Final Trip to the IAC

On Friday, we took the long drive to Minneapolis for Sarah's final visit to the University of Minnesota International Adoption Clinic. This isn't one of Sarah's favorite trips, with good reason. She was cheery, though, and so much more relaxed than the previous times.

There were no tears or whimpers during the height and weight measuring, which was a refreshing change. They let her keep her clothes on this time, so she was able to maintain her dignity, which helped a lot. She is now 34 3/4" tall and weighs 29.3 lbs. At 22 months old, that keeps her right on the 90th percentile curve, where she's been for all three visits.

While we waited in the exam room, Sarah drew on the chalkboard. When the doctor, her assistant, and the occupational therapist all walked in, I thought it was a little overwhelming, but Sarah didn't flinch. She proudly showed them her artwork.

The occupational therapist started by bouncing a playground ball to Sarah. Sarah bounced it right back, which the OT pronounced "quite advanced." I was relieved, since it occurred to me the other day that we haven't been playing ball with Sarah much lately. I guess she remembers the games she played with Don in the basement this winter. She didn't seem to get the idea of kicking the ball, so we'll have to work on that.

We then went out in the hallway, and the OT rolled a tennis ball for Sarah to run after. Sarah doesn't really run; she walks fast (like her mom). This is a bit delayed for her age. I asked the OT if she had any concerns about how Sarah walks. She had me take off Sarah's shoes and pants so she could get a better look. She said Sarah pronates a little, and her knees hyperextend some. She suggested getting her some athletic shoes with tapered soles and encouraging her to ride her bike and climb. Guess it's no great loss that she won't wear flip flops.

The next "test" was stacking 1" blocks. Sarah went right to it, building a seven-block tower (the goal was six), then looked for more. She got "extra credit" for doing it on a sloping chair seat.

When it came to the shape puzzle, Sarah seemed disappointed with just a circle, square, and triangle. She's used to doing her puzzle, which has a rectangle, trapezoid, hexagon, octagon, and oval. She looked at the OT as if to say, "Is that all you've got?"

On top of being smart as a whip, Sarah was very outgoing and charming. She was a totally different girl from six months ago. She had the three women in the palm of her hand.

Unfortunately, she couldn't charm her way out of the physical exam. She tolerated being picked up by the assistant and placed on the table, which she never would have done before, and was intrigued by the stethoscope. After a few minutes, though, she became concerned and cried, "Mama!"

If we could have stopped there, it would have been a pretty enjoyable visit for all of us, but we still had to do the blood draw and TB test. The doctor wanted to re-run tests that were done in September, just to be sure Sarah is negative for things like HIV and Hepatitis B and to check her iron levels.

Following a tip from a fellow mom (I love saying that!), I asked the doctor to put numbing cream on Sarah's arms 20-30 minutes before the blood draw to minimize the trauma. She was fascinated by the big dollops of cream, which the nurses covered with clear bandages (I need to post about her lotion fetish one of these days).

It was hard to tell if the cream made any difference. She still screamed and cried during the blood draw, which broke my heart. I got Don to hold her this time, since I felt like a traitor doing it before. I tried to comfort her, but it was impossible. Fortunately, the technician didn't have much trouble finding the vein, so it wasn't as agonizing as last time.

Just as she recovered from the blood draw (she's so cute -- whenever she cries, she signs "tissue" by pretending to wipe her nose;  it's so ladylike!), it was on to the TB test. That was almost as bad, since two nurses held her down on the table and pricked her arm. Sarah had to be wondering why her fun visit with the OT had taken such a terrible turn.

We were done with the appointment in a little more than an hour, which was a record. On our long walk through the hospital back to the parking garage, we searched for vending machines to make good on the candy I impulsively promised uring the blood draw.  Once we found some M&Ms, Sarah held one in each hand like tiny talismans, instead of eating them.  I always knew M&Ms had magical powers.

After the appointment, we visited Grandma and Grandpa, then headed south.  Sarah still doesn't like long rides, and she lost patience with about 45 minutes to go.  When our house finally came into view, she let out a squeal of delight.  Sarah loves her home as much as her parents do.