Day Two With Ai-Mi

Playing With Mommy



Daddy is Worn Out



The Hunger Strike Ends!



Sweet Girl



First Time Dining Out



Playing


Well, things are going a little better today. Right now we just got Kira to sleep, hopefully for the night.

Last night I couldn't get a hold of our pediatritian, but I did get a hold of our international adoption specialist to ask her about the nose tubes and scar cover thing. Kira had been crying so much that the nose tubes had worked themselves out, and I just didn't think we could all go through getting them back in. I really wanted to talk to someone and hear that they absolutely must stay in before doing that. I described the situation to the doctor, and she recommended leaving them out. She said that it was a very irregular thing to do to keep something like that in a child's nose so long, that she imagined it would cause all kinds of pain and sinus problems. She said that a baby can breathe through their mouth, so even if her nasal passages weren't very open, she would breathe. She said the only problem could be that, if she couldn't breathe through her nose well enough to breathe while taking a bottle, they might have to go back in. At that point we hadn't gotten her to take a bottle. The doctor also said that the plastic piece taped over her lip scar seemed ridiculously unnecessary. Her surgery was five months ago, and she has long since healed up. She thinks they have just been over cautious and just do things differently. So, the tubes have stayed out and no scar cover has been put on! Yeah! We can look in her nose and see her nasal passages. They are pretty small. But, she is breathing through them. She didn't even have her mouth open while sleeping last night. She has been breathing through her nose just fine. Meanwhile, I got a hold of our pediatritian today and he is going to contact the cleft clinic that we will be using and get an appointment expedited. The one we already have is not for another month.

Yes, the hunger strike has ended! Kira fell asleep at about 10:30 last night without having had a bottle. She woke up screaming at 1:30. So, I made a bottle and Daddy was able to give it to her. In fact, she chugged it ravenously! She then fell right back asleep and slept until 7:00. Praise the Lord, we all needed the rest! The trick is to give her a bottle when she is asleep. If we do that she will start to drink without being alert enough to fight it. She will wake up just enough to eat. I have been able to get her to take 3 more bottles that way today. She still screams if you offer her a bottle when she is alert, and she isn't eating as much as she should be, but she isn't starving or dehydrating.

AIT went fine today and Kira did fine there. We came back to our room and all took a nap after that. Again, Kira woke up very scared, but was a little easier to calm. We got her calmed down, played awhile, then went out this afternoon to TGI Fridays, then went to the Handicraft Market. I really liked the Handicraft Market, and we bought virtually all of our souvenirs for people there. Ai-Mi did great going out. Since we got back, she has been tearful off and on, but a little better than yesterday. She is now asleep and hasn't woken up for almost an hour.

Thanks everyone for all of the support! I'll continue to keep you updated.