No wonder those pants are looking short!

Josie had her annual cardiology visit at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital bright and early Wednesday morning. No significant changes from last year. Her repaired heart is still working hard but her valve replacement surgery is still several years out. We were surprised to learn that since her last appointment, she's grown over 4 inches and gained 9 pounds!   

 Geeze.  4 inches and 9 pounds in one year!  I noticed with our recent cooler weather her jeans and sweatpants were looking awfully short.   

Grow, Josie grow!
 

Josie's special heart...

Josie's cardiology appointment on Monday was a very thorough exam. It was a good appointment.

Although we see Dr. Lacina yearly, she hadn't had a full work-up in two years. Josie has Tetralogy of Fallot and you can click here to find out more information on this condition. Josie was incredibly tolerant of her ultrasound, EKG and anything else that was asked of her. It didn't hurt that she was able to watch Kung Fu Panda 2 during her 40 minute ultrasound.

After reviewing all the exams with her cardiologist, we were reminded that despite all her initial surgery, she still has an enlarged heart and that she continues to have quite a bit of back flow through the pulmonary valve back into the right ventricle because it doesn't close properly.


We talked more realistically about "when" our doctor thinks she'll need the pulmonary valve replaced. Our hope (fingers crossed) is that she can get the majority of her growing years done before the surgery. Optimally, we'd like to get her to age 15. We also talked realistically about sport restrictions and endurance restrictions now that she's school age. Looks like football, basketball, hockey, wrestling, competitive swimming, singles tennis, and gymnastics aren't in her future, but I'm guessing she'd make a fine softball player!

In March, we'll be celebrating our 4yr adoption anniversary.
In April, we'll be celebrating our 4 yr heart surgery anniversary.

Such a special girl

with a very special heart.

Our favorite superhero!

XOXO

♥

Happy 3rd Heart Anniversary!

We are celebrating a very special anniversary at our house.

I'm sharing some pictures and wording that will look familiar to some of my long-time followers. I originally starting blogging to document our special needs adoption and although most of my attention has shifted to crafting and my obsession with vintage items, I still love sharing our family's adoption story with others.

On April 22, 2008 we spent the day at the University of Michigan hospital in pre-op.

Josie would be undergoing open-heart surgery early the next morning for Tetralogy of Fallot. We spent the evening in a hotel outside of Ann Arbor holding onto her, praying, talking about the day(s) to come… unsure of what God’s plan for us was… or for Josie. In some ways, April 23rd is more important than Josie's gotcha day/adoption anniversary (if that makes any sense).

I remember barely sleeping that night. We hadn’t even been home a month from China and despite her extreme night terrors and attachment issues, we were completely in love with this little girl. Chris and I were scared at the risks, but we knew the quality of life would be forever changed once her heart was repaired.

At 22 months of age, she was wearing size 9 month clothes. The simplest of activities (even eating or bending over her toy box) caused her to pant and become short of breath. Her lips and toes would often turn blue. Sleeping was less than a pleasant experience…picture constant spinning around in MY BED (cosleeping was a matter of survival) and crying out all night long. Chris often referred to her as our little clock.

This surgery was going to be the beginning of a new life for her. It was everything she deserved.

God gave us our miracle the next day. He healed Josie’s heart through the work of an amazing surgeon (Dr. Ohye) and medical team.

See this post for more information on her procedure.

Three years have passed and unless you knew her prior to her surgery, or saw her chest scar, you’d never know that she was once so very sick. Additional surgery will be needed as she gets older, but we aren't letting that slow us down (Josie doesn't even know the meaning of slow...she never stops MOVING). As we get ready to celebrate Easter, we have many reasons to give thanks.

We give thanks for the gift of life!
We give thanks for the gift of Josie!

We give thanks for two special daughters
who make our days crazy happy (most of the time)

We especially give thanks for the incredible medical team
at Mott Children's Hospital!
Happy Heart Anniversary, Josie!

XOXO

♥

Josie's Visit to the new Children's Hospital

Josie's cardiologist has moved into the new Helen Devos Children's Hospital and I have to say that the building is absolutely beautiful. Even the walkway from the parking lot to the hospital is impressive.

Prior to becoming a school social worker, my husband worked at the hospital as a medical social worker and we were both impressed Monday afternoon walking around the new building. It's full of lots of interactive artwork and feels almost like a children's museum.


I'm happy to report that there are any major changes since her open-heart surgery in April 2008. She's now 33 pounds and 42 inches tall. She's gained 3 pounds and grown nearly 3 inches since last year's appointment. Dr. Lacina is pleased that her echo appears stable and that her energy-level remains high (that's an understatement...she never stops MOVING).

She continues to have quite a bit of back flow through the valve back into the right ventricle and eventually she will need to have this valve replaced. Josie has Tetralogy of Fallot and you can click here to find out more information on this condition. Her valve replacement isn't anything that needs to be done right away. Her cardiologist keeps hinting that she probably wont' need this surgery until she's a teenager. I couldn't be happier with Monday's appointment.

Just look at this little face nearly three years ago.

Yes. I'd do another special needs heart adoption in second.
We're not adopting again.
But it's an amazing life-changing journey for the better.

XOXO

Merry Christmas!

We wish you many blessings and beautiful moments these next few days.


Thank you for your friendship throughout this past year, it's meant the world to me!

Merry Christmas from Kim K. and family!
XOXO

PS. Josie's heart surgeon from the University of Michigan was featured on the front page of our newspaper this morning. He performed a heart transplant on a 10 week old baby. Praise God for people like him. We will be forever grateful to him because of everything he was able to do on Josie's heart when we came home from China.

Bring on more Christmas miracles!!

Happy Heart Anniversary & Prayer Requests

This week I have a couple of special adoptive families who have children undergoing open-heart surgery (see bottom of this post for prayer requests). The timing is amazing because we are also celebrating Josie's 2 year heart anniversary. On April 22, 2008 we spent the day at the University of Michigan hospital in pre-op.

Josie would be undergoing surgery early the next morning for Tetralogy of Fallot. We spent the evening in a hotel outside of Ann Arbor holding onto her, praying, talking about the day(s) to come… unsure of what God’s plan for us was… or for Josie. In some ways, April 23rd is more important than Josie's gotcha day (if that makes any sense).

I remember barely sleeping that night, worrying whether would we be giving our daughter back to God. We hadn’t even been home a month from China and we were completely in love with this child. Chris and I were scared at the risks, but we knew the quality of life would be forever changed once her heart was repaired.

At 22 months of age, she was wearing size 9 month clothes. The simplest of activities (even eating) caused her to pant and become short of breath. Her lips and toes would often turn blue. Sleeping was less than a pleasant experience…picture constant spinning around in my bed and crying out all night long. Chris often referred to her as our little clock.

This surgery was going to be the beginning of a new life for her. It was everything she deserved.

God gave us our miracle the next day. He healed Josie’s heart through the work of an amazing surgeon (Dr. Ohye) and medical team.

See this post for details on her hospitalization.

Two years have passed and unless you knew her prior to her surgery, or saw her chest scar, you’d never know that she was once so very sick.

This week
We thank God for the gift of life!
We thank God for the gift of Josie!
We especially thank God for the incredible medical team at
Mott Children's Hospital!

Please continue to keep this family in prayer as their daughter Jiliang
undergoes open-heart surgery Tuesday morning.

I also ask that you keep this family in your prayers. Their son Andrew undergoes open-heart surgery on Thursday this week.

Blessings to all the families who have chosen SN adoptions.
It's amazing life-changing journey.

Sunday Snapshot and & Prayer Request

For my prayer warriors, I've got a special request. Please keep this family in your prayers. Their daughter (Jiliang) will be undergoing open-heart surgery at UofM Hospital on Tuesday. She's a precious little girl who just came home from China with a complicated heart.

She's in the best hands. Her surgeon is the same one we used for Josie nearly 2 years ago (Dr. Ohye). We'll be celebrating our 2 year heart anniversary on Thursday of this week. I remember how important it was to know that others were praying for my daughter. If you can leave them a comment on their blog knowing that you are thinking of their daughter, it would be reassuring.

Have a blessed Sunday.

Josie's heart appointment

Josie had her 6 month annual cardiology appointment this morning and I'm happy to report that she continues to be stable.

She had an EKG and echo without any tears and neither test showed any major changes since her surgery in April 2008. She's now 30 pounds and (38.5) inches tall. She's gained 3 pounds and grown nearly 4 inches since last year's appointment. Dr. Lacina is pleased that her echo appears stable and that her energy-level remains high.


She continues to have quite a bit of back flow through the valve back into the right ventricle and eventually she will need to have this valve replaced. But her valve replacement isn't anything that needs to be done right away. To have another year without any major surgeries sounds lovely!! I couldn't be happier with today's appointment.

PS. Friday evening is Emma's annual school lip-sync. Her group of girlfriends have been practicing their dance routine for nearly 2 months. To my extended family - I promise to post lip-sync pictures on Saturday.

How we spent our CNY & Valentine's Day...

After attending church (aka wrestling match with Josie), we ate lunch, attempted to get Josie to take a nap, squeezed in 4 loads of laundry, and then hit the sledding hills. For any grandparents viewing this entry, you might want to avoid the last sledding picture. It actually looks worse than it was.

Wipe-out!!

After all that sledding, Josie needed a little cuddle & warm-up time with Daddy.

We dined on Chinese take-out and special ice cream desserts. In my world, any chance to use paper umbrellas makes me happy!!

The girls ended their evening with a bit of beauty (aka hair extensions).

All in all, a great CNY & Valentine's Day!

PS. Josie's bi-annual cardiology appointment is Thursday. We're hoping that her valve looks as good as it needs to at this point. We know it will need to be replaced in the future, but I honestly don't have any worries. Her energy level definitely isn't lacking any since her open-heart surgery in April of 2008. I'm just hoping for a tear-free ultrasound and EKG!!