Happy Birthday, Sweet Katie-bug

Poor baby is snuggled up in my lap groaning--still sick.

One year ago today, we were winging our way home from China. Kate had a two-day birthday since it was the 16th in China, and 24 hours later, it was still the 16th in the U.S. She also became a U.S. citizen that day, as her feet touched American soil.

We are so thankful for our precious girl...that God watched over her and preserved her life so that she could grace ours.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, sweet girl!

Happy Easter/ At the Hospital

Thank you, Jesus, for suffering in our place on the cross...for taking my place...and adopting me into Your family. Thank you, God, for sending Your only Son to be treated so horribly. I am soooo glad that He is RISEN!!

We are safely ensconced in our hotel at Mott's Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor. It is so wonderful that they have a hotel INSIDE the hospital for families with children in ICU.

So far, Kate has stayed healthy. I am giving her lots of herbal remedies (none that have any blood thinning qualities). I know that the God who raised His Son from the grave, can also keep Kate healthy for tomorrow.

We went to my parents' church this morning and were so moved when they prayed over Kate after the service. It was very touching that so many people told us they were praying. We are so blessed!!

A sweet family from my parents' church gave us a huge care package for Mommy and Kate. Their son had heart surgery here, so they have been telling us what to expect. We are overwhelmed at their thoughtful gifts (that Kate has been having a blast with, tonight!). Thank you, Holly!!

Jeff got Kate and I checked into the hotel and then went home to be with the kids tonight. He will come back to the hospital bright and early. I have to check Kate in at 6:15AM, and Jeff will come shortly after. They are supposed to come and get her about 7:30 to start her surgery. I dread the moment when she is wheeled away. My heart starts thumping with dread at the thought of it. I want you all to know, though, that God is sustaining us!! I have been stressed this week, but not in a total panic. My poor family has had to put up with my edginess and grumpiness, but they have been very forgiving when I've had to apologize. They are so wonderful!

I wasn't able to get all the kids together for an Easter picture because some of them went to Grandma and Grandpa's for the day while some of us came home to pack and get ready to go. I did get a few pictures of Kate and Zoey today, though.


This was a spontaneous moment--Kate just reached up and hugged and kissed Zoey.

We also celebrated Zoey's birthday last night. Her birthday is actually next week, but since Kate will be in the hospital, we celebrated early. She was quite happy to see her presents and cake and didn't know that she wasn't getting the normal birthday bash.


Lastly, I want to thank so many of you who have left comments on the blog, or emailed us to let us know you are praying for us. I can't tell you how comforting and touching it is to read what you have written. I plan to print all the messages out for Kate and put them in her baby book. We are so thankful to have you walking this journey with us and standing with us in prayer.

Kate is sitting on my lap as I type, jabbering and occasionally praying for Mama, Dada, and Zoey. It is precious. She is precious...and I am so grateful to be her Mom.

I'm not going to answer any email tonight as I just want to spend time with Kate--but I will get back to you as soon as I can. I will post every time the nurse comes out to tell us what is happening during surgery. Again...thank you for praying.

Kate's Pre-Op Visit

"Dr. Kate" listens to her panda's heart.

Kate was an amazing trouper today! We were worried that she would freak out the minute she got to the hospital, but she only wimpered a bit and got tears in her eyes. I think that made my heart ache worse than if she had gone into screaming meltdown mode.

"Please tell me I am having a bad dream and I'm not REALLY at the hospital again!"

We were there from 10AM until 3PM, so it was a long day for her. They are so thorough--I am very impressed. She had an EKG, echocardiogram, chest x-ray, health exam (three different times!), and blood work. Thankfully, the blood work was last on the agenda.

"This EKG is a piece of cake, especially with my panda beside me!"

Two different cardiologists talked to me, explaining things about the surgery. Both of them had been at the conference on Monday where her case was discussed, so they were fully aware of the details of her heart condition and surgery. Again...impressive to have doctors who hadn't just read a chart before they walked into the room and who FULLY understood her.

We had good news and not-so-good news, but most of it was good.
The Good:
-Her heart cath showed that she was a good case for a full repair
-People come from all over the world to have her heart surgeon operate on their children
-The procedures he is doing on Kate are his specialty
-She might not have to spend 3 weeks in the hospital--it might be more like 10 days if everything goes perfect
-Our hotel bill will be $40 per night--not $70
-8 out of 10 children come through this surgery very well

The Not-So-Good News
-One of the cardiologists very frankly told me that this surgery 'is a huge deal.'
-One in ten children die from complications of this surgery (This is the biggest on the not-do-good news for me. Despite the fact that 8 out 10 children come through the surgery well, my mama's heart fell to my toes when he said this. I know 10% is a low risk, but....)

They have given us a link to a video of what to expect her to look like after her surgery, which was very helpful. She will have three chest tubes draining fluid from her lungs and (I think) the area around her heart. She will be on a respirator for probably two days, so will have a tube down her throat, helping her breathe. One cardiologist told us that he wasn't sure if her chest would be closed up or if it would need to remain open for a few days. He assured us that there would be something covering it so that we wouldn't be looking down into her open chest cavity.

As long as we can keep her healthy until Monday, we are good to go for surgery. We are able to have our laptops with us in the waiting room, so I will be able to post to the blog every time they come out and tell us how the surgery is going.

***Note: I know most of you read this blog when it comes to you via email subscription. The subscription service only sends email to you once every 24 hours. If you want to read the updates as they are happening, you will need to go to the blog and read it there. If you wait for the email, it will probably not come to you until Tuesday morning. The blog address is: www.jacobsjourneyhome.blogspot.com . You can click on it from this post here, or scroll to the bottom of the email posts and click on the blue 'Treasures from Afar."***


All tuckered out on the ride home. She was playing with her sticker and fell asleep with it on her mouth.

Zoey Visits the Orthotist

I took Zoey to have her foot and leg fitted for her brace today. She was such a little trooper. Her leg was casted to make a mold so that they can make her brace. She cried when the cast was cut off and I don't blame her because it was pretty scary to have that blade so close to her leg. The guy was very nice to her and was very touched to hear that she had just been adopted. At the end of the visit, he gave her a balloon and then told me to wait a minute while he ran to the back and got a second balloon. He thought it was cool that he was the first to give her a mylar balloon and wanted to show her what would happen if you let one go. He had an old left-over Christmas balloon, so we went outside and he helped her let it go. He was more excited than she was. She kept looking at the balloon, then looking at him anxiously. I think she was worried that he would cry about losing his balloon!

Her brace will be a molded plastic that will go all the way up to her knee. This will not do anything to help her leg length difference (which is about two inches). The brace is to try to bring her foot under her leg as much as possible--rather than being totally sideways like it is now. The ligaments are tight, so they can't pull it all the way under her to make it straight, but it will be better than it is now. After they get her fitted with the brace, they are hoping to add a lift of some type to her shoe to help with the leg length. He said it is taking a tremendous amount of energy for her to walk with her longer leg bent so far. He was pretty amazed at how well she walks, though. That's our girl! I told him how she runs, climbs, and jumps off the furniture and he was quite surprised. He told me I might not like how much easier it is for her to be mobile after she has her brace and shoe lift! I will just be glad to not see her struggle.

Sitting patiently in the waiting room.

I just can't smile with this thing on my leg.

All done and ready to go home!
While I was there (an hour away from home) my cell phone rang with the news that Molly had thrown up on the playground at school. ARGH! She was home all last week with a stomach ache and a bad cold. I couldn't believe she was sick again! Enough with the stomach flu!! Taylor was babysitting and he called a friend who was kind enough to go pick Molly up so that she didn't have to wait an hour for me to get there. Thank you, Susie!!

Kate's heart catheterization is Friday and I am praying, praying that she doesn't get the flu. She has had a bad cold with a 102 fever for two days but seems slightly better today. She can't have a fever the day of the heart cath, so we are praying about that, too.

Still in awe....

Jeff and I are still in awe about yesterday's news regarding Kate's heart. We are scratching our heads a bit, though, about how her China medical report said she had a single ventricle. She had open heart surgery in China. It's not like they gave her a diagnosis from an echocardiogram and just missed the ventricle. They opened her chest and did a surgery--which was successful in saving her life. Her doctor at U of M, thought maybe they chose that particular surgical procedure because her heart was so tiny and it was the only thing they felt they could do with any success.

So..I speculate further to say that to do that particular surgical procedure, they had to decide whether to sacrifice the use of the ventricle to save her life. I know that they didn't want to wait a day longer because they were so concerned that her high blood pressure would permanently damage her heart. There is a window of time that the heart needs to be repaired. She had other issues (infection/illness) that made the surgery extra risky, but they had to move forward or miss the window.

Perhaps after the surgery, they wrote 'single ventricle' on her discharge papers because they thought there was no way to undo what they had done and the ventricle would be forever rendered unusable.

At any rate...we are in awe of what God has done!

In other news...
Two nights ago at 2:30AM, a voice interrupted my sleep. I kept hearing, "Mom..Mom..." I finally realized that I was not dreaming and that there was a shadowy little figure standing next to my bed.
"What, honey?"
I then heard the words that no parent ever wants to hear.
"Mom...I barfed in my bed."
Uuuuuuugggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh.....
It was Jillian. I went to her room and just stared at the mess. My groggy brain could not figure out what to do. I eventually DID come up with a plan and got it cleaned up. So gross!!
Jillian and Molly share a double bed, but earlier that night, one of the little kids had been crying and woke Molly up. She had come into our room to sleep about an hour before Jillian barfed where Molly's head would have been. Ewwwww.....!
I did my best to quarantine Jillian, and we are praying that the rest of us don't get sick. I really don't care to repeat that night nine more times.

Kate is going to the Cardiologist

We will be taking Kate to University of Michigan on Thursday morning to see the cardiologist. She will have an echocardiogram first thing and then will see the doctor afterwards. I think we will take SaraGrace along since she goes to the same doctor. We are expecting to hear that Kate needs an open heart surgery as soon as possible. Maybe we will be surprised with better news. Whatever the news, we know that God has everything under control, and will help us deal with whatever Kate has to face.

I would love to say that things are settling down around here, but the truth is, they are not. We are just in survival mode as we do our best to help Zoey and Kate assimilate into our family. They are doing very well, all things considered!

What do you get when you combine a two year old boy with a two and three year old girl? Lots of fighting! Kate and Jake are still going at it and sometimes Zoey gets in on the action. Calgon...take me awaaaaayyyy....!

Then you throw in another three-almost four year old boy who is a sweetheart but is very particular about his 'stuff.' As long as no one touches it, he is fine. We all know when his stash has been raided by the high pitched screeching that fills every corner of our house!

Added to this pack of rascals is SaraGrace, who has been astonishingly well-behaved since we came home. She does, however, slip into the bossy older sister routine quite often. The other day, she had a wand and was turning all the 'kids making bad choices,' into ducks. Not sure why she chose ducks?? At any rate, she said in her most stern of voices, 'You are ALL making bad choices! I'm turning you into ducks!" I listened for the response, hoping in a bad mommy sort of way that her scolding would produce results. Within seconds I heard a sarcastic, "Quack, quack, quack!" I cracked up as I heard her audible sigh of dismay. Not easily discouraged, she said, 'OK...I guess I will have to turn you into pigs." That threat must have worked, because I didn't hear any grunting.

Miss Kate has been taking her diaper off every time she wakes up in her bed. ugh. She will be getting the duct-tape-on-the-top-of-her-pj's treatment. Yesterday, she took her diaper off, pooped in her bed and then screamed hysterically because she was so grossed out by it. Yeah...she should try being me and having to clean it up!


All dressed and ready for church. Several minutes later, hairbows were gone, and their shoes and socks were off and spread all over the house. argh. We have decided that in the future, the hair bows, shoes and socks will not be put on their squirming little bodies until two minutes before we leave.

Truly...I have no regrets because they are absolutely precious! I was just thinking today about how sometimes God asks us to do something that is uncomfortable..or downright hard. This is hard. But He is good. It will not always be hard. I feel Him helping me and I know that "I can do all things through Him who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:16) This is especially put to the test on the days that Jeff is traveling!

Double Gotcha Day!

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We have the girls and they are precious!! Zoey was waiting for us when we got the Civil Affairs office. She wants nothing to do with me. ha The nanny kept pushing her toward me and saying, "Mama, Mama." Zoey said, "Bu yao," which means, "Don't want." I cracked up laughing. I kept trying to tell them that it was okay and that I didn't expect her to come running into my arms. Everytime I made a move toward her, she would back up. I tried candy, but that didn't work. I just kept my distance and tried to talk to her. She was unimpressed.

A bit later, Jin Yang (Kate) came into the room looking scared and dazed. She didn't reject me, but she just stood there motionless. Her eyes would move around the room, taking everything in, but the rest of her body didn't move. She looked so terrified. It broke my heart. The nannies then pushed her toward Zoey and we told them Zoey was her MeiMei (little sister). Zoey looked at her and said, 'Bu yao.' haha After awhile, I gently picked Kate up and she allowed it. I held her for the rest of the time that we were at Civil Affairs. She cracked a few smiles here and there - especially when her MeiMei was goofing around with Baba (Daddy).



Meanwhile, Zoey had decided to make friends with Daddy. She lets him do everything for her, but if I try, she says, 'bu yao.' She has the cutest little voice. We haven't heard a peep out of Kate yet. When we stood up to leave Civil Affairs, my jeans were soaking wet where Kate had been sitting. The poor little thing was soaked through all of her layers of clothes (shirt, sweater, over-alls, pants,and jacket). Zoey had split pants on, so we saw her little butt cheeks hanging out. The big news is that she is potty trained!


Mommy's bit wet spot where Kate peed
This afternoon we went to the supermarket to get a few things and we put the girls in the shopping cart. They giggled and thought it was great fun to ride around. As I put items in the cart, they examined them and handed things back and forth. It's cute to watch them get to know each other.

Being goofy with Daddy

We REALLY need to find two cheap strollers because they both weigh too much for us to be carrying them everywhere. Zoey is a baby moose, so it's a good thing she likes Jeff best! There is no way I could carry her all over. Kate is petite, so it's easier for me to carry her, but my muscles are still protesting.

They both have colds and coughs, so if you could please pray they get well, we would be grateful! We would also like prayers to stay healthy! Zoey seems to have a spunky personality and does everything with gusto (especially eating!). Kate seems very quiet (so far) and more meticulous about everything. Both of them are sweet and precious. We are doubly blessed!