Twenty Weeks Together

     We had a bit of a set back in the attachment department since the surgery. I think the trauma of the recovery room--waking up and being cared for by strange people--was more than Isaac could handle. And because he never really went through the typical adoption attachment issues, it makes sense that something as significant as surgery would trigger it.  For nearly a week after his procedure Isaac couldn't---wouldn't---sleep unless he was touching me.  Glued to me, really; kung-fu-ninja death grip style. Which also meant I wasn't sleeping. *Yawn*.  It broke my heart to think how scared he must have been for those two hours in recovery before I was brought to him. Both with his birth mother & foster mom, they were there one minute...and then they weren't. Did he think I wasn't coming back?? Oh my sweet boy...hang on as tight as you want!  I'm NOT going anywhere!!  

     He has also been on a eating & drinking strike since the surgery (again, an attachment issue) which has been a little more troublesome. I tried every trick in the book, including not forcing anything and letting him tell me when he was ready to eat...20 hours later, I had to draw the line. If I can get him totally distracted, he eats & drinks like a champ so I'm thankful for Elmo on the Kindle!  I'm hoping this phase passes quickly...and praying for wisdom in the meantime.

    

 

      In every other way, Isaac is a normal two year old. :) He hates being told no (who doesn't?!) and has one of two responses---a pouty lip that should be nominated for an Oscar or full-on crocodile tears that are really quite pathetic. Both of which remind me of our Father's sweet patience with us as His children.  He also has started giving real kisses, which is SUPER cute. Sometimes if I ask for a kiss, he throws whatever body part is closest in my direction and hopes it lands near my lips. Other times, he looks me straight in the face, grabs my cheeks and smooches me full-on the lips! How can that not melt your heart?! He has also developed a habit of, what I can only describe as, hugging my face.  He puts his cheek on mine, wraps his arms chubby little arms around my head and squeezes as hard as he can! I usually end up laughing, which makes him squeeze even harder.  It's an awesome cycle to be stuck in!!

   Isaac is also officially walking. In fact, he walked the length of the house and followed me out the front door one day as I was loading presents into the car.  Good gravy, child.  I won't lie, he looks like an orangutan walking with his arms above his head and oooh--ahh-ing with excitement as he propels himself forward.  While crawling is still his business form of transportation (fast & accurate), walking has become both pleasurable & comedic for us both. This new found freedom also means the bathroom doors are closed (hello, unrolling the toilet paper!) and my sock drawer is in permanent disarray. Both are wonderful 'problems' to have when I think again of this beautiful little miracle living in my life.

     Here are some random photos of the last two weeks:

Helper of the day at the dentist's office

Catching up on some reading

Hamming it up with the phone

Getting his GQ on

Bubbles!!!

 

Merry Christmas!

Boy, those words have a different meaning this year! It's more than Isaac's first Christmas. It's the overwhelming awareness that because the Son was born (& died) I was adopted into my Father's family. What He wouldn't do to bring me HOME!!

 

Some photos from our family celebration of Jesus's birth:

Playing with the nativity under the Cousin Tree

 

Christmas Eve!

Jesus's birthday cake (ala Cousin Magdalene)

Auntie Tavia reading books with Cousin Magdalene & Cousin Vaughn

Christmas morning!

With Gramma & Cousin Magdalene

Uncle Thad & Cousin Zane hamming it up!

With Uncle Caleb...and whatever angle happens to have caught Isaac's attention

 This next series of pictures cracks me up!  Attempting a Matchy-Christmas-PJ-Cousin-Photo:

Carefully align the three siblings...

Add Isaac...the Asian Biting Machine

Attempt a photo in which only the 4month old is looking...

Oh geez...Isaac!

 

Isaac, no!

No cannibalism on Christmas!!

Understandably Cousin Vaughn is wary of trying this again...

Finally!  (sorta)
 

Opening stockings

 

Opening up presents
He figured out the ripping paper part, pretty quick!

Guess who got a bubble machine for Christmas!!

Playing cars (& NOT biting) with Cousin Vaughn

Christmas was a good day. My boy was surrounding by his forever family celebrating the birth of our Forever Lord. It doesn't get much better than that!

Merry Christmas from Desiree & Isaac!!

 

 

 

Ninteen Weeks Together: A New Heartbeat

     The initial medical report I received from China regarding Isaac noted that he had a heart murmur.  It also said he had a cleft lip & cleft palate and normal female genitalia.  In his pictures, Isaac had neither cleft lip/cleft palate nor female genitalia, so you can see why we had little cause to trust the validity of the medical reports. I was a good medical-momma and checked him head to toe on our first morning together in the hotel room 28 floors above Guiyang, China and lo-and-behold there was indeed a large blowing heart murmur. No lub-dub, only a 'swish-slosh'. Heart defects are not uncommon in Down syndrome and can be quite problematic so I knew immediately that surgery was going to be in store of my tiny little Asian.

     Several months ago I wrote about Isaac's diagnosis of the PDA (patent ductus arteriosis) HERE and you'll recall we were praising the Lord that of all the holes-in-the-heart you can have, Isaac had the smallest and most fixable of them all. In fact, he had the typical-kiddo hole-in-the-heart hole and it had nothing to do with the Down syndrome. Awesome-sauce!

       We arrived at the hospital at 6:30 in the morning on Thursday and Isaac was hamming it up in his monkey pjs with the other kids in the waiting room. I was concerned that having had nothing to eat since 7pm in the night before he would be a little cranky, but he was more than distracted with all the new sights & sounds. Thankfully, they allowed me to get dressed up in a bunny suit and bring Isaac into the operating room while they gently put him to sleep. It was a comfort to my heart that mine was the last face he saw before he drifted off. He was a champ!  He didn't fuss or worry or fight at all.  I think the true blessing of the day was his procedure gown had a string!!

He was NOT fond of that net on my head.

Kisses

Yeah!  A string!!

 

     It was a little over two hours before the surgeon came out to give me the good news that all was well. (He actually scared me a bit when he first walked in and chose to shut the door, sit down and silently stare me in the face in response to my lighthearted "so, how'd he do?" Good gravy, doc. Lead with "all is well"!) I've put the before and after pictures of his heart below. For the medical-geeks out there, it's pretty cool to see. I suppose if you are queasy, you may want to scroll down quickly. I think the AMAZING part of it all is the entire procedure was done through the major vein in Isaac's leg. No scars on the chest, no week long hospital stay. We were in & out faster then a trip to the urgent care for an ear infection!

BEFORE: you can see the blood flowing between the aorta & pulmonary artery in the circle and the poor blood pressure in the aorta going to the body in the box.

 

AFTER: the "top hat" is damming the flow between the aorta & pulmonary artery in the circle above, and the blood flow pressure is normal in the aorta (box below)

     There was a bit of a mishap when I got to Isaac in the recovery room. He wasn't breathing well and he had a vascular 'rash' on his surgery leg that showed signs blood wasn't circulating appropriately. I quickly put my hands over him and prayed for the Lord to move rapidly. We most certainly hadn't come this far to have complications!  In the next 45minutes while the nurses were running to get the appropriate equipment & calling the surgeon to help Isaac, his breathing normalized and the vascular 'rash' completely disappeared. Praise the Lord! 
     It was my job to keep my scared little two year old completely flat on his back with no movement, crying, straining or laughing or eating, but keep him awake. R-R-R-I-I-I-G-G-H-H-T-T-T.  I'm so thankful for the kindle and Elmo and Gramma! We watched special videos; I sang Itsy-Bitsy spider 4,000 times, and let Isaac put his pulse oximeter (band aid light on the finger to measure oxygen levels) up my nose to see it glow. (That got me BIG points in the toddler arena...a little difficult to explain to the cranky recovery room nurse!)

Can you tell we've been up since 4:30am??

Chewing on his favorite string & watching Elmo

     By God's grace & the miracle of modern medicine Isaac had heart surgery and we were home 9 hours after we arrived!  How crazy is that?  Technically, we were to stay on bed rest for 48 hours...this is my boy on 'bed rest':

     You can see, he is obviously doing VERY well.  :)  It was strange to rock him to sleep that night knowing he had a new heartbeat. It had never in his little life beat like it does now.  The literal rhythm of his life is radically different. That God has given wisdom and insight to humans to care for the brokenness of our bodies is amazing. He truly does "heal the broken hearted & bind up our wounds". (Psalm 147:3)
     Isaac will have regular follow up with a pediatric cardiologist in the next few years, but he shouldn't need any further procedures and can lead a full and healthy life. The only remnant of the day is a small scar at his diaper line:

Bandage on

Bandage off

     A HUGE thank you to all that covered us in prayer!  It was such a blessing to know that so many people---from Washington to Tennessee to Minnesota to California to Canada to Delaware---were interceding for us. God has continued to surround this little boy of mine with miracles upon miracles!!

Eighteen Weeks Together

     One of the first things we noticed about Isaac while in China was that he didn't know how to play, especially with toys.  He would watch us carefully, and wriggle around on the bedspread in the hotel room, and he would even take things in & out of a drawer but he really had no clue what to do with the few toys I brought from home.  Let me tell you...that is NO longer a problem!  He's pushing cars across the floor, sitting & "reading" books, snuggling with stuffed animals, banging pots & pans in the kitchen, and even helping baby Jesus from his nativity ride the Ferris wheel from his jungle train.  (I'm sure baby Jesus had a great time!)  I love to see his mind figure things out. He has even started imaginary play...feeding me pretend food, or using the potato bag as a pillow in the kitchen, or putting a drum on his head for a hat.  It's super cute!  I'm curious to see how his sense of humor develops...

 

Flying Super Grover is now a permanent member of our dinner party!

There is a three & a half step process to playing with the Mega Blocks:
1)Make as much noise as possible rustling the blocks while in the box;
2) Throw ALL the  blocks out of the box, ultimately forming a Lego crop circle;
2.5) Stack blocks together, but only if they hand close enough to reach;
3) Get inside the block box

 

First time stacking the rings by himself!!
(in the church Momma & Me room)

Fun new game of taking the cupboard items and sticking them in the drawer above.

Bath time with Gramma
(not WITH, just...with)
 

We had another Christmas field trip this week to Fantasy Lights. Apparently this is the largest drive-through light display in the Northwest. I don't know if that is true or not, but it's close to home and we get to stay in a heated car with Christmas music and hot chocolate readily available, so it's good by me!

Excited to see the lights...aka: be in pjs in the car

 

 

He clapped and giggled for the first half of the drive.
I love that you can see his excitement in the window!

 

This next week will be a full one. We have appointments in Seattle with the geneticist and the endocrinologist. Isaac is also scheduled for his heart surgery. I would ask that you keep us in mind and in your prayers as we take this next step towards health. Please pray for:

1. Safety over Isaac's little body & peace over his mind and heart.
2. Wisdom for Isaac's medical team.
3. Complete healing of the hole in Isaac's heart.
4. No complications and a quick recovery
5. Peace over my heart (For those that know me well, you know I don't like being on this side of the stethoscope!)
6. For the Lord to be glorified yet again as our Great Physician and perfect Healer.

If everything goes as expected we should only have to stay in the hospital just one night at the most. My priority won't be posting updates, so I thank you now for your faithful intercession and I expect to have a good report this time next week! 

 

Four Month Update--An Interview with Isaac

Happy Family Day, Isaac!!!
We've been a family for FOUR MONTHS!

 

 

Isaac, can you tell us what's new in the last month?
Yikes!  I've done a lot. There was Thanksgiving at my cousins' house. I got to eat all the orange & red food (sweet potatoes, carrots, pumpkin, cranberry & jello). I think next year I'll try the beige & white foods. I also had TWO birthday parties, I think because I turned two, but I'm not sure. Cake is fun! And I got to tear lots of paper, then new toys turned up at my house. How did that happen?? At my big party, I didn't know what to do with all my kid friends & big friends in the same place so I stayed in the exo-womb with Momma. Momma says I have SO MANY people who love me and are celebrating that I am home and isn't that wonderful? I suppose it is kinda cool, isn't it?

 

 

Are you a good sleeper? Do you sleep through the night well?

Momma says she was blessed with an awesome sleeper! That's me!! I'm an early napper (10-noon), but I want to get the sleep out of the way so I can play the rest of the day. It seems like a good strategy to me. I normally fall asleep right away when Momma rocks me at night. Sometimes the sleep goes away when I turn over and Momma finds me crying while I'm sitting up with my eyes closed.  She lays me down & pats me until I go to sleep again and everything is fine.  Sometimes if I wake up before the sun does I get to come into Momma's bed, but there are two rules.  1) No putting fingers up Momma's nose while she is resting. She does NOT like that, and 2) I don't have to sleep, but I can play quietly until both Jesus AND Matt Lauer are awake. Apparently, any hour before that is 'ungodly'. I don't know what that means, but it doesn't sound good...

  

What new toy are you playing with now a days?
There have been a lot of boxes coming to the front door lately. Momma gets to keep whats on the inside and I get to keep the box...what a deal!!  I can do all sorts of things with the box that I can't do with my other toys.  I also just got a Super Grover for my birthday and HE FLIES!  I can sign 'more flying' and I usually ask for Super Grover during eating time. Momma says I eat much better when I'm distracted. I say I'll do whatever you want, just keep him flying!!
 

How about food? Do you have a new or old favorite?
I got to have cranberry sauce for the first time at Thanksgiving...that is GREAT stuff!  So now I get to have with a lot of my food. I really like sweet & sour shrimp like Momma; I ate two bowls of that the other day.  But what is REALLY awesome is Pirates' Booty!  My cousin showed me how to eat this and now I can't get enough of it!  Momma says I'm addicted and if I'm not careful I'm going to have to go to a meeting and talk about it. I don't understand, because I go to meetings with her at work all the time and they never talk about Pirates' Booty. Why would I want to do that again? 

 

What do you see happening in the next month before we talk to you again?
 I have a couple more doctor's appointments coming up and my heart surgery, but Momma says not to worry.  I also have two trees in my house right now. A big one in the front room with all the pretty balls on it and a little one in the family room with pictures of me and my cousins that I get to play with.  Momma keeps talking about Baby Jesus and his birthday.  I just had MY birthday and that was super fun, so I think celebrating Jesus's birthday will be fun too!  AND I think I get to spend the night at Gramma's house with my cousins when we have His party. Yeah!!