We had just completed the adoption of our son from South Korea for our son (whom we found on RainbowKids.com) when I found myself browsing RK, visiting the sweet faces of the waiting children.  Home for 8 months, we had finally gotten into a new normal with our 3 kids and life was sweet.  I had been looking more into the China program, wanting to advocate for the many children still waiting for families. Deep down I knew that we would adopt again. When my husband said, "why don't we adopt from China?" I couldn't contain my excitement!

While completing our dossier, we began earnestly looking for our son.  Once our dossier was logged in with China, we were very eager to get matched and continued to search on our own as well as working with our agency.

Our membership on RainbowKids remained active, and we were still receiving emails that met our profile. One day a precious boy's profile arrived in our inbox.  We did not originally have Cerebral Palsy on our list of needs (there was an error in his posting which is why he matched our list, but we know that was no error!)  In the end, we knew he was our son without a doubt and were blessed from RainbowKids again!  

While we waited for all of the approvals and paperwork, we spent our time trying to learn all we could about CP, and connecting to specialists, therapist and families in the area that are familiar with caring for this need.  Jaxson’s file was pretty bare and we couldn’t get video or updated pictures to know how he was currently doing.  Just let me say, those are HARD months when you are waiting and have no idea how they are doing!

On December 3, 2012, almost a year from starting, we finally had Jaxson placed in our arms.  We loved him so much immediately, but were concerned at how stiff his legs were and how weak his core was.  We enjoyed our time in China and came home to more tests, specialists and programs than you could count.  Until this time, Jaxson was unable to sit, stand, walk, chew food and had no interest in playing with toys. We enrolled in the early intervention program in our state, found a great therapist and put a care plan of trying to increase Jaxson’s weight (he wasn’t even on the growth scale), increase his flexibility and his mobility. He surpassed every goal set!

Jaxson learned English at an incredible speed and was showing us very quickly how smart he was once given the opportunity to learn and play.  With daily stretching and exercises, he started to loosen up and could now climb, cruise along furniture and crawl.  He begam using a Kaye walker just a few months after starting therapy and was getting better every week at having the core strength to hold himself up and use it.  His progress was AMAZING!

Fast forward to a year later.  Jaxson wears AFO’s to help him use his walker every day to be mobile around his school and enjoys playing “mailman” and delivering messages to the office for the teachers.  He feeds himself, climbs the Chick Fila playground faster than his brother and will happily sing along to “Don’t Stop Believing” when it comes on the radio.  He loves Thomas the train and playing with his brother, sisters and friends and is one of the happiest kids I’ve ever met. 

We still do therapy every week and he is continuing to make gains, even after over a year of being home.  We have no doubt there is nothing our sweet boy cannot do if he sets his mind to it! We are so thankful every day for being led to Jaxson and being open to adopting a child with Cerebral Palsy because he is a miracle.  In April, we will be flying to St. Louis to have SDR (Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy) surgery, which will eliminate the spasticity in his legs and enable him to really be mobile and not have to fight against his body any longer.

Even though our schedules are filled with specialist appointments, IEP school meetings, therapy goal settings and follow ups, our hearts and home are also filled with the pure joy Jaxson gives our lives every day by being part of our family.

Our son Jaxson is an amazing boy who has met so many goals and will continue to develop, grow and make even more progress.  So many of these kids can make amazing progress.  They can be be a wonderful addition to your family with good medical care and therapy.  Could you parent a child with Cerebral Palsy?