Emotional Surgery Day

Lucy had her surgery yesterday and it was a very long and emotional day.  We got to the hospital for check-in around 7am and she didn't head back to the operating room until around 10am.  We got to sit with her while they started anesthesia and were able to kiss her goodbye in the operating room.  The wait was long but our surgical nurse called us about every hour and a half to let us know how the surgery was going.  After about 7 hours, the doctor came out to share how the surgery went.  Overall, he said that he thought that the surgery went well.  They were able to do a closed reduction on the right side and get the hip in the socket; however, the left side wasn't as lucky.  He informed us that the head of her femurs are not normal.  Her left one is not formed correctly and is not rounded like a femur head is supposed to be.  He said that he assumes something happened to her because this type of malformation happens when a child is neglected.  It is possible that she could have had an infection or virus that wasn't treated as a baby in the orphanage and it caused her femurs to develop this way.  We will never know what happened to her in that first year of life and are very upset to hear this news.  Due to the shape, the doctor could not make a clean fit into the socket by an open reduction.  His hope is that the femur begins to change shape a little as she recovers in the spica cast.  After surgery we had an MRI and the doctor was very pleased and said that her hip was much deeper in the socket than he had thought in the operating room, so we are happy to hear that news.  As this will take time to heal, he also told us that she will need an additional 6 weeks in the spica cast, which will put her at a total of 18 weeks :(.  So it looks like she will get the cast off just before her birthday in mid April.

Looking for her surgeon

playing in the activity room before surgery

I've got this! 

In recovery - so sad

It was a very long night last night in the hospital - she had a lot of pain and itching from the surgery and medication.  She slept on and off throughout the night but cried a lot.  Mom and dad cried too.  Such an emotional weight is on your heart as a parent watching your child cry in pain and not able to move in a full body cast.  Today, we were told that there is some concern that her diaper is wet even though she has a catheter, so we have been waiting to hear from urology all day - we just heard and they said that her bladder is spasming and we are not to worry.  We are so thankful that it is positive news - We've been very emotional... so it was much needed.

finally in her room showing off the bow they made her for her spica cast.  They also cut a hole out for her belly...because we all know how much she loves to eat :)

mama and Lucy - she's eating jello and LOVING it

Daddy helping her through the pain

On another positive note, we went to the cardiologist on Monday and he said that all of the issues that Lucy had in her heart when she was born have fixed on their own and her heart is normal!!

Please continue to pray that everything goes well as we spend one more night at the hospital and transition to home.  We just wish Lucy the best and hope that  everything moves in a positive direction as she recovers.  She is such a strong, beautiful, resilient girl and we love her so much...and want the best for her.

And...if you have prayers and energy left over, please send it our way, we are struggling a little.

Thanks to everyone for the support! Our dinner is coming up next friday if you would like to attend click here to sign up & if you can't attend, but would like to support Lucy's recovery, click here

One Month Home!

We've been home a month and have finally adjusted to the time change and daylight savings time.  we were worried at first because Lucy and Landry were making 3am their new wake-up time.  That ended and we are now sleeping through the night.  Lucy is a really good sleeper and goes down without a fuss around 7:15pm and we have to wake her up around 7am.  Landry, on the other hand, seems to wake up at least one time during the night.  He hasn't quite adjusted from sleeping with daddy in the hotel to sleeping by himself in his crib.


Being home has been quite an adventure; it feels like all we do is cook, clean, change diapers, sit kids on the potty, laundry, bathe the kids, feed them again ...and maybe if we are lucky, shower ourselves. We found out that Lucy is somewhat potty trained, which has been amazing to watch.  She kept giving us signs that she may be in control of her bladder and bowels.  She would wake up with a dry diaper and she would also only poop in it right after we changed her and put a new diaper on.  So, one day, we put her on the potty...and she peed and pooped. We are putting her on throughout the day and praising her if she goes. We've also learned the mandarin words to support this training and we are teaching her the sign for potty.  Since children in china wear split pants and no diaper at an early age, it wasn't a huge surprise that she would have this skill.  When we showed Landry his sister's new trick, he wasn't too impressed.  We asked him if he would like to try and he said, "No!" ...after a few days, he is now wanting to sit on the potty.  Maybe we will be done with diapers sooner than we think.

Oh, just reading on the potty

In the couple weeks that we've been home, we've been to several doctors appointments.  After children are adopted from China, it is recommended that they get a series of blood work done, stool analysis, vaccines and a physical examination.  We have been blessed that our pediatrician couldn't hear Lucy's heart murmur anymore and said that her lungs and heart sounded great.  Her blood work came back good and we have been giving her an antibiotic for a bacteria found in her stool.  Cognitively, our doctor was impressed that she was right on track with everything except language, which will come with time.  We have been seeing her practicing with sounds and saying some words "more" "cow" "cat" "up".  And, she seems to understand more of what we say as the days go by.  She loves books and music just like her brother and we spend a lot of the day reading, singing and dancing

singing and clapping

As we mentioned in China, we were worried about Lucy's limp, so we made sure to mention it to our pediatrician.  She couldn't give us an explanation upon initial examination and sent us to get x-rays.  As we were driving home from the appointment, our doctor called us to inform us that Lucy's hips were out of socket and that she has developmental dysplasia of the hips.  This was very hard news to hear because we had not really researched this and didn't know what it meant for our daughter.  We spent the a week looking at possible treatments while waiting for our appointment at Children's Hospital with an Orthopedic Surgeon.  After our initial appointment, the surgeon informed us that Lucy will need surgery to repair both hips and that she will need to be in a spica cast for 12 weeks.  At her six week post op appointment, she will be taken back into the operating room to get the cast removed and they will assess her healing and make adjustments.  At that time, she will be put  in a new cast for 6 more weeks.  If all goes well, she will only need the spica cast for 12 total weeks and then she will be fitted for a brace that she will wear for 23 hours a day for 3 months after the cast is removed.

We've scheduled her surgery for December 3rd at Children's Hospital in Aurora, CO. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.  She is a very busy girl and we are anxious about how she will adjust in this large cast for such a long period of time.  Also, please send us strength as we are very nervous about this surgery and the following weeks of healing.

An example of a spica cast - Lucy's will be from her nipples to ankles and have a bar for support in the middle

Bree is back to work, which has been another big adjustment.  She is grateful that she has a great team at work - without their support it would have been a more challenging adjustment.   Cody will be staying home to take care of Lucy after her surgery.  We are so lucky to also have the support of Cody's mom and dad, who will be driving out after thanksgiving to help with the kids during and after Lucy's operation.  Bree also started teaching her classes at Qi again and feels so lucky to have the support of her Qi Family.  They will be having a benefit dinner to raise money to help with the unexpected cost of Lucy's medical bills.  if you would like to learn more about the dinner, you can click on the link below:

Click here to sign up for our Fundraiser Dinner

If you cannot make the dinner and would like to donate, here is the link:
Click here to link to Lucy's Fundraiser Page

Here are some more pictures of what the kids have been doing

loving just hanging out on mommy and daddy's bed

reading in a castle

almost time for bed

mommy getting a workout - carrying 2 kids around the house

Do We Really Have to Leave China?

Our last days in Guangzhou were pretty great!  Our appointment to take oath at the USCIS went well; however, we do not have any pictures from that special moment because you cannot take anything in with you.  CCAI must have connections because there was a huge line outside and our representative walked right up to the door, knocked and we walked right in!

kids hanging in the room that day

Lucy hugging mommy after we took oath

We hung out with our new friends and their new kids, went on a Riverboat dinner cruise on Tuesday evening and on Wednesday afternoon we went to Shamian Island to shop.   We definitely enjoyed our time together at meals and after meal drinks.  Shamian Island was very beautiful little place settled in the big city, it reminded me of New Orleans a little bit.  There, we were able to get the famous squeeky shoes we've been hearing so much about.  The store that had the greatest selection was Sherry's place and is across from the Starbucks (for those who will be headed there soon).  After we returned bto the hotel, Landry ran up and down the hallway squeeking and laughing like crazy...I'm sure those squeekers won't last long when we get home!

This is me, trying not to vomit because I walked up to the buffet and saw chicken heads floating in a dish! 

Landry kept wanting to go outside on the boat...here he is letting me know

River boat view

A restaurant named Lucy's!

School kids doing some sort of exercise

We feel so lucky to have met the people in group 2026 and have the connection of our children's gotcha days.  As our time came to an end in China, many people were very excited to get out of China and fly home.  Not us! We could have stayed longer;  no bills, no jobs, no cooking, no cleaning, eating out, enjoying drinks, sight seeing, enjoying the kids, sleeping in.  We were kind of dreading getting back to reality and that 14 hour flight with two one year olds.

Group 2026

Aisja and Lucy - forever friends from Kaifeng!

Family of Four!

All of the kids...Of course we couldn't get them to look when we were taking the photo

Landry wanted to get in the pic!

We got up early on Thursday and headed to the airport with the two couples that we met when we first arrived in Beijing.  Our guide, Grace, was so nice to help us get checked in and walked us to the international gate.  The kids seemed tired and we were worried that we might have some meltdowns on the flight to Tokyo, but were lucky enough to get one of the front row seats with extra leg room and a bassinet for Lucy if she wanted to sleep and the kids were pretty good for the four hours.  We only had one incident were Landry rolled around on the floor yelling "no" over and over...it just happened to be when we were getting ready to take-off.  Thankfully, we got up in the air and he seemed to enjoy the rest of the flight.

Couldn't capture the front of their shirts - they say mei mei (sister ) and ge ge (brother)

Our layover in Tokyo was quick - we changed a couple of diapers, grabbed some food and water and boarded the 10 hour flight back to Denver.  There were times on that flight that I wanted to cry.  Lucy fell asleep on my lap, but anytime I moved she cried...more like whined, and it took her a couple of minutes to get back to sleep.  Landry wanted to run around for about an hour of the flight, not too bad, right?  He ended up sleeping for the last five hours, so we've decided that he is a pretty good traveler.  We landed in Denver a little early, super tired, but very excited knowing that Lucy was finally our daughter!  After getting our car jumped in the parking lot, we drove back to our house as a family of four.

The last two days have been an adjustment, we are tired and the kids don't understand the time change so they are waking up in the middle of the night, taking long naps during the day and crying a lot.  Hopefully, it will only take a few days to get back to our normal schedule...for now, we look like crap and feel like crap.  

Lucy and Landry enjoying lunch in their high chairs at home!

 

Raise a Glass to the Architect

Today, we went to one of the oldest Buddhist Temples in Guangzhou!  Landry loved the pagoda and I loved the golden buddhas.

We also went to the Chan House - Chan is the most common surname in this province

A man wrote Lucy's chinese name on this scroll for her room

Lucy coming into her own...smiling and getting more confident by the  day!

There is a Phish song that came on in our room the other day and when I heard the words I started crying thinking of our journey to get our daughter.  She is just a great light in our life and we are so appreciative to everyone that has helped us financially and supported us along the way.  "Reconvene. Reconnect. Raise a Glass to the Architect because it turn out better, so much better than we ever did expect"

All these worlds
Rolled into one
Together we revolve around the sun
And if you get the chance
Watch the young children dance
In a little while, you will see them smile.

Truth may dazzle
Gradually
It all comes out in the wash eventually
Try to catch a glean
If you know what I mean.
You may even see the cogs in the machine

Reconvene, reconnect
Raise a glass to the Architect
‘Cause it turned out better
So much better
Than we ever did expect

Find your treasures
Where you will
Don’t you stop until you’ve had your fill
Wherever you may go
Look around, take it slow
There might be more to this than we all know

And if we have the chance to see the rough draft
I bet the early plans would make us laugh
And it never seems to help when we try to intervene
Some things are better left unseen

Reconvene, reconnect
Raise a glass to the Architect
‘Cause it turned out better
So much better
Than we ever did expect

Positive Changes

Since our last post, Lucy has made such progress! Thank you all for sending positive energy her way, it  is really working.  On our last night in Zhengzhou, we had dinner with our friends Jeremy and Daleena and their daughter, Aisja.

At dinner, Lucy finally started drinking from a cup.  We found this odd shaped sippy cup and she seems to love it.  She also fell asleep at dinner and didn't cry, scratch or whine when we took her back to the room.  She is beginning to trust that we are there and will be there when she wakes up.  This girl is so brave and is showing us her adorable spirit as she progresses each day.

The next day, we woke up early for our flight to Guangzhou -- Lucy's first flight.  It went okay; Landry learned a new word on this flight, MINE! We know that he is finally realizing that Lucy is sticking around and he is struggling a little bit with sharing all of the time.  

Yesterday morning, we went to Lucy's physical examination and to get her visa photo taken.  We feel so blessed because the doctor said that Lucy "cured herself" and she no longer has a heart murmur.  We still need to get her hip/legs checked out in the US. So keep her in your thoughts!

Last night, we went out to dinner at a great place just around the corner from our hotel.  Landry loved it so much, he fell asleep in the high chair before our food came. 

Staying Strong Through Transition

These last few days with Lucy has been such a growing time for our family.  Landry has been such an amazing big brother!  He hugs Lucy when she cries, shares his toys and food and even shows her how to run and climb.  We are so grateful to have Landry here helping Lucy along in her transition.  As a couple, we have become stronger relying more on each other to watch over the kids and trusting that the other will support when emotions are too much at times.  There have been many tears, laughs and smiles.  But, Lucy's transition has not been all positive, we've had some challenges and I pray that she will become more trusting of her new family with time.

Lucy's transition has been somewhat bumpy and we've come to some conclusions about her life up until now from some of her actions in the past four days. I'm not sure if you can tell, but Lucy is very small, smaller than expected, she probably weighs around 14 or 15 pounds.  I was shocked when they handed her to me because they had told me she weighed 17 pounds in July.  They told us at the orphanage that she wasn't really a drinker - and we have tried many ways to get her to take formula - a cup, a bottle, a sippy, a water bottle, a spoon - but the girl doesn't like to drink.  She seems traumatized when I even bring anything to her mouth.  So, when recalling all of those reports saying that she drank bottles every four hours, I'm guessing that she was given bottles in her crib every four hours, and they stayed full. And her belly stayed empty. She was starving.  She didn't get much solid food in the orphanage, and they just started giving her solids a couple months ago. She has a small mouth, so she is a slow eater, I think they probably cleared her tray before she was full on most days.  Thus, we've been leaving out food, and giving her food all the time.  She is taking it and enjoying it.  It is like she cannot get full! She has to carry food in her hands at all times and it just breaks my heart to think that she spent the first year and a half of her life not knowing when she would get her next meal.  We love seeing a little belly after she's eaten more than we have at breakfast.

Another thing that we've noticed is that she might have been secluded to her crib for long periods at a time.  She is always on the move and getting into things because she is very curious.  I can see this being somewhat of an annoyance for her nannies.  They had 20 children to look after and they probably wanted to keep her contained.  This containment has affected Lucy's hips and possibly her left leg.  Please keep her in your prayers because we have noticed that her left leg turns out and her hips are not even.  We did not get this information in any of our reports and when we asked about it yesterday, the orphanage said that they thought she walked with a limp because she was just learning.  We agree that she might have been bundled too tight and placed in a confined spot when she was smaller which led to weakness in her leg.  We are keeping positive, but it has been very emotional finding out that there is something that was left out of our paperwork and out of her file.  She doesn't seem to be in pain, nor does she let it stop her.  She has been seen running down the hallway with Landry - she is just a little wobbly.

Because of this seclusion in her crib, she hates it.  She doesn't even want to look at her crib. If we put her in it, she moans and cries.  It is so sad.  In the evening, when we turn out the lights to go to bed, her cry is similar.  Even if she is in bed with us, she lays down, closes her eyes and whines for about an hour and a half before falling asleep sucking her thumb.  As she cries, she tries to soothe herself by scratching.  On gotcha day, we were convinced that she had scabies.  But now we know that while alone in her crib for all those months, it was her way to make herself feel comfortable.  We've kept long pants and onesies on her, it keeps her scratching away from her skin.  We hope for her to know that through time, our love will be enough and she will no longer have to self soothe.   Great strides have been made through her bravery in the last four days...we know that she will turn a corner soon and be able to fall asleep without crying.

On a more positive note, we've seen her smile and respond to her name more as the days go by.  She is bringing our family closer together as we all show her love in different ways.  Landry woke up this morning and climbed in bed with us and began patting her back when she cried.  She has said "mama" and "dada" and she is quite a character.  She took off running down the hallway yesterday and then fell down and started rolling like a log.  It cracked us up.  She claps when she's accomplished something and she loves to sing and dance - especially to Phish music! Fits in perfect with this family.  She loves baths and the pool.  Her and Landry splash and giggle.  She has amazing hand eye coordination and is able to place straws and small items in small holes.  Her eyes are wise and she is a fighter.  We know she will get through this transition and hope that we continue to be strong for her.

In the last report we received from the orphanage, it said that Lucy was very brave.  We've seen this courage and continue to encourage her strength as she makes great strides everyday!