She was so so happy at her birthday party on Sunday. All four of El's grandparents were here; along with aunts, uncles and cousins. We had lovely weather, my mom marinated the meats and my dad did the cooking, making her birthday barbeque pretty much perfect.
The next day, we had to be at the hospital for 6:30am. We scooped El out of bed and popped her into the car. She was still a bit sleepy, but in a good mood from the festivities the day before. She had no idea what was in store for her... poor thing!
By 8:00am she was changed into her hospital garb (which looks like a little pink prison uniform) and she and I were waiting outside the OR.
Unfortunately, I was not permitted into the OR, so the anesthesiologist had to peel her off me in the waiting area. She was wailing and reaching out for me as he walked down the hall with her. It was heartbreaking. I hope we never have to go through that again.
But half an hour later, I was called into the recovery area. She was already half awake and crying for me. She looked so relieved when she saw me! She snuggled into me for the next hour until we moved into the day surgery area. Daddy was allowed to join us there and she was much happier and more awake.
Another hour wait and we were able to head home.
She was pretty good, all things considered, for a couple of days. We rigged up a sandle four sizes too big to fit over her wrapped leg so that she could walk around more easily.
But then she had a few episodes of night terrors. She looks awake, but she is screaming, crying and trashing about and doesn't seem to recognize us. When we try to talk to her and tell her that it is daddy or mama, she put her fist up to our mouths (her variation of talk-to-the-hand I guess). We've found that her favourite scenes from Peter Rabbit or the Sound of Music are all the can pull her out of these episodes. She's been episode free for the last 48 hours, so here's hoping!
Otherwise, she is mostly herself, but doesn't like us to change her diaper nor her clothes. We obviously do anyways or else she'd be a real stinker by now. But it is not a pretty sight. Lots of tears from her and antics by us to try to distract her. She absolutely hates it when we have to rewrap her leg--which we are doing daily because the bandages come loose when she walks around on them.
She should be all healed up in a week, so hopefully we can put all of this behind us.
In the meantime, she had her actual birthday on Friday. We went out for lunch with Nana and Pappa and later in the afternoon took a little trip in the wagon to our local Starbucks for a treat. She was a tiny bit grumpy, but mostly she enjoyed it.
I can't believe she's only been with us for seven months. It feels as if she's always been part of our family. She has assimilated into our family beautifully. We all love her dearly and she appears to love us back. Sleeping was a challenge at first, but she had gotten over that until the trauma of the surgery threw her for a loop. I'm sure we'll be back to easier nights sometime soon.
The skinny, terrified little stick figure that we met in China in November is now a happy (mostly), beautifully plump toddler. How blessed are we?
We're a bit sad that we had to remove her lucky toe. For it is that toe which brought her to us. We went the special needs route for our second adoption because the non-special needs queue in China was much too long. We would have had to wait eight or nine years. We're old as it is--another six years of waiting would make us way too old for a new baby! So, we were pleasantly surprised to learn that El's special need was her extra toe, which was flesh only. In our minds, this was not a special need.
The toe was growing along with the rest of El, so finding footwear that didn't squish it was getting difficult--thus the decision to have it removed. Luckily it was a simple surgery that could be done locally by a plastic surgeon.
Happy 2nd Birthday beautiful girl! We love you madly!
3 comments:
Happy Birthday, Beautiful El! Wow, you're 2 already! I must say, you had the most beautiful cake I've ever seen. :)
Sad to hear El had such a hard time after her surgery. I hope things are better now. She looks like such a happy girl and so pretty. I love the photo of her and Maeve under the parasol and of course I'm always a sucker for the daddy and daughter walking down the lane photos.
Miss you all. xxoo
Happy 2nd Birthday, El! Ditto what Rae said about the cake - I am floored by how pretty it is!
El's night terrors sound awful for everyone. I do hope they have passed for good. I'm glad surgery went well and that recovery is going smoothly (with the exception of the night terrors, whether or not they are somehow related).
It's wonderful to hear how your family is doing as a foursome. El is a beautiful girl with an equally beautiful family (inside and out).
Talk about a busy week! I'm glad she healed quickly from her surgery. I can't believe the physical changes I've seen in El since she joined your family. You're right, it seems like she's the perfect fit and has always been part of your family. I love the photo of Kath with her 2 girls, and the last one of Pat and El walking. Beautiful.
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