Respiratory treatment, Goat Milk, More and More

Yes, my Diego is sick... Actually, it feels like he (and all of us) has been sick for months. He has had this sometimes dry, sometimes wet cough lingering since beginning of January. He got better before we went to Russia, but by the time we came back the cough was back. His naturopath doctor said the stress had weakened his immune system and recommended bunch of supplements. But this weekend he had really high fever and he was wiped out, taking 3-hour naps and wanting to go to sleep at 7 pm.

So today we were at his pediatrician and he decided there was enough wheezing in both lungs and that a breathing treatment was needed. He also prescribed an antibiotic for the infection, but he didn't think the coughing and the fever were related. If the coughing doesn't improve, he will prescribe more breathing treatments. I know Diego was a preemie and his respiratory system had a tough time in Russia and this winter has been unusually wet in Arizona, but I though (or hoped) that his lungs had gotten stronger after almost 2 years at home. The doctor still thinks Diego is quite strong; today he had a temperature of 102.4 oF at his office and he was quite chatty and playful as if nothing was going on with his body!

Also, in preparation of trip #3 to Russia when Diego will travel with us, we are trying a new product: Goat milk! After our experience with Diego's food sensitivities I asked our naturopath what type of formula or milk should we take to Russia, since we don't know if Nina will be sensitive or not to cow's milk and the doctor suggested powder goat milk. It's supposed to be more nutritious than cow's milk with less allergens. And after a little quest for the best price, I found it for $7.99 per can of 12 oz at Vitamin Shop (Whole Foods and Sprouts had it for $11.49!!). It's cheaper than formula and if Diego and Nina are not sensitive to it my life will get a bit easier in regards to offering a nutritious choice for them (almond milk and coconut milk are great, but only have 1 gr of protein while goat's milk has 8 gr of protein/cup).

Few people asked me how was Diego when we came back home... Well, I was dying to find out when we were flying back home; I was afraid he would be mad at us and respond negatively to becoming a big brother. Well, Diego was really happy to see us back and during the first days he kept repeating that "mommy and daddy always come back" and stuff like that. At the same time, we also noticed he was acting out and really not listening at all to us, which we were sure if it was a new found independence as he turned 3 or just "retaliation" for the week we were in Russia... Most of our friends thought it was probably a combination of both things, so for the last weeks we have just tried and tried to tame things here and remind Diego that as a "big boy" he still has to listen to us. Now, besides the fact that he is sick and quite clingy, things feel back to normal, which is nice.

On the adoption side we got the Petition to Adopt and Power of Attorney notarized and apostiled really quickly and they were hand-carried by a family few weeks ago. Last Friday I called Carol and she said that due to a holiday today and tomorrow in Russia we may not hear anything until this Friday (I guess people usually hear about their court dates on Tuesdays) or the following week! That means there is a chance we will have travel dates this week or next week and we could be back in Kaluga by mid March as they predicted (6 weeks after meeting our Nina)!!!

In the meantime we keep trying to cross things out of our to-do list! After receiving more clothes from a friend I have all of Nina's clothes organized and even her luggage for Trip 3 done. I also bought all the presents for the 12 caregivers, social worker and doctor from the baby home and I am working on finishing our luggage for trip 2 (we will bring the presents and Nina's clothes on trip 2). Mark called also our tile guy so we can get the guest bathroom tile changed and bought stuff to fix our irrigation system and get the front of our house all pretty with flower for when our families come to meet Nina. And the final "project" for me will be to put together the application for my US citizenship; there a tons of docs to gather (almost like a dossier) and it will be impossible to tackle once I have two children to handle! I can't believe that this adoption may also be a fast pace one like Diego's... Part of me is really happy for not having to wait for too long; the other part is nervous, thinking about the things I won't have time to do. But you know what... the last thing I want to do is to get stress out; as my sister says "when in doubt always choose happiness"!