3 weeks post surgery...

....and Olivia is doing great! After two weeks of full liquids, and then one week of soft foods, she got to progress to a normal diet today. Life is good! Her little mouth is healing wonderfully according to her surgeon, and each day she is drooling less and less! She hasn't quite figured out how to keep her tongue in her mouth yet though, ever since the surgery it seems to hang out quite often. I guess with no more hole in her mouth, she's having problems figuring out where it goes?!

We go back to the surgeon and also have a speech therapy evaluation in 6 months. They're hoping she will have developed some speech by then, and will determine at that time whether the 2nd palate surgery is needed. She's trying so hard to say words. She'll concentrate on your mouth as you speak to her, and then try to do the same thing. So far, the only thing that comes out are little sounds.

Even though her speech is delayed, her comprehension is amazing! As of tomorrow, we will have been together for 3 months and already she seems to understand most of what I say to her. This morning on the way to daycare, she took her shoe off while in her carseat. I looked back and said, "Olivia, where did you put your shoe?" She smiled and pointed to the floor of the car, the exact spot her shoe landed.



I'm attaching a photo taken on my cell phone the morning she was discharged from the hospital. It's a little fuzzy but you can tell she was ready to go!!

Successful Surgery!

Just a quick note to let you know we are home and Olivia is doing well! Surgery went very well, and just 12 hours later Olivia ate not just one, but 3 puddings. The night nurse said she's never seen a child eat so well post op...especially one with stitches throughout her palate! She's eating well, drinking well, and even blowing kisses again. They sent us home with soft restraints for her arms (to keep her hands out of her mouth) which we have to use at bedtime when she's not supervised. Tonight at bedtime, after we rocked for a little while I said, "Olivia, I'm sorry sweetie but we have to put these on again". The little angel held out her arms for me to put them on. What an amazing kid she is!

Thank you for praying for her!

Green light for surgery

Olivia received a good bill of health yesterday. The doctor said the only thing that would stop surgery is the development of a high fever. But that's not gonna happen!

Surgery is scheduled for 10am tomorrow morning (the 19th). Thanks again for your love and prayers.

Karis

My First American Bug!

No, my mom didn't buy me a Volkswagen....I got sick! Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, Olivia here! I'm getting better and better at my computer skills and so far have only pulled one key off my mom's keyboard.



So last weekend, I got this yucky stomach bug (I even gave it to my mom! She said she hasn't been that sick since she drank a little water in Mexico!) and it's kind of a bummer that it's been almost a week and I still have it. Mom's had to keep me home lots this week so I miss my friends at daycare.

Grandpa's been coming to play with me lots since I couldn't go to daycare. He's fun to lock in the closet :)



Tomorrow I go see my doctor and he'll tell me whether I'm healthy enough to have my surgery next Monday. Mom said to ask you to please pray that I will be over this, so we can have my surgery and I can get all better and eat hot dogs and hamburgers!

Mom says there's lots of people out there praying for me....we say our prayers at night for you too! I can even fold my hands and say AMEN!

Love,
Olivia

End of the year musings...

Happy almost 2009 from Karis and Olivia! It was my father who kept saying at the beginning and during the middle of 2008, "it's going to happen this year (meaning the adoption), it's going to happen this year". After already waiting for 3 years and the slow movement in the world of adoption, I had no hopes for a little girl in 2008. I was looking at 2009 and beyond. When will I learn to "trust in the Lord with all my heart and lean NOT on my own understanding"?! Thank you to all who prayed diligently over the years for this little girl to arrive.



Arrive she did....and with a BANG! Each day she does something new and amazing. The other night towards the end of our meal, she decided to see if she could eat with her eyes closed. By jove, she could! The adults at the table were busting a gut as she shoveled food into her mouth while keeping her eyes squinted closed and a big smile on her face.






Christmas was pretty lively around the Day household this year. Most of the presents under the tree were for Miss Olivia, but wouldn't you know, she was more interested in playing with pots and pans in the kitchen then opening presents? One of her favorite new toys quickly became a box that one of her new toys came in. Now I know...all I need to make my little girl happy is boxes, paper and a few pots and pans.














The Sunday after Christmas was a very special occasion for us. Olivia was baptized by her grandpa (who also baptized me and my brother as infants). Olivia was blessed with the gift of a beautiful dress, sewn for her by a very special lady in our lives (thank you Trudy!). She also got her very first whole piece of cake!










So wow....it still doesn't seem quite real to me. But it is, it really is. Something that surprised me after becoming a mom is that I became a little more lonely without a spouse. My first thought was, "why would I be more lonely NOW?" I quickly came to realize that the lonliness had nothing to do with wanting someone else around to help me out. It had to do with the fact that I was now the proud mom of a beautiful little girl. One who is constantly doing amazing things and I constantly find myself wanting to say to someone, "guess what she just did!" or "look how beautiful she is today!". And then I realized that even though she doesn't have a daddy, and I don't have a spouse to say those things to, I have a family and friends that love her as much as I do, who want to hear about all the new things she's doing. So I know I say it alot...but THANK YOU. Thank you for falling in love with my daughter.



On that note...Happy New Year!

I'm redecorating...

Olivia here.

I thought it was about time I got a few words in. I really like my new home, and my new mom but I'm not so sure about the wallpaper border she put in my room. So I thought up a great plan...my mom thinks I'm napping but what I'm really doing is peeling that wallpaper off, piece by piece. I think it's a pretty good plan and my mom doesn't seem to have caught on yet.



I'm also learning lots of new things since coming to America. My Auntie Tine taught me how to "give five". My Auntie Cindy taught me how to wave "bye bye" and my mom taught me how to do thumbs up. She's also trying to teach me how to blow kisses but I don't really understand why you'd blow a kiss? I need to understand the rationale before I do the act! Oh yeah, and my friend Taylan taught me how to close doors!

I LOVE the food here. Especially chocolate cake (thank you Grandpa) and stawberry pound cake (Thank you auntie Luanne). Actually I love all the food here, I'm not too picky.

My mom told me they have to do another surgery to help fix my mouth. My surgery is scheduled for January 19th and I guess I won't be able to eat for a little while but my mom told me she'll give me lots of good stuff to drink. I like to drink almost as much as I like to eat.

I'll write more soon (I also really like the computer, I'm trying to get my mom to let me have my own facebook page but it looks like I'll need to do a little more convincing).

Bye Bye!

Doctors reports

Ok, so I tried the "mommy - daughter" self-portrait thing and it didn't work out so well, I'll keep trying...




We got good news today! Olivia's pediatrician called to let us know that all of Olivia's blood work came back normal! Whoohoo! She is a healthy little girl. With all of the smiles and laughter that come out of this little one, I kind of suspected she was!

We also saw the cleft surgeon this afternoon. He took a one second peek inside her mouth and said, "yep, let's schedule her for surgery!" He said the cleft palate is pretty wide and would like to do surgery soon. He also said there is about an 80% chance that the first surgery will be "unsuccessful". When I asked him what he meant by that, he said there is a risk that her speech will not be normal. If the first surgery is unsuccessful, they follow-up with a second palate surgery in about 6 months. He also said the surgeon in China did a pretty bad job correcting her cleft lip. He said he could try to do some reconstructive surgery on her face but wouldn't recommmend surgery until she was about 4 years old. I think she's absolutely beautiful now....so what if her nose is a little crooked!!

We see an ENT on Friday morning. They'll determine at that time if she also needs tubes put in her ears (a pretty common procedure with cleft kids). If she does need tubes, they'll be able to do this at the same time her palate is repaired.

After our visit with the surgeon, they gave us a tour of the unit she'll be staying on. She'll only be in the hospital one night, and I can stay with her.

After leaving the hospital, I got pretty teary! She's such a happy girl and is adjusting so well to her new life, the thought of putting her through surgery right now (or any time) breaks my heart. I know there are many moms and dads out there who have been through surgery and illness with their kids. Any advice you have would be most welcome.

Thanks again for following along with us. I'll leave you with a couple of prayer requests....and I thank you for keeping "little O" in your prayers:

1. Please pray that Olivia's first palate surgery will be completely successful and that she will NOT need the second surgery 6 months later.
2. We'd also appreciate prayer on the timing of this first surgery. If I had my way, I'd postpone it forever. They are talking about either December or January. There are pros and cons to both months.

Thank you!
Karis