Dr. Good News

Normally I'm not crazy about going to the doctor's office. (For myself or my kids).

However, there is great reassurance in having "trained professionals" keeping an eye on Violet on a regular basis since she arrived in the US.

Here are the play-by-play details... skip this part if you are reading this blog just for cute stories and even cuter photos! :)

#1: Day After Arrival

We saw our pediatrician the day after landing and he told us what we already knew - she's severely malnourished. He noted her ribs, spine and collar bones and gave us directions to "bulk her up". He put her on high calorie formula and suggested we add in baby food and cereals in addition to table food. She measured 27 inches and weighed in at 16 pounds, 12 ounces (which was 12 ounces more than the week before we met her - a good sign that she had already started gaining weight with us in Ethiopia).

He gave us orders to have her abdomen x-rayed, her wrist scanned (for approximate age comparison) and for a full set of blood work to test for any and every issue caused by the malnourishment.

We love our pediatrician, but he can be extremely blunt/dry/to-the-point/sarcastic/abrupt. And it was amazing to hear him raving about Violet - how well she appears to be adjusting and how happy she looks. I have never heard him use so many adjectives. He told us to "do things differently than with Daniel" and to rock her to sleep, attend to every need quickly, and basically become "attachment theory" parents. (Which we already knew to do... it was just remarkable to hear our doctor say those words).

#2: One Week Later

She weighed in at 17 pounds, 9 ounces... she gained nearly a pound in a week! Dr. Pham said to keep it up... she still had more weight to gain quickly. Poor thing got 5 shots that day - she was very behind in her vaccinations and needs to get caught up relatively quickly. She cried (of course) but stopped very quickly afterwards.

The results were in for all the blood/bone work and everything came back beautifully. No deficiencies or organ damage - the doctor simply raved about how healthy she is in light of her size.

#3: Three Weeks Later

Violet's one year appointment: She measured 28.5 inches long and weighed in at 18 pounds and 8 ounces. (That falls right around the 10th percentile for both stats). After gaining 2 pounds in a month, she gets to switch to milk and stop with the high calorie formula (that's great news - it's expensive!). We can phase out all the baby food and just stick to table food which, frankly, she prefers anyway. She's still a vegetable & bean junkie.

The staff at the pediatrician's office expressed continued amazement at her development - within one month she went from crawling a few strides to full on crawling, then monkey crawling, then hand held walking, and now standing on her own for long stretches! She's so close to walking.

Verbally she is actually on track for her age - she says Mama, Dada, a few other things and understands loads more.

I feel like her body is adjusting well - she is sleeping longer stretches (12 hours last night!) and is able to relax while laying on her back during play time which she refused to do before. Some of her attachment quirks are diminishing (constantly reaching for women while showing fear of men)... she is much more comfortable socially and seems to be enjoying herself in every/any environment.

We'll be in the office every few weeks for "catch up" shots and I look forward to monitoring her height and weight and, of course, showing her off to the office staff!