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Flourish Of Frames Christmas Card

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Flourish Of Frames Christmas Card

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All Is Well

I met Lydia in the recovery room and she was wide awake.  She had already had two popsicles by the time I got to her and was starting on her third.  They took us up to a room and the nurses checked her and gave her fluids through her IV.  By that time, she wanted to be "bobo-ed" (Chinese for "hold me"), so we snuggled for a while and watched another episode of Sesame Street.  She spit up a little of her popsicle, but not much.  We were able to leave the hospital at a little after 12pm. 

She stayed awake in the car on the way home and wanted more popsicles when we got home.  She had that and some chicken broth.  I wasn't sure how much I wanted to give her...really I didn't want it to come back up! 

We put her down for a nap at about 2pm and when Brian went to check on her a half-hour later, she was laying in bed wide awake!  She and Baba read for a little bit and then we watched some TV.  She was acting like her "normal" self, so we decided to go to the library for a few DVD's to keep her occupied.  : )

We are just finishing a yummy supper from one of my friends and Lydia is looking a little tired.  I think she might sleep good tonight.  : )

The doctor said that her ring finger wasn't pinking up, so please pray that it will be ok.  We won't know anything until she has her cast removed in about a month.  I'll try to keep you updated!

All Done

Dr. Daley just came to tell us that he is all done with Lydia's surgery.  They were able to separate all of her fingers.  He said that her ring finger that was under her middle finger wasn't doing very well.  When the other fingers were pinking up, that one was turning purple.  He said that he's hoping it's spasms, but there is a possibility that it won't make it.  They had to take a skin graft, but they took it from her arm, under the cast, so all the pain will be in the same place.  He said we'll have to come back in a month to take the cast off and at that time, he'll be able to tell us more.  Because her middle finger has so much bulk, it will need to have another surgery to remove some of that - maybe sometime in January or February.  He said that her hand was about as complicated as it gets.  I'm so thankful that God gave him such wonderful skills.

Surgery Started

Lydia went into the OR at about 8am this morning.  She went through all the preliminary exams very easily.  They had Sesame Street on in the waiting room, so she liked that a lot.  We met the surgeon and anesthesiologist and the OR  nurse.  Everyone was great.  Last night we read a book about going to the hospital and Lydia was so excited about the bed with wheels.  I told her that Mama and Baba weren't going to be able to go with her, but she didn't care.  We prayed with her right before she left and off she went as happy as can be.  : )

Here are some pictures from this morning!

Ready to go to the hospital.

Lydia and the anesthesiologist resident.

Getting checked out!

Lydia and Wong on the bed with wheels with the OR nurse. : )

A New Hand

Tomorrow morning at 7am, we will be arriving at Children's Hospital in Milwaukee for a surgery that will change our daughter's life.  As most of you know, Lydia was born with webbed fingers on her right hand, a condition called syndactyly, caused by amniotic banding syndrome.  We knew this when we adopted her.  At the time, we did not know what would be able to be done for her.  Her doctor, Dr. Phelan, had looked over Lydia's medical records before we adopted her and knew of her condition.  Another of Dr. Phelan's patients had a baby who was born with the same condition.  She did research on the surgeons and recommended that we take her to Dr. Dailey, a surgeon at Froedtert who specializes in hands.  We took her for an exam and he was very optimistic about the possibility of surgery for Lydia.  She has bones in all her fingers and even though they are not fully developed, with separation she will be able to use her right hand more like "normal". 

It took a very long time to get the surgery scheduled, but we finally got word that it would be able to be done on Friday, November 16th.  Now that day is almost here. 

We have Lydia's special bear and blanket packed as well as her headphones and the I-Pod with her new favorite song - Zacchaeus.  She got some special gifts from her grandmas as well as a bag of surprises from my Moms By Design small group.  She is very excited to watch her new movie and eat her snacks.  She already started playing with the toys and wearing the hat that she got from them.

We've talked to her about the surgery, but since she hasn't ever experienced anything like it, she isn't really sure what I'm talking about.  When we were talking about it the only thing that Lydia was worried about was if the doctor was going to give her shots. : )

Please pray for her and us as she has surgery tomorrow.  The surgeon was not sure if he would be able to fix her hand in one surgery or if it will take two surgeries.  Pray that he will be able to take care of her hand in one surgery.  Also pray that there will be enough skin to use on her fingers, so she won't need a skin graft.  Please pray that Lydia's pain will be minimal throughout the healing process.
I will post more tomorrow as we have more details about the surgery.

Here are some pictures...Lydia was having fun taking pictures last night. : ) 

I made a plate with Lydia's "old" handprints.

Having fun with her presents!

California Cousins

Swimming and jumping at in the Palm Desert

Lydia's first view of the ocean

Building sand castles

So Cute!!!

Jumping the "Big Water"

The Petersons on the beach

Carsen, Lydia, and Gracie

We got on a plane on October 15th and headed for sunny California.  We have come a loooonnnnngggg way since our last plane ride.  Lydia was so excited to ride on the plane.  She was dancing down the jetway, singing "I'm riding on the airplane."  She got in her seat and played with her stuffed animals, books and listened to the "talking" on her earphones.  We ended up with an extra hour in Chicago, but she and another little girl made up dances, played and hide and seek and watched for the airplane. 
When we arrived in California, Lydia had her first taste of Del Taco.  By the end of our trip, she was not only pointing out all the McDonald's (she does this all the time when we drive), but also all the Del Tacos! 
A few years back on a trip to California to visit relatives, we discovered that we had "kindred spirits" in my cousin Dwight and his wife Shana.  We spent the week with them and their daughters, Carsen and Gracie.
On Tuesday, we headed out to Palm Springs to visit my aunt and uncle who were vacationing there.  It was nice and hot there.  We enjoyed time by the pool and feeding the fish in the pond.  Lydia warmed up to Carsen and Gracie quickly and got them to jump in the pool with her over and over and over again. 
On Wednesday, we went down to Oceanside and spent a few days at the beach.  My cousins' neighbors had a timeshare that was going to expire and offered it to them.  We were just a few blocks from the beach, right behind the harbor with a view of the ocean sunset.  We were so blessed to have this shared with us! 
Lydia loved the ocean and hated it.  On the first day, she walked along the ocean and picked up shells.  She buried her feet in the sand and tried to bury everyone else's feet too.  She put her feet in the water and thought it was so fun.  On Thursday, though, when she had her swimsuit on, she wanted nothing to do with the water.  She stayed far away from the water and had "Baba" help her build sandcastles.  On Friday, I dragged her into the water and she had so much fun.  She was jumping and called all the waves, "Big Water". 
We were able to see all my other relatives on our trip, Uncle Dwight and Aunt Kelly, Aunt Connie and Uncle John and my cousins Kelly, Paul and David and their families.  Lydia loved all the attention she got.
It only took Lydia a very short time to realize that Gracie would "bobo" (carry) her just about anywhere.  She had Gracie "bobo" her all week.  Carsen and Gracie also helped Lydia get over some of her fear of animals.  By the end of the week, Lydia was petting their cat. 
It was such a blessing to be able to spend the week with Dwight, Shana and the girls.  Lydia really grew to love them like we do. 
Since we got home, Lydia keeps asking to go to "Shana's house".  I tried to explain to her that it was too far, but she doesn't quite understand the distance.  Today she asked to go to Aunt Connie's.  I think we'll have to make sure our relatives get Skype. : )
We're so thankful for our relaxing time in the sun!  We didn't want to leave after our fun week.  Next time, we'll make it 2 weeks. : )  Thanks, Carsen, for giving up your room so we could stay with you.