Back to the ER

For the last 2 days, Bethany has had less and less to drink and almost nothing to eat.  She has also not slept very much over the last few days.  We contacted the cleft team coordinator again and she said that it was very unusual for a child to be digressing like Bethany.  She said they had not seen this before and that it would be best if we brought her in for a look.  So we went back to Children's Hospital to the ER.  They had multiple doctors look her over and they ran blood work on her.  They were surprised at how good she looks considering the levels of intake she has had.  Although she has lost a lot of weight, they said she is not dehydrated and that we should continue to try to feed her and get her to drink any way we can.  We still cannot deviate from the post surgery diet but we just have to encourage her to eat or drink anything, even if it is only junk food.  If she starts showing signs of dehydration, we should take her in again.  We have had lots of suggestions but there are certain foods that are banned on the post surgery diet.  We cannot give her grits, any rice product, anything with pepper, or anything that is harder than mac-n-cheese.  She apparently is doing just enough to get by and they said that it may prolong her recovery by about a week but she will still recover.  Thank you for your prayers.

 

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Update

This is to update everyone not on facebook as to what has been going on over the last week or so...

 

May 12,

 

Today was a little better than yesterday. It took several attempts, but we finally found a bandage that we could keep on over her lip. We've also had to make restraints that don't allow her arms to go above her chest. Without them, she can raise her hands above her head and rake her arm restraints down across her face and rip the bandage and everything else off her face. Why she wants to do th...at is beyond us. Her other trick is to bury her face in something (bedding for instance) and rub her face in it until she rips off the bandage.
She started the day drinking a full 8 oz. of milk, but then it just stopped there. She drank a little here and there but nothing that amounted to anything. She ate a few bites of sweet potatoes, crushed carrots, and a few other things but all of it together wouldn't be a fist full. We made the mistake several weeks ago of going against the advice of the international adoption doctors and letting her start to feed herself. BIG mistake! One of the problems that we are seeing is that she will start out willing to eat but (she is VERY strong willed) when she is not allowed to feed herself with a spoon or her fingers, she gets mad and shuts down. She is hungry and her stomach is growling, but when she gets mad, that is it! She is done. We can't let her feed herself because one slip and we have to have the surgery redone.
Please continue to pray for her that she will turn around with the eating and drinking.

 

 

May 11,

 

Please continue to pray for Bethany. Today was a BAD day.....We REgressed instead of PROgressed. She is not eating and drinking hardly anything and if tomorrow is like today, she will end up back in the hospital before the weekend is out. She has also managed to rip the stitches out of her lip even though she is in arm restraints. She can't get to the inside of her mouth where her palate was ...repaired, but she has torn up the outside where the lip revision was done. We talked to her plastic surgeon on the phone, and at this point, if she's caused scarring, the revison will have to be done again when she's older and can understand to leave it alone. Appreciate all of the prayers that have been offered on her behalf and just ask that you continue to pray for her. Her daddy and mama are kind of beside themselves right now.....See More

May 10

 

Todd wrote and thought he posted an update last night, but apparently, it didn't actually post. We didn't know it until a little while ago, so sorry for the delay in getting info out on Bethany's status. We did make it home last night. Bethany began drinking some yesterday afternoon around 3:30, so about 4:30, the doctors decided that she might do better at home. We completely agreed, so we fi...nally made it home last night about 6:30 or 7:00. She did eat and drink some when we got home, so that was good to see. She was glad to be home and livened up some after a little while. She had gotten so miserable in the hospital and was tired of being poked on, so being home was a relief….for all of us. She's had an okay day today. She's still in a good bit of pain, of course, so it's causing her to not eat and drink like she should, but she is doing better. Thanks so much to all for the prayers lifted for her – and our – behalf. We have felt them, and we are especially grateful to our Heavenly Father for His continual care for our sweet little girl.

 

May 8,

 

Bethany still won't eat or drink, so the doctor just came by and said we'll be here another night. She hasn't had anything all day - well, one bite of scrambled eggs and nothing to drink. She only had 2 ounces of apple juice yesterday. Appreciate all of the prayers for her. We still need them.

 

 

May 8,

 

Bethany is looking a lot better today. The swelling has gone down a good bit and she was awake most of the morning. The doctor looked her over and said everything looks great. We just have to wait for her to eat or drink something. She drank about a half a cup of apple juice last night but will not eat or drink today. They will not send her home if she doesn't start eating or drinking. We'll keep you posted.

 

 

May 7,

 

Bethany is in recovery and everything went great. Thank you all for your prayers and please continue to pray as she recovers.

 

 

 

 

 

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more pics

 

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Who's @ da zoo

Fun at the Zoo!

 

We took Bethany to the zoo yesterday, and she had a great time!  Her favorite animals to watch were the sea lions and monkeys.  We had fun watching her!  J She also loved the ducks and turtles and had a blast in the misting station.  She was drenched, but she loved it. 
 

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Saturday - April 21

 

As always, we've had a busy few weeks.  Our biggest news from the past few weeks is that Bethany had her appointment with the Cleft Team at Children's Hospital this past Monday.  We had a good – but long – visit and met her doctors and other specialists that will be working with her through the years.  They were all really good with her, and we were grateful for that.  Her plastic surgeon, Dr. Moses, will be doing the surgery to repair her palate on May 7.  We are glad to finally have a surgery date, but were surprised it would be so soon.  Dr. Moses could do surgery May 7 or July 2, so we opted to go ahead and get this out of the way.  Of course, we're thrilled that her palate will finally be repaired so that she won't have so much trouble eating, but we're also nervous.  It's a big surgery and is going to be so painful for her.  Dr. Moses will be repairing her hard and soft palate and also tweaking her lip to minimize the scar.  The doctors in China did a really great job with her lip repair, and even Dr. Moses was impressed when he saw her in person, but he feels that he can make it look even better, so we're on board with that.  We'd just ask that you continue to pray for Bethany – especially with the upcoming surgery.  We're trying not to be anxious about it, but it's definitely a battle.  J

 

Other than that, we really haven't done very much other than visiting family here and there.  We were really busy the weekend and week before Easter and also the weekend of Easter.  We think we were doing too much because Bethany started having a lot of nightmares that week, not night terrors, but she woke up crying every night of the week.  Finally, the Saturday night before Easter, we had apparently done way too much with her and she was hysterical that night.  So, the week after Easter, we did very little.  I kept her in and we didn't do much visiting or have anyone in.  She needed down time, so I made sure she had a very laid back week.  After that, she's been fine.  Sometimes we still forget that she gets overwhelmed after too much activity, and she'd had WAY too much for way too long.  Other than that one week episode, she's doing great.  She's so sweet and continues to show us that she's attaching with spontaneous acts of love. 

 

I've worked my final day, last Friday, April 13.  I went in for the day to clean out my office and process out.  I haven't worked since December 30, so it was quite an adjustment to leave my little sleeping beauty home with her Daddy and go to work.  It really cemented in my mind that I made the right decision in staying home with Bethany permanently.  I just couldn't imagine having to leave her every day when we've already missed so much.  She sure enjoyed her day with her Daddy though.  J

 

Guess that's all for now.  We're planning a trip to Audubon Zoo later this week, so we'll post pics from that day.  Thanks again to my friends at CNMOC for a gift we'll enjoy all year!  J 
 

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Fun with Cousins

These are some pics from the other week when Bethany's cousins from Atlanta were here.  Wish they were closer - she had so much fun playing with them!

 

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Aquarium visit

Our first visit to the Aquarium in New Orleans!  Thank you CNMOC!  :)  We're looking forward to a year's worth of fun!
 

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