Adoption Blogs

Super Dad absolutely loves Martina McBride’s voice; well he also loves her eyes. Before fire works, he was switching back and forth between two of her live performances with TIVO trying to decide which one he liked better. Lyn, our teenage daughter diagnosed with FAS, was sitting on the couch beside him, listening to Martina sing and also listening to Super Dad praising her vocal abilities. It is rather unusual to hear him praise singing or instrument playing because he frequently complains about what he hears on the radio or TV. He seems to have very sensitive hearing and immediately recognizes if someone is slightly off key or out of range. Lyn, always one to glow under Super Dad’s praise or approval, tries… [more]

Tell me I’m not the first person to have gained weight while having a child! Sure, most birth mothers gain weight during a pregnancy. How about us adoptive mothers? I think that “baby weight gain” is something that, at times, plagues adoptive mothers also. I have three birth children. I was extremely ill during pregnancies and actually lost weight rather than gained. With each child, after the birth, I put on weight. My birth baby recently turned 10yrs old and I still joke that my problem is “just baby weight”. What about with adoption, then? As my family size has increased, so has my weight. In talking with several other moms, more than half experienced the… [more]

OK, I'll skip right over what didn't happen this week (again)(sigh)(channel frustration), and get on to what did. Russian President Vladimir Putin gave broad hints in an interview with the newspaper Kommersant that he may run for office again in 2012. The constitution that Russia adopted in 1993 bars presidents from serving more than two consecutive four-year terms, which Putin wraps up next year. But the constitution does not prevent past presidents from running again. And the remarks are not altogether surprising given that many commentators outside Russia expect the country's next president to be a Putin ally--the kind of guy who would graciously step aside in 2012. Then again, Putin could just have been stating the obvious: That, legally, it's possible… [more]

When we were matched with a placing mother, I was adamant that I did not want any clothing that was not gender-neutral. If we experienced a failed adoption, I did not want to have to return a bunch of little boy outfits if we were next matched with a baby girl.

Fortunately, many outfits for newborns are attractive even if they are not blue or pink. I loved outfits in cream, white, mint green, and even red. Any of those colors would have looked good on either gender.

If you are buying only gender-neutral clothes, then you don’t have to wait to be matched to start filling your nursery’s closet. However, purchasing cute little outfits for a baby who… [more]

I have a confession to make. I am an adoption rule breaker. I am really not usually the rule-breaking type. I was on the honor roll in high school and graduated fifth in my class of over 500 students. I have always been “early to bed, early to rise”. I don’t curse. I go to church every Sunday. When I was little, all that my dad had to do to discipline me was to say he was disappointed in what I had done, and I was a blubbering mess. I have been accused of being a “goody two shoes”. I have never even had my ears pierced. And yet behind this façade of goodness and honesty lies a big time rule breaker. I break adoption rules… [more]

According to the FDA, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, under the Freedom of Information Act, there were 1,637 reports of adverse reactions to the human papillomavirus vaccination (HPV), called Gardasil. The vaccine is designed to help protect women from developing a certain type of cervical cancer. The virus HPV, human papillomavirus, is spread through sexual contact and the vaccine blocks two types of HPV before they can begin. Researchers are recommending the vaccine be given to girls around 11 or 12 years of age, in three separate doses, so their immune systems can be activated and build up antibodies, prior to beginning sexual activity and being exposed to HPV. Three of the reports of adverse reactions involved the deaths of young women and are believed to be related to the… [more]

I was switching the clothes in my kids' closet to summer from winter this morning and I came across a set of Russian picture puzzle blocks. If memory serves, they were given to my older son in Vladivostok by one of the other families crowding the upper floors of the Hotel Vladivostok in early December of 1999. Depending on which way you turned the blocks, they made six different pictures. I never knew what they were, but this morning, as I was struggling to break my writer's block on another assignment, I decided to go on an Internet search for information. I typed in some key words about one of the pictures and came up with a classic Russian fairy tale… [more]

When you're planning to go to Ethiopia to pick up your baby, it can be hard to know what is important to bring. Here's my list of the most essential items to have in Ethiopia. DIAPER SUPPLIES Diapers--Plan for at least 10 diapers per day for every day you will be there. For a week I'd pack 70 diapers. Don't forget to account for the flight home. That sounds like a lot, I know. But many babies and toddlers have diarrhea and go through diapers REALLY fast. You can buy more diapers in Addis, but the quality is not nearly as good as those available in the USA. (translation: L-E-A-K-Y!) If you happen to run short, be… [more]

Scientists at Rockefeller University are trying to understand a process of superinfection exclusion and believe that finding a way to recreate it therapeutically could create new avenues of treatment for Hepatitis C. They tried to infect cells with variants of the hepatitis C virus that had already been infected with a hepatitis C virus they were able to grow in a cell culture. They were unable to infect these grown cells with the variants until they introduced a drug that was capable of inhibiting virus replication. Hepatitis C virus is spread by blood to blood contact with an infected person and can cause chronic liver disease. It is the number one cause of liver transplant in the U.S. Apparently when… [more]

This picture was taken yesterday, but today Miss Ella is 4 days shy of her first birthday. I’m having a bit of a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that although she’s only been with us since October, she will soon be turning a whopping twelve months old! This week I watched the video we took on the day we first met, so that gave me pause and let me really see how she has grown and blossomed. As she approaches this milestone of babyhood, Ella has been displaying many signs of “big girl-ness.” For instance, she loves nothing more than to take your hand and walk EVERYWHERE with you. She drinks more water than formula now. She eats pretty… [more]