I call her "Girlfriend", Gong-Gong calls her "fancy pants" and soon enough I'm sure Addi will have her own name for Gracyn. Everyone was so worried about her adjustment to the baby, but I knew she'd have no problem. Why? Because she's extremely maternal, loves babies, and is better at "real life chores" than playing. Mama was right. Unfortunately it's cold season, and Gracyn has been sick all week. She still hasn't figured out how not to spit when she coughs, and has a tendency to let spraying sneezes all over the house so we have to keep some distance between "little Mommy" and baby. If I let her, she'd take care of Addi all day long.
The love Gracyn has for Addi is apparent, but it's been hard to do this post because my heart has been heavy. I have spent so many nights praying for Gracyn, praying for me, praying for our family. This weekend God answered my prayers. Gracyn and I had an amazing day. Gracyn has not had an amazing last few months. On the attachment front we're still working through some challenges. She's attached to me, no doubt, but it's still not the healthy attachment I know she should have. If I give her a lot of affection, she wants more. I know this sounds weird, but after cuddling for a period of time, it escalates to needing me to touch her face, her hands, her feet, and then when it's time to move on to something else, she often times breaks down. For a while I've had to more or less monitor the amount of affection "input" if you will to teach her some balance. It can be overwhelming for me.
On the
sleep front, Gracyn still has a really hard time adjusting from sleep state to awake state. She's doing better moving from the car seat to the house if she dozes off, but if awoken before she's ready, watch out! I know a cranky sleepy toddler, but this is still borderline "catatonic confusion". Crying spells can sometimes go on for upwards of a half hour.
On the
learning front she has definitely made progress. She's starting to recognize two syllables instead of shortening everything to one. Her approximations of words are becoming more recognizable. She's now in the school system and receives physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy. Speech is the biggest area of concern.
That said, here goes the hard stuff. . .Due to the circumstances in which Gracyn came to us, our
Pediatrician (a Mom to two daughters born in China)
recommended we get Gracyn's DNA tested. We took her in for her blood draws and it was gut wrenching. I had to hold her down for fifteen minutes. Her first vein collapsed so they had to bandage that up and start again. She HATES the bandages more than the needles. they needed at least six or seven viles of blood, and her blood kept clotting off. It was a nightmare. That said, I think waiting for the results might be worse. We're testing for chromosomal abnormalities. Our Pediatrician is specifically
checking for Fragile X. It had never crossed my mind before, but after reading about it, I found myself nodding my head over and over again as I went down the list of symptoms. Doesn't mean she has it, could purely be a coincidence or a combination of her SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder), post-traumatic stress, and developmental delays.
In addition to the DNA testing, we've been trying to get an MRI and CT Scan done. Unfortunately Gracyn keeps getting sick the day before and they won't sedate her unless she's healthy.
Why the MRI and CT? When I bathed Gracyn for the first time in Taiwan, I noticed the shape of her head was abnormal. It was thought that she just had "flat-head" from sleeping on one side too much. My maternal instincts have always told me there was more to it. The neurologist asked one simple question:
"Does she have trouble swallowing?" Yes, doctor she does. In fact while she can chew and swallow steak without a problem, she's always choking on liquid. Because of the swallowing issues and the speech delays, the doctor felt it was worth doing the MRI and CT because
there could be something impacting the part of her brain that controls her oral motor skills. Remember the comment about spitting from above? I think that applies here too.
Whew. . .that was a long post. If you had time to read all of it,
know that I spent the time sharing because you are my support system, I trust you, and I am asking for your prayers. Now, here's those pictures I promised of my beautiful girls!!
