Our meeting with the Neuro surgeon

Well, we have put Katie through the ringer with medical appointments and she has been a feminine champ through it all!  Our pediatrician gave her a clean bill of health and most of her blood work (10 vials of blood later) has all come back in good shape and it appears that all her vaccinations she received in China worked.  I have to say I am shocked by this as 60% of kids adopted from China have to have vaccinations re-administered once in the US.   We went to the dentist and shock of all shocks, she does not have any cavities which was also another welcome surprise.  Surprising because orphanages are notorious for giving these kiddos lots of sugary foods, falling asleep with bottles and they don't brush their teeth.
We also met with a children's neuro surgeon a few days ago and he did confirm that Katie had brain surgery as a newborn.  He explained that the scar is very typical of an epidural hematoma which is what Katie had.  He said that he is certain that it was caused by a traumatic labor and delivery, specifically the use of a suction vacuum in the hospital or forceps which may have caused the blood clot on her brain.  He said that given her development is right on target with the exception of her language, he is not worried and did not want to do any type of brain scan.  He said that her head is very flat due to spending an abundant amount of time on her back in a crib in the orphanage, and not from the surgery itself and felt that it will gain a more rounded shape over the years. 
We do think that Katie is having small seizures throughout the day and after discussing with him and our pediatrician we are going to wait to do testing for a bit, as it can be a lengthy process.  She is not in any immediate harm and they are very mild and most people would not even notice that she has had one.  Her eyes flutter a bit and she appears a bit dazed for about 5-10 seconds, so they are very short and painless.
Regardless, as a mother it is our innate response to worry.

On a separate note, Katie is now such a typical two year old, minus any language.  She is happy and charming and full of energy.  If you would have asked me one month ago to describe her personality, I would have told you that my daughter was shy, fearful of loud situations, terrified of adults and reluctant to interact with other children.  Today, she is a loud, confident, assertive little girl who loves to play with other children, embracing them with big hugs and overall seems to be attaching superbly to her mommy and daddy.  She joins in on the WWF wrestling matches in the basement with the neighbor kids and loves to scream as she runs around the pool table while swinging her baby doll in one hand and her brothers laser tag gun in the other.  She wants me to cary her everywhere, loves to climb in my lap while I work on the computer and has a sweet tooth, just like her daddy.  I felt like I loved her to maximum capacity the moment she was placed in my arms.  A week ago, both Patrick and I felt like our love for her jumped exponentially and realized that as we get to know her personality on a deeper level, our love for her grows deeper roots as well. 
Life with three kids has not been difficult.  The difficult part is having a two year old that leaves a path of destruction in her wake.  It is part of a two year olds private little joke to leave chunks of food and toys everywhere, and to stuff bottles in the couch cushions for her parents to find as a soured science experiment a week later.  Changing diapers again has not bothered me, but when she sticks her hand in her poopy diaper and then giggles while accidentally wiping it on her clean clothes or my sweater.........now that bothers me!  :)

I pray that each of you is as blessed in your lives as we are.  We have three of the most amazing kids in the world.  They share their love with us and others so freely and they have embraced Katie as their sibling with open arms and big  giant bear hugs (or headlocks, in Brooke's case).  I cannot begin to imagine my life any other way.