Follow up appointment

Yesterday we had a follow up appointment. Kobe's lungs sounded good. They had to do more lab work. We went to the pediatric floor of the hospital for the blood draw. It was nice to see some of the nurses again. They were so excited to see our little charmer. It is terrible to listen to him scream as they poke him. With the girls, I was always with them during these things. Last week, I was with him during the blood draw in the Bowdle ER as well as the Aberdeen ER. That was enough for me. He doesn't understand that I'm there for support and that I am not the one hurting him. So--I let them take him from me, poke him, and then bring him back to me. I wait with open arms to love on him and comfort him. I think it is best under the circumstances. We didn't have a video teleconference with the doctor in Sioux Falls. We have an appointment with her on Monday. We hope to get to the bottom of the crazy lab numbers. We are so glad we have just a happy baby. He really has been a trooper through all of this. His world was seriously taken away from him. He comes to America where EVERYTHING is different and then he has repeat doctor's appointments where they stick him, poke on him, etc... Poor thing. Yet through it all...he smiles! The smile of this little boy melts the heart of anyone that comes in contact with him. I think God has some big plans for this little boy. We are sooooo blessed to have this new addition to our family.

Medical updates

Lots of medical "junk" since we have been home. We got home early morning on Friday, April 13. By the night of the 14th, we were on our first "outing" with our little guy...to the Bowdle ER. It was the good ole' upper respiratory stuff. We got an anti-biotic and were put on a nebulizer.  Monday, April 16, we had an appointment with a pediatrician an hour away to do a complete check up for this little man that is new to our country. After blood work and a chest xray, he was diagnosed with pneumonia. He was to continue the nebulizer treatments and got a different anti-biotic. We continued to plug away with trying to nurse this baby back to health as well as getting adjusted to all of the changes.

Saturday, April 21....when I gave him a bath, we noticed how much his chest was being sucked in when he was breathing.  About 10pm, Jason got paged for the ambulance for a transfer to Aberdeen. Shortly after Jason left, the phone rang. It was the PA from the hospital. Some how Kobe's breathing was brought up while they were waiting to transfer the patient. The PA suggested we come in before things got worse. They did lab work and another chest xray. Being in a town of 500 people, we are thankful we have a hospital. The PA wasn't comfortable dealing the pneumonia in a baby, so she recommended we go to Aberdeen. Kobe and I went home and packed some things. As soon as Jason returned from the ER in Aberdeen with the ambulance, we turned around and went to the ER in Aberdeen with our son. We got to Aberdeen about 2am. We waited until about 5 am before finding out they were going to admit us.  We spent 2 nights in the hospital. We were released last night. We have a follow up appointment tomorrow. We are also going to have a video teleconference with a doctor from Sioux Falls. She is an Infectious Disease doctor as his lab work still shows some concerns. I'm sure within a few days, we will be taking off to see what she can figure out. "Infectious Disease" doctor sounds bad, but basically these ID doctors are experts in all the troubles that can these little people can have when they come from a different country.

We thought we had a happy baby. Kobe has been such a trooper through all of this. He won the hearts of the nurses and they actually fought over who got to carry him back to the room after a procedure, etc...Since we have been home, Kobe has been getting up every 1-2 hours for a bottle. We are thankful that he will take a bottle and go right back to sleep. The last few nights before the hospital trip, he was getting up about every hour to hour and a half for about an ounce of formula. We thought maybe this was a coping thing for him as his bottle is the only comfort he has right now. Well--2 nights now (one in the hospital and one at home) he has slept up to 3 hours b/t feedings and waking for a full bottle. Apparently it was b/c he didn't feel good. We thought we had a happy baby, but boy what a difference it makes to have a baby that actually feels good.

We will be home 2 weeks in a couple of days. In that amount of time, this little man has had 3 ER trips and a hospital stay. Poor guy! Welcome to America. :(

We are so thankful God has blessed us with such an amazing little boy. He truly is a blessing. We are also thankful for the support people continue to give us. Thanks for the prayers. Please continue to pray that we are able to get to the bottom of the crazy lab work results. 

What is new?

We have been HOME for a week now. That just doesn't seem possible. While in Ethiopia, we had some major computer issues so therefore I didn't post much. Now we are home and for some reason I can't find the time to post. In the past week, our little man went from 70*-75* temps to frost at night. We got home early Friday morning and by Saturday afternoon we were at the ER with respiratory issues. Sunday our little guy rolled from his tummy to his back. We witnessed this in Ethiopia, but wasn't sure how "real" it was. He does it all of the time now, so it is real. ;) On Monday, we had an appointment with a pediatrician to do routine "just came home" check up. By then, he had pneumonia. Good thing we had taken him in on Saturday and started meds or it would have been lots worse. We have started cereal and recently baby food. Some days are better than others for the feedings. He loves his bottle. In the last couple of days, we have noticed a huge difference in his behavior. We think he is feeling better. We are surprised to see that he seems like he is getting on a schedule already. Awesome! Sure happy that he is adjusting to the 9 hour time difference. It has been an interesting, but amazing week. This morning I woke up and thought to myself, "He is getting chubbier cheeks. His hair seems to be growing. He feels heavier." This all from someone that is with him all of the time. I'm sure he will continue to grow/change quickly. We are so thankful to be blessed with this little bundle of joy.

Happy Easter from Ethiopia

We got to pick up our little guy today. :) We have been at the hotel since about noon. Things are very well. He is such a happy boy. We have limited internet b/c we have to be by the door to get a good connection, yet our battery doesn't last long. We are so so so blessed. Enjoy this picture until we can post more later. Thank you prayer warriors.

The bags are packed

Okay after our scare/freak out with the changing of how they do the visas upon entering the country of Ethiopia we did get some more information. They don't know for sure when the change will go into effect. Since we leave so soon, we should be okay. Wow..that was a nice freak out.

Well---the bags are packed! I'm impressed that they actually zip shut and that they aren't overweight. I had to finish up things tonight as tomorrow night we will be in church and then we leave early on Friday am. I know I over-packed. I really didn't have a clue as to how many clothes to take for our little guy. I know they say we can use the laundry services, but what cute clothes get to go and what ones stay? Tough call! I know I packed more food/snacks than we need. I think that we will want more snacks as we will pretty much be hanging out at the hotel the whole time. We are taking a hot pot with us with oatmeal, Ramen noodles, Easy Mac, etc...We will have more meals to eat so this way we can have American food more often than not. ;)

Tomorrow is my last day of school for the school year. Something I didn't expect 2 weeks ago. So excited to look at God's perfect timing. We leave the day after Jason's birthday. We leave on Good Friday. We get to pick our son up on Easter Sunday. What an Easter blessing! A new life starting on Easter. Praise God!

Off to see if I can sleep before the thought of sleep is far from my mind with a "new" baby in the house. 9 hour time difference on top of everything in his world being changed. We smell different, look different, sound different. We know the tough days/weeks/months of transition are ahead of us. It could possibly be the hardest part of this whole journey. Yet I have to remind myself that God led us to adoption. He has blessed us over and over. That will not end. His blessings will continue and He isn't about to leave us now.

I'm human therefore I'm anxious

I'm really ready for it to be Sunday and for our little man to be in our arms. People say to me, "Aren't you excited?" Yes, but to be honest I'm anxious. There are so many unknowns on so many different levels. I'm so emotionally and physically tired. I know it is just the beginning, but I feel I must get some decent sleep before this adventure is placed upon us. God has been with us every step of the way. I know He will not leave us. We know He already knows how our little guy will react to us, how attachment will go, how sick he will be when he comes home, etc...However, I can't help but to let my mind wander and wonder. I just want to get this next stage started. I wasn't sure if I should post this, but I've tried to keep this blog REAL.

I've been gone all day tonight. I get home and got on the computer to an email from our agency stating that the visa process in Ethiopia would change. Yippee..another change in government. When we landed last time in Ethiopia, we went and got a one time visa. Now they are changing it so that you can have an all the time visa. (good long enough to get you through both trips) Of course, the cost is lots higher with this visa. The biggest stress....nobody really knows when it will go into effect. People are needing to get their visa BEFORE they travel. Oh well that is just great news. We leave in three days! There is no way we can get a visa before we travel. We might be stressing for nothing b/c we don't know when this change is going to take place. Our agency has been super, super good. However, they sent the traveling families this email and they aren't available tomorrow due to training. Seriously?! Well--I know they will have lots of emails and phone calls to return when they get back on Thursday.

Breathe, pray, trust repeat. Ha!! So much easier to just FREAK OUT!!!

Shower

My sister in law gave us an AMAZING, over the top, shower!!! It was the best ever!!! Even better we are so close to bringing our little guy home. :) She told me we would bring him home right after the shower and of course I didn't believe her. Ha! I posted a bunch of pictures on Facebook so you will have to check them out there. I HAD to share this favorite picture with all of you. We have a dear friend that took pictures for us. Even neater than she edited some of them. We are so blessed. So very, very blessed. That is all I can say. Thank you all!!!