Update on Ava

Okay, I have to confess that I am cutting this info from an email I sent to a couple of folks. I am so tired and thought I could update you all at once on the blog. Ava is doing okay, but still spitting/throwing up quite a bit. She hasn’t had any more spells where she doesn’t respond to me. Talk about FREAKED out! The one episode about drove me over the edge! The doctor said that she wouldn’t rule out a seizure, but since Ava came out of it pretty quickly and didn’t seem lethargic for a long time afterwards, that it is not likely that she had a seizure. I said that she went to bed an hour after the episode and slept all night (unusual for her)! The doc said to let her adjust to the food and drinks here for a few more weeks and we would reevaluate things. She thinks it might be acid reflux or some digestive problem.

The doctor also thinks that Ava will need some physical therapy for her walking. Ava is definitely behind with walking—she’s very unstable on her feet. Her feet are very turned in and she drags her toes on both feet as she walks—it’s like she doesn’t quite know how to pick up her knees.

She had some shots and then the dreaded blood draw. She is black and blue from the blood draw. They had a hard time finding the veins and had to take blood from both arms because the first arm dried up. I am glad to get that over with and hopefully the results will be okay.

Ava is otherwise happy and only cries if she’s tired, hungry, or thirsty. She also cries if I leave the room or she can’t see me—I guess that’s good for attachment progress. Of course she has to attach to me because I’m the only one here :)! That is also hard for me and quite the adjustment for me. I am so used to running around the house doing my work. Now, I have this little person clinging to my leg or crying for me to pick her up. It takes a lot of patience to deal with this every day. She will play with Emma for a few minutes, but as soon as she realizes that I am not in the room, she is looking for me. Eventually this too shall pass and we will move on to another stage of toddler-hood. What's next, I don’t remember?

Ava has also been having night terrors around 0200-0300 most nights. After reading a book about her sleep habits, I have tried not to pick her up or wake during the crying. She is definitely asleep during these episodes, so as long as she’s not hurting herself, the book says to let her work through it on her own and go back to a comfortable sleep. These episodes should get less and less as she gets older. It’s not easy to watch, but I agree with the doctor and his philosophy on this. We have worked through the crying when being put in her crib and she goes to bed without much crying now. I usually sit by the crib until she’s asleep and then I leave the room. Bedtime and naps are much easier now that we’ve shown her that she can trust us and that her bed is a peaceful, restful, nice place to be for sleep. Each nap and night has been different, but I feel like she trusts us now and that sleep will continue to get better the majority of the time. The road to getting her to sleep in the crib at home came much harder than getting her to sleep in the crib in China. It was quite the adjustment for her and we had to let her go into the ugly cry for several nights. Eventually the crying got less and less and she only fusses for a minute now. We keep the routine pretty precise each night and I know that helps with her expectations and her comfort level.

No pictures with this post. I will try to post some later in the week. Mama needs sleep now. Good night.