Shock...and relief

After the news at the medical clinic in China that Eden's palate was fine, we were anxious to hear what the cleft team at Children's Hospital in LA would have to say. We were there yesterday and the plastic surgeon took one look inside Eden's mouth and said, "Yup, she's fine. No cleft palate."

Wow. It was obviously great news, but we were in disbelief. It says "cleft palate" in about 6 different places in Eden's paperwork and I've never heard of medical records being this inaccurate. If anything people worry about not getting full disclosure on their child's medical issues, but to have it the other way around???

We are soooo very relieved to have been spared the agony of the approx. 20 year commitment that treating cleft palate can entail. Especially for Eden's sake. But having prepared physically and mentally and emotionally to deal with it, it's still taking me by surprise and hasn't quite fully sunk in yet.

We're still battling horrible jetlag here, especially the girls. They're off of each other as well, so one of them is always awake, even in the middle of the night. Paul has to go into work this week and I'm pretty nervous about how I'll do on my own. A friend from church brought a meal over yesterday and it was a tremendous help! Not to mention good to see their faces :)

I've been able to spend more time with Eden now that Malia has gotten more used to sharing her parents and it's helping me connect with her a little more each day. Eden is getting used to our home and neighborhood as we've taken her on walks and to the local park. I really miss church and my normal activities, but I think we'll have to wait a bit longer before introducing more new things to Eden.

Malia is still struggling a lot and along with showing regressive behaviors has taken to testing us at every turn. This is a girl who got a time-out maybe once a month before, and now it's multiple times a day - and we let 90% of her misbehavior go since we know she's having a hard time. Poor thing. Hopefully with lots of love and affirmation from us she'll grow out of this phase soon.

We're thankful for all your support and care for us and we hope to see you all soon!

*oh, thanks Charlene for the tip about yogurt with veggie puree in it! Got some yesterday and will give it a try :)