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:
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| Jungle Book room |
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| Jungle Book room |
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| laundry room |
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| Ayi's closet |
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| Ayi's kitchen |
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| Nemo room |
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| Nemo room |
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| Nemo room |
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| hallway |
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| nurses |
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| Snow White room |
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| Peter Pan room |
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| Peter Pan room |
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| Peter Pan room |
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| Peter Pan room |
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| staff kitchen |
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| staff kitchen |
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| storage room |
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| treatment room |
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| treatment room |
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| treatment room |
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