Reminder to Self...
These are the things that add up that I keep forgetting I need to save for:
Medical Insurance Deductable for child $1,000
3 post placement visits @ $1,050 ($350 each)
International Dr for Review of Referral $400-$500 Philadelphia Childrens Hospital
or International Dr in Delaware $350
or International Dr in Chicago $175
Daycare Deposit $900
CarSeat that I need upon our arrival $275
Baby Monitor I want $200
Care Package & Additional Photos $100
Translated Care Pachage Letter $25
Shipping of Homemade Care Package @ $30-$35
Photo Session @ BabiesRUs or anywhere $???
50 Thank You Cards @ $60 (yeah, I have to personally design)
50 Announcements @ $60 (yeah, I have to personally design these to)
Stamps @ $42
Prescription Meds for me and G for travel $100 (recommended)
Stock Pantry $150
Birthday Party if close $???
Christening $???
Diaper, Wipes, Baby Food & Formula $1,000,000
Printing of Photos & Enlargements $500
Printing of Digital Lifebook approx. 64 pages $255
Suggestions on a part time job I can do at home on weeknights or weekends!! LOL
Please feel free to add to my list!!! Stephe
12 comments:
Stephe,
Your list is making my head spin and I don't even want to add all that up cause it's stuff that I haven't budgeted yet for either!
Ughhh!
Donna
Stephe,
FWIW: I did not have my two referrals reviewed by an international adoption medical specialist. The amount of info received for China NSN adoptions is so minimal, your pediatrician can almost certainly answer any question you have, per my agency, and I found this to be true.
DD#2 had an EKG in her referral file, the first one in an NSN file my agency had ever seen in 14 years of China adoptions, so we were a bit alarmed. Amazingly, I was able to have it reviewed by two pediatric cardiologists and my pediatrician THE SAME DAY SHE WAS REFERRED TO ME - and all three said there was nothing to worry about. All three reviewed her file free of charge, too.
It wouldn't have mattered, tho: I knew they were my daughters as soon as I saw their faces!!
So - unless there is something extraordinary in your daughter's file - IMO, and please discuss with your agency, discuss this with your ped, and review the medical file closely yourself, as most of it is in both English & Chinese - but you may want to think twice about spending the $$ for an IA specialist.
Now, if you were adopting from Russia - that's another matter entirely!! However, China provides so very little medical/developmental info (and much of that is suspect, anyhow), that it's truly a leap of faith.
My two cents!!
Sheri
My Ped reviewed her file for free. My daughter was a special needs adoption and I sent her medicals to sevral specialists - all reviewed for free. Please don't pay for this!
Also - stock your house with disposable plates, dinnerware, etc... I know this isn't green, but you will not have the time or energy to do the dishes. Think sleep deprivation and major jet lag. You might might to have a friend or neighbor bring over a few days worth of food as well.
As for the lifebook, I used shutterfly and it was only $60. per book.
Pedyalite needs to be kept on hand - American food doesn't sit well at first, and also keep in mind that a lot of Asian children have a milk allergy. Chloe is just now out growing it...we hope! I don't remember anything else. It's been a few years now!
I posted daily on my website and wrote tips for people who haven't adopted yet if you want to check that out.
Nona
www.babysites.com/sites/mccormick2/
Is this correct? Are you next Stephanie? I'm trying to figure out where they are and it appears that they went through the 15th of February! Are things finally speeding up? Gosh I hope so... and I think you need to start getting busy with that list of yours because once you get that referral? TIME FLIES!! :)
Have a great weekend!
Lisa : )
I also didn't get enough information in Natalie's medical file for a doctor to review.
Do you have Walgreens nearby? Sign up on their site, you'll get photo coupons from them all the time. I printed my 1000 China pics for just $100. They often run half off 8 X 10s or even free ones.
They also have books you can purchase , I am not sure what kind of lifebook you are looking at. They often send half off books coupons too.
I hate to say, the rest of your list is right on. MOney ran through my fingers like water that last month waiting for referral!
Oh ya, don't forget, you need to pre-buy and wrap all your Christmas presents. If your trip is like mine, you'll get home right before and won't remember Christmas at all.
Here's what we did relating to your list:
We purchased two car seats through CraigsList. Had excellent luck finding "gently" used ones for $50.00 each. Both are Britax (we are now looking for new seat covers for them as we "gently use them!). We also purchased the baby monitor (with excellent night vision) for $25.00.
We used an IA Physician to review AA's medical files. We did not get too much information BUT we did get two items that were well worth the $$. (We saw a potential problem just from our reading of the medical provided so decided to get the review done). I would say it is optional if nothing unusual medically stands out at you.
We used the standard Chinese letter to the Orphanage in the care packages, no need to pay anyone for translation. We found a "fill in" the blanks and attached AA's photo.
We printed out own photos on our regular printer using a higher grade regular paper for care packages.
Hope this helps - maybe save your a few $$.
Alyson
Celebrating 19 days as Mommy to Alyzabeth!
From what I've seen, I don't believe the consultations by the international adoption pediatricians are very valuable unless the child has a specific medical special need. I agree with the other posters that your pediatrician should be able to give you an adequate review, but that you yourself will have enough knowledge to extrapolate what you need to know from the referral information. Save your money!
I would save the money and go to the IA doctor afterward for a developmental eval (our doctor agreed to give a referral for this so it was covered by our insurance). Our IA doctor was very detailed and I think I would have been 10X more nervous if I'd gone to her beforehand. Our daughter had no problem with American food and never needed pedialyte; pediasure was another matter - the IA doctor said to give her plenty of this to supplement her food and give her some of the nutrition she'd been missing out on. Sign up with all the formula companies and you'll get tons of free formula. I would never buy a used car seat; if you don't know the person, you have no idea whether it's been an accident and carseats are not recommended to be used after being in one. I went to Make & Take Kitchen (an assemble it yourself company) and put several meals in the freezer. These types of companies are popping up all over the place; I'm sure there's either Make & Take or something like it near you - definitely nice not to have to worry about making meals for a few days; I had jetlag bad and even though I am married, DH went right back to work (24 hour shifts) and did overtime so I was on my own a lot. If the birthday's close, I'd still put it off a little to give her time to adjust. I found a care package letter online so no need to translate and I included questions in Mandarin that I'd found online which the nannies answered for me and our guide translated.
I've been following your blog - I'm so excited for you that you're next! Best of luck.
Something to think about also, if you use a IA doc and they find something wrong...what will you do? The millisecond you get her picture she's yours.
Hi - I agree with Paula about getting some frozen meals stocked away before you leave. We cocooned for about three days after getting home and going out to shop for food would have been hard. It took everything we had to simply stay awake the first hours at home and to eat at mealtime in order to start getting our systems back in tune with the time zone. We were physically incapable of cooking a meal at that time. Yes, even from a microwave. For our first meal home we ordered pizza and all rested while waiting for the delivery. Then we resorted to microwavable meals we'd stocked up on before we'd left. Overall, it actually took us all about three weeks to start getting back on our normal sleep cycle.
Also, if her birthday is soon after you get home I'd recommend keeping the first one low key. I made a homemade frosted cake for our daughter and we spent it with just the three of us at the house. The bonding time for us in the first month was very special. We realized that our large extended family could be a bit overwhelming so we chose to keep it small. In the years since we have celebrated with family and taken treats to preschool. We think we may finally do a big themed party with her kindergarten class this year. It really depends on what you think she is up for and if your family would understand if you choose to keep it low key.
Don't forget to do things that will nurture you before you leave. I also recommend that you get a hair care appointment scheduled just before you travel. Our daughter had to have at least one of us in sight for her first three years. So if we went for a haircut it required that at least one of us was free to hold her while the other was getting a cut. Also, if you know any salon/spas that do non toxic lash tinting I highly recommend it. You don't have to fuss with mascara on the way out the door to doctors appointments and such. I'm not big on make-up and have blonde lashes. A lash tint made me at least look like I was alert with out requiring me to put a mascara wand anywhere near my sleep deprived eyes during that first month home.
Also recommend that you get any major fall chores done around the house that need attending to now. We had to get storm windows in and lawn work had to be done before we left at the end of October as we didn't get back until the 2nd week in November. When we returned we were pretty busy with all things baby.
Hoping that the remaining time to referral feels like it flies for you now.
Stephe,
I agree with those that said to skip the IA evaluation prior to adoption. It is better to have your daughter evaluated after you bring her home.
Your ped. can look over the paperwork if you want her to, but the information in the referral is so limited it doesn't seem worth the cost of an IA specialist. Unless, of course, there is a red flag that concerns you.
Your money will be better spent when the doctor can actually see your child.
Bernadette
Hi - I know that you posted this question a while back asking for suggestions for part-time work.
Saw this publication at Barnes and Noble yesterday and thought of you.
Hybrid Mom addresses what it's like to work be a Mom and then the paths we choose to take once our children arrive.
Thought I'd pass along the article link about what other Moms do to make ends meet.
http://www.hybridmom.com/work/entrepreneurs/25-ways.html
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