First Medical Appointments

On Wednesday, November 28th, we took Lydie & Samson down to the "U" for their first medical visits. The entire appointment ended up taking 3 1/2 hours! We saw a physician who specializes in internationally adopted children.

I wish I had photos of their visits, but I don't. They were dressed in cute little robes for their exams. Lydie was very compliant during her exam. She let the doctor look her over while having her sheepish face on. We were very proud of her. The doctor didn't find anything that concerned her. Lydie is a healthy, happy little girl.

Samson fell asleep before his exam so the doctor was able to carefully examine his umbilical hernia and abdomen. She also examined his genitals as the medical report we had received from Haiti indicated his testicles had not descended. Fortunately, she found them!! I know it's a little weird to be posting this, but it was something Stephen and I had been praying about because it can effect fertility later in life. The doctor said Samson would benefit from a repair to his hernia eventually. It's not something that needs to be done right away, but we will need to schedule a procedure eventually. Lydie has a little umbilical hernia too and I'm sure she would like that repaired so she's not embarrassed by her belly button when she gets older.

We went over sleeping, eating, and bonding issues that might arise. She was very thorough and we are so blessed to have such a good doctor nearby who knows the challenges of internationally adopted kids. She said they will be picking up English very quickly and we've already noticed with Lydie that she is eager to learn as much as she can and is a sponge.

The kids also received immunizations and the flu shot. They couldn't receive the MMR yet until HIV test results came back. We received the HIV test results today and they were negative, so they will receive their MMR in one month. For those of you wondering, the orphanage does HIV testing when the children enter so we knew about the negative test, but they need to repeat it here in the states. They were also tested for lead, hepatitis, thyroid function, CBC, kidney function. All tests came back great except Samson's counts were a little low so we will need to make sure he gets enough iron in his diet.

Stop reading here if you have a weak stomach...

One of the last things they went over with us was the poop testing. We were given a  paper grocery bag for each kid with 4 separate tests for each child. The first day they pooped, we were instructed to collect for 2 different tests and then every other day we would collect for an additional test.  When we got home from our doctor appointment, Lydie & Samson were both ready to give their sample. Lydie was first. The doctor's office had given us "hats" to collect the poop in. So Lydie would sit on the potty and sit over the hat and do her duty. Stephen and I stood in the bathroom while she poo'd. I couldn't help but start giggling because Stephen was really having a hard time with it. They gave us little vials to put the poo in and they are almost too small for the size of poo they want. They instructed that we were to put a "kidney bean" sized amount in each vial. So I got the stick out and took a sample. Lydie went ballistic!! She started shouting "ca ca!!! ca ca!!!" and the top of her lungs and laughing her head off. I think she was deeply disturbed at what her parents were doing. Stephen and I couldn't stop laughing either. It was just so gross and so funny all at the same time. Thankfully, we didn't have to use the "hat" for Samson since he's still in a diaper.  We're on day 2 of collection and I have one child down, one to go! It will be good to be done with this. Sunday will be the last collection day! Hallelujah!!