What Ian Thinks of Doctors

Ian had his first appointment yesterday with the pediatrician and it went great. Dr. Davies is a partnering pediatrician with University of Washington Center for Adoption Medicine in Seattle, and is the doctor that reviewed Ian's file for us back in May. For anyone weighing whether or not to use an International Adoption pediatrician, please check out their website. It answers TONS of questions about adoption medicine and has lots of links to very applicable information.

Shawn and I both liked him right away during our phone consult. He seemed to be very personable, but also had that magic mix of specialties that we really needed: general pediatrics and a firm understanding of the challenges of previously institutionalized children. Their clinic is also associated with Seattle Children's Hospital, which is where the best local group of specialists are that will guide us in the best course of action for Ian's Microtia. I was a Children's baby and credit them with saving my life, so I trust that network with my son's care, too.

First off, Ian loved the play area of the waiting room. He went after just about everything with wheels, and was very curious about what the other kids were doing. He really didn't pay much attention to me at all while we were in the lobby, which I was glad to see. It told me that he might just acclimate to daycare OK without too much pain at goodbye (for one or both of us). It was the first time I've seen him interact with other kids and he did great.

He came in at 26 pounds (a pound lighter than his reading during his physical in Guangzhou a little over 3 weeks ago) and 32 inches long. That puts him at 75th percentile for weight, and 25% for height, based on the US charts.

Dr. Davies was very happy with him overall. He agreed that he appears to have some delays, but no more than he would expect given his length in orphanage care and nothing he can't overcome with time. As we talked, he said that he is definitely on a higher than normal track for catch up based on the things that he has started doing since we received him on November 6th. He is already a totally different baby than he was in China. He said he wouldn't rush into Early Intervention for another couple of months, but to continue focusing on attachment and to start appointments with the Audiology department at Children's. I completely forgot to get a picture of them for Ian's baby book, so the picture above is not really him. I'll make up for it during his follow up in January.

Next, the nurse came back in and administered his shots. This didn't go over well, but she was done soon enough and a packet of graham crackers made everything OK.

We thanked Dr. Davies, took the plethora of handouts, scheduled our follow up appointments, and headed down to the lab to have blood drawn. This is where Ian's impression of this whole experience changed drastically.

Two technicians worked at one of his arms while they had me hold down Ian's legs, head, and other arm. They must have fished in his arm for a vein for 10 minutes before they gave up and decided to try the other arm. He was purple with hysteria at this point. I wasn't thrilled, but they told me they couldn't believe I am a first time mom based on how calm I was. I figure this won't be the first time I'll be holding him down to have blood drawn or an IV started, so I can't start getting emotional about it. Thankfully, they were able to get what they needed within a few minutes and we were on our way. Poor Ian. I can't imagine how scared and P.O.'d he was. He was asleep before we were out of the parking garage and slept peacefully for the next 30 minutes, then woke with a big smile on his face.

He has an Audiology appointment on Friday AM, where I hope we'll get a game plan for checking his hearing. The more we can get done before I go back to work, the better.

Today, Ian had his first piece of Starbucks Lemon Loaf and ate almost the whole piece. He also took his first trip to Nordstrom and was a little charmer for the 3 clerks. One woman shared that she has a cousin with Microtia and he recently had his first surgery, and can already hear great without his hearing aid. It's always nice to talk to real life people who have a common experience with Microtia.

Coming up: Ian's audiology appointment on Friday. On Monday, Ian and I head to sunny Arizona to meet his Grama and Paga (my parents)! We are looking very forward to the trip (probably including Shawn, who gets the whole week to himself).

Final note: My thoughts go out to everyone affected by the flooding in our area. We're all used to it around here, but it's been a rough week in Western Washington. Our foot of snow has long melted, but the record rain that followed were devastating.