Things are going so well here. Today has been a bit quiet - I think it is because most of the kids are not crying and are sleeping.
Baby Yuan from Henan came out safe and calm - she is the one who's so tiny and we were so worried. She cried a bit when the nurses tried to position her, but otherwise she's fine laying there enjoying the oxygen supply. When she came out of the OR, her caregivers were all worried and came up to me to tell me some people wanted to take baby Yuan away. They were worried about how they could go back and report to the director that the baby was gone. Of course that got me worried too so I had to rush into the room to ask who would want to take our baby away. It turned out it was our volunteers - so falling in love with this little girl and they showed so much desire to just take her home immediately. Of course they understood they couldn't just "kidnap" her.. but the caregivers had not understood and took it serious. When that was clear, every one, including the nurses were having a good laugh.
Liu came out crying quite a bit but definitely talking! She was trying to tell it hurt, she needed to go to the bathroom, she wanted to eat, she wanted the ayi to wipe her forehead, etc.. Her hand was hurting from the IV and she was so in tears.. I told her to try to get some sleep and by the time she woke up, she could eat and it wouldn't hurt as much. She actually believed me and I could tell she was really trying hard to close her eyes and trying really hard to stop crying, although big drops of tears still came down on her cheeks.. you still see how hard she tried to hold her crying and tried to sleep. Oh.. that moment.. It broke my heart knowing the pain she was bearing, and yet my heart went out for her knowing how much she was trying to follow what I told her.
Tiantian cried a bit too but she quickly fell asleep. Her caregiver and her foster mom used to be so worried about this surgery as they thought the risk of damaging her nerves would be so big and they were so concerned that Tiantian's legs wouldn't move after surgery. So when I went to check on Tiantian, her caregiver was all excited showing me how Tiantian's legs could respond to her touch.
Ai's surgery took a long time and his foster mom has been so restless wondering why it took so long. She was in tears waiting for him to come out. She told me Ai was so scared last night and cried a lot.. She was hugging him all night to give him the secure feeling. Ai came out sleeping soundly - by the time I left, he was still sleeping. His foster mom was still sitting by him waiting for him to wake up, still with tears in her eyes.
Kids who received surgeries on Monday seemed to be so much better today. Can you believe it, Naomi was not crying much anymore! She's ok with laying on her tummy now and she even smiled, laughed and played peekaboo with us. Her ayi also said she finally got some good sleep last night.
Jacob has no more fever and was making noise like "singing".. I think he was also in a good mood. Wendy (the older one) still has a low fever but she's doing fine and she told me she felt so much better today. Both Heather and Han are doing great too. Dr Bao took me with him when he changed the dressing for their scars.. I got to see how flat Heather's neck is now and how flat Han's back is now.. amazing!! They both had huge lumps before.
Kids who had surgeries from yesterday seemed to be doing ok too, except little Wendy has had a fever and has been crying quite a bit. Her foster mom and orphanage director both had worrying faces and they tried everything they could to calm her. They helped her change position so she could feel more comfortable and they caressed her arms, massaged her head.. By the time I left, she finally fell asleep.
Hou is doing great - he didn't cry at all. He laid there and talked a lot and even tried to make people laugh - can you believe that?? What a personality he has! Oh, and he asked me how the little girl Yuan (his little sister)'s surgery was going. What a caring "brother". Jasmine's tumor was a small one on the back of her head.. her recovery is a bit easier compared to others.. she could sit up already. Lily was enjoying being held by volunteers the whole afternoon - she was sleeping so well in volunteers' arms. Taylor - that handsome man! 
He was given some new clothes from our volunteers and his caregiver picked a very nice shirt and put it on him - he turned to such a wonderful looking gentleman with that shirt - and guess what, he didn't seem to be in pain as he was in this silly sweet smile most of the time. We were joking so much that he's the kind of boy every girl would want now. We teased Taylor and baby Jiao saying they made such great looking couple. Taylor's caregiver has alredy started calling Jiao daughter-in-law.. that really cracked everyone up!
Tomorrow's surgeries are Baby You, Benjamin (very complicated surgery), Carrie and a small surgery for Lei to find out if he has CP or hydrocephalus.
The American doctors were soooo impressed by the Chinese doctors' skills here. Dr Lazareff said the anesthesia team here is an amazing team who does such an awesome job. Dr Lazareff and his team already told Dr Bao they would definitely want to come back as they enjoy so much working together so far. They think the Americans and the Chinese make a very strong and skillful team together!
Well, another day I walked out of the hospital tired but with a big smile! Seeing how the children are getting healed is such a fulfilling feeling!
Tingting
Baby Yuan from Henan came out safe and calm - she is the one who's so tiny and we were so worried. She cried a bit when the nurses tried to position her, but otherwise she's fine laying there enjoying the oxygen supply. When she came out of the OR, her caregivers were all worried and came up to me to tell me some people wanted to take baby Yuan away. They were worried about how they could go back and report to the director that the baby was gone. Of course that got me worried too so I had to rush into the room to ask who would want to take our baby away. It turned out it was our volunteers - so falling in love with this little girl and they showed so much desire to just take her home immediately. Of course they understood they couldn't just "kidnap" her.. but the caregivers had not understood and took it serious. When that was clear, every one, including the nurses were having a good laugh.
Liu came out crying quite a bit but definitely talking! She was trying to tell it hurt, she needed to go to the bathroom, she wanted to eat, she wanted the ayi to wipe her forehead, etc.. Her hand was hurting from the IV and she was so in tears.. I told her to try to get some sleep and by the time she woke up, she could eat and it wouldn't hurt as much. She actually believed me and I could tell she was really trying hard to close her eyes and trying really hard to stop crying, although big drops of tears still came down on her cheeks.. you still see how hard she tried to hold her crying and tried to sleep. Oh.. that moment.. It broke my heart knowing the pain she was bearing, and yet my heart went out for her knowing how much she was trying to follow what I told her.
Tiantian cried a bit too but she quickly fell asleep. Her caregiver and her foster mom used to be so worried about this surgery as they thought the risk of damaging her nerves would be so big and they were so concerned that Tiantian's legs wouldn't move after surgery. So when I went to check on Tiantian, her caregiver was all excited showing me how Tiantian's legs could respond to her touch.
Ai's surgery took a long time and his foster mom has been so restless wondering why it took so long. She was in tears waiting for him to come out. She told me Ai was so scared last night and cried a lot.. She was hugging him all night to give him the secure feeling. Ai came out sleeping soundly - by the time I left, he was still sleeping. His foster mom was still sitting by him waiting for him to wake up, still with tears in her eyes.Kids who received surgeries on Monday seemed to be so much better today. Can you believe it, Naomi was not crying much anymore! She's ok with laying on her tummy now and she even smiled, laughed and played peekaboo with us. Her ayi also said she finally got some good sleep last night.
Jacob has no more fever and was making noise like "singing".. I think he was also in a good mood. Wendy (the older one) still has a low fever but she's doing fine and she told me she felt so much better today. Both Heather and Han are doing great too. Dr Bao took me with him when he changed the dressing for their scars.. I got to see how flat Heather's neck is now and how flat Han's back is now.. amazing!! They both had huge lumps before.Kids who had surgeries from yesterday seemed to be doing ok too, except little Wendy has had a fever and has been crying quite a bit. Her foster mom and orphanage director both had worrying faces and they tried everything they could to calm her. They helped her change position so she could feel more comfortable and they caressed her arms, massaged her head.. By the time I left, she finally fell asleep.
Hou is doing great - he didn't cry at all. He laid there and talked a lot and even tried to make people laugh - can you believe that?? What a personality he has! Oh, and he asked me how the little girl Yuan (his little sister)'s surgery was going. What a caring "brother". Jasmine's tumor was a small one on the back of her head.. her recovery is a bit easier compared to others.. she could sit up already. Lily was enjoying being held by volunteers the whole afternoon - she was sleeping so well in volunteers' arms. Taylor - that handsome man! 
He was given some new clothes from our volunteers and his caregiver picked a very nice shirt and put it on him - he turned to such a wonderful looking gentleman with that shirt - and guess what, he didn't seem to be in pain as he was in this silly sweet smile most of the time. We were joking so much that he's the kind of boy every girl would want now. We teased Taylor and baby Jiao saying they made such great looking couple. Taylor's caregiver has alredy started calling Jiao daughter-in-law.. that really cracked everyone up!Tomorrow's surgeries are Baby You, Benjamin (very complicated surgery), Carrie and a small surgery for Lei to find out if he has CP or hydrocephalus.
The American doctors were soooo impressed by the Chinese doctors' skills here. Dr Lazareff said the anesthesia team here is an amazing team who does such an awesome job. Dr Lazareff and his team already told Dr Bao they would definitely want to come back as they enjoy so much working together so far. They think the Americans and the Chinese make a very strong and skillful team together!
Well, another day I walked out of the hospital tired but with a big smile! Seeing how the children are getting healed is such a fulfilling feeling!
Tingting
