Surgery and Time Since.......

Alex had his first surgery on May 24th. We had to be at the hospital at 8:30 and the surgery was scheduled for 10AM. However, the doctor was running behind and Alex didn't actually get into surgery until almost noon. The surgery lasted 5.5 hours and Alex did great. The surgery was successful in what the doctor was able to do, however, he was unable to do everything that he had planned. After starting the surgery, the surgeon found out that Alex's eurethra was so under developed - that he spend the entire 5.5 hours working on that. I met Alex in the recovery room and he was so brave. He was lying on that bed attached to all those monitors - it's such a scary site to see your baby like that. The nurses let me pick him up and hold him while he was coming out of the anestheisa. After he woke up a little, they moved us to another room where Doug could join us. At this point - it was 6PM at night and Alex hadn't eaten in almost 24 hours. He was SO excited to see that bottle! He drank the whole thing and ate yogurt melts instantly. The few days after the surgery were much better than we thought they would be. He was obvioulsy a little uncomfortable - but never seemed to be in a great deal of pain. One of the things Doug & I worried about was that this surgery would slow down his progress developmentally...and in fact, the exact opposite happened. He didn't like to crawl after the surgery (had a tube in his bladder for 10 days and crawling must have been uncomfortable for him) - so he started walking more. He contineus to do well. We had a minor scare the day they took the tube out of his bladder. He developed a 102 fever that night. Ended up being a bladder / urinary tract infection that was controlled by antibiotics. His surgery was one month ago tomorrow and you would never even know he had it. It's amazing how resiliant little ones are! Thank you all for your prayers! Next one will be sometime around Thanksgiving.

Alex is still a "challenging" boy...and we are still in the transition phase as a family (almost 5 months later)! He definitely wants all the attention and will let you know he is very unhappy when he isn't getting it. He is also still very resistant to anything new and it takes several tries to make him feel comfortable in a new setting. He's a demanding, stubborn, strong willed little boy, who is completely attached to his mom! However, after not getting any love or affection for the first 15 months of his life - no wonder he has some of these issues we are still working through! He's grown so much in the past 5 months. We just stopped giving him his nighttime bottle this week. The doctor said it was no longer necessary as he is now 28 pounds! He is also so close to walking. Actually, he is walking - but just refuses to do it without holding onto someone's hand - even though he totally could (remember the stubborn comment :-) He has the coordination and the balance down - just needs to gain the confidence now. He continues to learn new words. He just added banana to the list and will recognize and point some words out in a book. I can't help but wonder in a year from now what he'll be like - talking and running around after his big brother.

More Firsts....

In the past 2 weeks Alex has learned to clap, wave hello and good-bye and has added his third word to his vocabulary! He now says "ut oh." He is so proud of himself when he says it. He just grins from ear to ear. He's been saying it non stop for the past few days. I even hear him saying it in his crib when he wakes up from his nap (like he's practicing). It's pretty cute.

His surgery is one week from tomorrow on the 24th. We had his pre surgical consultation last week. The surgery will be 3-4 hours and is a pretty complex procedure. We would really appreciate your prayers. The surgeon said right now it is scheduled to be an out patient procedure, but he will re-evaluate the day of the surgery.

We've noticied a few occasions now where the boys are playing together...instead of just playing in parallel. It brings such a huge smile to my face! Tonight Alex was swinging in the baby swing on our swingset in the backyard and Sam would walk in front of him and pretend like the swing hit him...and Alex would just crack up laughing, which in turn made Sam laugh. It was so fun to see. Both boys also helped us plant strawberries and tomaotes tonight. I had one helper on each side. Loved it!

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18 month check up

I know it's been awhile since we posted on here, but I am going to try and update it once a week this month leading up to Alex's surgery. His surgery is scheduled for May 24th. Doug went into work late this morning and we took Alex in for his 18 month check up. The doctor said he looks fantastic! He gained 4 pounds in the 3 months that we have had him home (now weighs 26 lbs and is in the 55%). He has also grown 1.5 inches and is now 30.75 inches tall (10%...but we are cutting him some slack seeing that he IS Asian and being measured on an American scale :-). He has also reached some major milestones in the past week. He has just learned how to feed himself (with his hands...not using utensils yet) and he is also now "crusing" around furniture. He is down to 1 bottle a day - which the doctor said we could do away with at anytime now - since he is no longer lacking in nutrients. I think the doctor referred to him as a "tank" once! He still only says the words "momma and dadda" but our doctor said that isn't a cause of concern being that he has only heard English being spoken for 3 months. Doug & I do think he understands some things we say (night- night, bye bye, kitty cat, etc..) even though he can't speak them yet. Alex had an appt with the surgeon a few weeks ago and has received 2 of the 3 testosterone booster shots that he needs before his surgery on the 24th. The surgeon was very happy with the growth the shots have produced because that will give them more tissue to work with for his reconstruction. We would appreciate all of your prayers in the upcoming weks as we prepare for his surgery.

I went back to work at the beginning of April. I was worried that the transition would be hard for the boys - but they both did great. In fact - I think it really helped Alex gain some independence. He became so attached to me in the 3 months that I was home with him...that I was starting to worry that it was hindering his development. He wanted to be held all the time. Now that I've gone back to work 3 days a week - he is more content to play with toys, crawl around the house and explore, and is genreally just much less clingy. The transition has gone well for me too. I really love the balance that working part time brings to me.

Alex's fist Easter was alot of fun. We hosted both the Tobins and the Wichmans at our house. Sam and Alex got to spend alot of time with their cousins and family. Sam was part of the Palm Sunday celebration at church this year for the first time. Doug & I just loved watching him walk into the church waving his palm. When they got up to the front of the church - he spent most of the time facing the wrong direction - but we thought he did great! Both boys also got to take part in an Easter egg hunt at our church. Sam had a blast filling up his basket with all the eggs. Alex crawled around and swatted at most of them, so Sam helped to fill his basket.

Doug & I just got back from spending 3 beautiful, relaxing days in AZ. Doug had to go for work, and I just tagged along. It was the first time were were away from Alex for that long - but the boys did great. They stayed home and got spoiled from grandma and grandpa while we were gone. Sam seemed to really enjoy himslef and not miss us so much - so I think he has officially forgotten about the trauma from us leaving him for 2 weeks while we were in China!

This week Alex turned 17 months old! He's made some huge leaps forward this past week. He now pulls himself up unassisted and also drinks from a sippy cup! He doesn't hold onto it himself yet, and we're still working on teaching him to feed himself, but he sure has come a long way from 6 weeks ago when we brought him home!

His surgery is scheduled for May 24th. He has to have 3 testosterone booster shots before the surgery (which have to be spaced at 3-4 week intervals) so that is why the surgery isn't until then. He gets his first shot next Monday.

Today was beautiful outside and we spent most of the day outdoors. We went to 2 parks and Alex took his first wagon ride! He wasn't too sure of it at first, but after he got use to it I think he enjoyed it (except for the few times Sam tried laying on him)! I'm exhausted tonight after basically holding Alex all day. I know you're not suppose to wish things to come too early for your kids..but it will be so much easier when Alex walks! I caried him all over today while pushing Sam on his tricycle, pushing Sam on the swing, playing with Sam at the playgound, etc... I'm worn out!

Here are a few pictures from the past few we

eks!

First Family Vacation

We took our first family vacation as a family of 4 this weekend. Doug had bought a Wisconsin Dells weekend away last June (before Alex was even in the picture) so we spent Sat-Monday there. The boys had a blast. The first day of the trip was rough (Alex crying a good chunk of the 3 1/2 hour drive, wrong room accomodation when we got there, Alex waking up in the middle of the night crying) - but after all that, the last day was alot of fun. Sam couldn't get enough of the big water slides with his daddy. They must have gone down them 20 times before we left. Alex also just loves the water! He should fit right in this summer on the boat! He went down the little slides with mommy and spent alot of time hanging out with me on the lazy river. It was a nice little getaway.

The doctor called and all test results were great news for Alex. He is all boy and just has external problems that can be fixed with his surgeries. So, we are now in the process of getting the first one booked. We're hoping it will happen in March before I go back to work part time.

Pictures of our time in the Dells coming soon!

Making Progress

Sunday will be one month since we've been home with Alex. Everyone was right...it does get a little easier each day. We are starting to get into more of a routine which is helpful. Alex has recently become interested in toys. His favorites right now are a monkey jack in the box and any toy that has beads on it he can push around with his hands. We have a big cube that has activities on each side. The top has wires on it with beads that slide along the wires. He loves to push those beads back and forth. He also loves his jack in the box. He works so hard to turn the knob on the side. He doesn't have the coordination to turn it yet...but he sure is contect on trying! I've also learned that he can really get around a room when he wants something. I left my sunglasses laying on the floor yesterday...and he crawled all the way across the floor to get them. He doesn't get up on all four when he crawls..it is more of a belly crawl...but he can certainly move when he wants to.

Doug had President's Day off on Monday so we had a nice 3 day weekend as a family. Saturday it was still nice enough to get outside a little so we spent alot of the morning playing on our swingset in the backyard. We couldn't believe how much more coordinated Sam is. He can now climb right up the rockwall to the fort with no trouble and no help. He also got to show his big brother how to go down a slide and how he likes to swing in the big boy swing now. Alex swung on the swing with me and seemed to like it. I couldn't help but think how much easier my life would have been if we adopted in the summer! The morning flew by just being able to go outside with the boys! We all get cabin fever stuck in the house all day. Monday we took the boys to the Naperville Children's Museum. Sam just loved it. Most of the activites were too advanced for Alex, but he got to enjoy some things. They had a station where you could put colored stickers on a window and peel them back off again. This was his favorite station. He loves to work with his hands....exactly like his big brother!

I'm expecting a call from the doctor today regarding the results of Alex's bloodwork and ultrasounds. From what the nurse told me yesterday, everything looks good...however, the doctor will need to interpret them completely and call me back today. The doctors wanted to rule out any "mixed" gender issues due to the severity of Alex's genital deformity. It looks like that has all been ruled out - and we will be able to proceed with the surgeries like we had expected. Thanks for the prayers

Pictures

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The Transition

It has been just over 2 weeks since we've been home and the transition is finally starting to get easier. Just in the past few days, Alex has become more of the happy, laid back child we knew in China. He has become less clingy and will now sit and play on the floor. I have to be right by his side, but just this change alone is making it much easier to manage both boys. He is also just starting to take an interest in toys...and is starting to find his big brother pretty entertaining. Sam and Alex are still getting along very well, but still tend to play in parallel, more than play together. I am sure that will change soon enough! Alex is making alot of progress developmentally. When we got him, he couldn't stand up at all. He can now stand on his own holding onto something (couch, coffee table, etc..). He also says "mama" and "dada" and can use them in the right context. He also has just recently learned to eat from a spoon. We are now working on getting him to feed himself. He has come a long way in just 3 weeks!

Alex had an appt with the pediatrician the day after we got home. The doctor said it looked as if he had been well cared for. He was 22 pounds (15 % for weight) and continues to eat like a champ. His doctor recommeneded we keep giving him bottles for the next several months to help nourish him and to "make up" for the nutrients in his diet he was certainly lacking in China. He was also 15% for height. He had his first appt with the urologist specialist last week. They are running some bloodwork tests now. He also has an ultrasound tomorrow, and when they get the results of those tests back, we will proceed with making plans for this surgeries.

The Transition

Well, tomorrow will mark the one week point of arriving home.  The transition hasn't been easy.  Alex has been very clingy since we've been home.  That is making it very hard on me when I am home alone with both boys.  Sam is such an energetic little 2 year old that he hardly stays in the same place for more than a few minutes at a time and then he is on to his next adventure.   I'm finding it hard to keep up with him while having to hold Alex constantly.  Alex was such a happy, laid back boy in China...but his adjustment here has been hard on him.  He adjusted to his new sleep schedule very quickly (only took a few nights) so that is a relief.  I talked to our adoption counselor about his change in behavior and she confirmed that this is pretty normal behavior.  She said I should just try and comfort him as much as I can right now.  She said when he starts feeling more secure in his environment..the clinginess will go away.  So, for now - I am spending much of the day wearing an infant carrier with him attached to the front of me.   They also reminded me that he is just scared because everything is new to him.   New people, new smell, new sounds, new surroundings, new family.  That helped me to remember that his world was turned upside down and to think of it from his little standpoint instead of thinking about how inconvienced I am and how hard this is on me.  So, we would appreciate your prayers for Alex to become accustomed to his new life quickly and for patience and compassion for our family as  we adjust.    Sam is a great big brother.  He helps me give Alex his bottle every morning.  He also loves to go in with me and get him up from his nap.    There have even been times when he will ask with genuine concern "baby Alex...baby Alex?"  when he doesn't see him around.  He has such a sweet temperment. 

We're Home

We made it!   Alex did great on the flight home.  He slept about 5 hours out of the 14.5.  Doug & I on the other hand are going on 24 hours with no sleep!   We're exhausted, and are hoping that Alex sleeps some tonight so we can try and recover a little.  Sam met us at the airport with Doug's parents.  We were SO happy to see him.  He had 2 little Welcome Home balloons for us and ran to us with big hugs!   So far, he has been great with "baby Alex" also.  He's given numerous hugs and kisses!  Thanks to everyone for their prayers.  Our flight went better than we ever expected!  I will post pictures of the brothers together tomorrow.  I'm too tired to look for the camera right now!  :-)

Days in Guangzhou

 

Monday afternoon we had our oath taking at the US Consulate office.  It was nothing like I expected it to be.  It was very informal.  In fact, we took our oath along with about 40 other adoptive families.   The paper chase in the US to get your dossier done in order to adopt is intense, time-consuming, and frustrating at times.  However, once you get over here, it is all very easy and very informal.  The oath taking ceremony itself took about 5 minutes.   The US Consulate office isn't very impressive either.   It's on the 5th floor of a regular office building and the only thing to signify that it's the Consulate office is a little sign in the lobby with an American flag on it.    For dinner Monday night, we walked to a restaurant called the Banana Leaf.  It was a Thai restaurant and the food was great.  They even had some entertainment at one point with waiters/waitresses singing and dancing.  THat kept the kids entertained.

Yesterday morning we walked to a nearby park (it's been around 50 degrees here).  The park was very pretty.  There was a little lake that you could rent motorized boats on.  They also had the typical park playground for kids.  In addition to that, they had little roller coasters, a bouncy house, and a small merry go round.  Doug took Alex for his first ride.  He seemed to enjoy it.   THe park was filled with Chinese people playing games, excercising/meditating, a playing badmitton.   Later that afternoon we went to a Folk Museum.  I wasn't that excited about going there, but it turned out to be very neat.   It displayed different craftmanships done by the Chinese people, such as bone carvings, embroidery art, clay sculptures, and porcelin hand paintings.  It was amazing to see their finished products.  They are very talented.

Today we leave the hotel at 2:20 for our 4 hour bus trip to Hong Kong.  We spend the night there at the hotel airport and our flight leaves tomorrow at 11:25AM for Chicago.   Please pray for travel mercies for this very, very long flight with Alex.

Sunday in Guangzhou

Yesterday we left the hotel at 10AM and went to Shamian Island to do some shopping.  This is in the same location that Alex had his doctor appt a few days ago.  It's full of hotels that many adoptive families stay at...so the area has alot of stores full of China souvenier type stuff.  We shopped until 1PM and then headed back to our room.  After Alex's nap we ventured out again.  We finally gave in and bought a stroller this morning...so now when we are out and about it is alot easier on us.  Alex was great in his backpack carrier that we brought with us, but after a week of carrying him around, both of our backs were getting sore.  We are on the go so much that having this stroller is so nice.   After our outdoor walk we had dinner with the other 2 families that we are on our trip with on the top floor of our hotel in the revolving restaurant.  We eat breakfast there every morning, but seeing the view of the city at night was incredible.

Alex is doing great.   His cold has improved significantly since he has been on antibiotics.  He is also taking cold medicine twice a day and that has helped greatly with his coughing at night/naps.  He is also getting stronger everyday.  When we got him, his legs felt like jello and were so rubbery.  Last night we had him standing up holding onto the bed all by himself.  He wouldn't move either direction, but just to see him standing up was great.  He continues to eat great and seems to eat more and more at each meal.   We've figured out his nap schedule, although when we get home I am sure that will change again. Although, it is helpful now to know when he starts getting fussy what the cause of it is.  He is sleeping about 30 minutes around 10AM, then sleeps 90 minutes at 1PM and takes a quick 20 minute cat nap every night around 6PM.  He has done this same schedule the last several days in a row now.  The orphange staff told us that he just slept 3 hours at noon - but I've come to realize that that is more than likey when they put him down in his crib with the rest of the other babies, not neccsarily when he napped.   When I was here in June, it was very common to see babies fall asleep in their walkers..so I am guessing that is what happened in the morning and late afternoon. 

This afternoon we have to go to the US Consulate appt.  We have our oath taking ceremony at 2:30 PM.   We are also waiting for Alex's visa to be issued, which will allow him to enter the United States.  

Doug got up this morning early to check him phone and found out the Bears lost.  Bummer.  Alex wore his Bears gear all day yesterday, regardless.

Welcome Guangzhou

We made it to the last city on our adoption journey (well, technically Hong Kong is the last city but since we are there less than 24 hours and just sleeping at the hotel at the airport…I’m not counting it).   Yesterday was a long day.  We left the hotel at 1PM and took an hour ride to the airport.  Alex fell asleep in the van on the way there.  This little boy will sleep anywhere.  We got to the airport at 2:30 and had a 4:30 flight.  For some reason, we had a slight layover at Xian.  So, we flew for about 45 minutes, had to get off the plane, wait 25 minutes and then get back on the plane.  The rest of the flight took about 2 hours and 20 minutes.  Alex did pretty well.  There were periods of crying…but I expected there would be.  We were worried about his ears because of his bad cold and cough…but he did great.  No problems there.  We landed at 9PM and then took an hour ride to our hotel….so it was a late night.  Alex did great…..he is just as happy as he can be as long as mommy or daddy is holding him.  Guangzhou is a welcome change from Lanzhou.  It’s warmer, cleaner, friendlier, and a lot more Amerincanized.  We have a KFC and Pizza Hut right next door to our hotel.  And our hotel is amazing.   It feels like we are staying at the Ritz compared to where we just came from.  Our room is really nice and very clean.  This morning we were actually able to put Alex on the floor in the hotel room to see how mobile he really is (in Lanzhou we just kept him on the bed as the floor in our hotel room was pretty nasty).   He can move around…but it is more of an army crawl.  He gets up on all four, but doesn’t actually move forward that way.  He pivots in all directions very quickly and can roll back and forth very easily.  We think developmentally he is about like a 6-8 month old.  Good thing he has a very active big brother at home he can quickly learn from!  

After a good night’s rest we left our hotel this morning at 8:50AM to go to Alex’s medical appointment.  The facility was strictly a place where they check out adopted children.  It was hectic and a little chaotic (which is basically ever public place in this country).  We found out he weighs 22 pounds…which is pretty good.  They checked his hearing and vision and both were great.  He wasn’t real happy when the doctor came in to check on his hypospadias.   They said everything they had reported on his medical referral was true…..so we will take care of that with his surgeries when we get back home.   We also had a doctor there check out his cold as he coughed most of the night last night.   They prescribed him an antibiotic and cough medicine…so we got the first dose in him around noon today.  We hope that helps as his cough seemed to be getting worse each day.

After his doctor appt we went to a supermarket and bought some basics to get us through the week (water, diapers, formula, etc..).  We were loading up after the supermarket and someone spotted a Papa John’s…so we asked our guide if we could eat there for lunch.   It was fantastic!  

This afternoon and tonight we have free time.  Alex is napping right now and after the nap we are going to go out exploring a little.  We weren’t really able to do that much in Lanzhou.  Partially because it was so cold there and partially because there wasn’t anything next to our hotel to do!  We are looking forward to seeing what this hotel has to offer also.   I know they have an indoor pool, so we will have to see how Alex likes that.  He absolutely hated his bath the first two times we gave him one, so this morning we tried a shower with daddy and he liked that a lot better.   We know this hotel has a revolving restaurant on the top floor that overlooks the city.  We went up there for breakfast this morning, but we were running late and didn’t get a chance to eat there and instead just grabbed something quick for the bus.  I forgot how long it takes to get ready with a baby in the morning (having to pack formula and bottles and everything).  It should be interesting when I get back home and have to pack for 2 boys!

Last Day in Lanzhou

I would like to report that we are going  to miss Lanzhou....but truthfully, we are ready for the last and final city in our adoption trip (Guanghzou).  Lanzhou is just dreary.  It is so polluted that even when the sun shines, you can't see it through the thick haze above you.  We know we are surrounded by mountains, but you hardly ever get to see them either.  This morning, though, we spent the morning at a Chinese museum, which was actually very interesting and nice.  We were told it was in the "top 10" of Chinese museums in the country.  It consisted of 3 floors, the first was all about Chinese history in regards to the Silk Road.   The Gansu province is famous for this as it passes through the majority of the province.  The second floor was all about their porcelain and pottery, but due to time constraints we skipped that floor.  The last floor was all about dinosaurs.  After the museum we went to lunch at a restaurant that is known for making "stretchy" noodles.    We were back at the room around 2PM for some naps.  After naps, we decided to have a birthday party for Alex and Cora (the daughter of the other family that we are traveling with).  We both missed their first birthdays...and thought that celebrating it here, in China, would be fun and someday we could tell them all about it.  So, we ventured out to a bakery that we found.  We found a sweet bread shaped like a turtle and used that as their cake.  I had brought a few toys from home for Alex...and by mistake there was a number one from a different toy set that somehow made the trip....which was perfect because we used that as their candle.   We sang Happy Birthday to them and Alex loved the "cake."  

 

 

This morning Doug and I were talking about all the ways God has answered prayers for us on this trip.  He got us here safely, he has kept us healthy and he has kept Sam safe and healthy with his grandparents.  He provided a smooth transition for us with Alex on Gotcha Day, Alex has bonded so quickly with us (and us with him).  Our paperwork all went smoothly, he has provided us with a great family to travel with that we have become very good friends with, he has provided great guides who accommodate all our requests and make us feel safe and comfortable in this chaotic country.  He has given us peace about Sam being at home.  Thanks for all the prayers on this as we both have commented in the last 24 hours that we are now feeling more at peace about this and are enjoying our trip and time with Alex instead of the guilt/sadness we were experiencing the first several days of the journey.  Thinking through all these praises reminds us of God's faithfulness.  It helps us to let go of our thoughts/worries of the future unknowns (the very long flight home and Alex's surgeries when we get there).  We are reminded that God is in control and is always faithful!

 

Alex is continuing to make us glow with joy.   He giggles and gives us so many smiles now.  He is starting to become a little pickier with his foods.  He is no longer interested in the steamed eggs and rice that he has probably eaten every day of his life for the past year (who can blame him)....but now prefers anything we are eating (especially tangelos...or any fruit).   He did great at the museum today and took his first ride in a stroller.   Tomorrow we leave the hotel at 1:30 and head to the airport.  We have a 4:30 flight to Guanghzou (about a 4 hour flight).  This will be good practice for the 14 hours flight home.  Alex has a cold and a bad cough (he had that when we got him on Monday) so we are a little worried about the flight and his ears.  Pray that it all goes well.

 

 

More Pictures of Alex