Full Time Job

Recently someone mentioned to me that being a homemaker is a full time job. And you know what? It's true! This past week, I had a doctor's appointment everyday except on Monday. EVERYDAY! Having the children I have certainly keeps me busy and usually I enjoy that. Right now, we have a house full of sick people so we weren't able to go to church today. I don't like missing - it throws off my whole week and I miss teaching my primary class, too.

I want to write down some of the recent results from doctor appointments. Silas and Calvin met with their new pediatric cardiologists last week. Everything looks good for both boys. No surgeries on the horizon and hopefully not for several years to come. Great news!

Iryna met with a pediatric gynecologist and then with a pediatric urologist. The issue is that ever since we adopted Iryna, she has to sit on the toilet and bed completely over - hugging the toilet seat - to make sure the urine goes in the right direction. If she sits normal, then the urine shoots straight out and hits the wall. Very odd. Well the urologist said that nothing was wrong at all and that he didn't know why that was happening. We met with the pediatric gynecologist to discuss her microperfiated hyman and the doctor said that the hyman was causing the urine to shoot out. It was nice to find out the reason why! Unfortunately, they want to delay that surgery for a few years, so Iryna will continue to hug the toilet seat until then.

Iryna was on busipar to help with anxiety, but it is not helping. Her psychiatrist just started her on strattera. It has been a few days, but I'm not sure if it's helping or not. She did have an amazing day at school the first day on the strattera - which is BIG news, because she has been bringing home negative reports everyday: hitting, poking others, screaming, throwing things. One day the principal had to be called down to help restore order. I don't know if medicine, alone, can help improve her behaviors. I am hopeful.

Both Calvin and Silas are taking Tenex to help with their ADHD. Neither of them are behaving any better on Tenex, so our PCM is wanting to switch them both to Vyvanse, like Iryna. Iryna has had much improved behavior taking Vyvanse. I am hopeful it will help Calvin and Silas, but I am concerned that they will struggle sleeping, like Iryna, and have to be put on medicine to help them sleep, like Iryna is on. Time will tell.

Iryna has been diagnosed with FAS, and Silas has been suspected to be on the FAS spectrum, but no official diagnosis has been made. About the time that I noticed that Silas had facial features and behaviors of FASD, I couldn't help but look at Calvin, too. Calvin has the smoothest philtrum of all of my adopted children. He is also the highest functioning child that we have adopted. Although he does very well, there are times when something just isn't quite right. We know that his mother lost her parental rights due to drinking alcohol. We know that congenital heart defects can be caused by drinking alcohol during the pregnancy. We know that a smooth philtrum comes from the pregnant mother drinking alcohol. So, in my mind it makes sense that Calvin has some degree of FASD, albeit less than Silas and much less than Iryna. I don't know if I should try to get that diagnosis or just proceed with keeping it in mind. In the past, I wasn't worried about making it official, but now I wonder if that knowledge would be helpful? I welcome any thoughts on this topic.

This past week, three of my five kids have had dental work. Anna needed one cavitity filled and a sealant on two teeth. Iryna had three baby teeth removed so adult teeth could pop up. Her mouth is such a mess. She is so little and her mouth is tiny - but her adult teeth are HUGE! Calvin had two cavities filled. His mouth was numb and he was hilarious in describing how that felt to him. The older four kids have been referred to orthodontists. I have heard it is best to wait until the kids are older before getting braces. It seems that there are many opinions on this topic. It's hard to make a decision. It seems that if your last name is Pierce then you will need glasses and braces. Ha ha ha.

Iryna and Keith met with ophthalmologists and both of their prescriptions have been updated. The doctor was surprised that Iryna didn't walk into the appointment already wearing glasses. Iryna needs glasses, it is true, but lately she hasn't been able to handle wearing glasses. After moving to the DC area, I thought we would wait until we had been moved in and settled before getting out her glasses to wear. In October, I sent in a pair to school and asked her teacher to be very watchful in her wearing them. Less than 30 seconds on her face, she took them off and snapped them in half. The next day I sent in her second and last pair that I had. She made it 1 minute with them on before breaking them, too. Even though the glasses aren't expensive, because I buy them on www.zennioptical.com, I don't want them to last 1 minute before they are destroyed. And so it puts me in a very odd predicament. Iryna needs glasses to see clearly, but Iryna cannot/isn't/won't handle wearing the glasses without breaking them, therefore - Iryna doesn't have glasses. I did order two more pairs of glasses with her new prescription. We have been doing timed trials with them at home, with her wearing them for 20 minutes at a time and I have to watch her to ensure she doesn't touch or break the glasses. She has done fairly well with this approach, but did touch them yesterday during her 20 minute stint. I don't think I will send in glasses to school at all in the near future, but perhaps she can learn to wear them at home. I feel badly about this, as I want for her to see more clearly and I can tell that she can see better when she is wearing the glasses. Sadly, this isn't enough motivation for her to leave them alone. I wish she could get corrective surgery!

Tomorrow Calvin has his appointment with developmental pediatrics. I am hopeful that she can give me some insights into Calvin, like she did with Silas. Anyhow - that is it for now. Tyler suggested that I make folders for each child to keep all of their referrals and appointment information organized. I think this is a wise idea, because I can have a hard time remembering all of this information.