Hello Everyone! I want to apologize for not posting sooner, but we have been in survival mode around here. I cannot believe we have been home for 5 weeks this weekend. It has been a wild roller coaster ride since coming home. It has been a big adjustment for all 5 of us! I am learning that this is definitely not a race, but a marathon.
We had our first doctors appointment with our primary care physician on July 11th. Here is a picture in the waiting room before going back!
Luckily Grace had several shots in China and we were only missing 5 to be caught up. We got 4 shots and will do the 5th one with her 2 year shots in August. She did not like the doctor examining her, but everything checked out perfectly. She only cried a few minutes after receiving the shots and she was back to her happy self!! We also got a script for blood work, which we did the following week. All of her blood work also came back good! It is a relief to know that everything besides the bilateral cleft lip and palate is healthy!! Here is a picture back at home with her first sucker! It took a while for us to get her to put it in her mouth! She did not like it as much as I thought she would.
We decided to get out and go to a Ladybug release at the Myriad Gardens. The girls all had a great time and I got some good pictures. Grace is unhappy in the first one because I sat her down and she did not want that. She does not like getting her picture made.
We decided to release our ladybugs outside instead of in the greenhouse!! Grace was much happier once we were outside!!
Grace is still not wanting to nap much. We are continuing to work on that. She gets grumpy when she does not get enough sleep. Here is a cute picture of her playing around in her bed!
We had to go and run a few errands and pick out fabric for Sydney's quilt that she will be making at sewing camp. Who would have thought that you could be so happy to be at Hobby Lobby. You cannot help but smile when you see this face!!
The reality of surgery set in on about the Thursday before. I felt like I had everything under control, but there is something about your baby having surgery that makes you feel a little sick. The girls got invited to go to the lake the weekend before and were so excited to go! Thank you Will and Tracy for loving on our girls. They had the BEST time at the lake!!
We stayed home, played, and loved on her all weekend. We did not get much sleep due to nerves, but were able to have a low key weekend with Grace before surgery. Here is a picture of her playing with her Baba (Chinese for daddy). She loves playing and being silly!!
She also found a fun July 4th headband in her big sisters closet and loves wearing it around!!
Surgery day was a bittersweet day. We know the surgeries have to happen, but we felt like we were just starting to get a little bit adjusted and then we have to have surgery. We were full of nerves and anxiety, but know we are in good hands with Dr. Glade. Here are a few pictures before surgery. We were a little sad knowing her smile would not be this big after surgery. We LOVE her big smile!
They let me carry her back to the operating room and be with her until she was under anesthesia so she would not be traumatized about being taken away from us. She is still very cautious of people and does not like anyone except her momma, baba and 2 big sisters to touch or hold her.
This surgery is the shortest of the first 3 and will only be about an hour. The doctor took both sides of her lip and attached them to the middle piece in order to stretch the skin so that everything will go together easier on the final repair of the lip. The Dr. said that everything went together great and that there was not any tension on the skin. He also placed tubes in her ears. He said there was a lot of fluid on her ears so she should hear a lot better with that gone and the tubes. He assured us that she would not remember anything for the first hour after coming out of anesthesia. Shortly after the doctor left they came to get us to go back and see her. She was crying hard when we walked back. A nurse was holding her to try and calm her down. The second she got into her mamas arms she stopped crying. On a positive note it was good to know she knows her mama even coming out of anesthesia and on morphine. We stayed in recovery for a short while and then got moved to a room on the floor.
Once on the floor the nurse had to do vitals and re-tape her IV. She did not like any of this so it was nice when it was all over. Grace continued to be restless, but was able to have some water through a syringe and even eat some pureed food through a syringe for lunch. We found out that she is a very tough little girl and has a very high pain tolerance. The doctor could not believe she was already playing in the playroom by that afternoon. He joked that Chinese kids are tougher than American ones (I have to agree with him) and it was not normal for her to be doing so good so soon after surgery. We spent 1 night in the hospital and were able to go home Tuesday morning. The hospital is not a fun place and we were so happy to be home!! Thank you for your continued prayers. After going through 1 surgery we are really dreading the next two. Please pray that John and I can take 1 day at a time and not worry about the upcoming surgeries that she will be having. We know God has a plan and we are doing our best to trust him in all things. Grace is still so full of joy despite going through surgery. Although we have been through some tough times she is beyond amazing and we are so blessed to be her family!!
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