One small operation for 3 major problems

YIPEEEEEEEEEE!

We got the go ahead for Adenoids, Tonsils and Grommets for Amalie! Its going to make such a huge difference to her life I am so excited.

At last she will be able to sleep all night (they say it will help with her night toilet training) and she will be able to breathe and talk easier!

They wanted to do it tomorrow! TOMORROW!! But its a 2 week recovery so we opted for 11 April - in the school holidays so that we can all be around to help with the recovery.

Meth babies doing worse here than in the US

OK.. so those that don't know, when we were first rung to see if we wanted to adopt Amalie they said there was a slight "problem" being that she had been exposed to "P" in the womb. My heart sunk. I didn't want a "P baby", this wasn't in my plan of having a perfect baby girl - oh how naive was I!
We did as much research as we could in the days that followed and back then - 5 years ago there actually wasn't alot of factual information at all. So we took the chance. When she was born we had a specialist Dr check her over (not sure what I thought he would find - two heads maybe!! Oh how Naive!) he said "as far as I can see, in my professional opinion, at this stage in her life, there seems to be nothing wrong" OK I know he was kind of trying to cover his tracks.
Anyway to make a long story short this was published in the weekend and its an interesting read:


The first generation of New Zealand babies exposed to methamphetamine in the womb is reaching school age, and researchers are finding they are worse affected than babies in the United States.

Auckland University senior lecturer Dr Trecia Wouldes co-authored a study comparing 120 New Zealand women who used methamphetamine while pregnant to a group of US drug mothers.

New Zealand's methamphetamine is reportedly purer and stronger than the American form, and the New Zealand newborns were found to have worse scores for central nervous system stress and reflexes responses.

There were also more babies born with "hypertonicity" and "hypotonicity" – babies that are either too floppy or too rigid.

Central nervous system stress was indicated by higher than average hiccuping, spitting up, and very tight blinking.

"It's a sign your central nervous system has been affected by something," Wouldes said.

She said studies of older children exposed to methamphetamine in the womb showed changes in brain structure, particularly in areas that governed "executive functions" linked to learning.

At about age four, there started to be "significant differences in IQ and functional ability to learn" caused by inability to concentrate, sit quietly and "attend" to lessons.

Wouldes said she began enrolling babies in her study five years ago and some of the older ones were "definitely" showing signs of developmental difficulty.

The 120 mothers in the study all came from Auckland and Waitakere and were referred by midwives and neo-natal carers.

Of those referred, many had to be ruled out as too young, or for using too many other drugs.

Wouldes said prevalence of meth use during pregnancy was hard to gauge but one indicator was the difficulty in finding non-drug using mothers to use as a control group.

"In young mothers, 17 and 18, without NCEA qualifications, we couldn't find enough mothers who didn't use meth," Wouldes said. "Every time we'd find a mother who didn't have NCEA, she'd be using meth."

Though children of methamphetamine users were showing learning disabilities, Wouldes said it was too early to attribute it purely to the drug. "Our mothers are using more cannabis, smoking more and using meth throughout their pregnancies more than in the US," Wouldes said.

Also, alcohol was still New Zealand's biggest drug problem, she said, with 60 per cent of the methamphetamine mothers drinking through pregnancy, 13 per cent drinking "heavily".

The study also found 87 per cent smoked cigarettes and 64 per cent used marijuana while pregnant.
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- Sunday Star Times

So I know our situation is different in the fact that Amalie didnt stay in the "meth scene" as I imagine these babies have as she goes against everything they have said here. Thankfully.
She is reading way above her age and spelling and writing flat out.
Go Amalie!

So a little heavy for this Tuesday but just something I am thinking about!

My sweet girl.... is deaf

I have had a "mummy feeling" for a wee while now but I shrugged it off. Then at her before school Dr's visit she failed her hearing in her right ear. We went back yesterday and she failed again. So today we went to the Dr and he has referred us to the Ears, nose and throat department. He is worried about her terrible snoring (her snoring sounds like an 80 year old man!) and thinks it could be her adenoids. So again we wait but because we have medical insurance (remember its totally optional here in NZ and a large percentage don't have it) we hope to be seen in the next few weeks. Fingers crossed

GLASSES....

This is what she looked like the first time we were looking for glasses.


And this is her now.
So I think we have decided on these ones. I took her outside to photograph her in them again today and my heart sank as every photo had a sun reflection in the glasses. I am not sure why I am so upset about her wearing them again as it will help her so much. Its just silly Mummy not liking change.
So this is what we are doing today - Tuesday - what is everyone else doing???

I know, two posts in one day BUT

She's been at school for 1 month and she is in the top 4% of New Zealand new entrant children!! Go Amalie!!
She was tested on her first day of school and then again after a week!

Tuesdays around the world

Yip we made it!!! We made it to five!!

Last day of kindy

Our tiny little baby girl turned into a

Beautiful 5 year old

School is going great - even though its only day 2!

Time sure has flown by this past 5 years.

First day at school!

We made it to 5!

I will post some photos later of her party yesterday but here she is ready for school this morning. She was more than excited!!
She is in the same room as me so it was lovely to keep my eye on her for the morning. Can't wait to go back at 3 and pick her up!

Nearly 5

Can't believe that in a few short weeks I can add one more photo to this! Where has my baby gone!


Love seeing what everyone else is doing in the world on this Tuesday

Getting the all clear

We got a great result from the eye doctor last week. She was happy with how Amalie is using her eyes together and she has great vision - right on track for a 5 year old!!!
We are still going to have her tested for glasses so that we can make sure she is using her whole eye together.
I am so thankful!

Bike a thon

Amalie had her kindy bike a thon last night!
It was such a beautiful night and so many families bought their tea down for a large picnic. Then the kids all got on their bikes and rode around and around. There were a few crashes but no major injuries!

Heading off to a photo shoot soon - 1950's and a mega blonde! Its for a hair dressing comp and I can't wait to get there!

Amalie's 4 years at OneTrueMedia.com

I can't believe its been 4 years!
4 years since we drove 2 hours with our fingers crossed so tightly for her to be ours
4 years since I hugged Erin and promised I would keep her baby safe
4 years since we stayed in that motel but didn't sleep for more than an hour
4 years since Muffin Break charged us $25 for a muffin without us knowing till we got home!
4 years since we waited in our car for over 2 hours outside an address, waiting for the phone to ring to say she was ours
4 years since we sat in that car with a 3 1/2 year old in the back asking every 5 mins "When do we get Baby Amalie"
4 years since I ran to that door and burst through it to see a very special lady holding our daughter

Its been 4 years. And everyday I am thankful

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Party 2!!

Party 2 was the same day - well at night!
My Faher in law turned 65 and his wife organised a surprise party!! It was a bit of a mission to get him there as he had had a hard week losing his beloved dog but we got him there and all had a great time.
While I was there though I realised it had been a while since i had pics of him and the kids - so the next day we went up there and got a couple of snapshots. So important to have photos!!

Party Number 1! (Oh yes there were two parties this weekend)

Amalie turned 4 on Saturday. We had such a great day. She woke around 6.30am saying "NO more sleeps Mama. No more sleeps."
She jumped into our bed and we gave her her presents - Oliver gave her a Littlest Pet shop thingy. We have her a new Kindy bag and 2 goldfish! She was so excited to see the fish.
Her party was at 3pm so she had a long wait. and what do you know at 3pm on the dot it started to rain. Rain like take on step out in it and you are soaked to the bone!!
We still had a great time and the kids loved decorating their cupcakes.

Amalie is nearly 4!

I just can't believe that my baby girl will be 4 on Saturday!! The time has flown by....she is growing so quickly!
While she is dreaming of pickles and yams for her birthday party food (her choice - not mine) I am busy sorting her birthday cake which is one of those giant cupcakes. Hope it turns out well.
Saturday has turned into a crazy day for us with so many things on so her party is 3-5pm. She is so excited!
I love these little pics of her!! I can't even think what she was laughing about but she thought it was so funny.
Time flys when your having fun.....................

Mama??? I wrote my name on the carpet in the lounge!!

Thankfully only with Pick-up-sticks!!

The eye dr.....

Well we had her appointment with her orthoptist on Monday and hooray no more patching!!! Amalie has worn an eye patch over her right eye for two hours everyday since she was around 3 months old. I am so excited for her not to be patched but in saying that the reason why we are stopping it is that there has been no improvement since the last visit. The dr is pleased that the eyes are working together and that her left eye that has the capillary haemangioma is only slightly below her right eye (in vision testing) Who knows what the future will hold but seems good at the moment.
Here are a few pics of our journey with Amalie's eye.....

Oh yes we have a kindy girl in the house!!

Amalie started kindy on Monday and she was so super excited. We are thankful it was a beautiful day as she loves to play outside and she was so excited to be at the kindy playground. I stayed for a bit then asked if I could go do my jobs. She said yes and that I could pick her up tomorrow!!
I had to collect her early as she had an eye appointment with her specialist which leads me to my next post....

Happy Amalie Day!

Amalie came to our family 3 years ago today!
We love you baby girl! You have changed our lives so much. There is not a day go by when we are not thankful that you are part of our family...forever!!

My baby girl...Amalie May

So I have been totally obsessed with another persons blog (sorry Kristin!!) I am amazed how different and intense the adoption process is for inter-country adoptions. Its not something we looked into but Greg's cousin is adopted from Russia so we new a little bit. Unfortunately New Zealand has now been declined anymore adoptions from Russia. Crazy.

So with Amalie's 3rd birthday coming up (OH MY GOODNESS SHE IS GOING TO BE 3) I have really been thinking about how our darling came into our lives.

!8th August 2006 we got rung by our Adoption worker (note I am in the staffroom for morning tea) She says there is a baby due for us but there were conditions EEEEEKKK.
Our new baby was due in 10 days and she had been exposed to "P".
I cant think what I did next apart from tell Greg and run home to ring our family Doctor " Tell me all you know about "P babies" Thankfully he had just done a paper on it and knew enough to calm my fears as Amalie's BM had only taken P once during her pregnancy in the first few weeks.

the next few days are a blur and on the 30th August our Adoption worker rung again to say she had been born on the 28th and was super healthy!!!

Ok so long story short of meeting her on the 4th September (terrible fuzzy photos posted) and then waiting not very patiently on the 8th September to bring her home.

I have just re read through her little "diary" written by her caregiver. So cute saying she was up watching the All Blacks play South Africa!!!!

She amazes me everyday - and I am excited to be planning her 3rd birthday which has a Pussy cat theme!!!

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