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Photos

Here's a recap of our last 3 months....

Fun at the park

Harper's first school "play"

My first Mother's Day as a proud mama of 2.

It's hard to believe that last year was my very first Mother's Day.

Attempting a family Photo

Our Wedding Anniversary ( 8 years...WOW).

View from our room in Hermann MO

Attempting another family portrait at Bria's dance competition.



Melaina's Heart

I've been absent for quite some time.  I've enjoyed these past few months being home with my girls, but my time is over.  I'm back to work full time.

It's bitter sweet for me because I love my job & the girls love being in school with a set routine.

Alot has been going on in our world.

Melaina continues to make progress in her environment.

She's walking independently at all times now!

We gradually transitioned her to a new preschool last week. So far, so good. She seems to be extremely happy when I pick her up & extremely exhausted as well.

She started OT & that's not going so well. Our original plan was to have services in our home, but Melaina will NOT work with the therapist. She only wants me to hold her or be on my lap.

The therapist is now going to Melaina's preschool & I join them 30 minutes later.

We'll see how this goes.

Melaina was born with a heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot.  She became cyanotic as an infant, was abandoned by her parents, & had heart surgery at the age of 5 months to repair her heart.

The classic form includes four defects of the heart and its major blood vessels:


•Ventricular septal defect (hole between the right and left ventricles)
•Narrowing of the pulmonary outflow tract (the valve and artery that connect the heart with the lungs)
•Overriding aorta (the artery that carries oxygen-rich blood to the body) that is shifted over the right ventricle and ventricular septal defect, instead of coming out only from the left ventricle
•Thickened wall of the right ventricle (right ventricular hypertrophy)




When we took Melaina to the cardiologists (we got a second opinion), both dr's agreed that it appeared that she didn't have TOF, only a repaired ventricular septal defect (VSD, hole in the heart), based on what was seen on the echo.
They recommended further testing to confirm/diagnose her correctly.
She had a sedated cardiac MRI & a lung perfusion test a few weeks ago.
Based on the MRI results, she has TOF, but only has 2 of the 4 defects, so a mild version per se.
She had a VSD & has an overriding aorta.
She does not have pulmonary valve stenosis or an enlarged right ventricle.
What does that mean? 
She most likely will not need any additional surgeries in the future as long as her pulmonary valve remains normal.
Her heart & lungs are functioning completely normal!
They want to see her back in a year for an echo & then possibly see her every few years!
She's perfectly healthy!
 

 

My girls

It's the sweetest thing watching these two become the best of friends....makes my heart melt!



Look Who's......

Walking!!!

She's taking more steps on her own as she becomes more comfortable. 

She's most secure on carpet & on the driveway.

She's still unsure & scared to walk on our &wood floors.

She'll get there...

We solved our daycare problem.

We found another home daycare/preschool near our home.

Let's hope it works out.

Dilemma

We're in a pickle.

I go back to work at the end of May.

Melaina's day care provider (home preschool) called me a few weeks ago to tell me she's closing her doors in July.

Harper's school ( Montessori School ) doesn't have any openings until Melaina turns 2 (July).

It doesn't make sense to start her at A & then transition her to B in a short amount of time.

I'd either like to find another home preschool or hire a "nanny" to come to our home for 6 weeks.

So, what have I been up to?

I've been interviewing college girls & visiting home daycares.

Melaina has such a quiet, laid back personality that I'm afraid she'd get lost in the shuffle at a bigger daycare environment.

In a smaller home environment, I feel she'd do well.

But, we  take the risk of it not working out, or closing & being stuck with out child care.

I'm so stressed out about this....

M at the park

Four Weeks Home

It's been four weeks since Melaina has been home.

She's come a long way in that short amount of time.

When we met her in China, she could not crawl.

She's not only crawling, she's on all fours!

And quite proud of herself

She had no idea how to use a spoon or fork.

We showed her in China & now she's a rock star feeding herself!

She loves popcicles

She has mastered getting on & off the kid chair.

This has been a big deal. Two weeks ago, if we set her on the chair, she would be so scared, she'd shake & cry.

 Loves tea parties with her big sis!

Her smile is infectious! 

Melaina's walking has improved significantly. 

We had the Early Intervention program come to our home & evaluate her a few weeks ago. She will qualify for services, but we haven't heard back if it's PT, OT or both.

Since they've been here, she's standing up on her own & taking a few steps. Of course, no photos because we're making a HUGE deal about it when she takes these steps.

It's amazing to see her progress in such a short amount of time.

She's definately coming out of her shell & we're seeing that China personality shine.

Although she's taken a while to warm up to us, it's been worth the wait.

She's such a calm, peaceful, sweet baby girl.

She loves her big sisters & I think she loves us!

Homecoming Photos

Words can not express the emotions  I felt on this very special day, March 17, 2012.

We made the 8,000 mile journey from China with our newest baby girl.

Our family waited patiently at the airport for our arrival.

This journey could not have happened with out my mom.

No Mimi=No Melaina

Mom~THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!

I also want to extend my thanks to our family for supporting us through out this journey.

I couldn't get off that plane fast enough to see my family.

Bria was the first one to bolt our way followed by Harper.

Harper ran straight to Melaina with plenty of hugs & kisses.

She then was in my arms & I couldn't let her go. 

Melaina immediately went to Bria & daddy with ease.

Our Family of Five

The End.....

These photos are compliments of www.rebeccamorfeldphotograpy.com

per http://www.redthreadsessions.com/

One Week Home

It's been a week  since Melaina's been in our home.

She's still having a difficult time transitioning into our family.

I haven't seen her "China" personality yet.

We haven't seen this face.

But she's definately smitten with daddy!

Her eating has improved dramatically, eating 2-3 servings of food.

She's regressed emotionally since our time in China.

I know the little girl in China will warm up soon.

What I do see in Melaina is the love she has for her sisters.

Teething & getting a cold doesn't help.

She's wiped out. Notice the drool on her chin, poor baby.

Melaina is sleeping well for the most part. She naps for 1 1/2- 2 hrs & goes to bed around 8.  A few times she's woke up at 10ish & wants to play.  She'll sleep until 7-8am.
Harper has been the best big sister. She's been so patient with Melaina even when Melaina hits her.
Transition isn't easy for this little one.

 

It was a tough week.
I'm hoping this week will get better with our little girl

We're home

We made it home safe & sound Saturday night.

The 14 hour flight from Hong Kong to Chicago was fairly uneventful.

Suprisingly, Melaina did awesome. She took a few cat naps & slept for 4 1/2 hours straight! The time she was awake, she played & laughed.

We then flew from Chicago to St Louis & she slept the entire flight.

There was severe weather in St Louis so our plane had to stay on the runway for about 45 minutes. Luckily we were able to get off the plane but it took 2 hours to get our bags. It could have been worse, waiting on the runway for that long.

We were happily welcomed by our family. Harper made a mad dash & went straight to Melaina & gave her a giant hug first.

She then hugged me so tightly telling me she loved me & missed me! My heart was melting.

Melaina quickly, or should I say immediately, warmed up to Daddy & Bria.

She's been Daddy's sidekick since then!

We've been in our home since Sunday afternoon & are still adjusting. Jet lag is kicking our butts!

Sleeping has been our biggest issue. Melaina is still on China time & loves the hours of midnight to 4am.  We're working on establishing a routine with naps & bedtime. I know it will get better but it's so hard trying to function on a few hours of sleep. I'm the person that truely gets at least 8 hours of sleep a night, so this has been exhausting for me.

Melaina was very timid & uncomfortable the first day at our house.  Each day she feels more comfortable & is acting more like the Melaina that I saw in China.

Harper & Melaina really seem to like each other. Harper is being such a great big sister & showing Melaina how to eat different foods, how to use a spoon & how to play. It's pretty cute to watch.

Their age difference is enough for Harper to be the "helper" & Melaina to be the "baby". Harper loves to help make the bottle & change diapers.

I've even seen Melaina making the first move on Harper for a kiss... pretty sweet.

Melaina is picking up & understanding English well.

The words she can say so far are: Mama, Baba (daddy in Chinese), bye bye, puppy, apple, shoe & tickle.

She's a sharp kid, much like Harper & will mimic things quickly.

Her strength is improving & even took a few steps on her own tonight.

With more nutrition & confidence, I believe she'll be walking by herself soon.

I haven't taken hardly any pictures since we've been home but we caught this one in the car tonight from our phone:

Car seat - Car seat

This is the beginning of a budding friendship.

Day 10

Today we went to the pearl market & Lychee Bay.

We went to the same pearl market the last time we were here & bought pearls, so we didn't get anything this time.

Mom & I were able to walk this huge mall & check things out, although we didn't get very far.

We then went to Lychee Bay & had a peaceful, relaxing walk around the park. 

Families in our group

Melaina's new boyfriend!

If the photos seem hazy, it's real.  We haven't seen the sun shine since we've been in China.

After naptime, I took Melaina to the outdoor kiddie area at our hotel.

Her favorite

Another good day!

If I haven't mentioned, we're at the China Hotel Marriott in Guangzhou. The accomodations are very nice.

We have a suite with access to the executive lounge which has breakfast (we eat bfast at the buffet) & evening appetizers, drinks & cocktails.  During the day, there's water, soda & coffee available, so we never have to go outside our hotel for drinks.

We eat dinner in the lounge because there's a variety of  food filling enough for dinner.

 Having the lounge reduces the stress of trying to figure out where to eat dinner.

The hotel & staff are absolutely wonderful.

I highly recommend the Marriott!