Attachment Through the Years: 4 Years Home
July 29, 2018
adopting two at once, Attachment, attachment activities, attachment challenges, July 2018 Feature - Attachment Through the Years, Medical Momma, Newly Home, Rebecca
Attachment. It’s a word that, at some point of the adoption journey, will bring every parent to their knees – either in frustration over all that seems to be lacking or gratitude for heart-shaped milestones reached. This month we are focusing on attachment over the long(er) term… not weeks or months home. But years down …Read More
Gaining Independence: Living with Hemophilia
March 23, 2018
adopting a boy, Blood Conditions, Faith, hemophilia, hemophilia A, March 2018 Feature - Blood Conditions, Medical Momma
It’s hard to believe that our oldest son has been home for almost two and a half years. Before we adopted him, my biggest worry was his medical condition. He has Severe Hemophilia, a genetic bleeding disorder. In a nutshell, this means that his blood is missing one of the proteins that help it to …Read More
Afraid of the Dark
December 9, 2017
adoption realities, Brandie, first year home, Lifelong needs, Medical Momma, Newly Home, November 2017 Feature - Preparing for Adoption, undiagnosed SN
I was never a fan of haunted houses. I didn’t like the lack of control or the dark spaces flooded with loud, foreboding music. I didn’t like the strobe lights that gave me small glimpses of what I should fear. I didn’t like the anticipation of what was lurking around the corner, eagerly waiting to …Read More
Medical Mama-Ness: Sorrowful Yet Always Rejoicing
March 21, 2017
Hillary, Medical Momma, Parenting Special Needs
One foot here, another foot there. How we walk — it’s a bit of a balancing act, isn’t it? A bit of an awkward dance in a minefield. Jolting, yet fluid. Slippery, yet steady. Unexpected potholes, but given with Sovereign purpose. The sun rose with a crying little girl in my lap, her alligator …Read More
Preparing for and Enduring Surgeries and Procedures for Medical Needs Children
February 28, 2017
February 2017 Feature - Preparing Your Child for Medical Interventions, hospital stays, Medical Momma, Rebecca
Special needs don’t always equal medical needs. But sometimes they do. Many of our children require therapies, treatments, hospitalizations or surgical procedures. These can be potentially anxiety-producing for any child, but significantly more so for a child with trauma in their past. So, this month we are focusing on Medical Interventions and how you can …Read More
Wisdom for Enduring Extended Hospital Stays
February 27, 2017
advanced heart failure, Andrea O., complex heart defect, February 2017 Feature - Preparing Your Child for Medical Interventions, heart transplant, hospital stays, Little Hearts Medical, Medical Momma, surgery
When we arrived home with our youngest daughter and fourth CHD child, Rini, in August of 2013, my definition of a long hospital stay was three weeks. When my husband dropped us off at the entrance of the children’s hospital’s Emergency Department straight from the airport, little did I know that my definition of an …Read More
Preparing Your Child for Medical Interventions: How to Pack for the Hospital
February 4, 2017
February 2017 Feature - Preparing Your Child for Medical Interventions, hospital stays, Medical Momma, Rebecca, surgery
Special needs don’t always equal medical needs. But sometimes they do. Many of our children require therapies, treatments, hospitalizations or surgical procedures. These can be potentially anxiety-producing for any child, but significantly more so for a child with trauma in their past. So, this month we are focusing on Medical Interventions and how you can …Read More
Preparing For Children’s Surgeries and Hospital Stays
October 15, 2016
hospital stays, Medical Momma, surgery
When you have children with medical needs, surgeries and overnight hospital stays become something of a given. The first time one of my kids had surgery, I packed a bag for the hospital and thought I’d gone prepared – that is until the next morning when I had to dry my face on hospital-grade paper …Read More
Be the Village
October 23, 2015
first weeks home, Medical Momma, October 2015 Feature - It Takes a Village, Rebecca, supporting adoptive families, surgery
“Let me know what I can do.”
We make the offer to newly home adoptive families and families facing medical challenges or hospital stays. We all say it, and mean it, but we know they won’t take us up on. Not a matter of gratitude, help offers are always appreciated. And support is likely needed, …Read More
Coming Home: Tips for Medical Needs Parents
September 23, 2015
first weeks home, first year home, Medical Momma, Rebecca, September 2015 Feature - Coming Home, surgery
You are a newly home medical needs parent, and life might be feeling like triage. Your child needs to be catheterized, tube fed, dilated and medicated. They need therapy, glasses, wheelchairs, oxygen, blood transfusions, walkers, cochlear implants, casts, g-tubes and ostomy bags. They’ll need MRIs, IVs, ultrasounds, sleep studies, anesthesia, echocardiograms, X-rays, EEGs, CT scans, …Read More
Coming Home: With a Sick Child
September 11, 2015
Amy, Attachment, cocooning, Medical Momma, September 2015 Feature - Coming Home, surgery
We all imagine what it will be like when finally the paperwork is complete and we can see the face of our new child and begin to prepare for him or her. Then, after referral (if that is the order for you, it was for us) we make plans, consult specialists, send photos or stuffed …Read More
God of My Children
June 27, 2015
hospital stays, Medical Momma, Rebecca, surgery
Ever learn something, quickly forget it, and need to be reminded again? During our daughter’s extensive surgery last November, God tapped into my medical momma’s fearful heart, comforting me with the revelation that I don’t have to be God of my children. It was a breakthrough parenting moment. Little by little though, I again started mentally and …Read More