Lily's Heart Cath Results

Lily's heart cath is complete and the results are excellent!  Now we are just hanging around the hotel waiting for 24 hours to pass, so we can head back to Charlotte.

Lily needs to lay still for 24 hours post cath (easier said then done).  Torie and Isabelle made the trip with us to keep us company.  They are making trips to the pool while Lily and I sit in the hotel and watch DVD"s.  The girls are also enjoying time coloring in their new coloring book.

Dr. Bandisode gave us great news!  Lily has 2 working ventricles, and if all goes well, Dr. Bradley will be able to do a bi-ventricle repair on Lily's heart.  This means she will have close to normal heart anatomy once her open-heart surgery is complete.  This also means she can have her surgery soon instead of waiting for surgery. 

This news is an answer to prayer and could not have been better!!

Tomorrow we'll drive home to Charlotte and look at our calendar to coordinate Lily's open-heart surgery around Isabelle's open-heart surgery which is already scheduled for September.

Home Two Weeks & Heart Cath Next Week

We've been home two weeks, and we're getting into the routine of life.  Polishing toe nails.  Dressing up like princesses.  Riding horses.  You know...the important things! 

While the girls and I have been playing, Phil has fixed everything that broke while we were in China. 

When deciding to adopt, you can rest assured the enemy will attack!  Our attack came in the form of a series of broken items.  A 3rd story plate glass window in our house which broke inexplicably.  Dishwasher.  Back window and door in our vehicle.  Washing Machine.  I'm thankful I married a man who can fix (almost) anything.  We did have to purchase a new washing machine, but he was able to repair the rest of the items.

Phil's teachers started full-time this past Monday and his students begin next Monday, so I decided to restart our homeschool this week too.  We managed to fit in a few weeks of school before I left for China, and today we had fun taking our "first day of school" photos.

After our photo session AnnaGrace practiced being an archaeologist and dug for a treasure in a pyramid while the little girls painted.  And Lily Rose seemed to enjoy her first day of homeschool too!

Next week Torie, Isabelle, Lily and I will head to MUSC in Charleston for Lily's heart cath on Tuesday.  We're praying it will reveal why her oxygen levels are so low and also give Dr. Bradley, the heart surgeon, the necessary information to determine which heart surgery he will be performing on her in the future.

I can't wait for everyone on staff to meet Lily.  The staff at MUSC are "old friends" now and Lily will surely charm them with her outgoing personality!

We're Home

Sorry for the long silence on the blog.  Now to catch you up on the last few days...

We took the train from Guangzhou to Hong Kong on Friday and spent the night in Hong Kong.  It was sad saying good bye to Aron our guide   We really enjoyed our time with her and even invited her to come visit us in the States.  We're hoping she'll take us up on the offer.

Saturday morning we made the long flight from Hong Kong to Detroit and then a short flight from Detroit to Charlotte.  From doorstep to doorstep we were awake for 26 hours and Lily only slept 3 hours.  She is an ever ready bunny for sure!  I wasn't sitting next to Torie and Michaela during the 15 hour flight from Hong Kong to Detroit, but in God's providence we sat next to the most patient business man.  When Lily insisted on pushing her foot against his leg he just said, "Don't worry that probably makes her feel more secure."  When she screamed for 20 minutes at a time because she was exhausted he just said, "This must be such a hard transition for her."  When I had to crawl over him to go change her diaper and take her for walks, he patiently got up and let us out.  I wanted to give that stranger a hug by the time we landed in Detroit.  The Lord knew who we needed as a travel companion on that long flight home.

For the last five days I've been battling a sinus infection/bronchitis.  I took my Z-Pac at the end of the time in China...it did no good.  We headed to our pediatrician/internist on Monday for Lily's appointment.  As soon as he heard me speak he wrote a prescription for a stronger antibiotic.  Now I'm wishing it would kick-in.  Jet lag and being sick too is NOT a fun combination.

On a brighter note, Lily is adapting to the family like she has been here her whole life.  She putters around the house and as long as the cats or dog are not in sight (she is not a fan of furry critters yet), she is happy as a clam.  This child is VERY easy going.  However, I have discovered that my house is not child proofed.  Isabelle is not one to explore and get into things.  Lily, on the other hand, is a scavenger.  She has unpacked my CD's, my DVD's, found tools that were left on low shelves, tried to open every drawer, cabinet door and regular door in the house.  It is reminiscent of our first...Torie...however, I'm twenty-one years older.  The Lord has a sense of humor for sure:)

Lily's Dr.'s appointments have gone well.  The pediatrician thinks she may have some neuro-muscular issues with her legs which we suspected in China.  They weren't listed in her file, but she has quite an unusual gait.  It's hard to tell if it's just because she was not allowed to walk due to her heart defect or if there is more involved.  We have an appointment scheduled with a pediatric neurologist that specializes in neuro-muscular issues, next Wednesday, and we'll find out more then.

Lily's pediatric cardiologist appointment also confirmed what I suspected...her O2 levels were MUCH lower than reported.  The last reading that we received was that her SAT's were at 81.  Isabelle's O2 levels run around 82, so I'm pretty used to seeing that level of "blue".  Lily looked much bluer to me, but I kept trying to rationalize it away...maybe it's just a difference in complexion, maybe it's because she doesn't have a tan, etc.  When we stuck the pulse ox on her finger yesterday, her O2 read 56 and that was when she was laying down.  When she stood up and moved around much it dropped as low as 48.  No wonder she looked blue.  That's a lower reading than Isabelle when we brought her home.  It's amazing how the Lord has prepared us for each of our children.  If I had a child this blue four years ago, I would have had a panic attack.  Now it's just "normal" for me.

Needless to say we need to find out why her O2 levels are so low considering she already had her Glenn surgery in China at 8 months old.  She is double outlet right ventricle, has a VSD, ASD and has pulmonary stenosis.  Our cardiologist believes she's either developed so many collateral vessels that they are bypassing the oxygenated blood or her stenosis is so severe it's not getting the oxygenated blood out to her body.  The good news is she has two good pumping ventricles which will give her a better long term prognosis.  We are trying to get her heart cath scheduled ASAP, in Charleston, and are hoping it will be August 7th. 

The other girls LOVE having Lily home and the most common refrain around here is "She is SOOOO cute!!"  She is much smaller than Isabelle.  Lily wears only a 18-24 mo. size despite the fact that she is 6 months older than Isabelle.  She is just a little peanut.  Sarah Mei loves it because she can actually carry Lily around. 

And she is quickly becoming a daddy's girl which is thrilling Phil too.  Life is good, and I'm enjoying doing absolutely NOTHING...no cooking, no house cleaning, just sitting and holding my girls most of the day as we all learn to live as a family of eight.  God is good and we are TRULY blessed!

XiangJiang Safari Park

Today we made the trip to the Consulate to turn in the last batch of paperwork and to process Lily Rose's visa. We forgot to put the memory card back in the camera, so we just took a picture when we got back to the hotel room.

One of our most exciting days so far was yesterday when we made a trip to the XiangJiang Safari Park in Guangzhou. Last time we were in China we visited the Guangzhou Zoo, and it was a bit depressing. The enclosures were small and the animals look depressed. In stark contrast to the zoo, the safari park had huge natural enclosures and large plains for the animals to graze in natural habitats. It was better than the San Diego Zoo which is the best U.S. zoo I've ever visited.
The visit started out with a tram ride called "safari on wheels" through the Asia and African plains. After the tram ride, we walked through the zoo area. The weather was perfect for the first two hours. It was an overcast day, so it wasn't so hot. Then the rain began, but our guide came armed with umbrellas, so it didn't slow us down too much.

Lily Rose made up for all of her lack of crying in one day, crying and screaming through much of the park. She screamed what sounded like "Ah - Me - Ah" which is Shanghainese for "That Way" every time I stopped walking. The Chinese DO NOT like their children to cry, much less scream, in public. It was really quite humorous as everyone looked on. They had no idea what she was saying say they speak Cantonese and Mandarin in this province, and she was screaming in Shanghainese (her dialect). We tried everything to soothe her...letting her walk, feeding her, giving her bottled water, even buying her ice cream...we had no idea what was making her so upset. She wasn't acting afraid, just mad. As long as I walked in the direction that she deemed was toward exit, she was slightly happier, but if I stopped to look at an animal or retracked my steps, we were all in big trouble. We finally just ended our trip early and called it a day. Needless to say she collapsed in her crib upon returning to the hotel and took a nice long nap! The day was still amazing as we got to see white tigers and pandas...two of China's magnificent animals. One of the interesting shows at the zoo was at the tiger enclosure. They had three different types of tigers in one enclosure. Evidently tigers love swimming (a fact I didn't know until reading the signs and facts about tigers.). During the show they held raw meat above the water. The tigers jumped up and got the meat, fell into the water and then happily swam and played in the water. It was quite a show to see how high they could jump and then to see them paddling around the water.The zoo also had an amazing breeding program. We got too see a plethora of baby animals including tigers, leopards, meerkats, monkeys, chimpanzees, bear, etc. If you are ever traveling to Guangzhou, I would put this safari park on the must see list!!

Tomorrow we leave 2:30 p.m. to pick up Lily's visa and then make our way to the train station. We board the train at 5:30 p.m. to head to Hong Kong. We will spend the night in Hong Kong and then fly out Friday a.m. for the States. We've had a great trip despite my cold turned to sinus infection. (I'm sure glad I brought cold meds and an antibiotic.) Our guide, Aron, has been wonderful which always makes the trip more enjoyable. It's been the perfect blend of sightseeing and free time. It will be sad to say "good-bye" to China but I'm ready to see my girls and Phil!! Just 3 more days:)

A Visit to Liuhua Lake Park

 

Today we spent the morning at the Liuhua Lake Park. Guangzhou built the park and dug a large man-made lake in the center. It has beautiful landscaping, numerous sitting areas, places for exercise, children's' play areas including little carnival type rides and paddle boat rentals. Since it was Sunday it was a busy day at the park. We enjoyed seeing some of the older generation practicing their exercising. It was also interesting because individuals brought their own music charts and lead group singing sessions for anyone that wanted to participate. We were also invited to participate in a ballroom dancing lesson but declined since we had Lily Rose with us.
Michaela took Lily Rose on her first carousel ride and she WASN'T impressed. She began screaming. It's the first time we've actually seen her really cry hard. Thankfully she was the only child on the little ride, and we were able to ask them to stop it. Needless to say that was the end of the rides for the day.  Next we went to the playground, and she discovered the slide. I think she would have stayed there all day. She loved it!
The park is a popular site for wedding photos. During our time walking around we saw three different bride and grooms having their photos made. They were beautiful, but we felt sorry for the brides since it was 95+ and high humidity. I can only imagine being in a wedding dress in that weather.  We also got to see the lotus flowers in bloom. They only bloom in July and early August, so we were excited we here at the right time of the year.  We spent the rest of the day inside in the AC. The heat wore us all out, but we really enjoyed our time in the park.