I am sorry I am so bad with updating. My days are just running by me. Between working, taking care of Lilli, and the household there doesn't seem to be a lot of time left. But I also didn't have to say anything interesting.
Today I went to visit a school for the blind here in Caracas. They currently have 69 children, 23 of whom are in preschool. They have to turn away additional children because they just don't have the room as the school is in a house, not a school building.
They gave us a little tour through the school and seeing those children made me realize all over again how blessed we are to have such a healthy little girl.
The children in preschool are on the top of the building. In order to get there they have to climb up a long metal staircase. I can't even imagine two or three year olds doing that. There were even blind twins who seemed to be neglected or something because they were doing this rhythmic banging of their heads. Poor kids.
I talked to a little girl in on class. She was 11 years old and has been attending the school for 5 years.
I asked about seeing eye dogs, but that doesn't seem to be something that many people can afford here. Wouldn't that be fantastic if the children had a dog to play with that would also help them in their daily life?
I believe the school is very good, but they don't have the equipment that any school for the blind in the U.S. would have. They have a hard time finding braille paper. They don't have any English braille books, so they can't teach any English. We are trying to organize some donations to see how we can help them.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
1 year doctor's visit - hold, make that 13 months
Since we were traveling we didn't make it for Lilli's 12 months doctor's appointment. Because she seemed healthy I didn't really care to wait. Today I finally went to see a new doctor. I liked my old doctor, but didn't really have the idea that he asked a lot of questions and took a lot of time to spend with us.
The new doctor is fantastic. I really like him. He took a lot of time to spend with us. He measured and weighed Lilli himself. She weighs 23 pounds (10.5 kilograms) now and is 83 cms long. She actually grew out of the curve. She is taller than the 100th percentile of all other children. I guess she will be a basketball player...
She signs "All done", "More", "tired", "Sleep", "down", "eat", "milk", "diaper change", etc. It is amazing how she is able to communicate with us. And fascinating to see every day.
I also told the doctor that we were looking to adopt again. He hears of babies that are given up for adoption occasionally. I told him to call me... The only problem is going to be the legal side. Would be very complicated.
In the meantime we will try it the good old way. We practise a lot... We have also discussed a potential donor egg cycle. I will have to go to the "clinic that can do miracles" here to see what the doctors say.
The new doctor is fantastic. I really like him. He took a lot of time to spend with us. He measured and weighed Lilli himself. She weighs 23 pounds (10.5 kilograms) now and is 83 cms long. She actually grew out of the curve. She is taller than the 100th percentile of all other children. I guess she will be a basketball player...
She signs "All done", "More", "tired", "Sleep", "down", "eat", "milk", "diaper change", etc. It is amazing how she is able to communicate with us. And fascinating to see every day.
I also told the doctor that we were looking to adopt again. He hears of babies that are given up for adoption occasionally. I told him to call me... The only problem is going to be the legal side. Would be very complicated.
In the meantime we will try it the good old way. We practise a lot... We have also discussed a potential donor egg cycle. I will have to go to the "clinic that can do miracles" here to see what the doctors say.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Back in Caracistan!
I am sorry I haven't updated before, but I just got back from Europe last Saturday. Thank you all for your condolences and prayers. I have to say that they really helped a lot and often I just felt carried by you all.
Hubby's grandfather died as well. He had to go to the States and took the laptop. I felt lost without connection to the internet and was very sorry Lilli and I couldn't attend the funeral.
It was a very difficult, but also very rewarding trip back. Before the funeral I got to say my private goodbye to my dad. He was laying in his coffin all cold, but he looked so peaceful. When I touched him I realized that we were burying his body, but that his soul was gone to another place. The tears come and go, but mostly I am o.k. Having my own family helps a lot. I am so glad that my dad got to experience being a grandfather and that he had a chance to meet Lilli.
For the funeral I met a lot of relatives that I hadn't seen in many years. The weeks after that we did a lot of things as a family, a thing we weren't able to do in the last couple of years.
Lilli turned one while we were there. She started walking the day we were leaving and hasn't stopped since. She is all over the place. Fortunately my mom was able to celebrate the first birthday party with us. We also invited some neighbors and family and friends. It turned out to be a great party. Lilli enjoyed all the attention she got and of course all the presents.
She is giving real hugs now and real kisses. She says when she doesn't want to be put on the floor. She has a huge vocabularly for a one-year-old. I made a list and it had more than 20 words on it. Since she has learned even more. The newest being: "Bien!" when asked "Como estas?" Our nanny taught her that. I am amazed daily by the amount of interaction I can have with this little person now.
The flight back was not so much fun. We used miles to upgrade to Business. But traveling by yourself with a mobile one-year-old is not such a fun experience when there is a 10 hour flight ahead of you. I felt really bad when she screamed and didn't let her scream for long. She noticed that and slept only 45 minutes during the whole flight. I was defeated after 8,5 hours when the stewardess took her finally away for a while. So Lilli got to see the cockpit and spend some time there. I was really jealous. I have never been in the cockpit and I have no pictures from her being there.
But hey, we are back and life is back to normal. I am glad we are reunited as a family. Now we see what the future holds for us.
Hubby's grandfather died as well. He had to go to the States and took the laptop. I felt lost without connection to the internet and was very sorry Lilli and I couldn't attend the funeral.
It was a very difficult, but also very rewarding trip back. Before the funeral I got to say my private goodbye to my dad. He was laying in his coffin all cold, but he looked so peaceful. When I touched him I realized that we were burying his body, but that his soul was gone to another place. The tears come and go, but mostly I am o.k. Having my own family helps a lot. I am so glad that my dad got to experience being a grandfather and that he had a chance to meet Lilli.
For the funeral I met a lot of relatives that I hadn't seen in many years. The weeks after that we did a lot of things as a family, a thing we weren't able to do in the last couple of years.
Lilli turned one while we were there. She started walking the day we were leaving and hasn't stopped since. She is all over the place. Fortunately my mom was able to celebrate the first birthday party with us. We also invited some neighbors and family and friends. It turned out to be a great party. Lilli enjoyed all the attention she got and of course all the presents.
She is giving real hugs now and real kisses. She says when she doesn't want to be put on the floor. She has a huge vocabularly for a one-year-old. I made a list and it had more than 20 words on it. Since she has learned even more. The newest being: "Bien!" when asked "Como estas?" Our nanny taught her that. I am amazed daily by the amount of interaction I can have with this little person now.
The flight back was not so much fun. We used miles to upgrade to Business. But traveling by yourself with a mobile one-year-old is not such a fun experience when there is a 10 hour flight ahead of you. I felt really bad when she screamed and didn't let her scream for long. She noticed that and slept only 45 minutes during the whole flight. I was defeated after 8,5 hours when the stewardess took her finally away for a while. So Lilli got to see the cockpit and spend some time there. I was really jealous. I have never been in the cockpit and I have no pictures from her being there.
But hey, we are back and life is back to normal. I am glad we are reunited as a family. Now we see what the future holds for us.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
My dad
My dad died this afternoon after a long struggle with lung cancer and strokes. May he rest in peace. We are leaving today.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Touching
Melba had mentioned in a post that people want to touch baby Charlie all the time.
I have to admit that I am dealing with the same problem. People here don't seem to have a concept of personal space. When I am waiting in line at the supermarket for example some people come so close to me that I am getting very uncomfortable. With Lilli it is the same. All the time people come and touch her. Most of them just mean really well and don't know that you shouldn't just touch any child you see. I already joked about putting up a sign on her stroller that says "Don't touch!". I haven't learned how to tell those people to back off, yet.
Particularly when I go with her to the market all those people come and just touch her. Yesterday there was one incident was over the top. Out of nowhere comes this old creepy guy and touches her and kisses her hands. I wanted to move on and told him we needed to go and he just wouldn't stop. I felt very uncomfortable and I don't want to imagine what Lilli felt.
Please, my dear blog friends, tell me how I can tell those people to back off without offending them.
I also get the question "Tu hija?" (your daughter) a lot and when I say proudly "Si. Mi hija!" people shake their heads in disbelieve. I am close to asking people "Why do you want to know? to put them in their place...
I have to admit that I am dealing with the same problem. People here don't seem to have a concept of personal space. When I am waiting in line at the supermarket for example some people come so close to me that I am getting very uncomfortable. With Lilli it is the same. All the time people come and touch her. Most of them just mean really well and don't know that you shouldn't just touch any child you see. I already joked about putting up a sign on her stroller that says "Don't touch!". I haven't learned how to tell those people to back off, yet.
Particularly when I go with her to the market all those people come and just touch her. Yesterday there was one incident was over the top. Out of nowhere comes this old creepy guy and touches her and kisses her hands. I wanted to move on and told him we needed to go and he just wouldn't stop. I felt very uncomfortable and I don't want to imagine what Lilli felt.
Please, my dear blog friends, tell me how I can tell those people to back off without offending them.
I also get the question "Tu hija?" (your daughter) a lot and when I say proudly "Si. Mi hija!" people shake their heads in disbelieve. I am close to asking people "Why do you want to know? to put them in their place...
Friday, July 10, 2009
Thyroid question
I don't know if I ever mentioned it here, but I had 90% of my thyroid removed due to a benign tumor 11 years ago. Since then I have been taking thyroxine every day. It is no problem in my daily life, but sometimes I wonder whether it effects my fertility.
Once a year I have to have my levels tested. Yesterday I finally went. TSH is 0.61, T3 is 3.09 and T4 is 1.79. I asked Dr. Google about it and it looks like only high TSH levels are causing problems with fertility. But what about low levels? Does anybody have some medical input?
Where does this question come from you might wonder. Dh and I have talked about having a second child. I know it is very early since Lilli isn't a year yet, but since I am already 35 (and we know it goes downhill from here), we should take a decision on what we are doing. We would both love to adopt again, but haven't paid for Lilli's adoption yet. Therefore we are not ready at this point to pursue adoption again. The legal aspect is also kind of complicated. Americans, living in Venezuela, trying to adopt from the US or internationally. Which law applies? I don't know. I only know that we would need to adopt after US law. But what about the law here? Getting a home study done would be another problem...
Another option would be fertility treatments. It is a little cheaper here than in the US, so this might be an option. But I don't know whether I want to get on that kind of rollercoaster again with my own eggs. I am more thinking about trying donor eggs this time. Hubby suggested to try one cycle with my own eggs. He really wants me to be able to have a biological connection to the child. While I would love one, I want to have a sucessfull cycle and pregnancy and given our history I just feel that donor eggs would be a better shot.
Once a year I have to have my levels tested. Yesterday I finally went. TSH is 0.61, T3 is 3.09 and T4 is 1.79. I asked Dr. Google about it and it looks like only high TSH levels are causing problems with fertility. But what about low levels? Does anybody have some medical input?
Where does this question come from you might wonder. Dh and I have talked about having a second child. I know it is very early since Lilli isn't a year yet, but since I am already 35 (and we know it goes downhill from here), we should take a decision on what we are doing. We would both love to adopt again, but haven't paid for Lilli's adoption yet. Therefore we are not ready at this point to pursue adoption again. The legal aspect is also kind of complicated. Americans, living in Venezuela, trying to adopt from the US or internationally. Which law applies? I don't know. I only know that we would need to adopt after US law. But what about the law here? Getting a home study done would be another problem...
Another option would be fertility treatments. It is a little cheaper here than in the US, so this might be an option. But I don't know whether I want to get on that kind of rollercoaster again with my own eggs. I am more thinking about trying donor eggs this time. Hubby suggested to try one cycle with my own eggs. He really wants me to be able to have a biological connection to the child. While I would love one, I want to have a sucessfull cycle and pregnancy and given our history I just feel that donor eggs would be a better shot.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
A garten eden in the middle of the jungle.
To celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary of our church wedding we went for a night to a nice posada here in the countryside. Posadas are like little hotels, mostly family-owned. We had a great time and really some time to relax. I enjoyed not having to cook and being spoiled by nice home-cooked food.
Here are some of our impressions and some updated Lilli pictures. I can't believe she will be one in two short weeks. Time to plan the birthday party...
Here are some of our impressions and some updated Lilli pictures. I can't believe she will be one in two short weeks. Time to plan the birthday party...
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