Earlier this month we attended the Cooley's Anemia Foundation Patient-Family conference. I actually had the honor of speaking on my favorite subject, adoption! I obviously come to this from a very unique perspective, having thalassemia and adopting a child with thalassemia. E and I are a one-of-a-kind pair! Many of the attendees were moved to tears by our family's story. The conference was amazing, it was great seeing old friends and making some new ones. Little E was quite the celebrity, and she really tore up the dance floor at the dinner dance.
E's transfusion this month was the toughest one yet. Even with special "vein finder" lights, 4 different nurses and IV specialists, tons of hydration, and a VERY cooperative patient, it took 6 tries to get her IV in. Still, E was so strong (in fact, she was tougher than she needed to be) and didn't even cry until the last couple of sticks. By then, she had enough. Poor baby. It was interesting, though, yesterday I went to have some labs done and E was all excited to come with me and "hold me." She was all smiles when we signed in, when we went into the drawing room, as they put the turniquet on, and so on, but the minute the needle went in, she WAILED like she has never wailed for her own sticks! She was holding my hand and crying, "Mama!" and was so, so, so sad. It took quite a while to calm her down and reassure her that I was OK. She is such a gentle soul, and VERY protective of her Mama!
All of that "business" aside, we've spent a lot of time going to different beaches and enjoying the sand, sun, and COLD water. Of course, no matter how cold, it doesn't seem to phase E (although, the seaweed does!). We've visited Footbridge Beach in Ogunquit, Rye Beach, and Good Harbor Beach for daytrips and loved them all, but the highlight was our stay at my aunt and uncle's house on Cape Cod. E had such a wonderful time, and it brought back memories of when I was a child at the Cape. I remember last summer when we were at the same aunt and uncle's house, we were so nervous waiting for the final version of our home study to be ready. I can remember talking about how much we were all looking forward to meeting E, and being able to share the Cape and our family with her. Well, our time together this year was even more incredible than we dreamt it would be. Just like every experience we have had with our daughter.
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| In "Big's" truck. This might have been one of E's favorite parts of our trip to Cape Cod. |
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| My 22 year old cousin, "Tiny", graciously celebrated his birthday with an Elmo party. |
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| Bye-bye, Cape Cod! See you again soon! |
4 comments:
Grey weather here too...after a lovely month of sunshine. Glad your summer with E. is amazing. Just found your blog - am loving reading about people who are just starting the journey . My daughter (Hunan Province) came to me 17 years ago (!) this coming Tuesday.WHen I look at your darling girl I remember mine and sigh. She wants the car and is looking at colleges...
We are in a cute town in NH if you want a nice day trip :-)
Had such a great time with you guys at the confrence. It was even nicer finally meeting E! Though I have to say I lost those pictures of her that I took.. So sad I erased my camera before I could get them onto the computer. have a great rest of the summer call us when your in RI! We have some awesome beaches... Hugs to E Claudia and Chris
Hi there!
I know you say your summer is busy; however, I would love to touch base with you. We are starting a SN China adoption and one of the things we are open to is thalassemia. You seem to be the expert x 2 :)
My email is dezire2adpt@yahoo.com if you can spare time to contact me.
Thanks,
Amy :)
We were soooo lucky to share the Cape with our sweet, funny, loving Emmie! Her face lights up the room and her laugh brightens your day. We are all so blessed to have her in our life. Thank you T & P for sharing this bundle of joy and happiness.
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