ICU 2

Last night Jovie did very well. She's gone through an incredible thing and her body is still in shock. The breathing tube came out last night at about 12am and she is breathing on her own now. She is starting to wake up this morning and has been very upset. She wants me to pick her up and hold her but I can't and it kills me. 

They've already decided that she will be in the ICU for at least another 24hours. She's still on some support to control her blood pressure and something that is helping her heart pump. 

They warned me that today will be the hardest for her because she will be waking up but still has so many wires going everywhere she will have to stay still and we can not hold her and comfort her the way she wants. 

I will keep updating the blog when I can.  We can not thank you enough for your prayers for our girl. 

Surgery Tomorrow

Today we spent the day at the hospital getting ready for Jovie's surgery tomorrow.  This is more overwhelming than anything I've ever done. It was just an incredibly hard day. We met with nurses and doctors one after another describing in detail the surgical proceedure, every risk involved and all to expect when we see Jovie in ICU tomorrow after it's all done. I tried my best to hold it together in front of the doctors but all I really wanted was a sound proof room to go and scream and cry and get out this crazy feeling I'm having as the time ticks closer. See I know this surgery is not only necessary for her LIFE, but we will get an active little girl... A PINK little girl very soon. 

We have to be at Egleston at 6am in the morning and they will take her back to the operating room at 7:30. We heard different times for her surgery. We were told the surgeon will take 5-6 hours and we were told to expect 9-10 hours that she will be away from us. Whatever the amount is, we know it is not a small surgery and however long it takes doesn't matter as much as what they find as they operate on her and that everything goes smoothly. 

We heard today that the piece they are putting in to act as her pulmonary artery will need to be replaced by open heart surgery in 3-5 years from now. There are also many more times that she will have to do additional work on her heart through her main artery (catheter).  I know that I need to focus on tomorrow but I also know God needs to make me strong from this. There's more hard times ahead. 

My dear friend just sent this to me tonight. 

I  know God can do exceedingly and abundantly more than I can even think or ask. I am praying we will receive an unleashing of God's peace through this. Not little drops of his strength or a trickle, a powerful explosion of release as if a dam has burst to release a river of his peacefulness. 

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

In a box

Ah thank you, we got emails and comments from y'all with all kinds of suggetions for the car sickness. I did them ALL! I went to CVS and bought the sea bands for Ian, I put my iPad on the back of the seat so they would look forward, I fed them an hour earlier, turned the vent toward them and kept the car cool, I gave them a small dosage of Benadryl and I took a longer way to school to avoid a curvy route. Whew! And it proved to work, no puke to or from school... and Ian wasn't so upset either! 

I don't know which one of the many tips worked for us, but I am a happy momma if this continues to help them!! Thank you to all who shared your tips! Ian and Jovie thank you too!

So while Mae was in school I took Ian and Jovie to the grocery store to stock up on essentials - we are supposed to get a bad wintery storm here! And when we got home I made us all lunch and sat at the table between them. 

Ian and Jovie were having a little conversation among themselves and as it continued I found myself saying, "hey guys, what are y'all talking about?" I sat there quietly realizing I'm the third wheel here! Jovie and Ian are talking and laughing and I have NO idea what they are going on about! Bet that's never happened to you before! 

 I am glad they have each other. (: 

I want to give my thanks to Amazon for providing my kids with priceless entertainment. A very large box was delivered today, I guess I've found the perk to having 2 in different size diapers.  

They all wanted in and loved it! Every kid loves boxes, right? My 3 were enthralled and I realized the treasure I had too! Look all 3 are being contained and don't even know it (; So I made it my goal to see how long I could make this last... 

For a long time the box itself was fun. They'd all sit down and then all stand up over and over. I think they love being together. 

Next, I gave them crayons to color the box. The little ones liked the sound it made to color over the corrugated cardboard. They were trying to make it sound as loud as they could. 

When crayons were old I fed them snacks.

I got a full hour of *free* box babysitting! I actually got to CLEAN my house up for the first time in ages. Anyone got any other ideas for next time? 

We're leaving next week!!!

Today we got word back from CCAI that we got our Consulate appt on the 28th!!! Which means we will have our GOTCHA DAY ON THE 20th!!!! I'm soaring with joy and counting the minutes until we have our family together!! We will need to leave for China next week! We are booking our tickets today! Yahooooo!!! It's still unbelievable!! This is happening!!!!! 

Jovie UPDATE!!

We just received an update on our baby girl!!! I feel so relieved!!

They have said that her current health is good. Thank you, Jesus!! She is walking and can say "mama" and "nainai" (which is grandmother). She's getting so big! It is great news that she is walking; that means that her heart isn't holding her back! Halleluiah!!!

They call her Ming Yu (Yu is pronounced like the letter "U"). They did say she has stranger anxiety...which is good to know and prepare for. She will most likely have a difficult time with us in the beginning, but that is very expected.

She is 1yr 7m and weighs 19.5 lbs and is 30.7 inches (78 cm)— Ian's update said he is 79 cm. So they are almost the same height! She must be long and lean.  Her chest circumference is a few cm smaller than his and he weighed 24.4 lbs

She looks so precious and I loooove getting to see her finally!! From her picture it looks like she enjoys apples too (: I love her so much and she doesn't even know that she has a mommy and daddy, sister and brother!!

Photo Friday — Jovie

I haven't shared this little treasure yet —this is a picture of Jovie in January.  I love seeing a tiny glimpse of how she's grown.  She has teeth and oh my, the kissing cheeks!! When we were told Jovie was in New Hope orphanage I googled and found that they have a website... and a newsletter.  In January Jovie was supposed to receive heart surgery and this picture was taken before she left.  The caption said "Ysabelle went for heart surgery in Hangzhou." (To protect the children's identities the orphanage has picked names for them "Ysabelle," instead of using their real Chinese names.) We know that Jovie did go to Hangzhou but they were not able to perform the surgery that she needs — Jovie is missing the valve that pumps blood from the heart to her lungs. She will need open heart surgery and mechanical valve put in her heart when she comes home.  She will need 2 more surgeries to replace the mechanical valve before her 16th birthday.

The New Hope orphanage, where our baby girl is, is very special: it is privately run and funded by Show Hope Charity here in the US. There are doctors and nurses on call every day and these children get individualized care, as there are only about 30 children there.

Another big blessing is that they have heat in their building. Most of China does not have heat or air conditioning... this is huge for a heart baby.  Jovie's body is already struggling to get her blood circulating and staying warm this past winter would have been difficult for her.

Here are pictures of the orphanage where Jovie is:

Jungle Book room

Jungle Book room

laundry room

Ayi's closet

Ayi's kitchen

Nemo room

Nemo room

Nemo room

hallway

nurses

Snow White room

Peter Pan room

Peter Pan room

Peter Pan room

Peter Pan room

staff kitchen

staff kitchen

storage room

treatment room

treatment room

treatment room