Jenni is feeling better!

Well, we did have another long night last night. Not only is Jenni still on Hong Kong time but everytime she would go to sleep she would only stay asleep for about an hour to two hours and then when awake she would only stay awake for about an 1 hour and start getting very fussy and need to sleep again. On Sunday morning she was refusing to eat or take any formula. She also seemed to really struggle to breathe. So now we were really worried. We called the Dr. and he suggested to take her to the ER. Rich and I struggled with this as she had been through so much already. In the last two weeks she went from a orphanage, 2 hotel rooms, several airplane flights and now a new home. All I could think about was how the poor thing would have to sit in the ER for hours and then have strange people poking and proding her. We decided to wait until she woke up from her nap and see how she was feeling. If still no bottle than we would take her in. When she woke up from her nap her breathing seemed less labored and she took a full bottle so we decided to wait it out until Monday when she could get into the Dr. She did pretty well Sunday afternoon than once again was very sick in the middle of the night. We did two hot steamy showers which seem to help her breathing and used the humidifer. Rich and I took turns staying up with her and finally at 7:00am, I went into the nursery to find daddy and baby sleeping side by side on the double bed sound asleep. It was too cute. I wish I would have taken a picture but after only 2 hours of sleep I couldn't even muster the engery to find the camera to take the picture. We did go to the Dr. this afternoon and yes it is croup and also they think she has an allergy to the new formula that we had to change her to in China. They put her on steriods and antibiotics and had us change her to a soy based formula. She is now sleeping and her breathing is sooooo much better!! We are hopeful that she will have a good sleep tonight without waking up to cough so much. She did really pretty well at the Dr. she is normally so shy about letting other people hold her and she went to one of my favorite nurses, Shannon and even let Shannon take her to the back without me to show her off to all of Dr's and nurses. She even let our family dr and friend, Dr. Woodruff, hold her. It is almost like she knew they were going to try and help her. She got a little fussy when the P.A. tried to listen to her breathing but otherwise did pretty good considering she didn't feel very well. We are hopeful to start getting into a better routine tomorrow and I need to go into to work for a few hours so hopefully her anxiety of me being out of her sight will be less if she is feeling better. She loves her daddy and calls for him in the night but if I am in the room she prefers me to hold her. I truly think some of this is insecurity is from being in a new home again and being sick. Rich has been trying to give her all of her bottles, change her diapers and get her out of the crib when she awakes to help with the bonding between the two of them but she still gets fussy with him. I know she is struggling with the changes in life and is probably grieving for her nannies. She often will say Na Na and we wonder if this is what she called her nanny. The bonding between all three of us is getting better with each day!

Terri

Can't Sleep!!

So it is 1:00AM on Sunday morning and I can not sleep. I guess my time clock is all off. I am also really worried about poor little Jenni. She has had a cough since Wednesday and today she is much worse. I spoke with our family Dr. and he said I could start her on the antibiotics I already have but it may be viral. I did some checking around and it sounds like she has croup. She has very raspy breathing and coughing so hard that she throws up. So now I can't sleep as I am listening to her breathing. Please pray that God puts his healing touch on her. The good news is she has no fever but being the new parents we are we are both probably more worried than we need to be. But she won't take any water and no solid food right now. Bottles only. So I am hoping she won't get dehydrated. I am going to put some pictures up from our traditional "red couch photos". They are too funny. Imagine trying to 12 "puppies" to sit still in one position for 12 families to get photos. Than 1 baby would cry and then it would get contagious and they would all cry. Jenni is in the light pink silk dress with her pearl bracelet on. The pictures are from my friend Lisa as we haven't had a chance yet to download the rest of our pictures. We are hoping to do a journal entry that has almost all of our photos but we first need to get in a routine with the baby and then I can take the time to do that.

We are home!!!

Hello, Everyone!! We have made it home safe and sound. The flight was very long and baby Jenni was not a happy camper. She cried almost the entire flight from Hong Kong to San Francisco. She was running a fever and we think she has a respiratory infection. So this was not the best time to fly for her. We would have posted earlier but Rich starting feeling sick on Wednesday with a cold and then I started having sinus issues and Jenni started coughing alot. So the last two days in Guangzhou we were not feeling too well. Jenni wasn't sleeping well and neither was Rich or I. So we were just too tired to even get on the computer. Jenni is now a legal citizen of the U.S. once we got to San Francisco and according to the U.S. Consulate and China we have legally completed the adoption procedure. However, we will probably still do th legal adoption paperwork for our state. Jenni has been doing pretty well with jet lag. Rich and I are also doing fine. I just wanted to put in a special thanks to our adoption agency, CCAI. The reps were wonderful!! Jason and Kathy stayed with us the whole entire time. I already miss the other families we were there with. We all got to know each other so well and I even got to where I could tell which baby was the one crying just by the sound of their cry.

Thanks again to my friends and family that help make this journey go well for us. There were many things that I was stressing about as far as home and work. But everyone pulled together and I came home to a clean house and food stocked. It was just awesome. I intend to keep this blog going for awhile so we can update with pictures for everyone.

The above pictures are of Jenni helping daddy pick out what pearls she wanted and then Jenni sleeping after shopping. She would put her back and sleep. It looked so uncomfortable but she would sleep like that for long periods of time.

Hugs!
Terri

Typhoon in Hong Kong

Just wanted to let everyone know that we are ok. Apparently there is a typhoon that hit Hong Kong. We are in Guangzhou so beside just having rain we are fine. Just been camped out in the hotel room. Ordering Papa John's pizza and enjoying playing with Jenni. We do our traditional "red couch photo" this afternoon with all of the babies. That is done here in the hotel so we won't need to go out. We do have a flight that leaves Hong Kong on Friday so hopefully by then the airport will be up and running ok. It is bad enough being stranded in an USA airport let alone a foreign one but we will be with at least one other family so we won't be alone. We will try and let everyone know if our flight still leaves on time.

Terri

9 Month Birthday today!

Today we went to the Pearl Market. I have never in my life seen so many Pearls. Daddy bought Jenni Lin a pearl necklace to give to her when she graduates from high school and also a cute little pearl bracelet for her 9 month birthday today that she can wear now. She looks so cute with it on. We also bought her a beautiful silk dress to wear for our group picture tomorrow. Jenni had a little bit of a rough night last night but I think since she is eating more solid foods now she had a bit of a stomach ache. She woke up 3 times and didn't nap very well today. She had her physical yesterday and she weighed in at just 15 pounds. The doctor said she is so tiny but healthy. I think she will put on weight fairly quickly as she is now eating alot more. She actually tried bean curd today and really liked it! I tried it and it was so salty but hey if she likes it she can have it. She got to talk to her Aunt Dawnitta on the phone today and she smiled listening to her voice and licked the cell phone it was pretty funny. Man, we are so ready to come home. We miss all of the good about the USA. I have to admit though that the Chinese people are very friendly and when our group goes out it is quite a scene. Although, Guangzhou there are alot more Americans than in Changsha so we don't feel so quite out of place as we did in Changsha. Just 3more sleeps until we get home!! I will try and download some pictures tomorrow. Very tired...need sleep!

Terri

Guangzhou

We are now in Guangzhou. We actually arrived yesterday. Jenni Lin did fabulous on the flight. I gave her a bottle right as we were taking off and she fell asleep taking off and then only awoke right as we were landing. I am hopeful that the long flight home will be just as easy. We are now staying at the White Swan. It is a beautiful hotel but I have to admit the Dolton in Changsha was just as nice. I think that the hotel staff at the Dolton was just great. It is easier being in Guangzhou as it has alot more to offer to the Americans. We also feel alot safer walking around the Island here. We had a very busy day today with a tour and swimming at the White Swan Hotel. Jenni Lin look so cute in the swimsuit that Aunt Dena got her. We failed to get pictures as we left the camera back in the hotel room but hopefully tomorrow we can get some of her swimming. She loved the water!! We would tell her kick and she would. She tried hard to actually doggie paddle. She is just so smart. She is now saying MaMa and Dada. Rich and I just have been having so much fun with her even when she gets cranky. She is just so lovable. She is getting a little bit better about eating. At breakfast she will now eat eggs or porridge if it smothered in syrup. Hey, you do what you have to do get her to eat! I know you guys want more pictures but they keep us pretty busy here and then we never want to miss a moment with the baby but I promise to eventually download pictures to snapfish and you can see them all. Tomorrow we have to do more paperwork and the baby's physical. Miss you all!!

Terri

Another day in Changsha!

Today we had a rest day at the hotel. We received Jenni's abandonment certificate, finding ad and birth certificate. We also got her passport. She is feeling better today and we had such a fun day with her. Now that we got the "potty" situation under control she is feeling much better.

I know she will kill me later when she finds out I put a picture of her going to bathroom on the blog but it is just so cute. Her looking at me and grunting! We are flying to Guangzhou tomorrow. We post more than we need to pack!!

Terri