Pediatricians, Orthopedists, and Therapists! Oh My!

Well, two of Vera's doctor appointments have come and gone. 2 of about a gazillion if I've done my math correctly. Our first appointment was on Tuesday with the pediatrician. A friend of mine recommended this doctor to us while we were in Ukraine. This particular pediatrician has worked with lots of kids adopted from Eastern Europe and she speaks Russian. Score! At first I was a bit bummed that we couldn't get Vera in to see any doctors until this week...almost 6 weeks home. But God knows so well. We've spent the last 6 weeks at home keeping things quiet and boring, building trust. Yesterday Jon and I got to witness first-hand how much trust has been built.

So, we went to World of Pediatrics in Alpharetta...about a 45 minute drive. This was our first visit which meant lots needed to be done. When I made the appointment I was told that this will be a long visit..."it could last almost an hour." Okay. No problem. Because of the length of these appointments, the doctor prefers to do them at the end of the day. Our appointment was at 6 pm. We left the office at 8:45. Almost 3 hours. By the time we got home it was after 9:30. WAY past Vera's bedtime. On the way home Vera kept trying to lay down in the van saying, "Mommy. Please. Sleep." My thoughts exactly.

Oh, but I am NOT complaining. We LOVE Dr. Vayman! She was awesome with Vera! Everyone in the office was awesome with Vera. I have never had such personal treatment with any of the kids' doctors and staff. They were so sincere and genuine and they just loved Vera. I had been second-guessing myself thinking "maybe we should just bring Vera to our regular pediatrician. She's just down the street." But I am so glad Jon encouraged me to keep our appointment with Dr. Vayman. I can't say enough good things about her and her staff.

When we arrived we had to wait in the waiting room for a few minutes while the receptionist got all our information put into the computer. They called us back and Vera was happy and smiling...until we got to the exam room.

Fear.

Panic.

Tears.

Vera cried, shook her head and said, "No ouchie! No ouchie!" The last time she saw a doctor was last summer when she had surgery on her legs. She remembers it vividly. She remembers the incredible pain she was in. She remembers crying a lot. She remembers being angry with her nannies for sending her there. She was so scared when we walked into the little room Tuesday night. We sat down and Jon pulled Vera onto her lap. We told Vera that no one was going to hurt her. We told her we were going to talk to the doctor and then the doctor would look at her. But no one would hurt her. We told her we'd be there for just a little bit and then we'd go home and get ready for bed. We didn't want her to think we were leaving her there. Vera calmed down and stopped crying. But she was still nervous. She sat on Jon's lap and sucked on her fingers. But she did NOT freak out. She did NOT scream and tantrum. She understood us. She believed us. She trusted us.

Dr. Vayman came in and I was instantly glad we had chosen her. She went right to Vera, looked her in the eye and started speaking to her. Vera smiled big when Dr. Vayman spoke Russian to her. This was another big answer to prayer. Really the main reason I was second guessing where we should take Vera for her first pediatrician appointment - I've heard many stories of kids hearing their native language after being adopted and being filled with fear that they were being sent back to the orphanage. They regressed. It was like starting all over...just from hearing their native language. I wasn't really worried that Vera would regress, but the thought was certainly in the back of my mind. What if...

I had no reason to worry! We could tell Vera was still nervous, but she never cried again. Dr. Vayman went back and forth speaking Russian and English to Vera. Vera answered most of the questions in English. Dr. Vayman was impressed with how much English Vera already knows. When it was time to put Vera on the table to check her over, she panicked a bit, but Jon and I were both right there with her. She calmed right down. She let the doctor do the exam and then it was just adult talk for a long time. Vera was so patient. Dr. Vayman was able to tell me some things I didn't know from the medical records from the orphanage that didn't get translated. She was great about waiting on some things for us. We wanted this to be a good experience for Vera and asked for a no needle visit this time. Next week we'll begin all the tests. They will need to take lots of blood from poor, little Vera to check her for everything under the sun. And the best part (not!) is the stool samples. I get to collect six, count 'em, SIX stool samples over the next 2 weeks. They have to be collected 3 days apart from each other and taken to the lab within 3 days. Jon will get to do the dropoffs...the lab is close to his work. Aren't you envious now? Stool samples. Fun times, people. Fun times. Oh, and Vera also got to pee in a cup...what a fun experience. We have a seat for Vera at home because she can't yet hold herself up on the toilet. Well, I couldn't hold Vera on the toilet AND hold the cup underneath her so Jon got to hold her while I held the cup. While Vera told us how silly we are.

Yesterday morning I had to wake Vera up (which is a sin in the Evans family...similar to waking a sleeping baby) to take her to see the orthopedist for the first time. She opened her eyes, looked at me and said, "No bye bye. No bye bye." Poor thing. She has no idea what's in store for her. I told her it would be a short bye bye and not long like the night before. If only I had known...

Jon met us at the office. Vera did great again. Praise the Lord! No fear yesterday. No tears. Not even when the doctor examined her little legs. The orthopedist was great with Vera and we LOVE him! They took a few X-rays of Vera and she did GREAT! Her spine is perfectly straight (thank You, Lord) and her hips are in perfect position (thank You again, Lord)! That may not be the case as she grows. If her thigh muscles tighten up when she has growth spurts, they could pull her hips out of alignment. But we'll cross that bridge if we come to it. The orthopedist wrote prescriptions for Vera's AFO's (leg braces) and also referred us to a neurologist and physiatrist (bet you don't know what THAT is!). He also wrote prescriptions for physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy.

Did you hear that? I hear it in my sleep.

Cha ching. Cha ching. Cha ching.

After we saw the orthopedist, we went next door to make an appointment to get Vera fitted for her AFO's. I am so excited to finally get her in the AFO's. I'm not looking forward to the fights that I'm sure we're going to have in the beginning, but I cannot wait to get her legs straight and get her walking easier. I filled out paperwork and the receptionist told me someone would be right with me. We were SO thankful they could get Vera in RIGHT THEN to be fitted and we didn't have to schedule another appointment. The man who took care of us was wonderful with Vera. She was so tired by this point and we kept telling her we were almost done and then we'd go home and have lunch. The orthotist was great and explained everything he was doing as he was doing it. Our only (very minor) annoyance was how he added 'ums' to the end of every other word. "Okay Vera. Now I just need to get my scissor-ums and cut-ums this off of your leg-ums. Yep." I am not exaggerating. That's how he talked to her the whole time. And he added 'yep' to the end of EVERY sentence. When we left and Vera and I were saying goodbye to Jon, I told him to have fun at work-ums, yep. Anyway, we got to pick the pattern and color for Vera's AFO's...no yucky white for the princess! We (I) chose pretty pink with lavender butterflies. And of course the straps will be pink.

Vera sees the opthamologist tomorrow. I would really appreciate prayers. For some reason I am really nervous about this appointment. I spent this morning making appointments with the neurologist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist, etc. I almost have our insurance information memorized. If you saw my calendar, you would cry. I almost did by the time I was done making all the appointments. I still need to schedule her first dentist appointment. Sigh. Oh, and we start school on Monday. Welcome to life at the Evans!

Last but not least, here are some pictures of the kids. My grandma's birthday is next week, and I wanted to send pictures in her card. Vera was SO excited when I told her we were going to take pictures.

If you've ever heard her giggle, you can almost hear it when you look at this photo.

My four treasures.