Dec 6 - We weren't sure whether this day would be a success but we decided to give it a try anyway. The parade was due to start at 1pm which is Maya's nap time so we were potentially putting ourselves in harms way. We brought the stoller and a bottle of scotch in case we had to put her down and sedate her (or us).
Luckily, the excitement of the day let her stay awake a longer, and in decent humour, and we made it through about 1/2 of the parade before we had to leave. No Santa viewing but at least we got to see some fun Christmas stuff.
It was a sunny but cooooolllld day so we bundled little Maya up in whatever winter garb we had. That consisted of a red/blue garden gnome type fleece, a banana yellow nylon over-shell and pink winter boots. She could barely move. :-) As Maya is still very sensitive to loud sounds, we brought her hearing protectors as well. (She LOVES those things and walks around the house with them on. Somehow wearing them affects her sonar or inner-ear workings as she walks in to things and tips over a lot, but thats another post)
Maya LOVED the music, the bands and danced and clapped her way through it. Maya HATED the sirens, loud trucks, bull-horns and some of the mascots. I was especially proud of how she connected with the bagpipes & my scottish heritage. Who says she can't be scottish-chinese?
Overall, the day was a success and we'll try it again next year...
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Broken Hearted no more...
We went back to Childrens Hospital this week to have Maya's post-surgical ECG and ultrasound tests done on her heart. We were so relieved to hear & see that her heart hole has completely grown over, the left side of her heart has already reduced in size and she's now considered to be 100% healthy & healed. Yipee!!!!
Over the past few weeks, we've reflected on how lucky we are to live in Canada and how lucky Maya is for that reason as well. In Canada, the only expense we incurred for all of these hospital & doctor visits, the testings and the surgery itself was parking. That's it. Maybe a Starbucks or two. Had Maya been adopted by a family in the US, there is a great possibility that the initial tests to discover the problem would never have been done due to expense, much less the surgery for it. As this was a 'pre-existing condition' that existed before she was adopted, I think it unlikely that any insurance company would have covered the costs of the doctors & hospital visits, the testings or the surgery. Definitely not for the Starbucks. Her heart hole may have gone undiagnosed, and likely untreated, for her whole life. We are so lucky to be here...
Over the past few weeks, we've reflected on how lucky we are to live in Canada and how lucky Maya is for that reason as well. In Canada, the only expense we incurred for all of these hospital & doctor visits, the testings and the surgery itself was parking. That's it. Maybe a Starbucks or two. Had Maya been adopted by a family in the US, there is a great possibility that the initial tests to discover the problem would never have been done due to expense, much less the surgery for it. As this was a 'pre-existing condition' that existed before she was adopted, I think it unlikely that any insurance company would have covered the costs of the doctors & hospital visits, the testings or the surgery. Definitely not for the Starbucks. Her heart hole may have gone undiagnosed, and likely untreated, for her whole life. We are so lucky to be here...
Thursday, November 19, 2009
18 Months Old - SIGNING
Maya is 18 months old today and has been with our family for 6 months now. She's changed so much and is becoming quite an animated little person. She's also grown 2 3/4 inches and has gained 4 pounds in that time. Wow!
I thought you might be interested in what our little princess is doing, saying and signing at this age...
Things Maya can now sign
-down
-cat
-dog
-diaper
-bath
-dada
-momma
-owwie (hurt)
-eat
-more
-milk
-water
-thank you
-all gone
-all done
Gestures that aren't ASL signs but she does anyway
-elephant
-lion/tiger/bear (all the same)
-monkey/gorilla
Baby stuff that Maya is NOT doing any more:
-poking eyes when tired/stressed
-pulling hair with tired
-screaming for an hour at every bed-time (only 5-10 min now)
-screaming when we put something on her feet
-having formula at bedtime
-needing to be carried everywhere
-holding her hands up when walking
-sucking on things
I thought you might be interested in what our little princess is doing, saying and signing at this age...
Things Maya can now sign
-down
-cat
-dog
-diaper
-bath
-dada
-momma
-owwie (hurt)
-eat
-more
-milk
-water
-thank you
-all gone
-all done
Gestures that aren't ASL signs but she does anyway
-elephant
-lion/tiger/bear (all the same)
-monkey/gorilla
Baby stuff that Maya is NOT doing any more:
-poking eyes when tired/stressed
-pulling hair with tired
-screaming for an hour at every bed-time (only 5-10 min now)
-screaming when we put something on her feet
-having formula at bedtime
-needing to be carried everywhere
-holding her hands up when walking
-sucking on things
18 Months Old - SAYING
Things Maya is now saying
-bampa (grampa) > espcially when she sees the computer/skype
-bama (gramma)
-woof (dog)
-ha-sou (hot soup)
-ha (hot)
-hi (hi)
-dada
-momma
-up (her favorite word)
-diader (diaper)
-ta-ta (thank you)
-animal sounds
-ha (hat)
-a-da (all done)
-yaya! (liar!) > inside family joke...
-bampa (grampa) > espcially when she sees the computer/skype
-bama (gramma)
-woof (dog)
-ha-sou (hot soup)
-ha (hot)
-hi (hi)
-dada
-momma
-up (her favorite word)
-diader (diaper)
-ta-ta (thank you)
-animal sounds
-ha (hat)
-a-da (all done)
-yaya! (liar!) > inside family joke...
18 Months Old - DOING
Things Maya is now doing
-giving kisses, cuddles
-blowing kisses
-waving hello/goodbye
-closing every door or drawer that is open (even if our head/arm is in it)
-going up & down stairs
-pulling kitchen towels off of stove handle
-feeding herself
-drinking from a glass
-brushing her teeth, washing her face & combing her hair
-sitting on potty (and occasionally using it)
-running scared from the telephone ringing
-identify face & body parts
-picks out family member & self from photos
-waves at computer & tv (thinking it is skype)
-plays with shape games
-points to body parts when asked
-mimics many things (mommy putting on makeup, gestures, sounds, etc)
-puts things away upon request & brings out other items
-whines & cries a LOT (wants to be held all the time)
-eats food from our plates (ie doesn't want her own special food)
-eats spicy food
-doesn't eat raw vegetables or anything green
-making 'surprise' faces and 'angry' faces
-helps mommy fold cloth diapers
-panics whenever mommy sneezes (I have a loud sneeze)
-takes off her own shoes
-all of the gestures to 'wheels on the bus'
-sings & dances to pop-type music
-takes off own shoes
-shares easily
-greets most people in stores & along street
-'helps' clip carseat chest buckly & tighten shoulder straps
-shaking her head with soup in her mouth to feel is sloshing around
-rolling her eyes at me (puberty is starting already?!)
-giving kisses, cuddles
-blowing kisses
-waving hello/goodbye
-closing every door or drawer that is open (even if our head/arm is in it)
-going up & down stairs
-pulling kitchen towels off of stove handle
-feeding herself
-drinking from a glass
-brushing her teeth, washing her face & combing her hair
-sitting on potty (and occasionally using it)
-running scared from the telephone ringing
-identify face & body parts
-picks out family member & self from photos
-waves at computer & tv (thinking it is skype)
-plays with shape games
-points to body parts when asked
-mimics many things (mommy putting on makeup, gestures, sounds, etc)
-puts things away upon request & brings out other items
-whines & cries a LOT (wants to be held all the time)
-eats food from our plates (ie doesn't want her own special food)
-eats spicy food
-doesn't eat raw vegetables or anything green
-making 'surprise' faces and 'angry' faces
-helps mommy fold cloth diapers
-panics whenever mommy sneezes (I have a loud sneeze)
-takes off her own shoes
-all of the gestures to 'wheels on the bus'
-sings & dances to pop-type music
-takes off own shoes
-shares easily
-greets most people in stores & along street
-'helps' clip carseat chest buckly & tighten shoulder straps
-shaking her head with soup in her mouth to feel is sloshing around
-rolling her eyes at me (puberty is starting already?!)
Thursday, November 12, 2009
More videos
John has added 4 more videos to YouTube, including shots from Halloween & her surgery. Check them out...
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Heart repair
Nov 10 was Maya's heart surgery. We were relieved to know that everything went very well before, during & after the procedure. We arrived at Children's Hospital at 9:30am, she went in for anesthesia at 11:30am, the procedure started at 12, was done by 1:15, we got to see her at 2:45. She was out of OR recovery by 4:00, and was out of day care recovery by 5:00. It all went quite smoothly. They ended up putting a 3mm 2-sided plug in her heart hole that closed it all up (insteat of the coiled stent). She has 2 small incisions, one in the groin of each leg but those should disappear over time.
It's been almost 48 hours since the procedure and there's no sign of bleeding, infection or loss of circulation in her legs. Yipee!!! We go back in 2 weeks to get another heart ultrasound just to make sure it's all healed up. All should be fine.
Emotionally, we both handled it very well. The staff at the hospital were amazing and met with us at each phase to tell us what was going to happen, how and when, and if we had any questions. Although I don't think this experience has helped Maya with her fear of medical people, she also handled it quite well. A bonus for her was to get a popcicle post-op which she had never had before & didn't know what to do with, but she learned it fast...
It's been almost 48 hours since the procedure and there's no sign of bleeding, infection or loss of circulation in her legs. Yipee!!! We go back in 2 weeks to get another heart ultrasound just to make sure it's all healed up. All should be fine.
Emotionally, we both handled it very well. The staff at the hospital were amazing and met with us at each phase to tell us what was going to happen, how and when, and if we had any questions. Although I don't think this experience has helped Maya with her fear of medical people, she also handled it quite well. A bonus for her was to get a popcicle post-op which she had never had before & didn't know what to do with, but she learned it fast...
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