A Party to Welcome Meena Home

On October 14, 2012, some friends had a party to welcome Meena to our family! The party was held at Hickory Grove Baptist Church. We had a wonderful time visiting, eating, and opening presents! Thanks to those that planned the party and to all the wonderful people that came.  Here are some pictures for you to enjoy!

Happenings with Meena!

Update on medical: Meena has had two more ear infections in the past week. Her pediatrician referred her to a different ENT. The ENT we saw first was not able to piggy-back on her heart surgery(Nov. 1) and she really needs tubes put in as soon as possible. We had the appt. with the new ENT this morning and he is going to try to work Meena into his surgery schedule that day. I hope they are able to schedule it all. I also discussed with the ENT about Meena having an MRI of her head. The MRI will show if she has an auditory nerve and some things about the cochlea. The nurse is supposed to call me after she works on all of this. In the meantime, drops were prescribed for the current ear infection.

Update qon Meena's growth and development: Using one rating scale, Meena has a minimum of 100 expressive signs. She is learning more vocabulary everyday- her strength is animals and food-two of her favorite things.  Speaking of food, Meena continues to love to eat! She has gained 3 lbs!!! Her legs actually have a little "chunk" on them!! So easy to squeeze. Her favorite foods continue to be: chicken, veggies, fruit and nuts, and yogurt (of course lollipops and chocolate are still on the list).  I need to digress a little and tell you a Meena "funny". It was the first week we were home and Meena and Connor were outside riding bikes. Two deer(mom and baby) ran through the back yard. Meena looked up at me with HUGE eyes and said "elephant"!!!!! I said, no Meena you are not in India anymore! We have deer not elephants in our yard.........
Connor has become another favorite in Meena's life. It is so nice to see her look up to him and be concerned when it is time to get him from school. She seems to know when it is time to go get him and will ask "Where Connor?", "Go car get Connor school!" She also likes to copy his behavior that is not "the best", like taking the cushions off the couch and jumping! We do have a trampoline for that purpose but the couch must be better.......

I am still waiting for a meeting to be scheduled with the school system to start her services. The evaluating team is ready, we are waiting for the "downtown" person to agree to a date. I think they will drag it out as long as they can. Until then, I have extended my leave in order to minimize her transitions.

 More to come..........

We Really Are Still Here and We are Together!

Dear Friends and Family,

I am sorry to have been absent for so long. I posted right before we left for India to bring Meena home. Then while we were in India, I was not able to access my blog. I tried to put some updates on Facebook and I hope you were able to see those. Tonight I am going to write about how things are going since we've been home and then I want to go backwards and post about somethings that happened while we were in India.

Our trip home from India was a safe one but definitely not a fun one! Despite my fears, I was assured by the doctor in India that Meena did not have an ear infection. I was cautiously optimistic that he was correct, but he was not! Meena was very sick the entire flight home. She ran a HIGH fever off and on and had tummy troubles that required more than frequent trips to the bathroom. In between trips to the bathroom and getting her to drink a little water, she slept the entire time! I felt so helpless. By the time we reached Chicago, we were all done! She was so tired that she almost fell asleep while we had to stand in line for 2 hours at Immigration! She was so pitiful. Then we stopped at a sit down restaurant to get something to eat and she fell asleep waiting for the food. Poor lovie! She woke up in time to be pushed kicking and screaming through the airport in her stroller(which she hated and I will tell you more about later)at 10:00 PM. Talk about getting attention! By the time we left for Charlotte, I was not feeling well either. I had not slept as much as the previous trip and was exhausted. We arrived at the Charlotte airport and were greeted by Connor and some friends. It was good to be home!

It is hard to believe we have been home for 4 weeks already! It feels like she has always been a part of our family. Connor and Meena are true siblings, fights and all. They really have lots of similar interests and CAN play well together..........

My time at home has rapidly come to an end. :( We have spent the majority of our days going to Dr. appts. She has had way too many needles already. She has been to the pediatrician about 6 times, the heart doctor, the heart surgeon, and the ENT/Audiologist 2 times. We went to the ENT yesterday to be told that Meena is profoundly deaf. We are not sure yet if hearing aids will help her. She was complaining that her left ear was hurting while we were there but the Dr. said she just had fluid. By last night, she wouldn't even let you touch the outside of her ear. So I made a sick visit today and she has another infection! As for her heart, she has been diagnosed with a PDA-patent ductus arteriosus which will require surgery. This is scheduled for Nov.1 and we will be in the hospital for one night. I will update you more about this at a later date.

I have lots more to tell you about medicals and all the wonderful things she is learning but both of the kids need to get into bed. I will come back soon to share more. Lots to be thankful for: God, family, and supportive friends! Thank you........

PS Make sure you look at the pics on my Facebook.