Attachment Parenting Works

We had an appointment with the pediatrician today. Our IA pediatrician thought he heard a heart murmur during Nina’s last exam and he asked us to follow up with our regular pediatrician. A little weird if you ask me but whatever, long story short, she’s fine. No murmur heard. There was however something with Nina this time that I had not noticed before. Let me go back…

As you may recall at the baby house Nina was basically terrified of us. Each day the doctor would come into the visiting room and take Nina for her medicine, vitamins, or random check up (who knew-we were not told much about this whole process). What I noticed then was she LOVED her doctor. (Actually several adoptive parents have observed this same thing in their children.) I imagined that the doctor was one of the few adults in Nina’s life that gave her gentle, nurturing one-on-one attention. Nina was always happy to leave us and go to the doctor and always full of tears when she was returned to us.


Later on at the SOS clinic in Almaty I observed the same affinity for the doctor there. Somehow Nina had attached to women in white coats. She was just as happy with her first visit with our female pediatrician here in Ohio. Today though I saw something new.


While Nina was as compliant as ever as the doctor listened to her heart I saw her constantly looking at me and then at Dart and back again for reassurance. Back and forth she would go looking concerned and searching for a sign from us that all was well. It was clear that the doctor despite her white coat and stethoscope was the stranger and WE were her trusted parents. I know it sounds like a small thing but for me it was yet another sign that her attachment to us is strong and building with each day.