Praises and Prayer Requests

Warning: Due to the nature of Sophie's special need, this post will contain talk of poop!

I haven't talked about Sophie's special need on the blog in detail up to this point. But we are so happy to report that she is doing GREAT! Sophie has anal atresia or imperforate anus (IA) She has a birth defect where her anus isn't formed correctly. Instead of  being born with 3 holes in her bottom, she was born with a fistula (or small passage) from her anus that probably lead to her vaginal opening. They did surgery her in 2005 but said that it wasn't successful and she needed another surgery. One of the major unknowns in accepting Sophie's referral and in coming to get her and take care of her is the unknown of if she is able to go potty. We were told that she goes to the bathroom independently and has no issues, but we weren't sure how accurate that was! One of the main concerns with IA is controlling diet, so the bowels neither get constipated, nor too loose since the anus doesn't have the control that a normal functioning one does. Introducing a new diet to a little girl who's come from a poor, rural foster home to a 5 star hotel buffet situation was a concern to the balancing act of not to constipated, not to loose! So was waited for a day, no poop, the next day, no poop, so thanks to my IA yahoo group I came prepared and gave her a little chocolate square of exlax. (Can you believe that at first she didn't want to eat it. She had eaten everything up to that point! She finally took it and a few hours later: SUCCESS! She went again later that day! We are singing praises to the Lord for this HUGE burden that is lifted and hope that our success will continue!

Other Praises:
We are all staying healthy and eating well!
Sophie slept all night for the first 2 nights and only woke up once early this morning and went back to sleep.
She knows when she needs to go potty and is independent (except she doesn't pull her pants down far enough for a western toilet and got her first pair of pj's wet!)
We are doing pretty well emotionally so far! Jake has struggled some being overwhelmed, but is being a trooper. Apparently we didn't prepare him as well as we were prepared!
Shawn and I are doing well being united in our parenting and tag-teaming well!

Requests:
Pray that her toileting success continues! And that she eats the right foods, and that Mom knows what to give and when to give it if she needs medicine assistance!
She has a HORRIBLE itchy rash all over her legs, and some on her body and arms. Pray for the itchy to not drive her crazy. And that eventually we will get it resolved, though that may not be until we get home.
Pray for her heart as she is going through grieving. Pray that she will trust us and believe what we have the guide tell her that we are hers FOREVER!
Pray for her to learn the boundaries that we are setting for her: ok being totally real here: pray for her not to be naughty, it is exhausting!!!

Thanks for all your prayers. We are being held together by them and by Jesus. It is not easy, but it is good!