Meet Victoria, our youngest child. Victoria was adopted 18 months ago from Ukraine when she was 20 months old. We adopted her at the same time as we adopted Francesca. Victoria's story was a sad one. The people at the orphanage thought she had no potential since she couldn't walk, so they never, ever took her out of her crib. They barely feed her. They told us that she had no spirit and they didn't think we should adopt her.
This is Victoria's bright eyes now.
Our curious girl!
This is a picture of when we met Victoria in Ukraine. Her eyes were so haunted. She never smiled the entire time that we were in Ukraine (for 6 weeks!). We didn't learn about her life until later, so we didn't know why she was so subdued and so delayed.
But we knew the most important thing: we loved her!
Victoria has a syndrome called Arthrogryposis. Children with Arthrogryposis have multiple joint contractures and muscle weakness. Their joints don't have a full range of movement. Victoria can not bend her knees very much. Because she never received any physical therapy and she was never even given toys to play with, Victoria's hands become very tight. When we first met her she was unable to open her hands.
At first, Victoria was very afraid of everything. She was not used to being out the crib.
She would cover her face with her arms and grind her teeth. Our hearts were broken for her.
Victoria was also very malnourished.
This is the sweet baby with Down Syndrome that we fell in love with. She really planted the seed that we were meant to adopt a baby with Down Syndrome someday. Our good friends adopted her shortly after this picture!
This is the day we were finally able to take the girls out of the orphanage forever! What a happy day that was! But we were very worried about Victoria's health.
She was too weak to even sit up.
Since they thought she was worthless, she was not taken care of as well as Francesca was. We knew we needed to get her home as soon as we could!
Once we landed back in the US, we went straight to the hospital.
Victoria got a special tube that fed her directly to help her gain weight.
Once we were home, Victoria really started to open up! She started to smile and she was very cuious.
She got special hand splints that helped her stretch her fingers so she could use them better.
She gained weight very quickly.
She had to learn how to eat because she was only feed condensed milk in the orphanage.
At first, the doctors thought her jaw might be effected by the Arthrogryposis, but it turned out she just didn't know how to use her mouth since she had never really been around anyone to teach her. Soon, she was babbling and sticking out her tongue.
She wasn't afraid of things anymore and she loved to be held! Here she is with Grandma.
Happy 2nd Birthday sweet girl!
Since Victoria couldn't bend her knees, she couldn't crawl, but she could scoot everywhere. She was getting stronger and stronger!
Once Victoria had gained enough weight and was healthy, she had surgery to repair her cleft palate so she could eat and talk better.
She recovered very quickly and was back to exploring in just a few days!
She decided to use "Great's" walker to get around! She is one determined little girl.
First Christmas!
Some of the doctors told us she would never walk or talk, so we found different doctors! Look at her go!
She is doing the "wheels on the bus" song.
Silly girl!
Little Catherine was a great helper. We had to teach Victoria how to use her tongue.
What an amazing change in our sweet girl from just 18 months ago!
Victoria was born with her hip joints out of their sockets. We found a specialist who could do the surgery. She was in this cast for 7 weeks. It was a tough time, but we were all stronger for it.
Even after surgery, Victoria still manages to smile!
Victoria is much more stable walking since her surgery. Luckily, she will not need any more surgeries for a long time. Now we can focus on her childhood and learning and having fun!
Victoria's first word was "angel".
Victoria learns so quickly. She is sorting colors, she knows her shapes and she is even learning her letters.
Spin, spin!
Here is one of Victoria's walkers.
Sometimes a chair works just as well as a walker does!
Off she goes!
We couldn't believe it when Victoria decided she wanted to try going up the stairs. She is so determined. It is hard to climb stairs without bending your knees, but she wasn't going to let anything stop her.
Her sisters cheered her on!
Painting is fun!
Her third birthday with Grandpa.
Victoria's birthday breakfast, her favorite, cheese! She is saying a prayer here.
Victoria loves to build with things.
Since angel was her first word, we made her an angel cake for her third birthday.
Victoria isn't scared of anything anymore. Here she is at gymnastics.
She scoots everywhere.
and she loves to be held. She is really a miracle.
She has quite the sense of humor!
She doesn't seem to have sensory issues like Francesca does. She loves the rice bin.
Helping to clean the table.
She walks so well now that she can just use the wall to lean on. Her physical therapist thinks she will be walking independently soon.
Our oldest and our youngest!
She is so strong now that she can pull herself up on a chair and across it. She has gained 13 pounds!
She is a very good on the airplane when we go to see her doctors.
Walking at the zoo.
Victoria's new, light-weight walker.
Playing on the rocks.
Victoria eats all kinds of food now! We are so proud of how far she has come!
No comments:
Post a Comment