Marta
May 30, 2008
Thank you to all who submitted home studies for Marta. We are pleased to share that a family has been selected and is currently in the matching phase. After completing our application process, they will review her medical records. If they choose to move forward, they will be considered officially matched with Marta.
If for any reason Hope Cottage, or this family, chooses not to move forward we will continue seeking families for her. Please continue to check our website for updates on Marta’s adoption status.
March 11, 2008
We are currently accepting home studies for families that would like to be considered as an adoptive home for Marta. Please fax or mail your approved home study to Hope Cottage, to the attention of Kim Lumpkin at 214-528-7168. Since Marta’s birthmother has also requested to be a part of the selection process, please also send a profile (and Dear Birthparent letter if possible) for her to review. As with any match, her birthmother will review profiles (and letters) only. All home studies will be kept confidential.
Kim Lumpkin, MSW
Adoption Counselor
March 2008 Update
Marta is an adorable 7 month old girl with Pierre Robin Sequence and a few other medical issues. Her cleft palate repair is scheduled for May 13th after which time, the speech therapist and family will be concentrating on getting her to take food orally and talking. Right now she is tube fed and is gaining weight quite well. She weighed over 12 lbs at her last visit.
She has had successful jaw distraction surgery and had the distraction devices removed last week. Marta does put things in her mouth all of the time including her bottle, even though she gets very little nourishment from it. Our goal is just to keep her interested in swallowing liquids, tasting and enjoying oral stimulation. So far that hasn’t been a problem. She is also very verbal.
Marta has 25% curvature in her spine (scoliosis) which will need to be followed up closely. When an MRI was done of her brain and spine it was discovered that she has Cerebellar Hypoplasia. The neurologist will see her again at the end of April and see what progress she has made. She is moving her legs more, but still does not bear weight on them for any length of time.
She still has some head lag when pulling to a sitting position, but that is improving. She sits for a few seconds by herself and will put her arm out to try to catch herself when she starts to fall. The doctor said since he does not have a baseline MRI to go by from birth, he will repeat the MRI at some point and see if there is any change. That along with her physical development will determine the outcome of the hypoplasia.
Marta seems to be mentally on target for her age and very social. Although she appeared to be deaf at birth, the tubes have cleared her canals and she only showed hearing loss in her left ear which may have cleared up by now. Another ABR will done at the time of her surgery in May to verify her hearing. However, she seems to hear fine at this time.
For more information about Marta, please contact Kim Lumpkin at Hope Cottage at 214-526-8721 or klumpkin@hopecottage.org.
________________________________________________________________________________
November 2007 Update
Marta is a beautiful three-month-old baby girl. She was born with a small jaw and a cleft palate. However, she has undergone surgery to correct her jaw alignment and to place tubes into her ears.
Since she has difficulty taking a bottle due to her cleft palate, Marta also received a feeding tube to prevent her from aspirating and to help her recover from early failure to thrive. She has consistently gained weight and is catching up very quickly since receiving the feeding tube.
Surgery to correct Marta’s cleft palate is scheduled to occur in May 2008, after which she is expected to be able to have her feeding tube removed.
Marta has been diagnosed with Pierre Robin Sequence but has no identified genetic abnormalities. Information regarding Pierre Robin Sequence may be found at:
http://www.faces-cranio.org/Disord/PierreRobin.htm .
Marta also has scoliosis of the lumbar spine and is scheduled to be assessed by Scottish Rite Hospital. It is likely that her scoliosis will only need to be monitored by an orthopedist as she matures.
According to her foster mother, “Marta is a beautiful, happy baby. She will need speech therapy for some time and, possibly, some physical therapy to assure that she catches up developmentally. She is already amazing us with her progress.”
For more information about Marta, please contact Kim Lumpkin at Hope Cottage at 214-526-8721 or klumpkin@hopecottage.org.
