Who Knew

That I would ever be too busy to get on the computer. That's either too busy or too exhausted, but also too happy.

I do apologize for not posting every day though. Jim is the first one to let me know that I'm slacking. He relies on my morning posts to get a peak at what's going on at home. On Thursday, I fell asleep with Sera during her morning nap. That's usually my blogging and showering time. I had to wait until he got home to get that shower becasue of my nap.

I also spent part of Thursday looking for a new doctor for Sera. We're not happy with our family doctor's treatment of Sera. When we talked to him during the pre-adoption phase, we asked him for a reference for a pediatrician. He assured us that he was experienced with international adoption and could easily handle her care when we got home. She is seemingly healthy, but I still wanted all the standard adoption screening tests run as I don't trust the medical records we received. He felt they weren't necessary. He gave her two booster shots and said he'd see us in three months.

The next weekend, I learned that one of the girls who had been adopted from Sera's orphanage had tested positive for exposure to TB. This is not unusual and simply means she'll be taking medication for 9 months. First thing Monday morning, I called our doctor's office and explained what I had learned. Several hours later, I received a call from his nurse telling me that if I was concerned about TB that I needed to contact the health department. I was furious. I do not think Sera has TB. The other child does not have TB, but she has been exposed to it. This is extremely common in international adoption. Any doctor who is familiar with IA would know this. This added to the fact that he didn't run the tests I wanted led me to my local Yahoo group. I posted asking for some local doctor's names who were experienced. Within 24 hours I had six names.

I wrote down their names and numbers and started to go down the list. The first doctor I called was recommended by two friends. Both have daughters from China, and one just came home in December. I spoke to the receptionist and she listed the tests they suggested. The list matched the one I had, and even better, they had a cancellation for Friday afternoon. Since it was late Thursday afternoon when I spoke to them, I jumped on that appointment.

Jim made arrangements to come home at lunch to go with us to the doctor. I am so glad he did. I would not have wanted to go through this alone. Though it was really poor Sera who went through it. She does not like doctors. She is so friendly and open with everyone, but any time someone in a uniform comes to her, she starts to cry. She was sobbing during her examination. I was holding her and the doctor was just listening to her heart and checking her eyes, mouth, and ears and checking her organs. Nothing painful. As soon as the doctor stopped and I turned her around, the tears stopped. At first, she wasn't going to get any more shots. The doctor was concerned about the boosters she had been given. They were supposed to be given after her first birthday. They were given the day before, plus there's the question about the accuracy of her birthdate. The new doctor would have preferred to wait a little longer to be on the safe side. It won't hurt Sera, but when she begins school, they may require her to get them again. She did end up getting three more shots: Hep A, pneumococcal something, and Hipb influenza something. Obviously, I don't remember their exact names and I'm too lazy to go find the paper that lists them.

The doctor gave us a bag with gloves, two tubes, and some wooden sticks. Yep, a stool specimen sampling kit. Fun Times! And we left. Sera must have thought she was off the hook and we were done, but no. We then headed to the lab where they apparently needed to gather 3 gallons of blood. There was a whole tray full of tubes. It was the worst thing we've gone through with Sera. The first tech couldn't find a vein in either arm. The second tech thought she felt a small one in her right arm. I held her on my lap while Jim held her arm our straight. The tech dug around a bit, but couldn't find the vein. She got a third tech. They said something about only being able to get enough blood from finger sticks to do two of the tests, so that's what I thought they were going to do. I suggested bringing her back on Monday immediately following a bottle and maybe we'd have better luck. They then asked me if I wanted to stop. I told them I'd rather get it over with. The third tech tried the other arm and found a vein. By now, I had to hold her. Jim had her legs. The second tech was holding her arm, and the third tech was drawing the blood. They were able to get a full vial. I got the impression that would be enough to run all the tests. I have never heard Sera scream and cry like she did during this. It truly sounded like we were killing her. My sister asked me if I cried. No, I didn't. I was so focused on trying to hold her still to get it over with and with trying to calm her down. I just kept telling her it was going to be okay. As soon as they bandaged her arm, she practically leapt off my lap and into Jim's arms. He cuddled her for a few minutes and then she reached for me. She was sobbing so hard that she was hiccuping. When we left the room, you could see everyone turning to stare at us. People were whispering that she was the crying baby. I got her in her carseat and she fell instantly asleep. She was still hiccuping in her sleep. When we got home, I carried her into the living room, sat down, reclined my seat and held her as she fell back asleep and for the next two and a half hours. I didn't have the heart to put her down after her ordeal.

When she woke up, she was very groggy and cranky. Jim made her favorite scrambled eggs, which she devoured, plus her sweet potatoes & rice cereal, and a bottle, and our sweet, playful Sera came back.

She woke up just in time for a visitor. Our good friend, Ann, came by to meet her and bring her two lovely outfits and the cutest sleeper. Ann walked in wearing a long blue coat, very much like the lab techs (it was cold and rainy here), and Sera wanted nothing to do with her. Jim suggested she take off the coat and Sera gave her a big smile and started playing. I think lab coats remind her of the orphanage. In the photos I've seen, the nannies wear something very similar.

We had planned to go out to dinner as I was supposed to do a mystery shop. I didn't think we'd be able to go, but since she'd bounced back so well, we decided to give it a shot. We ran into one of the moms who'd recommended the doctor. Sera and her daughter got to meet, and we got to meet each other's husbands. We had a lovely dinner with Ann and headed home.

I gave Sera some Tylenol and some Orajel. Yep, she's cutting a big tooth on top of everything else and Jim got her settled for the night. She was out like a light and slept almost twelve hours. She'd had a hard day.

After such a long and emotionally exhausting day, I finally got on the computer and read Melissa's message. Thank you, Melissa. I am honored that you thought of me. Melissa's blog is one that has made me laugh and made me cry. Your Ava is going to be one happy little girl to find a family as great as yours. That you thought of me for this award makes it even more special.

Now it's my turn to pay it forward. Here are five blogs that I love and make me think. I'm also going to try and make sure they haven't already been tagged.

1) Alyson's Three P's in a Pod immediately comes to mind. Alyson is always researching the history or meaning behind something and posting to let us all know about it. She's an invaluable resource and a great friend who has recently received her referral. I can't wait to follow her to China.

2) Antique Mommy. This is a blogger I don't know personally. I can't remember how I found her. I lurk a lot on her site and comment occasionally. Though she's not part of the adoption world, I loved her insight on becoming a first-time mom in her mid-forties. Kind of struck home, ya know?! She is also one of the funniest writers in the blogosphere. Honestly, I can't believe she wasn't already nominated. I just doublechecked her archives, but couldn't find a post.

3) Kate at Because I Said So is another. I enjoy reading Kate. She's fun and spunky and you know she'd be a blast over a grande mocha.

4) Chicago Mama also makes me think. She has very definite opinions on a myriad of subjects. I find I agree with her more often than not, plus I admire her ability to clearly state her thoughts. She's another I'd love to share a coffee with.

5) And finally, Wendi at My Heart is Always Home. Wendi is the person I want to be. She's much more organized with her baking and crafts. She posts projects she's completed that I'd look at and say I'd like to do someday. Wendi was also with my travel group to China, though we were only together for the first and last part as her daughter came from a different province.

There are so many great blogs out there that I read and that I haven't found yet. Many, many of them had already been nominated so I looked for the ones in my Bloglines that haven't been and deserved to be. I hope you enjoy them, too.

Ladies, here's your info!

Congratulations, you won a Thinking Blogger Award!

Should you choose to participate, please make sure you pass this list of rules to the blogs you are tagging. I thought it would be appropriate to include them with the meme.The participation rules are simple:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn't fit your blog).