Monday, March 15, 2010

Dreaded Doctor Visit

We were able to move Maks's doctor appointment up to today. We've been working with Dr. Ochs in Chicago who has worked with many internationally adopted kids. He's been so great in terms of responding to the initial referral, responding to questions while we were in Russia and of course now trying to get us in as soon as possible. We drove into Ravenswood this afternoon, Maks did great in the car. We really are lucky as he is very good in his car seat. There are only short tantrums or outbursts so far!

During the Doctors appointment he had to be weighed, measured, have his ears, eyes, and throat checked, give a stool sample (a lot of fun for Mommy), a urine sample (which we weren't able to get) and worst of all...lots of blood. They do a full work up on his blood including a test for all types of vaccines and an allergy test. It was perhaps the most traumatic experience he has had since leaving the orphanage. They had 5-6 vials that needed to be filled and of course when they did the first arm it clotted up quickly so they had to do both arms. While doing the 2nd arm, Maks was able to pull his arm away and rip the needle out causing blood to squirt all over. (Sorry Dad if you're reading this) Jason and the nurse had to do their best to hold him still while they tried to take the blood. It was awful. He looked so terrified and kept looking at us as if he was pleading for it to stop. They were not able to get enough this time so we are going to have to take him to lab near our home for another round. I decided that today was too much for them to try a 3rd time. The people were really great there and very understanding. We have an appointment in 2 weeks to go back for whatever results we can get from today's samples.

The great news is that he has strong little lungs, his heart seems fine, his measurements are very small but all proportional. He should catch up quickly over the next year. He is such a smart little guy. He picks up on stuff so quickly, watching everything we do once and then going back to do it himself. While we were at the doctor today he took a Kleenex after I had wiped his nose and kept wiping it back and forth and trying to blow his nose into it. And after all of his baths now he takes his own Q-tip and tries to clean out his ears! Simple, but so cute for a 1 year old!

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