Medical Appointment

 

Today we took Gracie to her medical appointment. I was pretty anxious about how this day would go, but thankfully it wasn't too bad.  She was weighed and measured, had her hearing and vision checked , evaluated by a physician and had a TB skin test.  We were there for a couple hours and then went and had lunch with our travel group.  She did so well and didn't cry at all. 

 



 

 

I have no explanation for my expression or for the dude giving Michael the stink eye;-)

 

The ups and downs of adoption!  We did this at least 400 hundred times.  I was working up a sweat and she was belly laughing!  

She was so still for the doctor to listen to her heart.

 



Love that little hiney!

 

Medical Report.  She has a very slow heart rate due to her congenital AV block.  You should have seen Michael trying to explain to the doctor that he was a cardiologist and that with her condition it was normal for her heart to be that slow.

 

Dinner at Tekilas.  Actually pretty good Mexican food in the middle of China.  She liked the rice, but didn't care one bit for the cheese quesadilla.

 

 

I was not able to blog yesterday.  It was a busy day of traveling.  We flew 2 hours from Shanghai to Guangzhou.  Lets just say that I am not particuarly excited about our 14 hour flight from Hong Kong to Chicago.  There was screaming, throwing, laughing and lots of eating.  I am trying to find a Chinese herb that is the equivalent of a tranquilizer dart before Friday!  However, it will be our flight home and I will be excited to be on it.  We are enjoying our time here getting to know her, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't homesick.  I miss my boys so much!  It has been so much harder than I ever imagined being away from them this long.  They are in great hands and are having a great time, but I feel like I am missing too much of their precious lives.

 

Adoption is a beautiful picture of love, sacrifice and acceptance, as well as the perfect example of God's love for us.  But don't be mistaken. It is HARD.  This has been the MOST stressful experience of my life.  I have moments where I feel completely inadequate and completely incompetent.  Michael has been a constant source of strength and encouragement.  I can't say enough about how he has stepped up in my times of weakness.  I am exhausted to say the least, but each day we learn more about Gracie and better how to meet her needs. 

 

The biggest challenge is getting her to sleep at night.  When she gets tired she gets either excited or combative.  Tonight we gave her a good healthy dose of melatonin (a natural sleep inducer) and strolled the hallway of our hotel singing lullabies (sorry to all those that had to listen).  She finally fell asleep and is now snoozing in her crib. 

 

Gracie. We have referred to her as Ella Grace, EG and Gracie. Her Chinese name is Nanyang (sounds like nay-yong). We are slowly trying to introduce her to her American name. It is just a mouthful to always say Ella Grace Nanyang, so we have been calling her Gracie Nanyang. She is such a little silly that Gracie just seems to suit her;-) So Gracie it will be, until she becomes she decides otherwise. It keeps me with my G theme, too. Gavin, Garrett and sweet, silly Gracie.