October 26, 2006
Our most fun yet...
Today we had two separate appointments at the SOS International Clinic in
Almaty. Our first appointment was at 10:00, and they warned us that if we were
late we’d have to reschedule. No how, no way. We’re getting this done. So, we
had the girls up, fed and dressed early. Unfortunately, that meant we had two
pretty little girls that didn’t want to just sit still and look pretty. It was
a pretty miserable morning for them… but, like I said, they did look pretty.
Here are a couple of pictures from this morning before the appointment.
What? You just want us to sit here?
But at least I have pretty shoes…
The morning trip to the clinic was pretty traumatic. The had to have blood
drawn, and with the way they both screamed you would’ve thought they were having
some kind of major surgery without anesthesia instead of a simple finger stick.
Still, I’m certainly in no position to talk. I’ve been known to pass out just
looking at a needle; forget getting stuck. I guess I should almost be proud of
them. They got over it pretty quickly, and we headed back to the apartment to
wait for the next piece of the appointment in the afternoon.
It’s funny how absolutely nothing in this process is scheduled in the best
interest of the children. Every appointment so far has been set to fall right
before lunch time – just in time for them to be getting hungry and very, very
cranky – or right in the middle of nap time. My brother Kent offered me some
wisdom before we left that goes like this… it’s in everyone’s best interest to
let sleeping children lie. Really, really good advice. Someone should share
that wisdom with the folks here. When I had to wake the girls up after a
30-minute nap (they’re used to more like a 2-hour nap every day) to make it in
time for a 2:00 appointment we anticipated that we would be dealing with some
grouchy little girls. We were right. I guess I can at least be grateful that
they did all the blood work in the morning so we didn’t have to try to stick
them on top of waking them up. That would just be insult added to injury!
The examination was very simple. I found out that Maggie is currently 29-1/2
lbs and 36 in. tall, and Ryn is 22 lbs and 32 in. tall. At a quick glance, the
doctor thought they both appeared to be in great health but he suggested I get
them to a pediatrician to get a more in-depth evaluation as soon as possible
just to be sure. Considering the stress of today, I just can’t wait for that
one! More shots, more blood work, and more strange people poking and prodding
them. Oh yeah… that's going to be fun!
