Doubly Blessed

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Lily's Heart Catheterization

Phew...what a day!

Lily did really well during her heart catheterization today.  About two hours into the procedure, the nurse came out to tell us that the doctor found something unexpected, and would like to speak to us outside of the operating room.  My stomach instantly sank to my feet.  Jacques and I hurriedly gathered our things, and followed the nurse to the OR.  The doctor discovered that Lily had severe right pulmonary artery stenosis.  The vein that carries oxygen to her right lung was only 2mm wide, which is super tiny.  He wanted to let us know that he was going to perform a balloon angioplasty in order to open the vein wider.  Jacques signed his name to the consent form again, and the doctor told us it would take about 30 minutes for them to get donor blood on hand just in case Lily needed it.  Right around the four hour mark, the nurse made an appearance again to tell us that Lily was done, and they were working to get her bleeding to stop.  Lily takes an aspirin a day in order to thin her blood, so this proved a bit difficult.  About twenty minutes later, the cath team wheeled our princess past the waiting room, and paused so we could see her for a moment.

The doctor took Jacques and I into a consultation room, and through
drawings and diagrams attempted to explain to us our daughter's
completely unique anatomy.  The best way to describe Lily
is that she is one of a kind!

Through the balloon angioplasty,
the doctor was able to get her 2mm vein open to 5mm.
About 6 months after her open heart surgery,
Lily will need another heart cath
in order to put a stint in her artery that will open it up to 8mm.

Check out the rash on our sweet girl...her entire body was covered.

The doctors do not think it is an allergic reaction, but rather

just the effects of the massive amounts of contrast they used

to get the images they needed during the cath.

Lily cried for about an hour and a half during recovery, 

but then settled down and ate some Goldfish crackers and a sucker.

So, how do you keep an almost "3" year old still

for six hours after a heart cath?

Put a straight jacket on her leg of course!

I truly cannot believe how amazing Lily did at being still

for SO LONG...even I was struggling.

I also had no clue that a child could literally eat the same bag of

Goldfish crackers for 5.5 hours...straight!

Since Lily had the angioplasty during her heart cath, 

they needed her to stay overnight for observation.

About 5 hours into recovery, they wheeled her to the

"sleepover room".  Check out her T.V.

It knows her name :-)

Before too long, Lily realized that her hairbow was missing.

Oh my!

I quickly found her bow, and all was right with the world again.

Lily thinks her bed is pretty cool.

The highlight of my day came around 11:30pm when they 

FINALLY removed her pressure dressings, 

and my sweet angel got to cuddle in my arms...

Be joyful in hope...Romans 12:12.

Lily's First Haircut

As Jacques pointed out to me tonight, technically,

this is not Lily's first haircut.

BUT...

Today was Lily's first haircut as a US citizen,

and that has to count for something!

The woman who typically cuts our girl's hair was completely

booked for the day.  Lily's bangs were so long

that I could not take it one more day.

As fate would have it, the woman who cut Lily's

hair is Chinese.  Her name is Mei.

Lily was NOT happy when Mei started to take out her hair bow.

So sweet Mei left it in as long as she could.

If you haven't experienced it yet, trust me when I say

that Lily has a "stink eye" that could kill.

Literally.

Lily listening to "Liang Zhi Lao Hu", 

which has become "our song".

Lily checking out her new hairdo in the mirror.

Couldn't you just eat her up?

Yes, Lily, your hairbow is back where it belongs!

That precious hand is reaching out for me...Momma!

How in the world did I get so lucky?

Feel Better Box

Along our adoption journey I met an amazing young lady, 

and her name is Meredith.

Our family was lucky enough to meet Meredith's 

mom, dad, younger sister Erica, and newly adopted sister Brooke

on Shamian Island in Guangzhou.

It was no easy feat getting all the little princesses 

to look at the camera at the same time...

Erica is obviously already a pro!

Erica and Lily bonded over artwork

In the midst of all the illness that bombarded our household 

since we returned from China,

a surprise box arrived at our doorstep from Fed-Ex.

Much to our delight it was a "Feel Better Box"

from Meredith and Erica.

Every item was carefully wrapped, and a ribbon was placed on top.

Separate Ziploc baggies held many treasures for each girl

with their names written on each one. 

As soon as I opened the box, I was in tears.

The thoughtfulness was through the roof, and the sweetness

of Erica's Rapunzel coloring sheet was exactly what I needed to get 

through all the yucky illness that had plagued our household.

The "littles" were slightly confused at first on what to do,

but they caught on quickly...

Soleil was really excited about her new fold up hairbrush/mirror

Dryden opened her presents a day later since she was at a 

baccalaureate that Papa was giving to a graduating

high school senior class.

Lily trying out her new box of tissues

Mighty Mack absolutely melts my heart with her sweetness

Do you think Soleil was excited 

about her new "lip stuff"???

Any questions as to why we call her

"Silly Lily"?

And check out who can put on her own socks now

thanks to Lily's awesome instruction!!!

Oh how I wish I could put her in a microwave and slow

down time.  Dryden is growing up

WAY...TOO...FAST!

Sweet Meredith even included a gift for the nurse!

I have already enjoyed several cups of my Tazo tea, and cannot

wait to use my Starbuck's card.

I also received a magnetic dry erase weekly calendar...

so perfect to help me keep track of the million doctor appointments

and upcoming surgeries!

Thank you so very much Meredith and Erica for putting 

HUGE smiles on all of our faces :-)

"Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; 

let us show the truth by our actions." I John 3:18

Mighty Mack's Ears

I took Mackenzie back to the ENT today for an ear re-check.

There seems to be minimal to no improvement...

these resistant bacterias sure are pesky.

Boo!

Mackenzie did great emotionally speaking.

She even let the doctor look in her ears with the microscope.

The doctor determined that Mackenzie will definitely need surgery 

on her right eardrum, but the left one is still to gunky to determine.

He does thinks surgery will be necessary on that one too!

The doctor suctioned out lots of green bacteria gunk...

it was disgusting, trust me.

He decided to fill Mackenzie's ears with another ointment,

and we will re-check the progress again next Thursday.

Please continue to pray that we can kill off these resistant bacterias,

and not need to put Mackenzie in-patient with IV's to do so.