Medical Exam Day for Ava's US Visa

February 23~Visa Medical Exam and Photo Day

Ready to go...yep, she discovered the TV remote already :)

Me, Ava, and some of the other beautiful kiddos we met on our trip.  Miss them.

This morning we went to get Ava's visa photo and medical check done. We were pleasantly surprised at how smoothly the process went, especially given that there were at least 25 adoptive families there at the same time. The facility was also very clean. We first had Ava's picture taken for her visa. The picture turned out so cute...surprise, surprise!!  Then we went on to see a physician who looked over all her skin, listened to her lungs, and did a full assessment in general. I was relieved that her lungs sounded normal since she has had a cough and congestion since we met her. We then went to see an ENT physician who looked in her ears, nose, and throat. And last we saw a nurse who weighed and measured her. I'll be honest, I didn't even see the numbers because my sweet Ava was crying and I was just trying to comfort her. It's so sad when they cry like that. But the tears didn't last long and then she was back to her normal smiley self. She passed the medical check with flying colors. Since she was under 2 we were able to skip the TB test and any other blood draws until we get back to the states. I was so thankful because most little ones coming out of that room were sobbing. Poor little tikes.

We rested in the afternoon. Ava took a long nap and after she awoke we went to Liu Hua Hu Park. It's a beautiful park near our hotel with walking trails around a big, beautiful lake and gorgeous landscaping.

For supper we went to an awesome Japanese Steakhouse.  Ava unfortunately had reached her max and was getting pretty irritable by this time and was not in the mood to sit.  So we ate quickly and headed for bed.

Bedtime has been a struggle for all of us still. We haven't figured out the right system yet and unfortunately that sometimes means at least 45 minutes to calm her down. Well tonight was the worse it's been: an hour plus of her crying and screaming. It makes Matt and I both so sad that she is having to go through this and for us to not know what we are doing “wrong” or different from what she is used to. It's hard to know if something happened in her past that makes it so traumatic or if she is just a normal toddler who doesn't want to go to bed at night.

Matt and I spent some time talking after she finally fell asleep and we have some ideas to try for tomorrow night. We are determined to make this less traumatic for her (and us).