Finally, An Update

If you've been checking this blog you probably realized that I wasn't able to update it while we were in China. I found out that there is a way to access blogger from China, but it is something I would've had to set up before we left and I didn't know about it. Hopefully I'll have more time to post about our trip later, but for now I'll just say that everything went very well and we are so thankful for God's protection and the gift of our daughter, Libby Rui. We feel that she is adapting extremely well to being part of our family and she is bonding with us more and more everyday. We've been home almost 1 week now and we've had a few rough patches, but things are going more smoothly now. Jon, Libby and I have all been dealing with jet lag and sleep deprivation. The first few nights Libby would wake up sometime between 12-5am and want to be up playing for a few hours. At first we tried to put her back in her crib and have her cry it out while we stayed with her, but she just couldn't sleep. Two night ago she finally slept through the night and last night she gave us a repeat performance, so I hope that means she's gotten her nights and days straightened out. I'm still feeling the effects of jet lag, too, but it's getting a little better everyday.

Today Libby had her first appointment with the cardiologist. She was a very good girl and sat very still for her echocardiogram and didn't cry at all, even though the test took quite a long time. We knew that she had been diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot while in China, but weren't sure of the severity. We've been very encouraged since we got her because she seems to be doing so well. Her little finger and toes and sometimes her mouth, nose and tongue have a bluish tint at times, especially when she's cold or upset, but she hasn't had any "tet spells" since we've gotten her. Many people with Tetralogy of Fallot have these "tet spells" where they have such a lack of oxygen in their blood that they pass out. As far as we've been told Libby has never experienced this and we've seen no indication that it will ever be a problem for her. We've also been encouraged by her size. She's definitely a chunky baby and a great eater. Having said all this we were hoping the cardiologist would tell us that her condition is relatively minor. We didn't get quite the news we were hoping for, but the news wasn't terrible either. She has a large VSD (ventricular septal defect) which is a hole between the 2 chambers of the heart. This will be fairly easy to repair. The more complicated problem is that it appears the blood going to her lungs is not directly supplied by the heart but is taking a circuitous route. I'm still a little confused, but I think the cardiologist explained that her right pulmonary artery is not connected to the right chamber of her heart the way it should be so they will have to create a connection. This is fine, but the connection will not grow with her so it will probably have to be replaced at least 2 times during her life. The doctor and technicians were unable to see everything they wanted during the echocardiogram so they will be scheduling a heart catheterization to get a more detailed look. After that we will be scheduling open heart surgery. We're hoping to get this done sooner rather than later, but our cardiologist said that there's not a huge rush since she's doing so well. He also seemed very optimistic that surgery would go well and the problems with her heart could be corrected. I'm praying that when she does have surgery there will be no complications and that her recovery time will be short. She's already had so many hardships in her short life that I hate to see her have to spend a lot of time in the hospital. She's a little girl that likes to be on the go and I know she won't be happy about being confined to a hospital bed for days on end. She's also been enjoying being with her big brothers and I know she will miss them a lot when she can't see them all the time.

We did get some very good news today. Josiah had his pda closure checked at the cardiologist and we were told that everything looked great and he wouldn't need to come back for another checkup until he's eighteen. I figured that would be the case, but it was good to hear.

I also want to thank everyone that's been praying for us and for Libby during this journey. We've seen so many instances of God's grace and provision that we are truly amazed. God has been faithful in so many "little" details that we know he'll be faithful during the difficult times as well.