Two Big Things Done...

Well, it was a very busy adoption day today. We "snuck" over to USCIS this morning to see if they might take our prints (our appt. wsan't until 11/1) or send us away. It was worth the drive if they said no, so in we went. I am pleased to report that they happily printed us, never asked, or so much as looked at the date on our form and sent us back with congratulations offered by everyone we had contact with. Come on I-800A. I'm hoping my Birthday present is DTC, which I think is very possible.

And...

We submitted our LOI for "little lady" today. YAAAAY!!! Can not wait for PA! We hope it comes as quick as "little man's" did. Once we get that in we'll be so glad to reveal their pretty little faces to the world

PA for Little Man

We got Pre-approval (PA) for our little man! It was issued yesterday (10/19) and was sent to us this morning. Since we don't have LID yet we have 6 months (until April 19, 2012) to get our dossier complete and sent to the CCCWA. My hope is to have it out the door by the end of December as we submitted our I-800A on September 26 and are scheduled for our biometrics on 11/1 (we are "sneaking" over to USCIS on 10/24 to see if they will do them for us early-fingers crossed).

We are very excited.

We got X-rays for little lady...

Received an email today that contained two x-rays of little lady's right leg. With my very untrained eye it is obvious she is missing her fibula (the thinner of the two bones in the lower leg) and her tibia has a bow to it. She also is missing two of her toes (has the all important big toe, though). So Fibular Hemimelia (FH) is probably the culprit. What is FH and how is it treated/managed you ask?

Fibular Hemimelia or longitudinal fibular deficiency is "the congenital absence of the fibula and it is the most common congenital absence of long bone of the extremities." It is the shortening of the fibula at birth, or the complete lack thereof. There are a few different means to treat FH mostly dependent upon the percentage of difference between the two legs, as well as other factors. Lifts added to the sole of a shoe is one option as well as the possibility of a prosthetic for inside the shoe. Limb lengthening under certain circumstances (which is multiple surgeries over the course of many years) is possible as well as amputation and use of a prosthetic.

We sent the x-rays off to our IA doc at CHoP and wait for her to consult with their FH specialist to rule out another condition they were concerned about (but not too concerned as it has never presented itself with a foot anomaly like little lady has).

Hope to hear in the next couple of days what they think and will keep you posted.

A little bit about our man...

The "little man" is just a bit over two years old now and like his big brother William, is missing his lower right arm and hand. Also like his brother, he likes to suck his fingers when he is sleeping, which they say he is a moderate sleeper (at least he's not a light sleeper). He's got a good appetite and is not choosy about his foods. He likes to play games, listen to music and is talkative. His favorite game is hide and seek and his favorite toys are the ones that make noises (just what we need more noisy toys!). In his pictures he looks like such a serious man so we hope to get him home, shower him with love and get him to crack a smile or two.

One LOI down, one to go...

This morning our agency submitted our LOI for a little BOY who is just two. We didn't now that this little fellow was even out there as his file had been on a 72 hour lock but his file popped back up on the shared list on Tues., our agency took one look at him and sent his file for us to take a look at. We looked, consulted our IA Doc and said yes! He has the same limb difference as William and we know that he can do just about anything.

Next week we hope to get X-rays on Marin's leg and then will be able to our LOI out the door for her too.

It's all very exciting!!