Thursday, May 29, 2008

GREAT NEWS from the IA Clinic!!! (Noelle's health update)


The Exam...

Eric and I took Noelle to her follow-up appointment at the International Adoption Clinic this morning. ('Had to get up at 5am - ick!) We dropped off her stool samples for the lab to test for parasites ('what fun!) and are expecting a call in a few days with the results. Noelle was also measured and weighed (that was a bit of a fiasco!). She had a series of hearing tests (the most fun part, for her, of the whole morning), and we met with a cardiologist to test and evaluate her heart condition (this part was the most fun for us!)

The Results...

Weight - She gained 2 pounds in 7 weeks (we thought it would be more...but she sure is an active little kid, so what do we know?)
Height - She has supposedly only grown 1/2 a centimeter in 7 weeks, yet we believe this figure to be low. 2 reasons: her pairs of jeans that in early April had to have the bottoms rolled up 2 or 3 times now fit perfectly, and they measured Noelle standing up, sort of, against a wall chart (she was slouching, twisting, squirming, bending over, fussing, etc.). Craziness!
Head circumference - I forget what the measurement is, but Eric, who had been holding her at the time said, "Jen, don't freak out when it appears her head has shrunk. It hasn't." (The poor young gal who was measuring Noelle appeared to not be very adept in getting accurate measurements from a crying, squirmy toddler. Ah well. We will redo them here at home for our own peace of mind.)
Hearing - Her hearing is very strong in both ears. She had fun sitting with mom and dad in the purple space-age looking test booth. The animatronic animals made Noelle think it was all a game. She made lots of "Oh!!" and "Ooo!!" sounds while whipping her head from side to side in response to the funny noises. She even tolerated various instruments being stuck in her ear. And the Tinkerbell and Dora stickers afterwards were way-cool! Only issue is that she may possibly have an infection or fluid in one or both ears. We are scheduling an appointment with a local pediatrician to have this checked out.
Immunizations - All but one are great!! She may benefit from a DPT booster, but she shows good immunity from all other vaccinations. Yay!! You may wonder why I'm so excited. Well, it's rare for Chinese adopted children (and many other internationally adopted children) to have successful vaccinations. Quite often the titters show little or no immunity and the doctor will recommend redoing the entire series. We were uncomfortable with the thought of re-doing all her shots (possible health concerns or side effects), and now we don't need to. Praise God!!
Heart Condition (her special need is PFO - basically, a small whole in the heart) - Two test were performed today, the most important one being...oh, what's the one called when they do a sonogram of the heart?? Well, that test was lengthy and initially quite upsetting for Noelle, but we sure are glad we persisted. Fortunately, feeding her cheerios and fruit snacks while she looked at some fun light-up toys helped tremendously. Sooooooo, when we visited with the cardiologist a bit later on, we received the news that...

...the hole in Noelle's heart has closed!!!

Although I remained relatively calm on the outside, I was definitely doing the happy dance on the inside. We prayed for this and God answered! Yippee!!!!!!!!!!! Not only has the hole closed (by God's very own hand, we believe), but her heart is healthy and strong in every way. Praise God! Neither Eric nor I can imagine life without this gift of our daughter, Noelle. Just think - if we had not in prayerful obedience filled out the additional application to adopt a special needs child...; if we had not later on prayerfully requested a final revision of our application to include "yes" to a child with a heart defect (kinda scary!)...; if China had not placed Noelle in the special needs category...we would not have this child. We would have missed out on this amazing blessing, this child who was hand-picked by our Heavenly Father for our family.

'Just thought you all would like to know... :-)

4 comments:

bugs parents said...

How exciting! Glad to hear things went so well at Noelle's visit. It is truly amazing how God places the right children in the right family. It's so hard to understand those who believe it all just "happens". Praise God for His love for each of us!

Jennifer said...

Amen, sister! I second that! God IS good and knows just what we need. :)

Anonymous said...

The heart "sonogram" test is called an echocardiogram. :-)

What wonderful news about Noelle and her wonderful health! Truly a testament to the wonderful care she has had over her short lifetime. The chain of events leading to her arrival could only be termed a "God thing" that is for sure!

Ernie & Nancy

amorisa said...

What a wonderful and happy miracle! So glad that Noelle has a clean bill of health! I'm just checking in on how you all are doing and I'm so glad you all are doing well. I've been thinking about you all lately.
Blessings and love,
Amorisa