Piper's Cardiologist Appointment!

Today Erik and I took Piper to the hospital for her first cardiology appointment. This is my best attempt to explain what we heard today! We were very impressed with the cardiac center! They made us feel like Piper was the most important patient there today! We spent four hours having tests done on Piper's heart and speaking with her cardiologist! Piper had an EKG and an echo. She needed to be sedated for the echo. There was no way Piper could have stayed still long enough to get all of the pictures of her heart they needed without being sedated! The technician captured over 130 images of her heart! It took about 50 minutes to get all of the images of her heart. Her diagnosis is a double right ventricle outlet. This essentially means that both her pulmonary artery and aorta are coming out of the right side of her heart. She also has a rather large VSD. The VSD is actually allowing the deoxygenated blood and the oxygenated blood to mix. The cardiologist said that this is natures way of keeping Piper's heart working and allowing oxygen to get into her body! Piper will be scheduled for a cath lab in the next week or two. This will allow the cardiologist to get more detailed information about Piper's heart functioning! She will present Piper's information to the other cardiac doctors. They will determine which of the two options for surgery will be best for Piper's heart condition! We feel very blessed to have A.I. Dupont Hosptial so close to our home. They have taken such good care of all of our children!

A Group Picture!

Parker's Gotcha Day Celebration!

On Friday, June 17th we officially celebrated Parker's Gotcha Day! I made cupcakes for him and we ate them after dinner! Parker was so tickled that we sang "Happy Gotcha Day to You" (sung to the tune of "Happy Birthday") We still haven't had time to watch his Gotcha Day video! Each year on Sophia's Gotcha Day we watch the video of the day she became our daughter! It is always so special to see how much Sophia has grown each year. We can't wait to see Parker's video!

Medical Update on Piper!

Piper had her first appointment with the pediatrician on Monday, June 21st. She only weighed 17 pounds 10 ounces! Her oxygen saturation levels were in the low to mid 80's. We were told her oxygen levels were in the 90's according to the paperwork from China. Piper was put on an antibiotic for a sinus infection. I spent three hours with our pediatrician discussing the list of concerns Erik and I had about Piper. We talked about her coughing everytime she drinks and still getting sick after eating or being in the car. She was also given four immunizations! She ended up having a fever for five days after her immunizations! It was so scary because we didn't really know if it was the immunizations or something else. She developed a cough on Thursday and I called the doctor to tell them we were concerned Friday morning. They wanted me to take her to the ER to have her checked out. I spent five hours with her at the hospital. They checked her heart rate, oxygen saturation levels, and her temperature. She only had a low grade fever by Friday, but the fever was still hanging around! Her oxygen saturation levels were still in the low to mid 80's. Piper had a chest x-ray taken. The x-ray was not clear because of her enlarged heart. The doctor presumed she had developed pnemounia, but couldn't be sure due to the x-ray not really being that clear. I saw the x-ray and it was clear on the right side, but on the left side it was all cloudy! It was very interesting to see! I was told that the antibiotic she was on should clear up her pneumonia and there really wasn't anything else they could do for her. We did have to schedule a follow-up appointment with the pediatrician on Monday, June 27th. Piper was weighed again and she gained three ounces in a week. I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but it was huge to us! We are going to the cardiologist tomorrow. We are very anxious to hear what the doctor says about Piper's heart! We also take Piper back to the hospital on Friday for an upper GI study to see if there is something wrong that is causing her to cough and get sick! Piper goes back to the pediatrician next Thursday for another weight check and more immunizations!

We Are Home!

I know I haven't posted an update in a long time and everyone keeps asking how we are doing! We survived the first two weeks home as a family of six! Piper is doing very well with adjusting to her new family! Sophia, Graham, and Parker all adore her and Piper adores her big sister and two big brothers! She loves to imitate and copy them! The first five days home were just brutal! Between the jet lag and Piper not sleeping at all during the day or night, it was just exhausting! Erik and I took turns sleeping, but he let me sleep more than he did because he was worried about the baby and me getting enough rest! Piper finally began to sleep through the night by the fifth night home! It made a world of difference to everyone! Piper started to show more and more of her personality! She is smiling and laughing and is starting to feel comfortable in her new home! She is such a special little girl! We love you Piper and we are so glad you are home with your forver family!

Happy 1st Gotcha Day Parker!

We will miss being with Parker on his first Gotcha Day since we will be in China with Piper! It is hard to believe that we met Parker one year ago on June 13th! We will never forget walking into the conference room in the Lakeside Hotel in Fuzhou City, China and seeing the most handsome little man looking out the window! He was so happy until we had to get his picture for his Chinese passport. Boy, did he cry! It absolutely broke my heart to see him so upset! He cried for quite a bit, so Erik finished up the paperwork and I walked with Parker up and down the hallway. We found a reception area with food and a very nice Chinese lady who talked to Parker and gave him lots of cookies to eat! Needless to say, we went back to see her several times while we were in the hotel! Once we got Parker back to our hotel room, he was just the happiest little guy in the whole world! We fell madly in love with our little man that Monday morning!

Parker has grown so much in the past year! He is the most easy going child! He lives life to the fullest and it is delightful to view the world through Parker's eyes! He finds great joy in the simple things life has to offer! I think we can learn so much from the innocence of a child view of the world! We are so proud of Parker! Parker still struggles with communicating with us, but he sure does try to get his ideas across to us! He will be having his palate repaired again by Dr. Napoli in August. We are hoping that will help him to be able to produce all of his speech sounds without the air escaping through his nose! There are are only a few sounds that are suppose to allow air to escape through the nose. Parker is still as active as ever! We can't take our eyes off of him or we never know what he might get into!!! Parker is the friendliest, happiest, sweetest little boy! We can't imagine our family without him! He has brought a whole new energy level to our home!! Your smile melts my heart! He adores Sophia and Graham! We know he will be the best big brother to Piper and his baby brother! He always asks about the baby when I put him to sleep at night! We love you Parker! We hope you have a great Gotcha Day with Mom Mom, Dziadzi, Sophia, and Graham!

Happy Gotcha Day to Leah, Emma, and Mya from our Living Hope Travel Group! Plus, a special Happy Gotcha Day to Iris too! We hope you have a great day with your forever family!!!

Dutch Wonderland with Zoe!

Today we spent the day with Sophia's BBF, Zoe! We went to Dutch Wonderland and the girls had a wonderful time (so did Graham and Parker too)! Sophia was such a chatterbox today! It is so nice to see her having so much fun with her friend Zoe! Zoe has been in Sophia's preschool class for the past two years and has been such a great friend to Sophia. She took Sophia under her wing for the past two years! Sophia is going to miss Zoe next year!!