I always wondered why adopting parents would drop off the planet once they got their child. I would be so hooked and excited for them and then nothing. Well, Im so guilty of that. I understand now how hard it is to be able to take time to blog again, you are so busy and worn out. I do have notes from while I was in China, it was so hard to blog there with an IPad, but I will post those at a later time. Now, I will reflect on our time since returning home, I met our Hudson 1 month ago today.
We arrived in Chicago around 9pm Thursday September 5th. We were suppose arrive at 1pm, but we had some missed flights and had to detour to LA before Chicago. It was very stressful and irritating, but it was wonderful to finally get home. As we were just getting to collect baggage I saw Brock and the girls coming our way, I was so excited to see them I cried. I missed them all so very much! Quickly after seeing Brock and the girls behind them came Brock's parents, sister Whitney and her boyfriend Eric, and Lexi. Hudson was excited to see dada or baba as he called him and went right to him! He was happy to see everyone and and as we spent more time there visiting he went to and visited everyone. On the way home we stopped at Denny's and he got to show his true personality and had a good time with everyone.
The first several days home were also very exhausting and hard. Yes, there were wonderful moments and we are so lucky that Hudson has bonded so well with us. But, he also had a lot of fits. He is 4 years old but socially he is about 18 months old. He is so full of energy and never stops moving. I wont sugar coat things, I want to be honest. But, Ill tell you, when this little guy is being sweet, he is the sweetest little thing. The first couple of nights sleep times were pretty off for him, which is expected, but that doesn't make it any easier on anyone.
Ive heard of many families that keep their adopted child at home for a few weeks and do not go anywhere, to help with attachment and bonding. But, we did not do that. Hudson has had no problems in either area and with our busy life at home, we have not worried about it. He has attended many soccer games, had lunch with big sister at her school, went shopping, been out to eat many times, visited grandparents and some friends houses and much more. He has handled all situations so well. The first several days we would drive separately just in case he needed to go home. He has done so well. As far as siblings, he attached to Hanna right away. He thought of and still at times thinks of Averie as competition. Im sure he thinks she will be like the other children at the orphanage were, fighting for toys, food and attention. Poor Averie just wants to help him and play with him. He is slowly accepting that and is being better with her each day. Since Ashton is not home as much as he has late soccer practice and games and school all day, he is not as close to Ashton as I would expect yet. Ashton loves kids and loves Hudson.
Hudson has been evaluated by our local pediatrician, speech department, and physical therapy. He is doing so much better than I expected! He does have a parasite, which I expected, it is common for children coming from an orphanage. He is on a medication to treat and rid of that. He also has some bad reflux, I noticed this in China, he throws up in his mouth 20-30 times a day but just chews and swallows, he is very used to this. He is on medication for this and it does seem to be improving some. He also has some pretty bad asthma. If he gets a little bit active and running around he starts hacking and wheezing. This is not yet under control, but we are starting a new treatment. Speech says he is going to do so awesome. He has already picked up so many words in English and can put together some short sentences. He also has learned a little sign language and has made up some of his own to help with communication. They have said with how good he is already doing, they think he will be fluent in English within a couple of months. And with PT, he will have a custom brace for his right leg made and he will have to wear it all of his waking hours. They hope he will tolerate it well and that they will be able to cut down the amount of support needed and eventually he will not need the brace any longer. That is the best case scenario. Worse case scenario he will need to wear it longer term or permanently. Today we were told by the pediatrician that Hudson does have mild cerebral palsy. This is not a diagnosis we knew about or really expected. But, it is not a big deal. His weakness is not going to get any worse, it will only get better as long as he is being treated. This has only affected his right leg. We know that he will be just fine.
For those who do live close, we are having a welcome home party for Hudson and we would love you to attend. It is on Sunday October 6th, from 3pm-6pm at Salisbury Church in Charleston (2350 Madison Avenue)
While times may be rough and we may get totally worn out, we love this little guy so much and he loves us. After a few nights home, he laid in bed between Brock and I to go to sleep. He looked at me and gave me a big smile and then looked over to Brock and gave a big smile. He is so happy to have both of us in his life. He has added so much excitement, love and silliness to our family. Thank you so much to everyone who has supported us in bring home Hudson. We could not have done it without you!
