 hour appt at Children's Intl Adoption Clinic. We saw the nurse, Dr. Staat, and Therapist (re: bonding and attachment), an occupational therapist, the lab for blood work and even an xray. She has gained 2 lbs and ways 17 and half pounds and is 27 inches long and working on her 8th tooth which is now coming in.....She is healthy and Dr. Staat and everyone thought she was a little cutie. She was accessed to be as a 10 month old developmentally with the OT and lacking in gross motor skills more like an 8 month old. All was to be expected as the foster mom did not work with her however did a great job taking care of her basic needs. She is catching up and we are working with her daily to get moving and she wants to walk. I was relieved talking to the therapist about the bonding and attachment and she reassured us this baby is attached and bonded with us the way Jailyn watches and interacts with us so the crying at night is not due to problems bonding and attaching with us. My mind was eased as the social worker from our agency scared us to death with signs that could be wrong like not making eye contact and that only happens during those temper tantrums.
Dr. Staat believes she had some kind of mite possibly with the markings on her skin so she wanted us to dip her and myself in the eliminite again which could be some of the itching. Dr. Staat saw she had some fungal issues in the crease of her neck and a little yeast on her bottom so she prescribed lotrimin for neck and bottom and butt paste on the bottom too. Plus she could not understand the contact dermititus on her face so she prescribed benadryl and hydrocortizone cream. After a week and a half her face is pretty much back to normal with a little bit of itching. She also had xrays of her chest and spine and it all was normal. Her blood work is being run and she does not have parasites in her stool. She had a TB test which was negative and 2 shots and 6 vials of blood taken. She cried briefly and then ate mum mums and was fine. She was great at the clinic and struggled being held down for the xrays. The only surprise is she has a small perforation in her right ear drum. She has pulled at that ear ever since we have had her and the doctor believes it will heal. We are blessed and so glad we went through the clinic at children's.
The rest of week was dedicated to getting back to schedule and taking care of her skin issues. Mike and I are transitioning and boy have our lives changed for the better. It is so different for us and especially me as I was a workaholic to pass the wait time of the adoption and now it is a whole new world and love it and so glad I am on a break from Mary Kay until September. I will figure my help and work schedule out in the fall. Enjoying this time of getting into a new routine and starting to feel normal again. Mike gave me a great gift on Friday. The gift of time and a massage and me time and boy did I start feeling like me again and started back to wanting to workout.
So blessed and happy and figuring life out as it comes.....
Enjoy the birthday pictures!
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