Monday, May 4, 2009

A Week of Medical Visits

We had a fabulous visit with my folks last week, and we are ALL missing them greatly here! Thankfully they made it home safely on Sunday, and Tom made it home from Ohio Friday night. I cannot believe how much help my parents provided while they were here...my house and my yard are transformed...they got to chores that have been on my list for months and months, they helped navigate the emotional waters with Anna, they helped take care of getting Tom's truck to the shop and back for service, they took our poor neglected puppy for walks, they helped me make it through the commissary with Lilly in tow, and I can go on and on. Most of all, they provided much needed emotional support and unconditional love to us all at a time when stress levels at home are heightened and behaviors reflect that.

And now a new week has begun. Today, I took Lilly in for an EKG (whe was already distraught over getting her blood pressure taken on one leg and both arms...the EKG was torturouw until we put all the little EKG stickers on her baby doll and baby got an EKG first...baby makes everything look so easy that Lilly can do it too. Praise God for baby's influence!). Tomorrow, first thing, we will take her in for an echocardiogram (the cardiologist heard a slight murmer on her EKG and wants to be sure there are no abnormalities on the heart, and we want to see how her spinal curvature is impacting cardiac function, if at all). Wednesday, we'll drive her to Nemours in Pensacola to have her evaluated by the pediatric orthopedic team. Poor girl. I bought a Baby Einstein video for her to watch in the car on the way to Pensacola. We are all getting REALLY tired of the Chinese DVD! (my parents even said it was like torture to watch and listen to!)

More photos to come soon...I promise. Just no time lately to pull them off the camera. Plus I need to get some from my mom from their trip. Stay tuned!

Please pray for Lilly's peace of mind and comfort level as we undergo all these medical tests this week. Otherwise she is doing so well in the areas of bonding and attachment...it is exciting to watch this transformation before our eyes.

Thanks!
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3 comments:

Andy and Amy said...

We will keep your family in prayer. We have done a lot of those tests ourselves in the past few months. They aren't too much fun. (I found your blog through your travel mate, Amy). We have a Henan sweetie with orthopedic issues as well. Hope all goes well.

May 5, 2009 at 9:42 AM
Traci Brunner said...

It is just amazing all that you have done for her so far. It will be just wonderful the day that she understands all that she has gained when she became part of your family!! We will all be praying for this to be as simple as possible for her as well as you all.

May 5, 2009 at 2:49 PM
Andy and Amy said...

Amy, Could you send me an e -mail at aleong2911@gmail.com? I would love to chat more about our girls. Thanks!

May 6, 2009 at 10:42 PM

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Why Adoption? Why China?

I'm sure that many of you, when you learned that Tom and I were pursuing adoption of a little girl from China, wondered "why?!" We may have taken some of you by surprise, and we thought it might be nice to share some of our thinking about this journey we are undertaking.

Adoption is something that, even from the earliest years of our marriage, we talked about as "maybe someday." The idea of adoption is appealing to us for many reasons. As Christians, we are adopted by God as his children through faith in Jesus. Adoption allows us to provide a child with the needed love, warmth, and financial resources we have been blessed with as a family. Finally, adoption allows us to add to our family at a time when our biological children are old enough to be more self-sufficient, and we are in a position financially to be able to welcome a child into our family in this way. What we hope to gain is an additional family member to love and learn from, and an opportunity to share the joy and love of our family.

We recognize that an adoption will bring unique parenting challenges to our family--especially since we are considering a child with special needs--and it is likely to put unique stresses on our family in a variety of ways. We are grateful for Tom's medical knowledge and for the great medical coverage we get through Tom's Air Force career, and we look forward to providing a forever family for a child whose medical needs might make it more difficult for another family to take on.

Finally, why China? My love for China, the Chinese language, and the Chinese people made China the natural choice. It was never really even a consideration whether to go with a domestic adoption or international; China was simply the natural choice that we immediately pursued, especially since there are so many children in China that need a forever family.

Chinese Word of the Day

The Time in China

When Love Takes You In

Our Adoption Timeline

  • Travel Dates--11-26 March
  • Swearing In Ceremony at Consulate--25 March (Lilly's 3rd Birthday!)
  • Consulate Appointment (CA)--24 March
  • Travel Approval (TA)--19 February 2009
  • Received Letter of Approval (LOA)--22 January 2009
  • Received Pre-Approval (PA)--25 November
  • Submitted Letter of Intent (LOI) to adopt An Xiao Xue, soon to be named Lillian Joy Xiao Xue, 1 November (logged in at CCAA 21 November)
  • Referral Call from CCAI asking us to consider An Xiao Xue's profile--31 October
  • Dossier Log-in-Date (LID) 3 July 2008
  • Dossier to China (DTC)--June 27 2008
  • Dossier Submitted to CCAI--June 2008
  • Fingerprinted at USCIS Jacksonville--April 2008
  • Application Approval ("We're Pregnant!") January 2008
  • Submitted Adoption Application and 3 References--December 2007
  • Requested Application from Chinese Children Adoption International (CCAI) --November 2007
  • Decided to Investigate Agencies--October 2007