There’s been good news and bad news on the adoption front. The good news is that we are now the legal guardians of Kamran and Kalil. On Monday, we went down to the family courts in Old Dhaka. I find it interesting here that power and importance here don’t necessarily equate to nice offices; the judges chambers were in a small building with a tin roof and a thatch ceiling and ages old, horribly worn furniture. It was like having a court proceding in a garage. Tania met with the judge, ensured her that the boys would remain Muslim, as they were by birth, and that was that. The next steps with the Bangladesh government are to get the No Objection Certificate (NOC) that allows them to leave the country with us and then their Bangladeshi passport. Once that’s done, we will apply for their US Visa. We hope that the NOC and the passport can be done in three weeks and the Visa in one. If so, we’re home by Thanskgiving (!!).
The bad news is just the size of the boys. I looked on a height and weight chart for them online, and they are very, very small. Like 5th percentile small on height and weight. I also looked at their discharge slips from the hospital, and it shows that they were premature. How much premature we don’t know. They went for immunizations today, and the pediatrician confirmed that they were underweight, and prescribed a vitamin supplement. If you looked at Kamran, you wouldn’t judge him unhealthy, but his height brings his weight way down. Kalil looks skinny, though. So, hopefully they’ll grow well from here on out, but these boys may just be very, very short. They are definitely behind where Maya was, but she was an Stewie-esque uber-genius, already plotting world domination at 3-months, so who knows.
Luckily, we brought a crate of formula, so hopefully that will help them catch up. The milk powder madness continues here and is of greater importance here than in the US. Fresh milk is not the norm here due to refrigeration issues; most people get their milk from powder. So, the government and one major university here have been testing the milk powders for melamine. That sounds good, but the two parties don’t agree. The Gov. says the powder is fine; the U. says many brands have melamine. Because the Gov. here is normally deemed corrupt and bribable, Tania’s uncle Panna doesn’t believe them. Meanwhile, Nestle and other baby formula makers are running ads in the papers to proclaim their milk safe. The boys had a combination of breast milk and Nestle’s Lactogen. They are now on Costco’s version of Lipil, and we can only hope that doesn’t have some Chinese poison in it of any sort.
Everyone else is doing well. Tania’s eye infection has cleared up, and Maya is in good health and enjoying her preschool here. It's quite nice. It allows her to most of the things she loves (swings, sandbox, slides, and painting) and keeps her away from TV for a short period in the day. She’s been watching a lot of They Might Be Giants, Here Comes the ABCs, though, which I fully support.
The bad news is just the size of the boys. I looked on a height and weight chart for them online, and they are very, very small. Like 5th percentile small on height and weight. I also looked at their discharge slips from the hospital, and it shows that they were premature. How much premature we don’t know. They went for immunizations today, and the pediatrician confirmed that they were underweight, and prescribed a vitamin supplement. If you looked at Kamran, you wouldn’t judge him unhealthy, but his height brings his weight way down. Kalil looks skinny, though. So, hopefully they’ll grow well from here on out, but these boys may just be very, very short. They are definitely behind where Maya was, but she was an Stewie-esque uber-genius, already plotting world domination at 3-months, so who knows.
Luckily, we brought a crate of formula, so hopefully that will help them catch up. The milk powder madness continues here and is of greater importance here than in the US. Fresh milk is not the norm here due to refrigeration issues; most people get their milk from powder. So, the government and one major university here have been testing the milk powders for melamine. That sounds good, but the two parties don’t agree. The Gov. says the powder is fine; the U. says many brands have melamine. Because the Gov. here is normally deemed corrupt and bribable, Tania’s uncle Panna doesn’t believe them. Meanwhile, Nestle and other baby formula makers are running ads in the papers to proclaim their milk safe. The boys had a combination of breast milk and Nestle’s Lactogen. They are now on Costco’s version of Lipil, and we can only hope that doesn’t have some Chinese poison in it of any sort.
Everyone else is doing well. Tania’s eye infection has cleared up, and Maya is in good health and enjoying her preschool here. It's quite nice. It allows her to most of the things she loves (swings, sandbox, slides, and painting) and keeps her away from TV for a short period in the day. She’s been watching a lot of They Might Be Giants, Here Comes the ABCs, though, which I fully support.
I’ll post new pictures soon. Pray for a safe, speedy return.
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