Thursday 30 August 2012

Just a Standstill

At a standstill right now with L.  Found a new agency who is newly accredited in L's country but no word back.  They said this may take a while and to be patient but that is so hard to do when all you want to do is love this child.  Of course, first I have to get to her.  The homestudy is kind of on hold too until I hear if we can or cannot get L's file.  In October will be her 8th birthday.  I'm putting a little present together to send her.  I wish I could celebrate it with her but I can't.  Her orphange started to celebrate birthdays this year where a group of volunteers come in and bring donation cake and gifts for the child so hopefully she will get something to make her feel special on this day. Every child deserves their birthday remembered.  I wish I could see her face light up at the surprise.

Here is a couple of pix of my little grandson who of course had a grand birthday party for this first birthday and will have many more in his lifetime.  He's my adorable llittle treasure at 15 months.








                          OK I know I said a couple but just couldn't help myself; such cutness.



Thursday 23 August 2012

New hope

So we had the home study session with our other daughter who is on the border about adoption but more leaning towards no adoption.  I guess the older the kids are the more they think about themselves.  How is this going to effect them?  How will the new child fit into their schedule or lifestyle?  I'm sure some grown children are ok with it but I figure most are not.  Most would say there is no room for another child under this roof.  That is our daughter's concern too.  Where are we going to put the child since all three of our grown children are still at home, plus their cousin moved in, temporarily until she gets back up on her feet.  We made space for her so all the rooms are taken.  So, where shall we put another child?  Well, is sharing a room unheard of?  How quickly they forget that once upon a time they sharted a room with another sibling. Did they really forget about it already?  They shared a room and they survived sharing what they have.  It's what we taught them; to share so where is all this coming from?

In regards to the agency which we've not signed up with; we're still thinking over in regards to the extra twenty thousand they were asking for.  In the meantime our social worker just told us that two more agencies just got accredited in Russia; one not in the right region but the other, maybe.  The other is checking right now with their team in L's homeland to see if there is anything they can do about requesting L's file.  Wouldn't that be something?  If things suddenly all fell into place, the way they were always meant to be.  I think it's only a matter of time. 

I see that the Usynovite website has changed L's file photo to the one where she's wearing the red dress I sent her.  She looks beautiful of course. I know she's not mine but God willing she will be. I will do all I can to stop her from being "transferred" only because they have to watch her diet.
 

Thursday 16 August 2012

Orphanage in Croatia

On my lovely vacation in beautiful Croatia amongs stome things I did was pay a visit to an orphanage in the capital city of Zagreb.  The city itself is a diverse place filled with small shops, outdoor markets and filled with patio cafes. In a pretty and posh side of town is an old building that's been kept up rather nicely.  It's one of about four city orphanages situated on a piece of land surrounded by tall trees.  Inside the building , in the hallway a little girl seems to have got lose and is running around. No, wait, it's a little boy with a ponytail.  The six or seven year old boy's hair is unusually long. He looks like he's got a good tan or he maybe part gypsy. He looks our way, checks us out then runs off.  We are here to make a donation, a bagful of notebooks, coloring books, crayons, markers etc and a bit of monetary help.  We are taken into the director's office, her name is Jelena (pronounced Yelena). She's happy to see us.  She sits us down, offers us drinks.  She and her assistant tell us all about the orphanage, how many children, how many caregivers, three to a room of about six or seven children.  The building is over a hundred years old and has always been an orphanage and the money goes towards upkeep and the children.  As we're taken through the floors we notice how clean it is and well organized.  First we see the baby rooms.  As soon as we enter two little ones are crawling over to us, one little girl more so than the other.  I can't help but ask to pick her up. She's got dark hair and eyes and she's certainly not starving.  She's well fed and she smiles. I coo to her. In the crib next to us a little boy stops drinking his juice and stands up making eyes at us.  In the back of the room with three or four more cribs and the babies all between six months and a year look at us longinly. My heart breaks, I wish I could hold them all but I put the baby girl down and pick up the boy next to me and he smiles at me eagerly. Soon we're led to another room where smaller babies sleep in their cribs all around us, the room is clean and bright but each room has one caregiver not three.  I assume this means it's one caregiver per shift, so imagine six babies crying at once which one do you soothe first. The caregiver here holds a tiny premeture baby and is feeding her. She looks strong though and breathes on her own.

As we are led to the rest of the wings we see toddlers and five year olds.  Most children are healthy but there are a couple that are pointed out to us who have FAS, they are small for their age but they too smile at us and come up to the window.  The assistant closes the door and locks it so they don't escape on us she says. This is where the idea I had so far of a wonderful home for the orphans kind of comes to an end.  It is an orphanage after all.  These children although well cared for are stuck here, in this room most of the time.  They don't get to run around with the neighbourhood kids and ride their bikes or play in parks or go to a baseball game.  They are still orphans and no mama or papa tucks them in at night.  They still look at us with longing in their eyes and wonder if we are here to perhaps take them home.  This is where you get a lump in your throat as you walk away.

                                   This is the little girl I held.  She was a year on Augl 7th.

There were many toys on this huge balcony with wondeful views but the toys were so neat and tidy it made me wonder if anyone ever played with them at all.


                               This was an easter egg donated to them by an artist. I rather liked it.
That was the end of our visit and as we were leaving something else happened.  The little boy with the ponytail appared before me again.  I got to find out his name and more about him.  He left an impression on me with his deep dark eyes but I will save that for another post.

Sunday 5 August 2012

PKU

What is PKU ?

Phenylketonuria (fen-il-kee-to-NU-ree-a) or PKU is an inherited metabolic disorder that can cause abnormal mental and physical development if not detected promptly and treated appropriately with a special low protein diet.

Special chemicals called enzymes break down protein found in food we eat into amino acids. Other enzymes break down amino acids in our body but when there is not enough of this enzyme to break down the amino acid, phenylalanine or Phe, then it will collect at high levels in the blood.

Too much phenylalanine is toxic to the brain and other organs. Undetected and/or untreated, PKU results in severe mental retardation, hyperactivity and seizures.

Children with PKU may have lighter-colored hair, skin, and eyes. This is due to lower levels of melanin, the substance that gives color to hair and skin.

Treatment is a strict low protein diet which means avoiding eating meat, fish, poultry, eggs, milk and cheese and anything with aspartame.

Older children who have been diagnosed with PKU may need to check their phenylalanine levels more often and watch their diet more closely if they experience any of the following: Learning disabilities and Irritability
Hyperactivity and Tremors
SOURCES:

http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/9339/10335.html
http://www.pku.com/
http://www.pkunews.org/

 
This would mean if Leah's special diet is not followed in the institution it will mean a life of severe mental retardation and behavior problems for her. She would most likely not progress intellectually or not learn anything more than what she has learned now which would be a total shame. And just so you don't think Leah is just a figment of my imagination here is her photo from the federal database.


 

Thursday 2 August 2012

What Would You Do?

When we get back home, our loan should be ready for signing, twenty thousand. Money that should cover half or a little less of the whole adoption of Leah. However, as you know at the moment we cannot do anything to adopt her as she is in a region no agency covers. The agency we inquired with is willing to register in her region so that we could try to get Leah's file. Even if they were registered it still does not mean that they could request her file because PKU is not considered a special need. She does have mild mental delay and estigmatism which we could possibly go on but there is no guarantee that we could even ask for her file. Basically what we would need to do is lay down the twenty thousand for the agency to register in her region and then see if they could request her file.  This is twenty thousand before any other money for the actual adoption. 

What would you do?

Would you lay down this money before you knew what lay ahead, if anything at all?

If this is telling me I'm not suppose to adopt Leah then how will I forget her?  Can I forget her?

I know she is there and if she is not adopted she will go to the institution only because of mild mental delay.  She is a beautiful, beautiful and vibrant little girl who I am sure could achieve so much in a good family of her own. If I cannot do anything for her then next year she will be transferred. 

What am I suppose to do? What would you do?